Wyoming has a lot to offer the national discussion on education, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told state legislators, educators and students at Casper College Friday.

Duncan is touring the country to gather opinions and advice about what works and what doesn't in education. His stops in Glenrock and Casper addressed problems that affect all levels of education, including student assessment, teacher pay and the upcoming reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act.

U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., escorted Duncan to a roundtable talk about rural education at Grant Elementary School in Glenrock and a panel discussion on higher education at Casper College. Although from different sides of the political divide -- Republican Enzi and Democratic presidential cabinet member Duncan -- partisanship never appeared in discussion.

"This is the issue we can come together on," Duncan said.

Enzi said he first met Duncan when he was superintendent of the Chicago public schools, a district with more than 400,000 students. Quite the opposite, Converse County School District 2 serves 7,000 students. District and school officials immediately pointed out that Grant Elementary and CCSD weren't rural by Wyoming standards.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jim McBride said Wyoming could benefit from relaxation with No Child Left Behind.

"We have 87,000 kids in the state with 27 districts less than 1,000 students," McBride said.

Duncan told educators that he would prefer assessing growth to absolute assessment under No Child Left Behind. He said having the best third-grade test scores loses meaning when there's a high high school dropout rate.

"[With absolute testing] kids way ahead don't get pushed, and the kids way behind don't as well," Duncan said.

With every question, Duncan asked what advice or solutions could come from the problem. Teachers and administrators said they struggle most with parent involvement, which they said is largely out of their control. Educators said they were proud of the community spirit and community-wide relationships Wyoming education creates.

Duncan met briefly with fourth-grade students who had just finished a math lesson taught on a computer-projection board.

"I love your school," he said. "You're lucky. There are lots of kids going to schools that are 150 years old."

Duncan continued "listening and learning" at Casper College, talking primarily with college administrators and college students. Wyoming community college presidents testified of the distance-access problem among the state's seven colleges. For example, Central Wyoming College in Riverton is separated from its Jackson campus by the Continental Divide and related natural elements, said President Jo Anne McFarland.

"When we're talking about access, we're talking about physical access," McFarland said. "But I also think we need greater cyber access."

Duncan said the federal government needs to "come out of their silos" and work together across departments to improve education. In July, President Barack Obama announced a $12 billion plan to increase community college graduates by 5 million by 2020.

"The community college system here is among the best in the country," Duncan said. "We recognize this has been an underrecognized asset, an underrecognized resource."

Community colleges are often the only higher education resource for people in Wyoming, McFarland said.

Student LaRon Coleman commutes from Casper to the University of Wyoming two days a week and said he knows several students who do the same. He told Duncan that he'd like to see more online courses and institutional support for programs such as the TEACH grant for teachers who work with low-income students.

"I feel like he was objectively hearing what people have to stay and acting on it," UW student LaRon Coleman said.

Reach education reporter Jackie Borchardt at (307) 266-0593 or at jackie.borchardt@trib.com. Read her education blog at tribtown.trib.com/reportcard.