State of Montana Newsroom
Superintendent Arntzen Announces MAST and ACT Testing Windows for 2024-2025 School Year
HELENA – Superintendent Arntzen is proudly celebrating two successful years of the Montana Aligned to Standards Through-Year (MAST) Pilot Program. The MAST pilot included over one-third, or 20,000 students in grades 3-8, and 200 schools across Montana. The through-year assessment, based on state content standards, is given four times a year to directly connect teaching to the learning of the skill. This program aims to accurately represent the unique needs of Montana students and teachers while providing flexibility.
“The students, teachers, and schools that participated in our MAST pilot reflect the pioneering spirit of Montana,” said Superintendent Elsie Arntzen. “The outdated ten-hour pencils-up test does not accurately reflect academic growth. Montana is leading the nation in assessment innovation that will improve student learning, offer immediate feedback to parents and teachers, and provide flexibility and security for test administrators.”
During the 2024-2025 school year, the MAST program will be used as the federally required student assessment for Math and English Language Arts in grades 3-8. There will be four scheduled testing windows during the school year:
- Window 1: October 14 – November 22, 2024
- Window 2: January 13 – February 21, 2025
- Window 3: March 24 – May 2, 2025
- Window 4: May 5 – May 23, 2025
The Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) will cover the costs for the American College Testing (ACT) with Writing assessment during the 2024-2025 school year. In January, the Superintendent announced changes to the federal GEAR UP grant. Due to changes in this grant, the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education (OCHE) is no longer able to commit funding toward the ACT beyond the Spring 2024 administration. The ACT is used as the federally mandated accountability assessment for Montana students in grade 11. The 2024-2025 testing windows for the ACT are for:
- Window 1: March 25 – April 4, 2025
- Window 2: April 8-18, 2025
- Window 3: April 22 – May 2, 2025
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