Environment

From Sustaining Jackson Hole Wiki

I. Overview of Education in Teton County

Education in Teton County goes beyond the local public school system, and includes individuals and organizations offering instruction to residents and visitors or all ages, in skills ranging from accounting to zen.

From an academic perspective, the education level among Teton County residents is high. In 2000, 46 percent of the county’s adults had a four year college degree or higher, ranking Teton County 26th among the nation’s 3,100 counties. This represented a sharp jump from 1990’s figure of 30 percent; the relative growth rate of 53 percent was unmatched by any other U.S. county. With increasing education levels comes increasing expectations for both the amount and quality of educational opportunities available within Teton County, whether offered in person or via electronic means.

Co-existing with these rising expectations is the reality that Teton County’s public schools have no control over their revenues, nor over the fact that Teton County’s cost of living is markedly higher than elsewhere in the state. The funding of Wyoming’s public schools is controlled by the legislature. Funding formulae of the past decade have not kept pace with Teton County’s cost of living, especially housing prices. As a result, it is increasingly difficult for the Teton County School District to attract and, especially, retain teachers. This, in turn, is leading to a decline in the District’s teacher seniority levels.

In response to these and other changes, including technological advances, a variety of alternative educational options are arising, including two new private schools for elementary and high school students. Higher education opportunities will increase as online learning and video-conferencing abilities improve. The popularity of Jackson Hole’s many recreational opportunities will likely produce growing numbers of skill-related course offerings, and the increasing size, wealth, and sophistication of Teton County’s population will mean a greater supply of, and demand for, educational opportunities of all sorts.

II. Participants

           •           Kari Belton, Teton Literacy Program
           •           Suzanne Biermann, The Learning Center
           •           Les Bishop, Central Wyoming College   
           •           Marcia Casey, Head Start
           •           Eric Ebeling, Teacher
           •           Lori Iverson, Grand Teton National Park/National Elk Refuge
           •           Drew Overholser, Journeys School
           •           Janine Teske, Teton County School District Board
           •           Diane McGee, Grand Teton National Park
           •           Steve Whisenand, Teton County Library

III. Education Indicators

A. Primary Education

A1. Enrollment in area schools

Rationale: Changes in school enrollment indicate infrastructure, staffing, and program funding needs, as well as trends in school choices.

A1a. Total enrollment in Teton County School District Schools

Comment: The Teton County School District operates nine schools: Jackson Hole High School; Summit High School (formerly known as Western Wyoming High School); Jackson Hole Middle School; Alta Elementary; Colter Elementary; Jackson Elementary; Kelly Elementary; Moran Elementary; and Wilson Elementary. The growth and general stability of Teton County’s overall enrollment stands in sharp contrast to the situation in most Wyoming school districts, which have seen enrollments decline over the past 10 years. Locally, 25% of kindergartners are Latino, a result of the large number of Latino families moving to Teton County in recent years.

A1b. Total enrollment at the Journeys School

Comment: The Journeys School is operated by the Teton Science School, and enrolls students from grades K-12. The Journeys School opened in September 2001, and moved to a new campus in September, 2005. The new facility provides it the capacity to enroll roughly 200 K-12 students, and another 20 in a pre-K program.

A1c. Total enrollment at the Community School

Comment: The JH Community School opened in 2004-2005 with 18 students enrolled in the 9th and 10th grades. In the fall of 2005, the Community School enrolled 29 students in grades 9-11.

A1d. Children served by the Learning Center Comment: The Learning Center serves children from birth to five years, providing preschool and childcare services. Originally developed to assist children with disabilities, in recent years the Learning Center has expanded its pre-K programs. The Learning Center is seeing explosive growth in the number of children on their waiting list for early childhood education, including infant toddler programs and preschool programs. One of the main constraints on the Learning Center is capacity due to facility limitations. A1e. Home schooled children in Teton County

Rationale: As parents seek alternatives to traditional public school education, growing numbers are choosing to educate their children at home.

Comment: No information regarding the number of home schooled children was available for the school year 2002-2003. On a percentage basis, the number of children being home schooled is growing much faster than those enrolled in Teton County’s public schools.

A2. WYCAS test scores

Rationale: The WYCAS test has been Wyoming’s standardized academic achievement test, given annually to 4th, 8th, and 11th graders around the state. Standardized tests allow educators and policy makers to assess achievement trends, and compare one district’s performance to others around the state. Critics worry that test results are not necessarily indicative of educational quality.

