WY Department Of Education Collecting Input For Standards For English Language Arts

The Wyoming Department of Education is collecting informal public input on the 2025 Wyoming Standards for English Language Arts (ELA) at the request of the State Board of Education (SBE).

The collected input will be shared with the SBE. 

The proposed 2025 ELA Standards are designed to support strong reading, writing, speaking, and vocabulary skills from early learning through high school. (Click here to read the proposed standards)

The standards are now organized into four clear areas, or domains:

• Reading: Combines literature and informational text into one domain, helping students build skills across all types of texts, with increasing depth and complexity as they grow.
• Writing: Begins with basic skills like handwriting and sentence-building in the early grades, then expands into writing strong arguments, stories, and research-based pieces as students move up.
• Speaking & Listening: Encourages respectful, thoughtful conversations about ideas and texts, helping students learn how to communicate clearly and work with others.
• Vocabulary Acquisition & Use: Focuses on building strong word knowledge, which research shows is key to reading comprehension and helping students express themselves well.

Overall, these updated standards are intended to give teachers a clear path for helping students grow into confident readers, writers, and communicators.

They are designed to offer flexibility in how learning happens. while making sure every student gets the foundational skills they need at the right time.

Stakeholders and educators can provide input through the following options:

1. Complete the ELA Input Survey by 11:59 p.m. on September 23 (Click here for the survey). 
2. Attend a regional Public Input Session.
   • August 13 in Rawlins from 4:30–6 p.m. at the Carbon County Main Library.
   • August 14 in Jackson from 4:30–6 p.m. at the Teton County School District #1 District Office Boardroom.
   • September 9 in Casper from 4:30–6 p.m. at the Natrona County Library.
   • September 10 in Buffalo from 4:30–6 p.m. at the Johnson County Library, Twing Room.
   • September 11 in Torrington from 4:30–6 p.m. at the Goshen County Library, Foundation Building.
   • September 17 in Lander from 4–5:30 p.m. at the Fremont County School District #1 Central Office.
3. Click the links below to attend a virtual Public Input Session:
   • August 18 from 5–6 p.m. 
   • August 22 from 12–1 p.m.
   • September 4 from 6–7 p.m.

Each meeting will start with a 10-minute presentation on the standards review process, the review timeline, and a question-and-answer session.

The remainder of the session is dedicated to collecting public input.