State of Montana Newsroom
Superintendent Arntzen Releases the 4th Year of the Federally Mandated School Report Cards
HELENA – The Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) announces the fourth year of issuing the federally mandated public school report card required by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Individual schools received their data before the public data was released. The state report card holds data from the previous school year, 2020-2021, and is displayed in an accessible digital report card. There is an individual report card for each of Montana’s 825 schools plus a report card for our 402 school districts.
“Even though Montana was open for learning during these uncertain times,” shared Superintendent Elsie Arntzen, “test scores for 3rd through 8th graders in the spring of 2021, resulted in 34% proficiency in math and 46% proficiency in reading. A one-size federally mandated test does not reflect student learning success as every student, every teacher, and every Montana community was affected by COVID-19 and these test scores reflect it. We have work to do!”
The federal government required the state-wide assessment without any relief or waivers as in the previous year. Each report card shows data on:
- student achievement scores in math and reading
- student growth in math and reading
- student enrollment
- per-pupil expenditure at local/state, and federal (The federal allocation of Covid relief dollars is not reflected)
- educator qualifications
- graduation rates
The federal requirement for accountability designation as Comprehensive, Targeted, or Universal was carried forward from 2019. The previous annual state accreditation status for schools was also maintained.
Additional information about the differences from the previous year’s report card can be found here.
For more information, please contact Dr. Julie Murgel, Chief Operating Officer, at julie.murgel@mt.gov or 1- 406-444-3172.
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