Pinedale Schools 5th Best Overall in State for 2000 WyCAS Scores
Piney ranked 28th out of 45 school districts
by Rob Shaul

Students at Sublette County School District No. 1 (Pinedale) scored fifth best in Wyoming on the 2000 WyCAS according to a report compiled by the Legislative Service Office. According to the report which was requested by Sheridan State Senator Tom Kinneson, Sublette County School District No. 9 scored 28th in the state of the 45 school districts whose 4th, 8th, and 11th graders took the test last spring. The rankings were based on the percentage of the students who scored "proficient" or above on the tests.

School District No. 1

Pinedale's students scored near the top of the state at all different grade levels. Pinedale's 4th graders ranked 6th overall in the state, and 2nd in Reading. Eighth graders ranked 10th overall in the state, and the 11th graders ranked 3rd overall. Pinedale's 11th graders had the top scores in the state in writing.

Pinedale's students were weakest in the math component of the WyCAS. The 4th graders' math scores ranked 21st in Wyoming, the 8th graders' math scores were 18th statewide, and the 11th graders' math scores were 7th in Wyoming.

School District No. 9

The WyCAS scores from 4th graders at the Big Piney and LaBarge Elementary Schools ranked 31st overall in Wyoming of the forty-seven school districts with fourth graders. School District No. 9 fourth graders' writing (26th) and reading (28th) scores ranked in the middle of the state, but their math scores (41st) ranked near the bottom.

Big Piney's 8th graders scored 19th overall on the WyCAS in Wyoming. These students did best in the writing component of the state, where they ranked 6th in the state.

Piney's 11th graders ranked 34th of 46 school districts on the WyCAS. These students scored best on the writing component of the test (11th overall) and worst on the math component, (33rd).

Other Measures

The report compiled by the LSO also ranked the school districts based on money spent per student, teacher/student ratios and teacher salaries. The report doesn't attempt to correlate these measures to WyCAS scores but simply lists the rankings.

School District No. 1 is ranked 21st in amount of money spent per student at $8,536. School District No. 9 ranked 13th, with $9,336 per student. Sheridan County School District No. 3 spent the most per student, $14,837; Park County School District No. 6 spent the least - $6,507 per student.

In terms of student teacher ratio, Big Piney ranked 16th, with 10 students per every one teacher. Pinedale ranked 44th, with 12 students for every one instructor.

Finally, in terms of average teacher's salary, Big Piney ranked 10th in the state, with an average teacher's salary of $34,541. Pinedale ranked 16th, at $33,998. Campbell County School District No. 1 had the highest average teacher's salary, at $39,795. Washakie County School District No. 2 had the lowest average teacher's salary in the state, at just $26,522.

Editor's Note: The Wyoming Department of Education strongly opposed creating a report which ranked Wyoming's school districts based solely on WyCAS scores. Please see the story on page 7.