The state known for its traditions of coal and cattle will be advancing a new tech sector this fall: computing. The University of Wyoming鈥檚 School of Computing will be opening as a centerpiece of the Wyoming Innovation Partnership, an initiative intended to build workforce resilience and boost the state鈥檚 economy. 

The initiative is not a move away from the state鈥檚 bread and butter industries, said former state Rep. Tyler Lindholm, who is now the Wyoming director for the Americans for Prosperity, a conservative political advocacy group. 

鈥淭hey鈥檙e the ones that have kept us alive for decades and decades, they鈥檙e our stalwart champions,鈥� Lindholm said. 鈥淏ut it also comes down to the fact that Wyoming exports our most natural precious resource, and that鈥檚 kids.鈥�

After graduating from high school and college,  their homes at some of the highest rates of out-of-state migration in the nation, although that slowed during the pandemic. Between 2014 and 2020, Wyoming鈥檚 millennial population 鈥� people ages 24 to 39 鈥� decreased by 6%, according to a . 

鈥淪o a lot of the ideology behind being tech forward, and figuring out a way to attract these businesses, is honestly [about] keeping our kids,鈥� Lindholm said.

Gov. Mark Gordon acted on this issue in 2021 by ordering the innovation parternship鈥檚 implementation using American Rescue Plan funds. The program focuses on driving statewide development through digital infrastructure and entrepreneurship. The efforts emphasize coordination between the state government, community colleges and UW. 

Teaching tech

The School of Computing, as a key component of the initiative, is billed as 鈥渁 hub of innovation and knowledge exchange providing UW students, faculty, and Wyoming businesses and citizens with a 鈥榖ackpack鈥� of computational tools and approaches to drive transformation.鈥� 

While the initiative is recent, Wyoming鈥檚 tech-forward movement began around 2016 while Lindholm was still in office. The state became the first in the nation to implement K-12 computer science education and led in pro-blockchain law. It remains 

The state also took a stride in computing efforts by bringing the  to Cheyenne in 2012. 

鈥淲yoming has really innovated in computing,鈥� said Gabrielle Allen, the computing school鈥檚 director. 鈥淚 think what we haven鈥檛 had is the ability to kind of pull that together to be really strategic in how that impacts the university and the state.鈥�

The way the state has coordinated the innovation partnership has garnered national attention, said UW President Ed Seidel, who is married to Allen. Seidel serves on the advanced scientific computing advisory committee for the Department of Energy. 

鈥淲e had people there from the White House talking particularly about the importance of all of these digital areas and artificial intelligence and how we have a national crisis and must invest,鈥� Seidel said at the June Board of Trustees meeting. 鈥淚鈥檓 able to hold up the fact that in Wyoming we have the whole state organized around this. It鈥檚 really getting a lot of attention on the national level.鈥� 

Top priority is deploying 鈥渘ew computing tools that are particularly relevant to solve the problems and the challenges and opportunities that we have in the state,鈥� Allen said. 鈥淲e have a lot of cool applications 鈥� that relate to the environment, the climate, weather, animal migration, controlled environment, agriculture, ranching.鈥� 

The school is designed as an interdisciplinary hub to reach the state鈥檚 varied markets and students in all academic areas through applied computing skills, the practice of integrating computer science with another discipline. 

Bryan Shader, a professor of mathematics selected by Seidel to organize UW faculty behind the school, said the academic unit is also focused on reaching students at different academic stages and interests. 

By providing an applied computing degree, 鈥渢hat allows a larger swath of students to be part of the computing field,鈥� Shader said. 鈥淪o computing is no longer just the purview of the people that want to be a computer scientist.鈥� 

Cashing in on education

Despite the school鈥檚 inclusive aspirations, Shader said it鈥檚 been a long process of getting people interested and invested in the school鈥檚 mission. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 partially a social and economic question,鈥� Shader said. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 dealing with change. I think you have to be really careful not to mandate anything or shove things down people鈥檚 throats. I鈥檓 a really strong believer that if people have an opportunity to see value added, and are welcomed to sit at the table, most people will find ways to seize opportunities.鈥�

With transferable computing skills, students can become entrepreneurs and business owners in the state, whether they鈥檙e from Sheridan, or Cody, or Jackson, Allen said. 鈥淲e want to show them that there are modern opportunities. But we need to build up that infrastructure.鈥� 

鈥淚 think that鈥檚 the importance of things like the Wyoming Innovation Partnership and the aims there, because we need a whole ecosystem,鈥� Allen said. 鈥淚鈥檝e spoken to small tech companies in the area who, who kind of have to maintain a part of their business in Colorado, for example, purely for workforce needs, and they would like to expand in Wyoming.鈥� 

Shader said he could name 15-20 Wyoming businesses looking to hire UW students with data science, AI and software development backgrounds. 

This fall, the school is gearing up to infuse Wyoming with a more computing-savvy workforce. During this inaugural year, undergraduate students will be able to pursue a minor in computing. Some 16 graduate computing scholars will interface with the school to help guide its growth and design. 

Right now, the school is implementing a Bachelor of Science in an applied software development degree as a program where students will begin their degree at one of the state鈥檚 community colleges and finish the program at the university. There are already 15 participating students at Sheridan Community College. 

Also in the works is a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Arts in applied computing. Eventually the school also hopes to offer a master鈥檚 in computing around AI and certificate course options. 

Aside from the formal programs, this fall the university will see the largest group of students 鈥� 220 鈥� take the school鈥檚 intro to computer science course, Shader said. 

鈥淚 do think that there鈥檚 a beginning sense amongst the students, that, hey, having some computing can benefit them, regardless of what their major is,鈥� Shader said. 

