We have posted an updated Program Narrative Template for Districts and Cooperatives. Please use this template to build your own district program narrative. If you have already submitted your draft for review to Kimber, you do not need to resubmit. You can update and make any corrections after it has been reviewed. Reviews of submitted Program Narratives are happening now!
Questions regarding the Program Narrative, please contact Kimber Emmons at 406-444-3124 or at kimberlea.emmons@mt.gov.
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
Upcoming MAEP Professional Development on Transition:
January 28-29, 2026 | Join us for a virtual, two-day (8:30-3:30) training designed to equip Montana educators with practical strategies to support secondary and post-secondary students through effective transition planning.
Participants will explore student-centered assessments and evidence-based practices that increase student independence across school, personal, and community routines preparing learners for successful, fulfilling adult lives. This interactive training highlights resources to design meaningful transition plans that align with each student’s post-secondary goals in collaboration with the educational team.
Attendees will learn how to coordinate and deliver targeted transition activities that foster employability, independent living, and self-determination, helping students make measurable progress toward life after graduation.
All Montana educators who attend will receive access to FREE STAR Autism Support tools and resources to extend learning and implementation after the workshop.
Online | Feb.11 @ 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Plan and adapt student goals through school transitions with strategies that build functional skills and independence.
Treatment goals that are set for the individuals we work with often vary depending on, their age, 'ability' and who creates their goals. As learners develop, their skill sets expand and evolve creating the need to reassess these goals. This talk looks at the challenges transitioning presents from one age to the next and discusses planning for teaching functional skills. We will also look at how behavior analysts can use the principles of our applied science to define, apply, and facilitate success across variable settings encountered in adolescence.
Learner Objectives
- Define the population, and challenges for achieving independence
- Identify role of the behavior analyst within the adolescent population in transition
- Evaluate social significance of skills and provide examples of functional lessons
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Presented by Carrie Cole, Side-by-Side Consulting
3-Part Series | 4:00 - 6:00 PM | VIRTUAL
- January 13, 2026: Science of Reading for Grades 4-12: What Every Teacher Should Know
- January 20, 2026: Building Reading Foundations and Vocabulary Across Content Areas
- January 27, 2026: Boosting Literacy with Informational Reading and Writing Strategies
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- Presented by Stephanie Lester
- Tuesday, December 2, 2025
- 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
- Polson, MT Red Lion Ridgewater
The Far-Reaching Impact of Supporting the Development of Executive Functions throughout your daily routines. If you have ever wondered why some children just seem to need one more explanation, one more prompt, one more example before understanding an assignment. If you have found yourself saying,” You knew this yesterday, why don’t you know it today?” If you can predict which students will need transition support and which students will struggle with auditory directions, then this is the training for you. Adaptable thinking, planning, self-monitoring, self-control, working memory, time management, and organization are all executive functioning skills that can be encouraged in learning environments. Research supports intentionally providing guidance and experiences that encourage the development of those executive functioning skills in young children.
- Define executive functioning and the role it plays in a child’s development.
- Identify the three categories of executive functions
- Identify the connection between executive functions and the key indicators.
- Explain how executive functioning impacts literacy and math skills as well as social skills.
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Identify and prioritize strategies and resources to promote the development of specific executive functioning skills in young children.
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- Wednesday January 28, 2026
- 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
- Hampton Inn Kalispell, MT
- Presented by Stephanie Lester
Ready to close math gaps and boost student success? Join us for a powerful day of learning where you'll walk away with practical strategies, ready-to-use resources, and the confidence to deliver targeted math interventions that make a real difference!
This full-day training is designed to equip educators with practical, evidence-based strategies to support students in grades 3–6 who are performing below proficiency in mathematics. Grounded in the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework, this session provides a deep dive into how to use data to inform instruction, implement Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions, differentiate core instruction, and monitor progress consistently to ensure interventions are working. Educators will engage in hands-on learning, collaborative discussions, and resource exploration, all focused on building strong foundations in number sense, operations, fractions, and problem-solving. Teachers will leave with ready-to-use tools for small group instruction, progress monitoring templates, and actionable plans to accelerate math achievement for all learners.
