CHEYENNE, Wyoming – The Future of Learning Collaborative of Wyoming is accepting applications from school districts for the second round of a pilot project to reimagine K-12 education through competency-based learning.
The program will expand the initial RIDE program currently underway in nine Wyoming school districts by adding seven additional districts for the 2024-25 school year.
The Wyoming Future of Learning Collaborative includes Governor Mark Gordon, Superintendent Megan Degenfelder, the Wyoming Department of Education, the State Board of Education, the University of Wyoming College of Education, community colleges, and the Wyoming Association of School Administrators.
“There is still a lot of potential with this partnership,” Gordon said. “Through these pilot programs, we are learning what our educators need to ensure that Wyoming’s education system is not only better than it is today, but that it can emerge through this work as one of the best educational systems serving students and families in the United States. ”
“This pilot is an important step in transforming our education system from its current one-size-fits-all model. Through competency-based learning, students can learn at their own pace and pursue more individualized learning paths.
The goal of the voluntary pilot programs is to rethink and innovate core elements of instruction and assessment to make them more responsive to students and support Wyoming's portfolio of SBE graduate work.
Districts and their communities will be supported through pilot programs as they engage in this participatory process that creates learning environments that put students at the center. Statewide professional development opportunities in competency-based learning will continue to be offered to all schools across the state.
“We were very excited about this opportunity because we were looking for ways to move students and staff into the future,” said Jillian Chapman, superintendent of Teton County School District 1, a district currently participating in the RIDE pilot programs. “What they need in the future is really different from what we do day in and day out at school, and we were looking for alternatives to the way we've always done things.”
“We have been so excited and satisfied with this work that we are already calling for it to be expanded to include all content areas at all grade levels,” said Superintendent Paige Fenton Hughes of Converse County School District No. 1.
Applications will be submitted on February 16 and selected regions will be announced in early March.
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