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Honoring MAST Participating Districts
Ninety-three districts, 212 schools, and approximately 30,000 students from across Montana are playing an active role in driving innovative change in statewide testing.
In its second year of piloting, the MAST assessment will operationalize as the statewide assessment for grades 3-8 in math and ELA in SY 2024-2025.
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This innovative assessment offers flexibility in test administration, delivers timely feedback on student learning to enhance instructional utility, and assesses students more closely when learning occurs. In addition to its instructional utility, the MAST assessment will also produce a summative score that will be utilized for federal accountability purposes.
The OPI extends sincere appreciation for the collaborative efforts of all MAST stakeholders and acknowledges the substantial contributions they've made to developing this Montana-made assessment. We highly value the feedback provided by participating districts and commend their flexibility as we utilize this feedback to refine and innovate this assessment.
Upcoming Events:
- Live Listening/Feedback Cycles will be scheduled throughout the school year to ensure continuous improvement of the MAST. These sessions will serve as an opportunity for districts to share feedback, suggestions, and experiences to help enhance the usability of the MAST. We value our participating district’s input and encourage participation in these live listening/feedback sessions. The fourth live listening/feedback session is scheduled for April 9th from 4:00-4:30 pm. A Zoom link will be shared in the weekly outreach to participating district STCs and ARs.
- MAST Form B Participating Districts will participate in Live Q&A Sessions with testing partners, New Meridian and the University of Kansas’s Assessment & Technology Solutions (ATS) to receive support and guidance in preparation for their April 15 - May 10, 2024 testing window. All Zoom links & resources from these trainings will be hosted on the OPI MAST webpage under Yr. 2 MAST Form B Resources
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Session 1: Program and Product Design Mar. 12th from 3:30-4:00 pm
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Session 2: Installing, Rostering, and Entering PNPs Support Mar. 26th from 3:30-4:00 pm
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Session 3: Final Preparations: Additional install, rostering, and entering PNP support Apr. 9th from 3:30-4:00 pm
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Montana MAST Road Show The OPI is excited to invite you to participate in the upcoming MAST Road Show happening throughout Montana April 2 - 12, 2024. This event presents a fantastic opportunity for districts to delve deeper into the Montana Aligned to Standards Through-Year (MAST) assessment and its statewide implementation for the 2024-2025 school year. During the MAST Road Show, both the OPI and New Meridian teams will offer comprehensive insights into the various components of MAST, including its purpose and design. Tailored specifically for Montana stakeholders involved in grades 3-8 assessments, this in-person event serves as a crucial preparatory step for MAST's statewide rollout in the 2024-2025 school year. Save the date for the upcoming event in a location near you. Please REGISTER HERE. We look forward to seeing you there!
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April Focused Monthly Webinar: Gearing Up for SY24-25 MAST The OPI Assessment Unit offers a 1-hour webinar once a month from September to June annually for a total of 10 webinars during the school year. These focused webinars are designed to support educational practitioners involved in managing district assessments, accountability, and reporting requirements under state and federal law. Webinars include a 30–40-minute presentation on a time-sensitive assessment topic, a 15-minute “Learning Lab” demonstration of a key assessment task, and end with time for participants to ask the OPI Assessment Team any questions pertaining to state assessments. Join us for our monthly focused webinar on April 10, 2024, from 3:30-4:30 pm, where we'll delve into comprehensive information designed to assist districts in preparing for the MAST assessment to replace the Smarter Balanced Assessment in 2024-2025. Please REGISTER HERE. We are excited to provide support to Montana's districts as we lead the way in operationalizing a through-year assessment.
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Montana OPI Summer Institute You're invited to the OPI Summer Institute scheduled for June 17-20, 2024! Join us for dedicated sessions spotlighting educational innovation with the Montana Aligned to Standards Through-Year (MAST) Assessment—a transformative approach to assessment that aligns with our commitment to enhancing learning and teaching experiences across Montana. As the MAST progresses through its second year of pilot (SY23-24), it represents a significant step towards using assessment to support student learning and achievement. This innovative assessment, structured as a through-year model, is designed to assess content standards aligned closely with the timing of content learning in the classroom. Its primary goals include providing instructional utility and generating a summative score for federal accountability purposes. MAST is on track to operationalize as the statewide assessment for Montana's general populations in grades 3-8 for ELA and Math, scheduled to replace Smarter Balanced in 2024-2025. Registration coming soon on the OPI Summer Institute webpage.
Montana MAST Through-Year Assessment Summit
The OPI extends heartfelt gratitude to all who attended and actively participated in the February MAST Summit. Your engagement and contributions were invaluable in shaping the discourse and driving progress within the educational landscape. By coming together to share insights, experiences, and innovative ideas, we collectively advance toward our shared goal of enhancing assessment practices to better serve students and educators alike. Your dedication and collaboration are truly appreciated, and we look forward to continued partnership in our ongoing efforts to foster excellence in education.
If you would like to access recordings of the MAST Summit sessions, navigate to this link. Sessions are organized to support 23-24 MAST Pilot Through-Year districts, 23-24 MAST Pilot Form B districts, and New-to-MAST districts.
Stakeholder Engagement Opportunities
The development of an innovative assessment necessitates ongoing user feedback throughout the development cycle. In our endeavor to create MAST, our testing partner, New Meridian, has devised a comprehensive user feedback schedule. This framework will guide the collection, analysis, and integration of user input. By fostering a dynamic feedback loop, we aim to continuously refine the assessment, drawing upon your invaluable insights.
The Montana OPI and New Meridian cordially invite school districts to participate in shaping the future of state assessment. We urge you to lend your voice to this transformative initiative, helping to enhance assessment practices and better serve all students. Here are some ways you can get involved:
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Educator Item Review & Range-finding Cadres: Teachers, instructional coaches, administrators, and other specialists can directly participate in the test development process through select committees. These committees meet at a specified date and time to review test content and help determine scoring parameters for performance tasks. These may be held in person or virtually, depending on the meeting.
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User Interviews: Share your insights and feedback on various aspects of testlet configuration, reporting, and testlet design through individual interviews.
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Focus Groups: Join focus groups aimed at discussing specific components of the assessment and providing input for improvement.
To sign up for any of these opportunities, please visit the MAST Engagement Opportunities website.
Questions?
Please contact Tressa Graveley, Assessment Specialist
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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