Comment: Although only around 50-60 percent of the Teton County students taking the WYCAS tests each year score “Proficient” or “Advanced,” this is a much higher proportion than the state average. Due to widespread concerns, the WYCAS test will no longer be offered, and is instead being replaced by a new standardized test called PAWS.

A3. SAT & ACT Scores

Rationale: SAT & ACT test scores are perhaps the nationwide standard for assessing college preparedness, although research suggests test scores do not correlate to how well a matriculated student actually performs in his or her college career.

For the Teton County School District, the scores are as follows:

A3. Teton County School District high school graduation rate

Rationale: A high school education provides the foundation for young adults to be thoughtful, engaged members of society. High school graduation rate is a traditional indicator for evaluating school systems.

Comment: Teton County’s graduation rate includes students attending both Jackson Hole High School and Summit High School (formerly known as the Western Wyoming High School). In 2003-04, Wyoming’s statewide graduation rate was 79.3 percent (v. 88 percent for Teton County).

A4. Teacher experience and turnover

Rationale: Committed and experienced teachers are a cornerstone of educational systems. Mean years of experience is one measure of teacher commitment and experience. If there is high turnover or lack of experience, it is probably an indicator that students are not getting the quality of education that they might otherwise receive. Teacher turnover is linked to a number of factors, including retirement and pursuit of other employment.

Comment: The data represent the mean experience of all public school teachers in both Wyoming and Teton County specifically. Teton County’s school system turned over 16 percent of its teachers between the 2003-04 and 2004-05 school years. (Source: Wyoming Department of Education)

B. Continuing Education

B1. Participation in continuing education programs

Rationale: Having the opportunity to pursue educational pursuits beyond high school helps develop an informed community. Additionally, the availability of educational events or classes gives community members the opportunity to more easily enrich their personal interests and skills.

Comment: Many groups in Teton County provide continuing education. Some are included in other chapters (such as Arts); others we hope to gather data on in upcoming years. An additional complication is the question of how to define an educational experience. Is it a single class or a course over several months? What about people learning things on their own? Such questions face all researchers attempting to understand education.

B1a. Participation in Teton Science School Programs

Comment: The Kelly Campus of the Teton Science Schools offers a variety of educational programs focusing on the natural history and ecology of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, ranging from one-day to multi-day courses for both kids and adults, The drop in participation in 2002-2003 resulted from a change in programming due to funding restrictions.

B1b. Participation in Central Wyoming College Offerings

Comment: During the 2003-2004 school year, 60 teacher-taught outreach college credit classes were offered, such as art, biology, math, computer literacy, and nursing. 100 community service classes were offered including hunter safety, guitar, private pilot, Spanish, and parenting. It is interesting to note the jump in online learning, an option that help mitigate the lack of higher-education institutions in Jackson.

B1c. Participation in Grand Teton National Park Interpretation/Education programs

Comment: For the fiscal year of 2003-2004, the Grand Teton National Park Community Outreach/Education Programs department recorded 6,094 participants in either Teton Interagency Fire Management or Division of Interpretation programs. This number reflects the park’s community outreach efforts, and stands in contrast to the educational opportunity experienced by park visitors when they interact with a ranger or other park staff (this latter number is shown in the appendix).

B1d. Participation in Teton County Library programs

Comment: The library is a valuable community resource, providing both adult and children’s programming as well as computer classes in English and Spanish. Data reflect participation in all these activities. Perhaps as valuable as attendance numbers would be the number of people on waiting lists for classes or programs, as this indicates where facilities are falling short of demand. These numbers are not yet available.

B1e. Participation in Teton Literacy Program

Rationale: The Teton Literacy Program is a non-profit organization providing English language tutoring services, with a goal that all Teton County residents can achieve functional English reading, writing, and speaking skills. The Teton Literacy Program offers a variety of programs for children and adults, including one-on-one tutoring for children and adults, ESL (English as a second language) classes, and the I Can! Book Project, which is focused on turning second graders into authors.

Comment: The growing numbers of students enrolled in Teton Literacy programs is in part a function of Jackson Hole’s growing Latino community, and in part a function of the Learning Center’s increased acceptance by, and expanding presence among, local Latinos.

