New School Accreditation Rules Take Effect

• Brian O'Leary
• July 07 2023

HELENA – The new school accreditation rules in ARM 10.55 took effect on July 1, 2023. School accreditation standards include rules on curriculum, class sizes, teacher and staff qualifications, Indian Education for All, and student learning assessment to ensure all students receive a quality education. The new accreditation process has three steps:

1. Assurance Standards
   1. To determine the assurance standards levels a 4-point system will be utilized:
      1. Family and Community Engagement
      2. Professional Development
      3. Academic Programming including how the education program enables students to recognize the district and unique cultural heritages of American Indians
      4. Assurance checklist for required accreditation policies

1. Student Performance Standards
2. Final Accreditation Status

“These rules reflect the collaboration of parents, teachers, school leaders, and community members to create a system that focuses on student outcomes,” said Superintendent Elsie Arntzen. “My office is offering training sessions so that our schools are successful when using the new system. The new system will refocus our schools through a student-centric approach.”

Superintendent Arntzen is offering multiple work sessions to parents, teachers, and school leaders on the new accreditation process:

• July 25 and 26, 2023 at the Great Northern Hotel in Helena
• August 14, 2023 via Zoom
• September 28 and 29, 2023 at Lockwood High School
• October 18-20, 2023 during the Montana Conference of Education Leadership (MCEL) Conference in Helena
• November, TBD at Montana Tech in Butte
• January 25 and 26, 2024 at the Great Falls Public Schools Office
• February 20-22, 2024 via Zoom
• March 1 and 5-7 via Zoom

More details on the work sessions are available here.

In April the Board of Public Education amended the adoption notice for the graduation requirements in ARM 10.55.905. This rule will take effect on July 1, 2025. This rule requires half a unit of financial literacy or economics and half a unit of civics or government to graduate from Montana public schools.