But developing a young tech workforce must be reinforced by a strong post grad market, Lindholm said. 

鈥淢y concern is, can we maintain this momentum, stay on top of our laws and stay hungry on this?鈥� Lindholm asked. 鈥淚f we can do that, if we can stay hungry, and stay on top of these laws and find new ways to advance our state economically, then really, Wyoming鈥檚 future is exceptionally bright.鈥�

聽is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.

Following years of underperformance and legislative wrangling, the Wyoming Department of Education has proposed a new set of rules for how the state鈥檚 public schools teach kindergarten through third-grade students how to read, and is seeking public input on the changes. 

Drafted in response to a  in state law, the rules are intended to raise reading proficiency levels by the end of third grade by improving assessment and intervention practices that identify and support students鈥� varied needs. 

This legislative debate over literacy laws began about five years ago, according to Rep. Landon Brown (R-Cheyenne), who chairs the Joint Education Committee. At that point, the Legislature proposed eliminating reading assessment instruments altogether. This came at the same time that on the American reading curriculum鈥檚 widespread failure to implement evidence-based instruction methods for early literacy. 

鈥淚n Wyoming we really have a K-12 and beyond literacy problem, but the major emphasis should remain in K-3,鈥� said Megan Hesser, parent advocate for Parents of Wyoming Readers and founder of Hesser Literacy Partners, an LLC offering consulting, coaching and private tutoring using evidence-based reading practices. 鈥淭he research out there shows that if you are not reading on grade level by the end of third grade, without some massive interventions, you will always be behind grade level, it doesn鈥檛 change. It鈥檚 the reason that the [National Assessment of Educational Progress] scores don鈥檛 change.鈥� 

The most recent NAEP tests reveal that not even  met or exceeded grade-level proficiency scores in 2022. These students face a significant risk of lifelong reading difficulties.

Instead of abolishing standing reading assessments, concerned constituents 鈥� mostly parents of struggling readers 鈥� began fighting to fortify K-3 literacy laws in the state. 

The  up for comment are a result of their years-long efforts. 

The Department of Education drafted the rules with input from a committee of stakeholders the agency selected to represent a composite of the state鈥檚 districts as well as a range of formal training and in-classroom experience. 

鈥淲e wanted a full range, so we have all the way from superintendents to curriculum directors to reading interventionists,鈥� WDE Chief Education Officer Shelly Hammel said. 鈥淓very single one of the individuals that participated in our stakeholder committee had been classroom teachers first and then moved into other roles.鈥�

The group also included those with special education and English-as-a-second-language backgrounds. 

The department will accept input  through July 31. Interested parties can also weigh in via virtual comment forums  from 5:30-7 p.m., or , from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. 

Literacy bedrock

Hesser became a leading advocate for better literacy legislation after her son fell behind in the classroom. For more than two years he struggled with undiagnosed dyslexia, dysgraphia, avoidance behavior and anxiety related to learning to read, she told the Joint Education Committee at its last meeting. 

The problem, she said, is much larger than test scores.

鈥淚t鈥檚 time that the education committee considers that there鈥檚 a link between K-3 literacy and mental health,鈥� Hesser said. 鈥淩eading is the root of a lot of these pieces that seem unrelated.鈥�

If you can鈥檛 read, she continued, 鈥渉ow are you going to fill out a job application? Or resume? And if you can鈥檛 do that, then how are you going to take care of yourself or your family? At some point, something鈥檚 got to give.鈥� 

Though Hesser responded to her family鈥檚 experience by earning a master鈥檚 degree in reading science, she said that parents and teachers were largely left out of the rules drafting process. She hopes they now participate in the reviewing process. 

鈥淭here鈥檚 so many families and teachers that don鈥檛 know what they don鈥檛 know,鈥� Hesser said.  

Committee co-chair Brown also said he would like to see the review process build a broader consensus base.

鈥淚 hope the parents that had been left behind [and] the parents that have had good processes in this system comment on this,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 hope that we have legislators that take note of this and understand exactly how important this is.鈥�

Rules roundup

The  regulate five key aspects of reading instruction:  

1. Screening: Establishes a list of approved screening instruments that districts can use to catch reading difficulties, defines the criteria that alternate screeners must meet and mandates that such assessments be administered three times per year. This section also provides for regulations interpretation and needs-based decision making processes. 
2. Evidence-based intervention and curriculum: Orders content standards for evidence-based core curriculum and establishes standards for remediation practices in the case of intervention. 
3. Individual reading plan and parental notification: Defines the process by which identified reading difficulties result in individual reading plans for students, and how both will be reported promptly to parents or guardians. 
4. Professional development: Defines the content and quantity of professional development districts will require of K-3 educators in evidence-based literacy instruction and the identification of reading difficulties. 
5. Reporting requirements and documentation: Establishes that all districts will record district literacy plans, individual learning plans and professional development practices; and will report to the WDE screener data, individual schools鈥� progress towards the goal of 85% of students reading on grade level and other documentation upon request. 

Looking forward

Hesser鈥檚 biggest concern going forward is implementation, she said. 

鈥淚 know there are pockets across the state that are a little bit resistant to what鈥檚 been happening, as far as these changes to the legislation have gone over the last handful of years,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o that鈥檚 always going to be my biggest concern,鈥� she said.

Brown notes these rules are a first attempt.

鈥淲e also need to make sure that we鈥檙e nimble enough that if this does not work, we need to be able to change our statute and change our rules package in a hurry to make sure that we鈥檙e identifying what鈥檚 wrong with our statute, what鈥檚 wrong with our rules to make sure that school districts and schools themselves are able to adapt as they need to,鈥� Brown said.聽

 is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.