Standards, Instruction, and Professional Learning September Compass

Montana Office of Public Instruction sent this bulletin at 08/29/2025 11:34 AM MDT

Subscribe for SIPL Updates

The Learning Hub

Early Learning

The Early Learning Series

September 10, 2025, 4:00 to 5:00 (Teams Link)

The Intersection of Oral Language and Executive Function (1 PDU)

September 24, 2025, 4:00-5:00 (Teams Link)

Community of Practice- Role-alike discussion on Oral Language and Executive Function (2 PDUs)

*These events are designed for the learner to attend both sessions

Liaison Check- In

September 25, 2025, 4:00-5:00 (Teams Link)

Technical assistance and guidance for data collection and Waterford Implementation

Montana Early Learning

Visit our Google Site to find resources and links for professional learning opportunities. The site is growing everyday and we are excited to share it with you!

Home-Based Program

We have updated the process for requesting Waterford licenses for the 2025-26 school year.

The district representative will indicate on Data Collection #2 that their district/school will offer the home-based program for the 25/26 school year.
Students with an eligibility record, enrollment in a home-based calendar, and who have the home-based early literacy box checked on their enrollment in Infinite Campus are eligible for a Waterford license.
OPI will generate a weekly report of student eligibility records and allocate Waterford licenses to districts on a first-come, first-served basis.
OPI will send a report of students eligible for a license to Waterford (student name, school, grade level, and parent contact information).

Click here for more information on Waterford, Montana OPI’s partner in Home-based Early Literacy. For more information, contact Beck Eberhardt, School Relations Director, at BeckyEberhardt@waterford.org or (701)261-8888.

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:
The Learning HUB
Montana Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD)
Early Math Counts!
Cox Campus

Visit the Early Literacy website, call or email us anytime.

Contact Information

Jackie Ronning
(406) 438-0522
jackie.ronning@mt.gov

Kimberly Evans
(406) 594-7053
kimberly.evans@mt.gov

Professional Development News

MAST 4 Teachers

If you missed our MAST 4 Teachers Professional Learning event, you can still learn more about MAST by watching the recording and viewing slides. This session covered:

Best Practices for Scheduling & Administration of MAST Testlets
Score Report Access and Report Interpretation
Understanding the Writing Performance Task Requirements
Addressing Math Misconceptions through MAST
Spotlight on Third Grade - Key Considerations
Professional Learning Opportunities

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.

Become an Approved OPI PDU Provider

Superintendents and principals—if your district or school isn’t yet an approved provider of Professional Development Units, we encourage you to apply!

As an approved provider, you can:

Issue official OPI PDU certificates for the professional learning you host.
Support your educators by ensuring their PD is recognized and aligned with district goals and ISAPs.
Highlight your district’s commitment to high-quality professional learning.

👉 Apply today to give your educators the credit they deserve:

Don’t wait—apply before the new school year gets underway!

Substitute Teacher Resource

Step Into the Classroom with Confidence - Ensure that your substitute teachers are prepared, professional, and ready to support learning from the very first day. The Substitute Teacher Academy offers affordable, online, self-paced training covering classroom management, student engagement, professionalism, and special education basics. All courses include videos, classroom scenarios, discussion boards, and interactive activities to build practical skills that transfer directly into the classroom.

substituteteacheracademy.com
substituteteacheracademy@gmail.com
Dr. Lori Schieffer 406-249-7274

Reminder: OPI Learning Opportunities Portal!

The OPI Learning Opportunities Portal was designed to create a one-stop hub for professional development opportunities available to educators across Montana. This platform brings together workshops, training sessions, and events from the OPI as well as a variety of other professional learning providers from around the state.

Since its launch, the portal has become an invaluable resource for connecting educators with the development opportunities they need. We invite administrators, school staff, and external providers to share their upcoming events on the portal, helping to consolidate all available resources in one easy-to-access location. We also encourage you to share this information with your educators, ensuring they have the opportunity to explore and take advantage of the many professional learning events available to them.

Explore the portal here: OPI Learning Opportunities Portal

Content Area Updates

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.

