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Early Targeted Interventions
- April 8, 2026/ 4:00-5:00/ Assessment and Data (PK-3rd); Teams Link
- April 22, 2026/ 4:00-5:00/ Community of Practice Discussion (Assessment and Data); Teams Link
*These events are designed for the learner to attend both sessions
Early Numeracy Guidance which includes the early numeracy skills and approved early numeracy evaluation methodology tools.
Visit our Google Site to find resources and links for professional learning opportunities. The site is growing every day and we are excited to share it with you!
Early Learning Home-based program
At this time, all available Waterford licenses have been claimed for the 2025-26 school year.
Call for ELTI Program Highlight Videos
Memorandum – Let us highlight your Early Targeted Intervention programs.
Professional Development Opportunities
Check out these links for upcoming events and courses:
Waterford
Click here for more information on Waterford, Montana OPI’s partner in Home-based Early Learning. For more information, contact Becky Eberhardt, School Relations Director, at BeckyEberhardt@waterford.org or (701)261-8888.
Visit the Early Literacy website, call or email us anytime.
Contact Information
Jackie Ronning, Early Learning Specialist
(406) 438-0522
jackie.ronning@mt.gov
Kimberly Evans, Early Learning Research Analyst
(406) 594-7053
kimberly.evans@mt.gov
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Professional Development
Professional Development News
MARCH — Changes to PDUPS Are Coming
Dear Current and Prospective OPI-Approved Provider of PDUs,
Over the coming months, we will be sharing important updates regarding a new Professional Development system that will launch later this year. We want to begin by providing early context and clarity about why this transition is occurring and what it means for current and prospective providers.
This update is not about changing expectations — it is about strengthening alignment, consistency, and overall experience.
Professional Development Units (PDUs) in Montana are governed by the Administrative Rules of Montana (ARM). The expectations for high-quality, job-embedded, and P–12 aligned professional learning are already established in the rule. The new system is designed to ensure those expectations are applied consistently and transparently across providers.
This transition will:
- Strengthen provider vetting to ensure consistent alignment with ARM
- Support student success by promoting professional learning that directly impacts classroom practice
- Ensure Montana educators remain highly trained through meaningful, job-embedded development
- Honor teachers’ time by emphasizing relevance, quality, and measurable impact
- Elevate educator voice through clearer reporting and documentation processes
- Allow OPI to better acknowledge and celebrate providers delivering high-quality professional learning
Our goal is not simply a system change, but a stronger professional learning ecosystem — one that supports educators and ultimately improves outcomes for students.
March is intended to be a month of awareness and preparation.
During this time, we strongly encourage all approved providers, hosts, and instructors to carefully read and review the ARM requirements for professional development, with particular attention to ARM 10.55.714, which outlines the criteria that professional learning must meet in order to qualify for PDUs. A thorough understanding of these requirements is essential, as they form the foundation for provider responsibilities and future system use.
A phased transition will take place between June and August, with the current system scheduled to be turned off on September 1.
Additional information, resources, and guidance will be shared monthly to support you through this transition and to help ensure continued compliance with ARM requirements. Please watch your inbox for updates and hold your questions as we will slowly roll out the updated process, ensuring we share meaningful information and action items at a pace that is digestible and timely.
OPI Professional Learning Calendar and Catalog
Professional learning events submitted by approved providers are published and visible on the OPI website.
For Providers:
- All events must be submitted using the current forms:
- Submit events occurring between now and September 1, 2026.
- Events submitted beyond this date will not be displayed.
Calendar vs. Catalog:
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Calendar: Synchronous, date-specific events (e.g., workshops, conferences, webinars)
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Catalog: Asynchronous or ongoing professional learning available on-demand or through direct contact with the provider
Additional Reminders:
- Events must be submitted through the current forms to appear on the OPI website.
- Educators can search and filter offerings by category, provider, grade level, educator type, and cost.
PDU Credit:
- Per ARM 10.57.215, 1 clock hour = 1 PDU.
- Plan instructional time in full-hour increments to ensure participants receive full credit.
For questions regarding submissions or PDU calculations, contact OPIPDUPS@mt.gov.
Professional Development Requests
Fill out the PD Request Form to request specialized professional development from the Standards, Instruction, and Professional Learning Team at OPI (expected time: 10-12 minutes). This request form serves as an opportunity for school districts to communicate their needs for additional professional development opportunities in the area of K-12 Education.
Once a request is submitted, OPI's Standards, Instruction, and Professional Learning Team will review the request and consider the next steps. Follow-up communication will be had directly with the party submitting this form unless otherwise indicated. If this request is being made less than thirty days from the requested professional development day, please understand that there is a small chance our specialists will be available.
Conferences and Calls for Proposals
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Content Area Updates
Curriculum Review and Selection Documents Now Available
The K-12 Content Standards team has revised and developed updated Curriculum Review and Selection Documents to assist educators in conducting curriculum reviews and selecting new content-area curriculum for their districts. The documents detail the steps of the curriculum implementation cycle, provide checklists for reviewing and selecting curriculum, and defines curriculum, standards, and high quality instructional materials, in addition to providing resources, templates, and guidance on forming curriculum committees and communicating about the curriculum review and implementation process with educational and community stakeholders.
The Last Best Learning Podcast
The mission of the Last Best Learning Podcast is to deliver digestible and relevant professional learning that honors educators’ capacity in an increasingly busy world.
Our state’s educators empower minds, elevate futures, and inspire self-discovery–and we walk beside them.
