Wyoming Receives Failing Grade

Wyoming ranks in the middle of the pack in American public school education. That’s according to a national report released by Education Week magazine and the Editorial Projects in Education research center, or E.P.E.

According to the report, Wyoming received a B-plus in school finance… one of the highest grades in the nation… but received a D+ in K through 12 achievement. The state also received a D-plus in the category “teaching profession” which assesses accountability, incentives and support capacity for instructors.

Sterling Lloyd is senior research assistant with E.P.E. He says the report mainly rewards state-level policies, instead of places that emphasize local control, including Wyoming and other western states.

“Those are just differences in philosophy, differences in approach,” says Lloyd. “Where the rubber meets the road is student achievement, so different approaches can probably work equally well, but we need to hold schools accountable for increasing achievement, and it doesn’t really matter how they get there, what matters is that students are learning and improving as time goes on.”

The report ranks Maryland as number 1 in the nation with a grade of B+ while Nebraska came in last with a grade of B-. Lloyd says final grades were tabulated after looking at six different points including performance, assessment and accountability.