- Presented by Dr. Laurie Swineford Thompson, CCC, SLP
- Wednesday, December 10, 2025
- 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
- 1140 2nd Street West Kalispell, MT 59901 Hampton Inn
Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is one of the most common, yet often under-identified, communication disorders in children. Children with DLD experience persistent difficulties in understanding and/or using language, and these challenges significantly impact learning, literacy, social-emotional development, and long-term academic outcomes. This session will begin with an overview of DLD, including key diagnostic features, prevalence, and points of overlap with other developmental and learning challenges, then take a deeper dive into the unique needs of elementary school–aged children with a focus on evidence-based strategies and interventions that speech-language pathologists and special education staff and educators can integrate into daily practice for children with DLD.
- Friday, January 9, 2026
- 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM
- Sleep Inn, Miles City, MT
- Presented by Dori Phillips
This event is targeted to grades 3-6, Title, Special Education, and all interested in learning more on Teaching and Learning Fractions through Discovery And Reasoning. Are you ready to re-learn fractions? In this hand-on, highly interactive workshop, you will learn how to understand and teach fractions in a whole new way! Fractions are numbers. We can count fractions just like we count numbers. We need fractions to help us represent amounts between whole numbers. Students must understand benchmark fractions, numerators, denominators, the importance of the “whole” and then use these skills to reason and explain their understanding. We will look at student misconceptions in all areas of fractions and learn how to correct this. The skills included are also helpful for older students who still do not understand fractions and how to work with them.
Skills covered include: equal parts, unit fractions, benchmark fractions, what is a “whole”, fractions of a set, equivalent fractions, mixed numbers, use number lines to understand fractions, comparing and ordering fractions, adding and subtracting fractions, and multiplying and dividing fractions.
Learning Targets:
- Learners will practice activities to teach fractions using examples and counterexamples.
- Learners will practice skills to help students understand fractions at a deeper level.
- Learners will use words and phrases to help students understand their own knowledge of fractions.
Participants will have a full day of “make and take” activities. Plan to put your computers away and be a learner yourself!
Materials to bring: markers or colored pencils, scissors, glue stick
Presented by Dr. Keith Radley
Two upcoming dates/locations:
- Tuesday, February 10, 2026
- 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
- Staybridge Inn & Suites, Missoula
- Wednesday, February 11, 2026
- 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
- Hampton Inn, Kalispell, MT
This session is designed to equip school personnel with the knowledge and practical tools necessary to support students with disabilities, particularly those with developmental disabilities (e.g., autism, intellectual disability) in their transition from school to successful employment. We will move beyond traditional academic preparation to focus on hard (e.g., technical) and soft (e.g., social) skills that are critical for obtaining and maintaining meaningful work. Participants will explore the unique strengths and challenges these individuals may experience in the workplace and learn how to effectively identify, assess, and foster the skills that lead to employment success and satisfaction. The session will emphasize a strengths-based approach to transition planning, providing actionable strategies that can be immediately implemented in the classroom and other educational settings.
Learning Objectives:
- Define and differentiate between hard and soft skills required in today's workplace.
- Identify the common strengths and potential challenges of individuals with developmental disabilities related to employment skills.
- Utilize a variety of formal and informal assessment tools to create a comprehensive skills profile for individual students.
- Develop targeted intervention strategies and instructional methods to build critical hard and soft skills, with skill selection being informed by assessment.
 Special Education Professional Development
OPI has contracted with LRP Publications for Montana’s use of their LRP Direct Step online professional learning modules for Montana districts. Access to these modules is available to all Montana public school employees for FREE!
Create an account and start accessing the LRP Modules today.
Licensed educators can receive OPI Professional Learning Units for modules designed for teachers and administrators, to receive PLUs, please complete this form.
Special Education Paraprofessionals:
The OPI Special Education Team and Dawson Community College are excited to celebrate the growing success of the Para Pathways Project!
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 the Para Pathways Project on our website. For any questions regarding the Special Education Technician program, please contact DCCParaPathways@dawson.edu or Anne.Carpenter2@mt.gov.
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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