 February 2026 - Vol. 4
 If you're new here, welcome! We are glad you are joining us and look forward to supporting you in your work with state assessment. If this is your first time reading the MAST Memo, we have shared a few editions of our new communication memo throughout the year, and more are on the way. Catch up on our previous issues here: October 2025 - Vol. 1; November 2025 - Vol. 2; December 2025 - Vol. 3.
With the school year moving quickly, Window 2 of MAST is well underway, and many schools across the state are nearing or even passing the halfway point. We appreciate the time, care, and professionalism you bring to this work and your ongoing commitment to supporting students.
The newest update within MAST is the introduction of Progress Reports. MAST Progress Reports provide information about cumulative student performance across the year. After Windows 1 and 2, each student is assigned a progress level that estimates achievement based on completed testlets.
We recognize that learning a new assessment system takes time, and we want to thank you for the ongoing feedback you share. Your questions and insights help us better understand how reports are being used in classrooms, where confusion may exist, and what support materials are most helpful. Being responsive to educator needs is a priority, and your feedback directly informs how we refine tools, guidance, and communication.
The Assessment Team has published a suite of support materials to help educators better understand the new Progress Reports, including how to interpret and communicate the information they provide.
The illustration below from the Progress Report Overview shows how estimated achievement ranges can be interpreted, helping clarify student progress at a glance.
Progress Reports Interpretive Guides
Thank you for your continued investment in student success!
- OPI Assessment & Standards, Instruction, and Professional Learning Teams
Quick Links:
Preparing for the Performance Task
✍️MAST Performance Tasks are included in Window 2. We have a variety of resources available to support educators in preparing for these tasks.
1. Review the ELA Assessment Specification Guide – Key Focus Areas and Task Details
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Pages 4–6: Outline the priority focus topics for each grade level. These highlight the skills and content students are expected to demonstrate in the performance task.
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Page 7: Details the Writing Performance Task testlet specifications, including the task structure, expectations, and scoring guidelines.
2. Writing Scoring Rubrics - Criteria for Consistent and Accurate Scoring
3. Exemplar Prompts - Sample Tasks to Illustrate Expectations
4. Student-Friendly Resources – Tools to Help Students Understand Expectations
5. Professional Learning on the Performance Task – Guidance and Strategies
✍️Note: The ELA Performance Task should be administered after the ELA Middle of Year (MOY) Informational Testlet. Once students complete the ELA MOY Informational Testlet, the Kite Platform will automatically release the ELA Performance Task, making it available for students to complete. It does take approximately 30-60 minutes for the system to assign the testlet after the ELA MOY testlet is completed.
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Montana’s Voices, Montana’s Vision
We LOVE hearing stories from educators around the state and how they're using MAST to support instruction in the classroom!
Thanks to Ms. B from Potomac who shared:
“It’s rewarding to be part of an innovative testing system that is transforming state-level assessments. It’s also important to have data that is meaningful for both whole-group and small-group instruction and impactful in our daily teaching—and for me, MAST does just that.”
Have something to share? Feedback or stories of success? 👉 Tell us here!
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Tech Support: ACCESSING PROGRESS REPORTS
💻To access Progress Reports, educators can navigate to:
- INTERIM > VIEW RESULTS
- Click the dropdown arrow on the Progress Report tab.
- Select the desired report. Fill out the organizational dropdowns then click on Search.
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Instructional Strategies that Work
ELA Essentials: High-Impact Instructional Strategies
📝Featured Resource: You can use your current curriculum, including textbooks, novels, informational reading, and more to get kids summarizing. For more grade-level informational text, National Geographic Kids is a great resource for elementary, while Kelly Gallagher’s Article of the Week features a new, current informational text each week.
💡Strategy Spotlight: Summary Sentences and Paragraphs
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Click to access short instructional support video!
Math Matters: High-Impact Instructional Strategies
🧮Featured Resource: What's Going on in This Graph? - New York Times: This free resource offers a bank of classroom-ready graphs from news articles teachers can use to help students build mathematical proficiency through the application of the mathematical practice and content standards. With applications across the content areas and current events, students will enjoy engaging with these while building data fluency.
💡Strategy Spotlight: Strategy Spotlight: What’s Going on in This Graph? - New York Times
Click to access short instructional support video!
Professional Learning & Engagement Opportunities
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MAST Teacher Leader Cohort
The Montana Office of Public Instruction is seeking educators interested in participating in an MAST ELA and Math Teacher Leader Cohort focused on strengthening instruction aligned to Montana Content Standards and the Montana Academic Standards Test (MAST). This cohort will commence working together in the Spring of 2026 and continue through the 2026-2027 School year.
The Teacher Leader Cohort is a select group of 3rd-8th Grade Montana educators who will engage in advanced professional learning to support effective, data-driven instructional practices aligned with MAST and Montana content standards. The cohort is designed to build instructional leadership capacity and create a sustainable network of educators who can model, support, and facilitate high-quality professional learning across the state.
Interested in joining? Please complete our Interest Survey to receive ongoing information as we work toward establishing this cohort of Teacher Leaders!
Click image to access embedded links
Parent Connection:
Don't forget! Parents should receive their child’s testlet reports after each administration, either by printing them or through the Kite Parent Portal. Sharing this MAST Parent One-Pager helps families understand the assessment. Don’t forget, students should see their own reports too!
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Leadership Lens:
Quick tips to support teachers with MAST:
With new reporting comes new support needed for educators, school leaders, and school boards. Please review the information below to support your understanding of the newly published Progress Reports.
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Progress Reports are Intended to:
- Provide a snapshot of cumulative student performance to date
- Based on testlets completed so far in the school year
- Designed to support instructional decision-making, not predict end-of-year results
- Help identify students at high, moderate, or low risk of meeting proficiency
Progress reports are designed to answer:
“Based on evidence so far, who is clearly on track, who may need support, and who needs close attention?”
Progress Reports Resources:
Become a part of MAST Science—a new, Montana-grown through-year science assessment. Pilot testlets, share feedback, and help build a system that supports powerful classroom learning in grades 6–8. Learn more at the pilot webpage!
MAST Science Pilot Timeline
New to MAST? We've got you!
We know that there is so much to learn and understand about Montana's statewide assessment, and we don't want it to be a mystery. So where do you start?
- Review the MAST Educator Slides - these take you from the beginning to know what to expect, through the assessment blueprints, student accommodations, preparing for assessments, data chats, and more.
- Bookmark the MAST PORTAL. Teacher resources, support videos, and more can all be found here.
- Save the Educator Resources Page! Easy access to resources!
- Ask Questions! We're here to help! OPIAssessmentHelpDesk@mt.gov
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Stay Connected & Share your Story!
Got a question or success story to share? Want something covered in the next Memo? Tell us here!
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Direct questions to the OPI Assessment Help Desk at OPIAssessmentHelpDesk@mt.gov, or 1-844-867-2569.
Instructional Questions? Email content specialists at OPICSI@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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