OPI's February 2024 Compass

MAST Summit

The first Montana MAST Through-Year Assessment Summit, scheduled for February 27, 2024, from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM.

This virtual event is specifically designed for Montana school personnel involved in grades 3-8 assessments as part of the preparations for MAST statewide implementation in the 2024-2025 school year.

Event Highlights:

• Engaging in discussions with keynote speakers from Education First, the Center for Assessment, and New Meridian.
• Topics range from the foundations of through-year assessments to Montana's MAST implementation.
• Participation-based sessions, role-alike discussions, and a panel on family engagement.
• Insights into educator engagement, score report development, accommodations, and instructional utility.

This summit will provide valuable insights and enhance your understanding of through-year assessments. Please mark your calendar, and we look forward to your presence at this informative and collaborative summit. Navigate to the MAST KickOff Virtual Event page to find registration information, agendas, presenter bios, and more!

MAST is gaining national attention!

In November, OPI's MAST partner, New Meridian, hosted an edLeader Panel, The Future of Summative Assessment: A Statewide Approach to Innovation. This panel discussion was recently featured in the latest addition of edWeb Voice (page 22-23), a monthly e-pub that features the voices of education leaders on timely topics and reaches over 500,000 educators. The article states that "Montana is on the leading edge of this work." Thank you to all of our participating students, teachers, schools, and districts for helping make the MAST program a success!

For more information, contact Tressa Graveley, Assessment Specialist.

The American College Testing (ACT) test will continue to be used as the federally mandated accountability assessment for Montana students in grade 11 through the 2024-2025 school year. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires assessment testing for students in grades 3-8 and 11.

The ACT with Writing was initially adopted as the state accountability assessment during the 2015-2016 academic year. In 2019, the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education (OCHE) began funding the ACT through the federal GEAR UP grant. Due to changes in this grant, OCHE is no longer able to commit funding toward the ACT beyond the Spring 2024 administration. The Montana Board of Regents adopted new college admission requirements on May 27, 2021, that no longer required students to provide ACT scores for admission to schools in the Montana University System.

In response to this development, the Office of Public Instruction (OPI) is finding solutions to fund future ACT administrations. The total cost of administering the ACT is nearly $720,000. 

During the 2022-2023 administration year, around 9,500 Montana 11th graders participated in the ACT during a school administration. The results showed that 30.3% of students performed at proficient or advanced levels in Math, and 53.4% of students performed at a proficient or advanced level in reading.

In an effort to ensure compliant close out of ESSER III, schools will NOT be able to submit expenditures embedded in their Final Expenditure Reports (FER).  The OPI ESSER Team is also recommending that cash requests be submitted at least bi-monthly to ensure funds are fully obligated and expended by the ESSER III deadline of September 30, 2024. Funds must be requested via Cash Requests before FERs get submitted.

ESSER System of Support includes 6 days/week via Zoom, phone, email, text, and in person.

If your district has additional funding needs, please let the ESSER Team know so we can work toward a solution.

Allocation Report:

The state-wide ESSER allocation through January 26, 2024, is:

On Wednesday, January 24, the Superintendent hosted the first community discussion of 2024. The focus was on on HB 338, sponsored by Representative Jonathan Windy Boy, which includes:

• The addition of language instruction for American Indian studies
• Requiring Indian Education for All (IEFA) in state content standards and accreditation
• Additional reporting requirements for IEFA

Please see the following items for more information:

• Recorded meeting
• Agenda
• IEFA FAQ
• IEFA Funding & Reporting Guide
• IEFA Reduction PDF
• IEFA Funding Reduction for BPE

The recordings of past discussions and dates for future discussions are available on OPI’s Parent Resources page.

For more information or if you have any questions, please contact Rob Stutz, Chief Legal Counsel and Deputy Superintendent.

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) still face exclusion, social isolation, and social abuse. Spread the Word Inclusion efforts are designed to rally schools, organizations, and communities to commit to the inclusion and acceptance of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. SOMT-UCS encourages and supports schools as they plan inclusion activities throughout the year. The first Wednesday of March is designated as the Day of Activation—March 6, 2024. We are pleased to roll out a whole week of turnkey inclusion assets to schools from elementary through high school across Montana in 2024. The digital resources are available on the SOMT-UCS webpage & physical support materials are available, upon request, to all current UCS schools.

Not yet a Unified Champion School? Click here to complete the UCS Commitment Form and start the inclusion revolution in your school, district, and community! Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools® is a program for schools Pre-K through university that intentionally promotes meaningful social inclusion by bringing together students with and without intellectual disabilities to create accepting school environments utilizing three interconnected components: Special Olympics Unified Sports®, inclusive youth leadership, and whole school engagement.

Unified Champion Schools Highlights—UCS inclusion activities from across the state!

• Sacajawea Elementary School (Great Falls) held a Ice Bucket Challenge fundraiser/school-wide assembly in December 2023, raising $1,000 for Special Olympics!
• Lincoln Elementary School (Great Falls) held a Freezin’ for a Reason fundraiser for Special Olympics and their inclusive sensory room, raising $342!
• Billings West’s Unified PE class was recently spotlighted on the local news showcasing the power of unified partners—check out the footage at Q2 AOW: Why West’s Drew McDowell embraces Unified P.E. class (montanasports.com).
• Capital High School held a Unified PE Alumni Holiday Party in December. Students from past years gathered with current students for dancing, treats and holiday fun!

Thank you to Unified Champion Schools across the state for all you do to promote inclusion and acceptance for students with and without intellectual disabilities!

For questions, contact Terri Norman, UCS Senior Director at tnorman@somt.org.