We invite you to join us in this innovative approach to professional development, tailored to address the unique challenges faced by educators in Montana's ever-changing educational landscape. At the end of each month, the podcast will be uploaded to the K-12 Content Standards webpage as well as the Podcast YouTube channel.
Check out our most recent episodes:
Coming Soon
- April - Ep. 21 - Culture, Consistency, and Collaboration: Inside Victor’s Instructional Work, with Jamie Standaert
English Language Arts
Montana 2027 ELA and Literacy Standards live on Satchel
Check out Montana’s 2027 ELA standards on Satchel. Satchel allows you to easily navigate standards by grade level and ELA strand with its handy accordion feature, as well as show associations between 2011 ELA standards and Montana’s Essential Understandings for Indian Education for All.
Montana's ELA Standards: Monthly Implementation Webinars beginning in August!
Join OPI’s free, statewide webinar series designed to support educators in implementing the 2027 Montana English Language Arts and Literacy Content Standards. Sessions will include
- practical guidance
- job-embedded strategies and resources
- tips for alignment with your curriculum
- a community of professionals engaging in shared learning
See the PDF of the flyer here, which includes a link to the webinar calendar and topics and the registration form.
Monthly Instructional Strategy Spotlight
This month’s instructional strategy focuses on targeted revision strategies, using the unelaborated paragraph and sentence combining. Watch the short instructional video here.
OPI ELA Updates
Check out the Montana OPI ELA page to learn about additional professional learning opportunities, instructional resources, standards revisions, and more!
Math
Announcements
The Office of Public Instruction is offering a math standards webinar series from August - April!
Register for the Montana Math Monthly Implementation webinar now!
We hope to see you at our next session, April 16th, at 4pm
You may register at any point in the series, so if you missed previous sessions, don’t worry! Recordings are available.
Coming Soon: Session #8: March 19th - IEFA & Cultural Relevance: Making Math Meaningful for Montana Students
1 PDU is available for each live session engagement.
New Math Resources
New Resources have been added to the math standards revision website including:
Math Minute
March’s volume of the MT Math Minute is live and ready to view! Each month, our Math Coordinator compiles relevant features, classroom resources, IEFA implementation ideas, and sometimes, teacher spotlights! This month's edition features resources for integrating mathematics learning concepts with the context of seasonal change, new math standards resources, professional learning opportunities, and helpful classroom resources. Future editions will include district and school spotlights when available. Districts, schools, or teachers interested in being featured in future Math Minute editions can fill out this form.
Want to receive these in your mailbox each month? Subscribe now!
Instructional Strategy Spotlight
Looking for a new classroom instructional strategy to get students excited about math and engaging in discourse? Check out this quick, 6-minute video on 3-Act Math Tasks!
Science and STEM
Community of Science Teacher Leaders
The Montana Office of Public Instruction's Science Instructional Coordinator invites K–8 science/STEM educators to join the Community of Science Teacher Leaders. This statewide community will collaborate to strengthen 3D science/STEM instruction, proficiency-based learning and assessment (MAST), and meaningful IEFA integration. Participants will engage every month in virtual meetings. The next meeting is scheduled for April 28 from 4-5 pm.
The purpose of the Community of Science Teacher Leaders is for Montana students to receive meaningful and rigorous STEM/science instruction that allows them to develop critical thinking skills that will assist them in their personal lives and in their careers, as well as lay a foundation of understanding of science content.
Members may assist in MAST item review, statewide professional development, (e.g. conferences, the Teacher Learning hub, etc.). Members may also create and reference lessons/units for the science repository, collect student feedback, and eventually connect them to the standards in the Satchel Website.
Find out about more opportunities on OPI’s science website!
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Standard Revisions Updates
ELA Standards
Montana’s new English Language Arts and Literacy Content Standards have been formally adopted by the Montana Board of Public Education! The implementation date is July 2027, selected to allow school districts adequate time to prepare between the implementation of new math and ELA standards. More information about the standards revision process can be found on the OPI’s ELA Standards Revisions Webpage.
You can access the new standards here:
Math Standards
Montana’s updated standards have an implementation date of July 2026!
Q: What does this mean?
A: All instruction in Montana schools is expected to be aligned with the state curriculum standards beginning July 2026.
Q: Will my textbook cover all the standards?
A: Your textbook likely covers the majority of the curriculum standards; however, educators should review the revised standards and conduct a curriculum audit to assess for gaps. For example, an existing gap that every educator will notice is the lack of IEFA alignment in “off the rack” textbooks. Montana’s standards have required mathematics instruction to embed contexts relevant to Indigenous Peoples of Montana for over 15 years, a need that textbooks rarely meet.
Q: Can I just keep teaching what I have always taught? The standards haven’t changed that much, have they?
A: Continuing practices without reviewing the revised standards could lead to a misalignment with state assessments, limited time in the classroom to cover all content, or gaps in instruction. Additionally, state law mandates that teaching and learning adhere to state curriculum standards. Therefore, educators are strongly encouraged to conduct an audit.
Q: What resources are available to help me with this change?
A: OPI offers tons of resources on our Math Revisions Website. Additionally, OPI is offering two professional learning webinars that occur monthly. You can watch recordings of past webinars, or register for future sessions on the website, or by clicking on the links provided later in this compass.
Additional guidance is being developed as we speak. To stay informed, visit the mathematics revision webpage. All published guidance documents will be visible on this page as they become available.
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