Stock Has Mixed Reaction To PAWS News

Laramie County School District #1 Superintendent Mark Stock says news that the state will probably continue using the PAWS test to judge academic progress until at least the 2015-2016 school year is both good news and bad news.

He says one plus is that continuing the use the test will provide a consistent yardstick for measuring students progress.. He says one frustration teachers have had is that constantly changing methods of assessing student progress provide a '' moving target" that make it very difficult to really know how much progress students are making.

But on the negative side, Stock says the test isn't rigorous enough. He also says the state's student assessment test will eventually have to be more aligned to the standards used in other states to make sure Wyoming schools are competitive.

He also says the alignment is important because families nowadays are very mobile, and students may end up attending schools in more than one state.