OPI's May 2023 Compass

Superintendent Elsie Arntzen’s recommended changes to Chapter 55 School Accreditation were approved by the Montana Board of Public Education (BPE) during the March 9-10, 2023 meeting. These recommendations included adding half a unit of financial literacy or economics and half a unit of civics or government to the existing graduation requirements. The effective date for the new rule, which will be found in ARM 10.55.905, was set for July 1, 2023. After receiving feedback from school districts, Superintendent Arntzen consulted with BPE and requested that the graduation requirements be extended to 2025 to give schools time to implement these changes.

The BPE held a special meeting on April 12, 2023, to amend the notice of adoption for ARM 10.55.905. The Board voted unanimously to extend the effective date of ARM 10.55.905 to July 1, 2025. This means that the graduating class of 2026 will be the first class required to complete half a unit of financial literacy or economics and half a unit of civics or government to graduate from Montana public schools.

Review Committee composed of clerks and superintendents from across the state along with OPI staff designed a data collection process to ensure that the US Department of Education (DOE) received the correct information for the data collection. Thank you to the review committee as they were instrumental in helping to make sure that notices and data collection forms adhered to DOE requirements.  The team also worked to provide a system of guidance to ensure an easier process for collecting and inputting the data.

As of April 21, 2023, all districts had submitted their data. Shout out to district clerks and superintendents who worked to collect data to OPI.  

Testing is underway for quality assurance to guarantee that all data will be submitted to the DOE on time.

As a reminder, ESSER II must be expended by September 30, 2023, and ESSER III must be expended by September 30, 2024.

 Each month school board trustees are sent a monthly allocation report for ESSER funds. These reports can be found here.

The state-wide ESSER allocation through March 31, 2023, is:

The final testing window for the first year of the MAST Pilot Program closes on May5, 2023. The public comment window for the Field Test Flexibility Waiver for the '23-'24 School year ends on April 28, 2023, at 5:00 PM. The waiver will be submitted to the US Department of Education by May 5, 2023. This waiver will allow districts participating in the MAST Pilot Program for the 2023-2024 school year to opt out of the SBAC assessment so that there is no double testing.

Thank you to all of our districts and teachers who participated in MAST this year. During the 2023-2024 school year MAST will be expanding to grades 3-8. To participate please contact Krystal Smith at Krystal.Smith@mt.gov.

Superintendent Arntzen is partnering with Frontline Education to provide professional development training for substitute teachers and educator support staff. This training consists of 13 courses requiring 20 hours to complete and can be translated into university credit toward an education degree. Guest educators, or substitute teachers, will be better prepared to guide a classroom and can work toward becoming licensed educators. Montana joined two other states, North Dakota and Missouri, in offering this professional development to guest educators.

According to §10.55.716 ARM, substitute teachers in Montana “shall complete a minimum of three hours of training…must have received a high school diploma or have attained a passing score on the general education development assessment” and have passed a fingerprint-based background check. Frontline Substitute Teacher Training covers the following:

• Substitute Teacher Fundamentals
  • Leadership
  • Professionalism & Ethics
  • Bullying Prevention
  • Legal Obligations
• Classroom Management
• Instructional Strategies
• Working with Students with Special Needs
• Working with At-Risk Students

All training is free and available on the Teacher Learning Hub.

The English Learner (EL) Standards Development Team has been chosen! A heartfelt thank you to the educators who have volunteered their time and expertise to this important standards revision. The team will work with the OPI to review research April 24 - 28 within a Teacher Learning Hub Course: OPI Standards Review and Revision Teams. We will use this week to prepare for our meetings by reviewing research, analyzing the standards, making notes, and posing questions. The public may view these proceedings by enrolling in the Hub Course, but they will not have the ability to comment.

The EL Development Team will meet May 4 - 6 via Zoom to make any changes they feel are necessary. The Zoom room information will be made available in the Teacher Learning Hub course. The public is allowed to attend all meetings, but is kindly asked to silently observe. Public comment on the new standards can be made with the Board of Education September 2023-March 2024, before the standards are adopted in May 2024 and implemented in July 2024.

