Superintendent Arntzen Emphasizes the Importance of Reading in Montana Public Schools

• Brian O'Leary
• November 02 2022

Superintendent Elsie Arntzen understands the importance of building a solid foundation of literacy and reading comprehension to increase Montana students’ academic success. One of the tools currently in use is the Montana Comprehensive Literacy State Development Project (MCLSDP). This project is currently in year four of a five year grant that distributed $38 million to 33 Montana school districts. The purpose of this grant is to advance literacy skills for all students in preschool through high school with a special emphasis on those students in special education, higher poverty areas, rural communities, and those with low proficiency Reading scores on the summative assessments.

“Reading test scores for Montana 3^rd through 8^th graders show that 29% are at a Novice reading level and only 46% are at a proficient Reading level,” said Superintendent Elsie Arntzen. “Montana must get back to the basics of Math and Reading so that our students are better prepared for life after a diploma through an investment of taxpayer dollars. The MCLSDP is one of the many ways that my office is focusing on increasing the reading proficiency of our Montana students.”

MCLSDP helps support literacy for Montana students by:

• Implementing good Multi-Tiered Systems of Support
• Purchasing evidence-based curriculum
• Hiring and training additional paraprofessionals
• Offering Professional Development to teachers

The results of the MCLSDP show that literacy skills in participating students are stronger than before and that participating schools are improving Reading proficiency. Overall, students in participating districts that require intensive instruction dropped from 28% in the fall of 2020 to 20% in the spring of 2022. The percentage of students in various subgroups that required intensive instruction dropped between the fall of 2020 and the spring of 2022 as follows:

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