Unsatisfactory Evaluations: Wyoming

Analysis of Wyoming's policies

Wyoming requires each school district to provide a report at the end of each school year of all teachers who were identified as demonstrating inadequate or unsatisfactory performance. The report must also include any mentoring or professional development activities made available to teachers to help them improve.

Citation

W.S. 21-2-304(b)(xv) SB 89

Recommendations for Wyoming

Require that all teachers who receive unsatisfactory evaluations be placed on improvement plans.
While Wyoming requires districts to document mentoring and professional development provided to teachers identified as needing assistance, the state's policy does not clearly articulate that formal remediation plans will be utilized for teachers who receive unsatisfactory evaluations. The state should, therefore, clarify and expand its policy to require that teachers who receive even one unsatisfactory evaluation be placed on structured improvement plans. These plans should focus on performance areas that directly connect to student learning and should list noted deficiencies, define specific action steps necessary to address these deficiencies and describe how and when progress will be measured.

Make eligibility for dismissal a consequence of unsatisfactory evaluations.
Teachers who receive two consecutive unsatisfactory evaluations or have two unsatisfactory evaluations within five years should be formally eligible for dismissal, regardless of whether they have tenure. Wyoming should adopt a policy that ensures that teachers who receive such unsatisfactory evaluations are eligible for dismissal. 

State response to our analysis

Wyoming recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis.