LARAMIE -- The two girls argued.

"No, no, it's my turn," one girl said.

She read the large-print sentence in the bright, magazine-size book on the table in front of her.

The six first-graders were told to alternate reading sentences in groups of three. One student was pulled away from the table into the reading specialist's office. It was her turn for a regular assessment of her reading skills. Progress was then reported to the student's teacher.

While they were gone, one group stopped reading, started messing around. Principal Liann Brenneman happened to walk into the room. She knew the lesson. She stepped in and set them back on track. A few minutes later, the teacher returned and Brenneman handed over the lesson.

Staff members know what's going on in their building. At Spring Creek Elementary School, teachers meet to discuss data collected about individual students once a month. All students are assessed three times a year -- some more and some less. The school only gives assessments that drive instruction.

"If you don't know how students are doing, you don't know what to do," Brenneman said.

Teachers had to learn how to understand the tests, which was difficult for those who had been teaching for 20 to 30 years, said Debbie Bush, instructional facilitator at Slade Elementary School. The results were enough for some teachers to come around.

Albany County School District 1 has the highest graduation rate of Wyoming's top 10 largest schools -- and it has been going up for years. The district has made significant gains on the 11th-grade Performance Assessment for Wyoming Students. While most of the state struggles on the writing test, 11th-grade writing scores in the Albany County district jumped nearly 30 percentage points in two years, with 83.6 percent scoring proficient or advanced in 2008. More than half of the district's graduates receive Hathaway Scholarships based on academic merit.

These numbers don’t prove that the district is fully preparing students to leave school. But they do show that the district has been able to turn things around -- in a short amount of time.

The Microsoft model

One-third of the students at Slade Elementary leave the school every year.

Almost 40 percent receive assistance through the federal free- and reduced-price lunch program. The racial and ethnic makeup is diverse by Wyoming standards -- about 32 percent of students identify as Hispanic, black, Asian or American Indian.

Slade also boasts pretty high test scores, especially in math, where more than 90 percent of students tested proficient or advanced in third, fifth and sixth grades last year.

Slade does well because the teachers catch students early, said Principal Heather Moro. Slade students are regularly tested for progress and learn according to their needs. Teachers review test data constantly to determine what helps students. Faculty members discuss those needs at a monthly data team meeting.

Albany County District 1 had no internal method to test students for reading when Recht entered the district six years ago. The state WyCAS test, the predecessor to PAWS, measured achievement but not progress. Schools determined what information they needed and then found a system to collect the data they needed. Instead of waiting three years to make the change -- one year to research, one to pilot and one to implement -- they tried something different right away.

Throughout the district, change happens in response to problems -- immediately, Recht said. He likened the approach to that of technology companies. Problem happens, define needs, implement solution, assess success, repeat.

He also cut meetings by 50 percent and made teacher evaluations shorter, quicker and more flexible to give time back to teachers.

"When you overburden people, nothing gets accomplished," Recht said.

Each school operates as a small learning community. The district gives the schools the resources they need without asking many questions, because requests are usually data-based.

"We don't get caught up in things like other districts -- not policy, playgrounds," Recht said. "We focus on student learning."

The district has stayed close to the state funding model but hired more staff librarians because the district values the relationship between students and library resources, Recht said. When the district trimmed its budget, teachers stayed and materials were cut.

"The thing that improves achievement is the teacher and quality of teacher -- not the book in their hands," said Suzanne Perry, assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction and assessment. "It’s the way the teacher connects with a student."

Holding on to high school

Class was in session, but students walked between two classrooms in the upstairs hallway at Laramie High School.

The two classrooms were one course, the "Learning Support Center" -- a period when students spend more time studying math or English or make up missed work. LSC is many things, but it is not a study hall, said Principal Kim Sorenson.

The zero-credit course is offered every period of the day and capped at 17 students. Two teachers staff the course -- English and language arts are covered by one full-time teacher, and the math teacher changes every period. Students sign up to take the LSCs that correspond with their math classes.

LSC attracts both struggling students and successful students looking for some extra time to focus on academics, Sorenson said.

"4A kids are gone a lot," Sorenson said, referring to Laramie High's sports classification. "Almost 70 percent of our students are involved in at least one activity."

Many kids who would graduate early stay through their senior year because of athletics, Sorenson said. LSC helps them do it all -- successfully. LSC also provides extra time to relearn skills.

When students do fall behind, teachers do their best to catch them before they fail.

"We lose them as soon as they realize they won’t get semester credit or graduate with their class," Sorenson said.

Students who fail courses are scheduled for double blocks of the courses. For example, if a student fails freshman English, he would retake the class while taking 10th-grade English. At Laramie High, the student would take two semesters worth of freshman English in one semester. The student would then take a double block of 10th-grade English the following semester. Within one year, the student would have passed both and be back in 11th-grade English with his or her peers.

"Most schools reach a majority of their kids," Sorenson said. "It’s the 20 to 30 percent of kids that you have to come up with answers that work for 'A' kid."

There's one thing everybody in the building does: write.

The school instituted a building-wide writing rubric four years ago. Once a semester, students are graded on a piece of writing, according to the rubric. Teachers review the results with each student individually in a writing conference. Students write in every subject, even art and physical education. The secret to their high test scores: a positive attitude toward skills learned across subjects. Every teacher stresses the importance of what's learned in other classes, Sorenson said.

"You can be a brilliant scientist, but if you can’t get a sentence together, your brilliance goes away," Sorenson 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

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