Curriculum

Park #1 curriculum adheres to state standards in all subjects, including the core areas of language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. Our schools, K-8, place emphasis in the areas of literacy and math. We also offer instruction in art, career/technical programs, computer science, foreign language, music, and physical education. Wyoming Content and Performance Standards serve several purposes. Standards describe what students need to know and be able to do by the end of each grade level. They explain the knowledge, concepts, and skills that each student should acquire so that Wyoming students are college, career, or military ready by the time they graduate from high school. We communicate these expectations to students, parents, educators, and all other Wyoming stakeholders, and provide a common understanding among educators as to what students should learn at particular grades. Standards do not define all that can or should be taught; they simply outline end-of-year expectations for all students to help create equal opportunities to learn regardless of where the student lives (from the Wyoming Department of Education website).

State law requires that the standards in each content area be reviewed every nine years.

Standards

Early Literacy (K-3) Program

Reading is a complex process that requires the simultaneous application of a multitude of phonological and comprehension strategies in order for a reader to glean information from a text and an author’s message.  It is the key to unlocking a student’s learning potential across all other contents.  Therefore, the Park County School District #1 is dedicated to the early identification and ongoing monitoring of our students’ literacy development to ensure our students are literate by the end of third grade.

In order to determine students’ literacy needs, screen for dyslexia, and implement the appropriate level of instructional literacy support, all kindergarten through third grade students’ reading skills are screened in the first month of the school year using the WYTOPP Interim, Fountas/Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System (F/P BAS), and DIBELS (Kg-2).  These data points, in conjunction with ongoing running records, progress monitoring, and formative assessments, are analyzed to identify students consistently not attaining benchmarks, as defined by state and district criteria.  The specific areas of literacy development assessed across the measures include:  Phonological awareness, phonics, decoding words and nonsense words, oral reading fluency, and comprehension. 

Individualized Reading Plans are developed which indicate the Tier II or Tier III interventions that will be provided in addition to the core instructional program, as well as how student responses to intervention and instruction will be monitored.  Students on IRPs and/or in need of literacy interventions will be progress monitored through running records such as DIBELS and/or running records.  Through these measures, students’ reading fluency, accuracy, and comprehension are closely monitored.  If data does not show a response to interventions, diagnostic assessment/s are administered to determine Tier III or IV literacy interventions tailored to individualized needs.  K-3rd grade student literacy growth and achievement is assessed in the spring of each year using multiple data points (WYTOPP, DIBELS, F/P BAS) that provide a holistic perspective of students’ fluency, accuracy, comprehension, and instructional reading levels.