Coming Soon

September 29th - Ep. 14 - Looking Forward: 5th graders report out on what they need from school, with teacher leader Tracy Babcock and her 5th grade class

October - Ep. 15 - MAST in Motion: Lessons from Implementation in Montana, with Rachel Barkell from Anaconda Public School District

November - Ep. 16 - IEFA - You Don’t Have to Be an Expert—But You Do Have to Begin with special guest Connie Michael from Crow Agency Elementary School

December - Ep. 17 - Combatting Conflict, with special returning guest John Sommers-Flanagan of the Happiness Project

See the full playlist on YouTube

Math

Upcoming Professional Development

Why are data skills woven into the new Montana math standards? Why do they matter for students today, and how can they drive real classroom engagement? Join us for a practical, Montana-focused workshop series exploring these questions and more!

You may register at any point in the series, so if you missed August, don’t worry! Recordings are available. 1 PDU is available for each live session engagement.

New Resources have been added to the math standards revision website including:

PK-12 Guidance Document
One-pagers to support district communications with stakeholder groups
Tools to support alignment work
Recommended pathways, course alignment, financial literacy guidance, and more!

$math minute$

July’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 Indigenous Architecture with Geometric learning concepts PK-12, 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!

STEM

Get involved with the Montana STEM Ecosystem: Reach out to Heather Jameson (heather@mtafterschoolalliance.org), Strategic Initiatives Lead

Keep updated on:

Find many other resources and opportunities on the Montana OPI Science Page.

ELA

Upcoming Hub Course: Preparing Students for the MAST Performance Task

Be on the lookout for a new course on the Learning Hub: Preparing Students for the MAST Performance Task. This course is designed for 3-8 teachers and will guide participants through a review of the rubrics and ELA content standards relevant to the writing assessment, writing strategies to use all year long with your students, and instructional resources and approaches to practice the Performance Task–including exemplars, prompts, and more.

Check out the Montana OPI ELA page to learn about professional learning opportunities, instructional resources, standards revisions, and more!

English Language Proficiency Updates

Montana’s English Language Proficiency (ELP) Standards

These standards support the academic success of Academic English Learners and Multilingual Learners (AELs & MLs) by recognizing and building on the rich linguistic and cultural assets they bring to the classroom. These students, that include speakers of Indigenous, heritage, immigrant languages, or diverse varieties of English, contribute to a vibrant and inclusive learning environment. Affirming students’ cultural identities and fostering academic English development in the four domains of listening, speaking, reading, and writing are essential for full participation in all content areas. The ELP Standards are aligned with Montana’s academic content standards and the Indian Education for All Essential Understandings, and they serve as a guide for schools and districts to implement high-quality instruction, integrated literacy strategies, and community-centered supports. These standards reflect Montana’s commitment to ensuring all students thrive in school, graduate with confidence, and are prepared for college, careers, and lifelong learning.

History/Social Studies Updates

September 25-27, 2025 at the Best Western Great Northern Hotel in Helena.

Registration is $265, and includes the opening reception with heavy appetizers on Thursday evening, all lecture sessions, breakfast, breaks, lunch, and dinner on Friday, and all lecture sessions, breakfast, morning break, and lunch on Saturday. Ticketed tours and workshops are extra. Click on the Agenda button below to go directly to the conference website or click Register Now to go straight to the online registration form.

The three-day conference is jam-packed with five workshops, twelve tours, thirty lecture sessions, three panel discussions, and five outstanding keynote presentations all aimed at illuminating the many facets of Montana history. Don't wait! Some tours are already full.

World Language Standards

New MT World Languages Content Standards Guidance Document 2026 - This document is intended to provide guidance to educators and administrators regarding the implementation of the new Montana World Languages Content Standards, adopted in 2024 and scheduled to be implemented July 1, 2026.

New Approved Content Standards Comparison Document with Rational - Scheduled to be implemented July 1, 2026

1999 Montana Content Standards for World Languages (Satchel)

Resources

Standard Revisions Updates

ELA Standards

Montana’s new English Language Arts and Literacy Standards have been adopted by the Board of Public Education and are set to be implemented July 2027! This new implementation date was selected to allow school districts more time between implementation of math and ELA standards.

Check out the Montana ELA & Literacy Standards Revision Overview one-pager for an overview of the revisions.

More information can be found on the OPI’s ELA Standards Revisions Webpage.

Math Standards

The Board of Public Education has determined that more time should be allotted for district implementation of the new math standards. The new implementation date is July 2026!

Professional learning is ongoing! Keep an eye out for opportunities at conferences and on the mathematics standards webpage to learn more about the new standards.

Don’t forget to register for our two implementation webinar series, starting in August. See the math section for more information.

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.