OPI outlines major rollout: new math skills map, MAS assessment reporting and $10 million tutoring grant

BOZEMAN — The Office of Public Instruction told the Legislative Education Interim Committee it is shifting from policy to practice, unveiling a coordinated plan to help classrooms translate Montana’s revised standards into daily instruction.

Superintendent Hedlund told committee members OPI has reorganized internally to focus staff and funding on direct school support, consolidated Indian education and Tribal Student Achievement units, and launched a suite of tools and programs intended to reduce learning gaps. “We eliminated unnecessary administrative layers and redirected resources toward direct school support,” she said.

Why it matters: OPI officials framed the work as a systems approach — linking standards, assessments, instructional materials and targeted interventions so teachers can identify and address the specific precursor skills students are missing. That chain is critical in math, where mastery of earlier skills directly affects later topics such as algebra.

What OPI presented

- Montana Math Skills Map: OPI has contracted to build a skills map that traces the prerequisite skills that feed each grade‑level standard and links them to items on the statewide MAST (Montana Aligned to Standards Through Year) assessment. Staff said the goal is to give teachers a clear, Montana‑aligned sequence of the specific skills that must be in place to reach grade expectations.

- Through‑year (MAST/MAS) reporting: OPI walked members through new testlet reports and school progress reports that provide item‑level feedback and projected end‑of‑year performance ranges. OPI said teachers will receive assessment reports within days of each window so schools can make timely instructional adjustments.

- High‑quality instructional materials (HQIM): OPI described four HQIM criteria — student‑centered rigorous content, cultural/contextual relevance to Montana, flexibility/adaptability for competency and proficiency models, and embedded professional learning — and urged districts to align core and supplemental materials.

- $10 million EIR grant for high‑impact tutoring: OPI announced a five‑year Education Innovation Research award to deliver live, high‑dosage tutoring (three 45‑minute sessions per week) to about 1,800 K–3 students in rural and tribal communities. The tutoring will use DIBELS for progress checks and be coupled with teacher professional development and MTSS data modernization work to tie interventions to classroom instruction.

What committee members asked

Lawmakers pressed on implementation and capacity. Several members asked how tutoring will coordinate with IEPs and special education minutes; OPI staff said students with special needs can participate with accommodations and that tutors will coordinate with teachers and IEP teams to align goals.

Teachers and teacher‑trainer witnesses told the committee the idea of a statewide skills map and faster assessment reporting is promising, but stressed practical constraints: lack of teacher minutes, high workloads, and local shortages of qualified math coaches and interventionists. Jake Warner, president of the Montana Council of Teachers of Mathematics, said professional learning must be relevant and scheduled during the workday rather than added as unfunded mandates.

Next steps and context

OPI said the new math standards and accompanying expanded guidance documents (including 143 pages of expanded guidance for kindergarten) launch July 1. The skills map is in early construction and will be connected to testlet bundles from the MAST assessment. OPI plans to publish interactive reporting and continue rolling out Teacher Learning Hub modules and the Safe School Center training.

The committee also heard that OPI recently secured the $10 million EIR award that will be implemented regionally and measured for research outcomes over the grant period; staff said results and progress metrics will be returned to the committee as available.

Questions remain about staffing: members noted Alabama’s model of instructional coaches is ambitious and raising similar capacity questions for Montana, and asked OPI to include implementation guidance that is teacher‑friendly and mindful of rural workforce constraints.

The committee expects follow‑up reports and data from OPI as the math skills map and tutoring program roll out.