C. Percentage of adults with college degrees

Rationale: It is generally accepted that adults with post-high school degrees enjoy a higher standard of living and economic well-being. A more highly-educated populace also tends to have higher expectations of local educational institutions.

Comment: These data include only those with a degree from a four-year institution (i.e. the data don’t include those with a two-year Associate of Arts degree, or those who attended a four-year institution but did not graduate). The number of adults with college degrees in Teton County increased 66% between 1990 and 2000, one of the fastest rates in the nation. Census data indicates that the age group from 35-44 is the most highly educated in Teton County.

IV. Wish List

           •           Number of students leaving Teton County for preparatory school elsewhere
           •           Number of students participating in after-school activities, such as clubs,
                       volunteering, sports, and employment
           •           Number of school-age youth not enrolled in school
           •           Growth in demand for tutoring services
           •           Student-teacher ratios
           •           Number of students pursuing independent study at the high school
           •           Number of graduates returning to Jackson after post-secondary education
           •           Number of students getting into their first or second choice university
           •           Number of and enrollment in recreation skills courses taught by local
                       businesses, non-profits, and governmental organizations.

V. Statement of Ideal

Teton County residents will be able to pursue educational opportunities that they desire,

           in a timely fashion, taught in the manner best suited to their learning style.

Comment: As viewed by the Education Working Group, education in Jackson Hole spans all ages, academic and non-academic subjects, and traditional and non-traditional ways of teaching.

Given this diversity, there are no uniform ways across all educational experiences to assess the performance of either the educator or the student. In such a circumstance, the only practical focus of a Statement of Ideal must be on the student: is the student getting the type of education the student (and/or the student’s parent) wants, at the time it is desired, in the manner best suited for that student’s learning style? This reflects the Working Group’s belief that, in an ideal world, each student’s education would be completely customized to perfectly meet each student’s specific way of learning.

Until such a goal is reached, the working group believes that the best indicator of the success of any particular approach to education is, essentially, the verdict of the market: is a particular approach to education attracting more or fewer students? Is the school and/or teacher able to achieve their goals for their students? If enrollments are rising, and/or if a teacher is meeting his or her personal goals, this is a reasonable indicator of success. Conversely, if enrollments are declining, and/or a teacher is not meeting his or her personal goals, it is a reasonable indicator of difficulties.

The 2005 Sustaining Jackson Hole working group had a robust discussion of the inclusion of “visitors” in the statement of ideal. The consensus opinion was that, for two reasons, this was not necessary. First, most educational programs cater to residents. Second, if the educational needs of residents are satisfied, it is highly probably that visitors’ needs will also be met.

Ideal Indicators/Additional Steps Needed:

To gauge progress toward Ideal, Teton County’s Education community in general needs to develop a central repository for tracking all educational opportunities offered locally.

In order to judge how well the individual components of the Statement of Ideal are being met a combined effort would need to be made between the central repository and every individual learning organization to establish mechanisms for tracking how well extant programs suit residents’ needs and wants, what additional offerings and approaches to learning residents would like to see.

It can be argued that the growth in the number and variety of learning modalities (e.g. the growth in home schooling, and the advent of the Community Bible School, the Journeys School, and the Community School) reflects the changing demands of the community, in particular is an attempt to provide residents with educational opportunities best suited to their learning styles. Changes in the number and types of educational opportunities and institutions can serve as a rough proxy for how well the community is responding to residents’ desires for a variety of learning opportunities taught in different ways.

Additionally, with regards to primary and secondary schooling, ideally we would be able to measure how well a student was prepared for his or her next educational endeavor. Proxies for this measurement are already available through kindergarten readiness assessments; however, there is no way to gauge how well students are prepared or doing at the post-secondary level. These data would indicate where the secondary school system may be lacking.

VI. Action Component

The education group will tackle the question of how to count educational experiences in a uniform way. The first part of this discussion will determine of whether this project is feasible, given the myriad of data collection methods already used. However, these data would give organizations an opportunity and mechanism to see how they are growing relative to other educational institutions. Components of this project may also include assessing how much money is spent on education in Teton County, through each organization or institution. Another example is in the number of students served – the Teton Literacy Program counts each student once, regardless of whether they are participating in more then one program. Such uniform measures would provide a more accurate means of assessing the status of education in Teton County.