Superintendents & Special Education Directors: Thank you for your continued efforts in getting out the Special Education Parent Involvement Survey.
Just a reminder that the survey is open until June 30th. We will compile responses and send out the full results in the fall. Please feel free to reach out with any questions to Patrick Cates, Patrick.Cates@mt.gov.
Register your team today for this year's OPI Summer Institute, June 16-19, 2025 hosted at Montana State University in Bozeman. Online Registration closes June 6. On-site registration available.
$69 Registration*
*Now includes on-campus parking with code through the Passport App. Campus housing and graduate credit available for a fee.
***PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS & COUNSELORS- Email Tamara.Lysons@mt.gov for a Link to Waive the Registration Fee
The Montana Center for Inclusive Education and Institute for Neurodiversity at Montana State University Billings (MSUB), in collaboration with the OPI Montana Autism Education Project, is pleased to host the first annual Mountain West Neurodiversity Conference at MSUB, September 19-20, 2025, with a pre-conference intensive behavior workshop for educators on September 18, 2025.
This is a free conference designed for educators, related service providers, families, and advocates. The conference will feature leading experts in the field alongside autistic and neurodiverse individuals, sharing their lived experiences, evidence-based approaches, and tools to support meaningful inclusion across educational and community settings. Vendor registration for MWNC is available here.
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Montana Autism Education Project
The OPI Montana Autism Education Project offers free autism trainings, technical assistance, and student consultations to Montana public schools.
Statewide Coordinator of the MAEP: Katie Mattingley
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The OPI Special Education Team and Dawson Community College are excited to celebrate the growing success of the Para Pathways Project and access to the online learning modules! The agency has contracted with LRP Publications for Montana’s use of their LRPDirectStep online professional learning modules. Access to these modules is available to all Montana public school district employees for FREE!
Special Education Paraprofessionals -
LEVEL 1: If you are currently working in a special education role for all or part of your day and interested in professional growth, you qualify for the incentive pay ($20/module) for the Special Education Technician set of modules. Completion of the identified 40 modules is also one of the pre-requisites to entering Dawson Community College’s (DCC) Special Education Technician Level 2 courses.
LEVEL 2: Take and pass 4 courses (13 credits) at Dawson Community College. Qualified paras are eligible for tuition payment via OPI, provided they meet the qualifications and have worked for at least 1,000 hours in a Montana public school with students with disabilities for a portion of their day.
Find more information on our website. For any questions regarding the Special Education Technician program, please contact DCCParaPathways@dawson.edu or Anne.Carpenter2@mt.gov.
June 2-4, 2025 | Richland County Extension Office | Sidney, MT
Presented by Stephanie Lester
June 2—Creating a Culture of Success: Building Engaging, Developmentally Appropriate Learning Environments for PK – 2nd Grade Students
June 3—Making It All Add Up: PreK-2 with interventions for 3-5th Grade Students
June 4—Science Inquiry: Unlocking the Scientist in EVERY Child! PK-5th Grade Students
June 10-12, 2025 | University of Montana Western - Dillon
June 10-12, 2025 | Polson, MT
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Dr. Keith Radley III- ABC's of Behavior, Behavioral Interventions, Practical Functional Assessment and Skill-Based Treatment
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Dr. Eliza Sorte Thomas- Early Learning Standards & Early Childhood, Develop Children’s Creativity Through Purposeful Planning
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Stephanie Lester- Math Engagement, Instructional Strategies, and Math Interventions sessions
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MT Empowerment Center & Partners- IEP Bootcamp
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Dr. Rob Watson, SAM- Facilitated Consensus for School Problem Solving
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Sara Cole- Personalized, Competency Based Education (PCBE)
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Dr. Tessie Rose Bailey- Increase Opportunities for Success & Instructional Practices for Accelerating Learning and Promoting Progress for Students with Disabilities & Struggling Learners
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"Rocket Rob" Reynolds- Google Data Tools & Management
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Carrie Cole- Laser Focused Literacy Instruction
Presented by Ginger Sleep & Michael Holland
June 12, 2025 | 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM | Virtual
Montana PBS is offering a 3 part series of virtual workshops for teachers to learn more about youth mental health from the Ken Burns documentary, Hiding in Plain Sight. Join us for a 3 part series to learn about youth mental health. We will engage in discussion with peers about strategies and resources for supporting students.
Wednesdays, June 18, June 25, and July 2 | 10am -12pm | Virtual
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June 18: Identification and Stigma
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June 25: Supporting Students in the Classroom with Mental Health
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July 2: Teacher Mental Health: Put Your Own Mask on First!
Presented by Dori Phillips
June 23, 2025 | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM | MSU-Billings, Center for Inclusive Education
June 23, 2025 | 1:00 - 3:00 PM | MSU-Billings, Center for Inclusive Education
June 24, 2025 | 8:30 - 3:30 PM | MSU-Billings, Center for Inclusive Education
Presented by Carrie Cole
June 25-26, 2025 | 9:00 AM-11:00 AM | Virtual
Presented by: Stephanie Lester
August 6, 2025 | 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM | Havre Best Western Inn & Suites
Part 1: Developing Children’s Number Sense
Part 2: Math EVERY Day for EVERY Child!
 DBC VIRTUAL CONFERENCE ON INTERVENERS
June 2, 2025
Each session will offer information about the role of the intervener, the support they provide, and tips from administrators on how they came to hire interveners.
10:15 AM - 4:15 PM Virtual Live sessions through Zoom!
Note: Each session will have a unique Zoom link. All sessions will be recorded and available upon request. You must register for each session separately.
Session 1: 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM Overview of Interveners and Intervention
Session 2: 11:30 - 12:30 PM Administrator Panel, Administrators Who Currently Employ Interveners
Session 3: 12:45 PM - 1:45 PM Parent Panel, Parents Whose Children Have Benefitted from Intervener Support
Session 4: 2:15 - 3:00 PM Key Elements of Training, Research on How Interveners Learn to Support Students Who are Deafblind.
Session 5: 3:15 - 4:15 PM Intervener Panel, Interveners Supporting Students Who Are Deafblind
Send any questions to: dbcen@cmich.edu
Dr. John Ravenscroft, CVI Scotland
When: Thursday, October 16th. 9;30-4:30 with a lunch break - food trucks will be on site.
Where: Butte Civic Center, Butte Montana
Cost: This event is free for a three state region: Montana, Wyoming, Idaho
Registration: Please register using the link Please know there are only 600 seats and this event will fill quickly. Register as soon as possible to save your seats.
This day course will:
1. Examine the intricate relationship between visual impairment and cerebral visual impairment (CVI) and delve into the visual challenges that children with CVI.
2. Explore the co-occurring disabilities that many children with CVI experience.
3. Highlight the problem of definitions, assessment, collaborative working with other professionals and will cover intervention strategies that are used.
4. We will look at the importance of understanding brain structures, so that we can focus on higher and lower processing of vision.
Attendees:
- Part C - FSS, Admin
- Part B - Gen ED, SPED, OT, PT, SLP, Para-Educators, Administrators
- Medical - Ophthalmologists, Optometrists, Pediatricians, Family Practice
- Families - Guardians and family members
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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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