State of Montana Newsroom
Superintendent Arntzen Seeks Public Comment on ESSA Amendment for Measuring Student Growth
HELENA – Superintendent Arntzen is seeking public comment on an amendment to the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Plan for measuring student growth. As part of Montana’s Federal Flexibility Testing Waiver for the Montana Aligned to Standards Through-Year (MAST) assessment pilot program during the 2023-2024 school year, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) required the Office of Public Instruction (OPI) to indicate how student growth will be measured during the 2024-2025 school year.
“Montana is leading the nation in reimagining innovative student assessments,” said Superintendent Elsie Arntzen. “These tests happen closest to the learning throughout the year to reduce student and teacher stress while giving immediate feedback. Parent, teacher, and community voices are a valued part of this process.”
Over half of the students in grades 3-8 participated in the MAST pilot program during the 2023-2024 school year. A final assessment score was not created for students participating in the pilot program. Montana’s federally required school accountability system indicators include academic achievement and growth on statewide assessments for math and reading. Due to a lack of scores, an amendment is necessary. OPI proposes a “skip-year” growth model for evaluating growth for 2024-2025, where growth will be evaluated between the 2022-2023 and 2024-2025 school years. This approach has been used successfully throughout the country when evaluating learning challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when students were not tested in 2020.
Public comment for the amendment can be given by:
- Completing the Public Comment Survey by May 24, 2024
- Attending the Public Comment Webinar via Zoom from 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM on May 28, 2024
- Emailing feedback, input, and questions to ESSAinput@mt.gov
Please see the Frequently Asked Questions here. The amendment proposal will be submitted to DOE on June 1, 2024.
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