Score Reports are available to districts in the online reporting systems

Dear Educational Partners,

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted most aspects of education in the 2020-2021 school year, including annual statewide assessment. Although testing alone can't provide a full measure of student success, when combined with other local achievement indicators it can be a powerful tool for targeting resources like access to technology. State assessment results provide information to the public and families that supports the educational needs and processes at the local and state level. We commend Montana schools for their focus on putting students first and for the manner in which they prioritized the safety, health, and well-being of every child this past academic year. We recognize that instructional circumstances and learning conditions were trying for students, families, educators, and communities, and we thank all stakeholders for doing their best to serve our students during these unprecedented times.

The purpose of this memo is for the Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) to provide local education agencies (LEAs) with notice of the:

• requirements for reporting at the local level;
• access to the 2020-2021 assessment results;
• instructions on what data and reports are available in each of the online reporting systems;
• available state and LEA resources to support data use and process needs; and
• resources that are available to share with families.

Please explore the various links embedded throughout this memo to access the state published resources and the OPI’s suggested strategies for LEAs for the appropriate use of assessment data this year in light of the pandemic.

Should you have questions about the data use and reporting for statewide assessments, please contact the OPI Assessment Help Desk at 1.844.867.2569, or email us:OPIAssessmentHelpDesk@mt.gov. 

Linked Resources

1. March 26, 2021 - Federal Accountability and Reporting Waiver
2. Montana’s Longitudinal Data Warehouse (GEMS)
3. One Pager on Learning Disruptions, Test Modifications, and Opportunity Differences
4. School District Reporting Roles and Responsibilities Memo
5. LEA Sample Assessment Results 20-21 PowerPoint
6. LEA Sample Letter to Educators on 20-21 Assessment Results
7. Smarter Balanced Score Reports and Timeline
8. ACT Score Reports and Timeline
9. MSAA Reports and Timeline
10. ACCESS for ELLs Score Reports and Timeline
11. MSA Score Reports and Timeline
12. AMSA Score Reports and Timeline

Reporting

The OPI’s state assessments and accountability systems play an important role in advancing educational equity, but in order to offer flexibilities to Montana schools this past year, the OPI worked with its federal partners to secure a waiver that granted some relief in the federal requirements for how assessment data would be used within the accountability and school identification process. With lower and more variable participation rates than in past years, the results are solely being used to inform the OPI’s ongoing work to improve the educational outcomes for every student across the state. The data will not be used for any school identification or accountability purpose. While the waiver removed some requirements, it also reinforced the importance of transparent reporting to families and the public. This includes a requirement at the state and local level to publicly report the percentage of students not assessed, disaggregated by student group. One of the ways that the OPI will use the data at the state level is to look at patterns of participation and proficiency in each subject for each student group in order to understand more about what opportunities were available to students statewide.

Data Use

In a typical year, the OPI uses data from summative state assessments in a variety of ways, including providing the public with information on student participation, proficiency, and progress to help monitor and address the needs of the educational system overall. These participation, proficiency, and progress reports are released in the summer in each online reporting system [links below] and in the fall within Montana’s longitudinal data warehouse (GEMS). As we reflect on the past year, the OPI wants to note a few of the ways in which the pandemic may have impacted the standard OPI and LEA data use plans. We caution data users in drawing conclusions or in making causal inferences unless they fully understand the local learning contexts these data represent. When we do understand the local context, we can use these data to glean helpful information by looking at performance at the local level. To learn more about what is different about state assessments this year, read the One Pager on Learning Disruptions, Test Modifications, and Opportunity Differences.

Communicating Results

To begin to understand the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the educational system, we recommend that LEAs access score reports and other student participation and performance data from each individual assessment. LEAs are responsible for providing families, teachers, and other school leaders with access to these reports as soon as practicable after the test administration (see Reporting Roles and Responsibilities Memo); therefore, to support these responsibilities, the OPI has created a sample PowerPoint that can be customized by the LEA and a sample letter that can be sent from the LEA to educators. Detailed information about the reports available for each assessment can be found in the links below.

The summative assessment results are one of several strategies across the learning continuum that Montana has employed to understand how students are performing academically in light of COVID-19. Only at the local level, with intimate knowledge of local learning contexts and the local impact of COVID-19 on communities, will these data be helpful to understand the impacts of the pandemic. As always, it is important to rely on multiple pieces of information to understand student achievement and academic needs. It is not appropriate to rely on one single data point to determine the proficiency of a child.

Careful use of 2020-2021 assessment data is one part of Montana's overall efforts to address the state’s COVID-19 recovery plans so our state and LEAs can create a stronger and more equitable education system for all learners. Federal funding will support schools by helping to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the “American Rescue Plan-Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ARP-ESSER)” is for Montana schools to safely reopen and sustain safe operations while meeting the academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs of students resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Assessment data is one example of information that the state and LEAs can use to address the academic impact and use evidence-based interventions for federal funding purposes.

Assessment Help Desk: 1-844-867-2569

The OPI is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation, require an alternate format, or have questions concerning accessibility, contact the OPI ADA Coordinator, 406-444-3161, opiada@mt.gov, Relay Service: 711.

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