Montana Digital Academy reports enrollment growth, clearinghouse expansion and low-risk audit finding

Jason Neiffer, executive director of the Montana Digital Academy, and Mike Agostinelli, deputy director and curriculum lead, updated the Appropriation Joint Subcommittee on MTDA’s operations, enrollments, the clearinghouse and a recent external audit.

Neiffer said MTDA reported “30,000-plus enrollments and engagements” in 2022–23 across distance-learning courses, proficiency tools and clearinghouse services. Mike Agostinelli told the committee that MTDA’s original-credit distance-learning enrollments rose 10% in 2023–24, to about 6,331 enrollments, and that dual-credit enrollments were up about 48% year over year.

Why it matters: MTDA provides supplemental online courses, dual-credit and CTE options, EdReady proficiency tools (supported by private philanthropy) and the Digital Learning Clearing House established in House Bill 749 (2023). MTDA’s services are cited as a resource for smaller and rural districts that cannot offer certain courses locally.

Key operational points

- Program structure: MTDA described three functional areas: (1) a traditional distance-learning catalog with instructor-led original-credit courses, AP and dual-credit offerings, and CTE courses; (2) EdReady Montana, a proficiency and readiness platform funded by the Dennis & Phyllis J. Washington Foundation; and (3) the Digital Learning Clearing House established by the legislature.

- Enrollment and program trends: Neiffer and Agostinelli reported a 10% increase in original-credit enrollments for the prior school year (6,331 enrollments), an 11% rise in unique student count, and a notable jump in dual-credit participation (up 48%). Spanish 1 and certain electives were among top enrollments; the writ 101 dual-credit course showed strong recent growth.

- Clearinghouse and vendor catalog: MTDA described a revamped clearinghouse catalog with advanced filtering, transparent syllabi and vendor vetting for third-party digital content. Staff said the clearinghouse is intended to give districts a single catalog to compare course options, provide syllabi and clarify who provides instruction.

- Targeted local supports: MTDA said it is increasingly providing flexible, one-to-one and competency-based supports for students in unusual circumstances (medical issues, transiency) and is refining support protocols when districts enroll students because they lack a local teacher in a subject.

- Governance, audit and partnerships: MTDA said it filed the required HB749 biennial report and has a new strategic plan with three “anchors” (student-centered equitable learning, strong partnerships, operational excellence). Neiffer told the committee that Legislative Audit Division staff reviewed more than 1,000 pages of documentation and classified MTDA as a low-risk operation after the audit. MTDA also noted collaboration with OCHE and that it moved to the statewide Canvas LMS with support from OCHI.

- Indigenous-language and workforce connections: MTDA described work on indigenous-language materials (examples cited included Cree, Crow, Nakoda and Dakota) and a pilot private–public partnership offering early apprenticeship modules (a partnership with a contractor). MTDA said it would be open to additional tribal representation on its board and is expanding language resources and proficiency testing collaborations.

Committee follow-up and context

Legislators praised MTDA’s growth and asked for clarifying data (for example, homeschool markers, county- and district-level enrollments, and course-count trends by school-size). MTDA said homeschool enrollments are captured when the enrolling district flags that status (about 5% of enrollments by semester, per MTDA’s reporting caveat). MTDA offered to provide additional district-level breakdowns and said it already publishes a detailed annual report and a biennial legislative report.

MTDA also described national engagement (work on national quality standards and AI-in-education frameworks) and said the clearinghouse and Canvas transition position it to expand courses, dual-credit pathways and vetted third-party offerings.

Ending

MTDA requested the committee’s continued support to make the clearinghouse appropriation permanent and to sustain operations. Committee members asked staff to provide any needed fiscal adjustments for MTDA’s personnel pay-plan treatment and to coordinate follow-up as needed during the OPI/MTDA days of hearings.