Thank you to the team listed below for their commitment to providing Montana’s English learners a high-quality education!

• Enkhchimeg Sharav
• Acer Pitas
• Kenneth Helgeson
• Rebecca Turk
• Carrie Owen
• Mishawn Unrein
• Carolyn Grimaldi
• Aria Peters
• Jioanna Carjuzaa

For more information, please contact Destin Markland, English Learner Specialist, at Destin.Markland@mt.gov or (406) 444-0044.

EIPA Written Assessment Dates are scheduled for June 14-15, 2023 at the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind in Great Falls, MT

EIPA Performance Assessment Dates are scheduled for June 14-15, 2023 at the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind in Great Falls, MT

Registration will be completed on the TASK12 website: https://www.taese.org/cms/index.php/eipa-registration

Please contact Lucy Beltz to register or for general questions.

The Network Administrators will be updating server OPIHLNSQLSSRS1P starting at 5 pm Friday, May 5, 2023, and go through Saturday, May 6, 2023. This server will affect the ability to print reports for most of the applications here at the OPI. We will be doing it after hours to reduce the impact on users.  Please make sure to let your staff know the server will be down for the weekend.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Marla Swanby at mswanby@mt.gov.

As part of its continued effort to create a healthy and hopeful Montana, Shodair Children’s Hospital is providing four $2,500 scholarships through its fourth annual suicide prevention scholarship awareness initiative. This opportunity encourages students to engage in critical thinking, creative arts,  and speaking up about mental health and suicide prevention as it relates to their own lives.

In alignment with May being Mental Health Month, Shodair is inviting middle and high school students from across Montana to share their words, testimonials, artwork, or visual expression about mental health.

Entries are judged based on a question that serves a prompt. This year’s prompt for students is based off a quote from Brene Brown, “Daring to set boundaries is about having the courage to love ourselves even when we risk disappointing others.”

How do healthy boundaries make a difference in your life and improve your mental health?

The hospital will be awarding $10,000 through four categories: written, video, visual, and judge's choice. “We are proud to offer this opportunity of engagement that directly speaks to the young people of Montana. It also provides a financial prize to make a positive impact on their future,” Shodair CEO Craig Aasved said. “One way we can support the mental health of today’s youth is to provide an outlet for expression so that we continue to break down the stigma associated with mental illness.”

Aasved said he is always extremely impressed with entries from students across Montana and looks forward to seeing what they submit this year. “Each year, students get more creative, more intentional, and more personal. It makes me proud.”

Submission Guidelines

The Suicide Prevention Scholarship Contest is open to any Montana middle or high school student (public, private, homeschool all accepted)

There are four categories:

1. Written essay in 500 words or less.
2. Video message in three minutes or less in an mp4 format.
3. Visual message through any artistic medium (sculpture, painting, photographs, etc.)
4. Judges’ choice is selected from all categories.

Entries currently being accepted now until May 5, 2023. Send to shodairchildrenshosptial@gmail.com

A winner from each category will receive a $2,500 scholarship.

Winners will be announced by the end May with a celebration event to be scheduled.

Tree-Plenish  is a youth-led 501(c)(3) non-profit that works with high school students across the country to help them host tree-planting events in their communities. Tree-Plenish is always looking to connect with middle and high schools that could be interested in hosting a Tree-Plenish event during the 2023-2024 school year.

If your school is interested in this opportunity please visit https://www.tree-plenish.org/ or contact Sarah McVey, Director of Operations at partnerships@tree-plenish.org. 

Trash Dash 2023, sponsored by Recycle Montana,  promotes cleaning up communities; especially by schools and school organizations. Participating teams are awarded cash prizes for picking up garbage and recyclables in areas across the state.

Cash prizes to winners for:

• The heaviest weight of trash collected
• The heaviest weight of recyclables collected
• Most creative photo with the Trash Dash logo
• Most unusual garbage or recyclable

For more information contact Candi Zion, Recycle Montana Executive Director at recycle406@gmail.com.