Are PAWS tests too long?

By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer

With Wyoming’s PAWS testing finished, the consensus among Carbon County teachers is that the tests were too long.

The Wyoming Department of Education initially issued estimated times to guide teachers, which were supposed to be shorter this year. The test is supposed to gauge each school’s proficiency in reading, writing, math and science.

After one week of testing, though, the state department had to nearly double the time estimates. According to Linda Duncan, counselor at Little Snake River Valley School, the reissued time was 625 minutes.

“That amounts to 10 and a half hours,” Duncan said. “The length concerned staff and administration both.”

Compared to the ACT test’s four-hour time limit, the PAWS test time shocked many teachers.
In the math portion, Denise Ashline’s eighth-grade class at Rawlins Middle School took between 140 and 210 minutes to take tests that were estimated by the state to run a maximum of 80 minutes.

“That’s a long time when middle-schoolers should be doing things in 15-minute increments,” Ashline said.

Melissa Irvin at the department of education said that, based on continued negative feedback from across the state, the test times will be adjusted next year.

Other post-test complaints arose as well. Jim Catlin, counselor at Hanna Elk Mountain Medicine Bow Junior Senior High School, said, “There are high stakes for the schools, but not the students. The problem is that schools are held accountable for tests that students don’t take as seriously.”

Teachers district-wide acknowledge this, and some have reacted. For instance, Ashline’s eighth-grade students will get awarded for their effort with a DVD, video game and snow cone party on Friday. Ashline measured effort by evaluating each student’s preparation work.

“They really tried hard, even though the tests were grueling,” she said.

Teachers did find some improvements this year. As the Wyoming Department of Education pushes toward computer testing, efforts to streamline the system seem to be working.
“Our kids seemed to function well with the online testing,” Duncan said of the 11th-grade students who took most of the test online this year.

“The software was easier to navigate this year,” said Shelley Cooper, a Medicine Bow Elementary School math teacher.

Saratoga, Rawlins and HEM also saw significant improvements in the computer portion of the test. Fewer students were booted off the system this year and the teachers could more easily monitor how quickly students were moving through the tests. Some tests had nearly immediate scores.

Music teacher gets her final hurrah

Rawlins Daily Times, Janice Kurbjun

Medicine Bow Elementary School students Caroline Heward, Brandon Lea, Logan Heward and Baylie Farthing created a domino effect as they followed music teacher Jill McCann’s choreography to “You Can’t Stop the Beat.” The song is the finale in Wednesday’s 7 p.m. concert in the school’s gym.


• One Medicine Bow student noted, ‘Mis Macan is the best teacher I have nown.’

By Janice Kurbjun Times staff writer

Facing her final concert at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in the Medicine Bow Elementary School gym, Jill McCann is starting to realize how meaningful her last four years have been as music teacher for the Carbon County District 2 elementary schools.

“They’re just like family,” McCann said of her students and their parents. “Plus, they’re talented, and everyone works together as a team.”

McCann is leaving at the end of the school year to head back to Idaho, where she grew up. But not without leaving a lasting impression on her students.

At the very bottom of his worksheet defining what music is, buried under sketches of treble clefs, scales and a bold outline of the word “music,” Timothy Heward wrote in tiny letters, “Mis Macan is the best teacher I have nown.”

Timothy’s sister Caroline agreed, writing that she likes McCann’s songs and the way she sings them. As part of the concert’s theme, she and her classmates will read their definitions of music. The rest of Caroline’s lists include things associated with the discipline: dancing, songs, melody and rhythm.

For the concert, which is free and open to the public, the girls will be dressed in 1950s poodle skirts and the boys will mimic John Travolta’s jeans and white T-shirt costume in “Grease.” The program includes upbeat songs from the musicals “Hairspray” and “Rigoletto” — along with sign language to fulfill state requirements — to a rendition of Barry Manilow’s “One Voice,” to be sung in a dark auditorium.

Rawlins Daily Times, Janice Kurbjun

Marji Patz and Dr. Harold Hubbard talked outside the new Medicine Bow Post Office on Monday afternoon. The building, located across the street from the previous facility, needs final painting, a walkway and ground work and is scheduled for completion next month.

RHS kids place high

Times staff report

Eleven Rawlins High School students won 15 medals in Casper earlier this month in the Wyoming State Skills USA conference, second only to Douglas High School for the number of medals won by 3A schools.

It was the technology and pre-engineering students’ second appearance at the state event, which had about 335 participants this year.

“I’m very proud of my students,” Jon Larson said in a release. “This is a very challenging competition and they showcased the skills they have learned very well.” Larson is the technology and pre-engineering instructor at the Carbon County Higher Education Center.

Larson’s team included seniors Donald Lehmkuhl, Devon Schmidt and Timothy Tschacher; juniors Jake Frost, Matt Hettchen, Jason Koehler, Adam Penland and Chris Sheets; sophomore Alex Dahl and freshmen Tony DeMillard and Matt Welch.

A Hettchen-Dahl duo won first place in mechatronics, the combination of mechanical, electrical and software engineering to study how the disciplines can work together to control equipment and mechanical processes.

The students gleaned other recognition from the conference including Koehler being chosen as one of seven Skills USA state officers.

Three students go on to compete in the national Skills USA conference in June. Hettchen and Dahl should compete in the national mechatronics competition.

Community conference planned later this week

Times staff report

On Thursday and Friday, the Platte Valley Community Center in Saratoga hosts Project Prevention’s fourth annual community conference.

A highlight this year is a planned panel discussion involving area high school students.
Panelists will be selected from people who submitted an answer to a recent essay contest in Carbon County School District 1 for students hoping to go to the 2009 Anti-Drug Coalitions of America conference in Washington, D.C. Carbon County School District 2 should also have some representatives.

The event includes presentations from Shanda Wright of Big Brothers Big Sisters and Diane Hipp of Wyoming Community Norms. Ben Atherton-Zeman will have a talk called Voices of Men on Thursday while on Sunday, Capt. Richard Fowler of the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office plans to speak about gangs. For parents worried about Internet safety, Jim Anderson is set to address the issue Friday.

The event is from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday. It resumes at 8:30 a.m. on Friday and finishes at 3:30 p.m. Project Prevention has arranged specially-priced hotel accommodations in the area.

For more information, call Theresa Pacheco at 328-3969 or 321-0686.