Wyoming’s Career Technical Education (CTE) team is committed to ensuring more non-traditional learners, as defined by the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins V), can access and succeed in CTE programs across the state. Closing those participation gaps starts with data.

To increase data literacy across the CTE field, Wyoming turned to Advance CTE’s Intensive Opportunity Gap Analysis (IOGA) workshop for the tools to build a foundation of collaboration and capacity-building, and to connect data to existing structures. Eighteen months later, Wyoming had gone from their first introduction to the gap analysis process to leading statewide convenings, building data capacity across the CTE field, and setting the stage for gap analysis practices to be embedded directly into the state’s CLNA cycle. Here’s how they did it.

The Starting Point

Wyoming’s goals were to:

• Support state and local leaders to close access gaps in Perkins V Measure 4S1: Non-Traditional Program Concentration (Non-Trad) statewide;
• Grow the capacity of state and local leaders to read, understand, and act on CTE data; and
• Incorporate Advance CTE gap analysis practices into the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) process to assess and plan for increasing participation in CTE statewide.

That’s what brought the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) to Advance CTE’s IOGA cohort—an 18-month, one-on-one technical assistance initiative designed to help states leverage their strengths to set and achieve goals around CTE data awareness. In September 2024, Wyoming joined Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico in the cohort, each working alongside an Advance CTE coach with direct support, professional development, and shared quarterly check-ins to meet their state’s unique goals for increasing their CTE community’s awareness of learner access to available programs.

Before they could bring knowledge to local leaders, the state CTE team and data specialist needed to build their own foundation. In early 2025, they completed a one-on-one training with Advance CTE on the gap analysis process—setting the stage for a larger convening of local CTE leaders to take place as a pre-session to the annual Wyoming Association for Career and Technical Education (WACTE) conference in June 2025.

Advance CTE brought together more than 25 local administrators and educators for a two-day, in-depth workshop focused on examining district-level data through the gap analysis process. The format was intentional: participants worked directly with their own district data, not hypothetical examples, building the habit of asking what the data actually shows rather than relying on assumptions. Throughout the workshop, the WDE team actively facilitated breakout sessions, strengthened relationships with local stakeholders, and gained a deeper understanding of participants’ perspectives on data and their experiences using it to inform decisionmaking.

Participants noticed the difference:

“I appreciate the step-by-step analysis of MY district’s data. Very informative. I appreciate being able to learn more and how accessible everyone makes themselves.”

“The networking opportunity for sharing best practices across the state was excellent.”

Building from Initial Success

Building off the breakthroughs and enthusiasm the June convening generated, the Wyoming CTE team planned and coordinated a second convening in October 2025. This second set of in-depth data workshops was designed to let secondary and postsecondary CTE leaders from around the state collaborate in real time on their CLNA reports and documentation.

Day one drew 30 participants from across the state. Discussions centered on moving beyond assumptions and preconceived notions to develop a clearer, evidence-based understanding of what the data were actually revealing about program participation and outcomes. 

Participants were encouraged to critically examine their perceptions and compare them with the realities reflected in the data, fostering meaningful reflection and deeper insight into local CTE program access. Day two, with the inclusion of the CLNA collaborative session, expanded to roughly 50 CTE leaders from across Wyoming coming together to analyze, synthesize, and strategize based on the outcomes presented in their local CTE data. The Wyoming state team led the way during both days, structuring discussions and guiding questions to evoke thoughtful problem-solving and partnership across local education agencies (LEAs).

“I appreciated the opportunity to learn alongside other district and post-secondary friends. It was meaningful to hear their challenges and ways for addressing them.”

“I had the opportunity to work shoulder-to-shoulder with my institutional research (IR) director. We are working together to build a dashboard for our CTE faculty to use this data in real-time. Thank you for providing us with our own data to learn from.”

Together, the June and October convenings moved Wyoming’s CTE field meaningfully toward each of their original goals:

• Closing access gaps in Perkins V Measure 4S1: Local leaders left with a clearer, evidence-based picture of where non-traditional learners weren’t being reached in their programs;
• Growing data capacity across the CTE field: State and local leaders alike built the skills to read, understand, and act on their own district data; and
• Embedding OGA into the CLNA process: The October convening directly integrated gap analysis into required CLNA documentation work, in real time.

Building for the Long Term

To harness the enthusiasm and collaborative spirit created during their first year of training, the Wyoming state team is focused on making the OGA process a permanent fixture of how its CTE system operates—not person-dependent, but systems-oriented for long-term impact at both secondary and postsecondary levels.

Currently, they are working toward:

• Targeted support for districts that have identified access gaps through their most recent CLNA, with resources focused on closing non-traditional participation gaps in CTE programs across the state;
• Annual OGA training for new CTE leaders to ensure continued understanding and use of the gap analysis process;
• Biennial CLNA convenings for all secondary and postsecondary CTE leadership to come together and complete their required documentation; and
• Expanded data tracking to include the full range of subgroups and special populations identified in Perkins V.

Across Wyoming, the initial OGA workshops have set the groundwork for impact on local administrators, CTE educators, and learners—using the gap analysis process to drive problem-solving and decisionmaking from the state to the school level.

Up Next: New Mexico

Next up, the spotlight shifts to New Mexico and their work on:

• Strengthening policies and practices focused on CTE data collection, reporting, and access for local leaders; 
• Updating statewide definitions and program guidance resources; and
• Increasing low-lift training and professional development opportunities through the usage of plug-and-play Advance CTE materials and assets. 

If your state is interested in participating in an OGA workshop or refresher, reach out via the Advance CTE Technical Assistance Request Form.