K-12 Content Standards & Resources

 

Our Goal

The Standards, Instruction, and Professional Learning Team oversee the Montana Content Standards and Instruction for all academic areas including revision, implementation, and best practices. Our goal is to serve our Montana students and educators with the best possible standards to guide instruction and prepare our students for their lives beyond the classroom. If you need support in finding learning materials, best-practices research, professional development opportunities, or standards guidance, please reach out!

 

MEET THE TEAM

Content Standards

To access content standards for each academic area, click on the different content area headings. There you will find guidance documents, content-specific learning and student opportunities, standard revision information, and other supporting resources. 

All Montana content standards can also be accessed on Satchel, which allows for intuitive navigation by content area and grade level, and features drop downs to locate individual standards.

Revision Timeline

 

To follow along with the content standards revisions, please visit the

Montana Content Standards Revision Homepage

 

YouTube Playlist iconThe Last Best Learning Podcast Series 

 

A podcast, designed for Montana’s Educators where our mission is to, deliver digestible and relevant professional learning that honors educators’ capacity in an increasingly busy world.  Our state’s educators empower minds, elevate futures, and inspire self-discovery and we walk beside them.

Current Episodes available on the Last Best Learning Podcast Channel:          

  • Self-Care for Educators, with special guest John Sommers-Flanagan from the Montana Happiness Project
  • Bridging the Gap: Self--Care, resiliency, and Educator Retention
  • Hometown Mentorship: A Polson Case Study, with special guest Michael Sitter from Polson School District
  • Mentor Teachers Browning: The Teacher Residency Program, with special guests Angie, Carol, and Marci from Browning School District
  • Every Voice Every Day: Addressing an Expanding Need in Montana, with special guests Serena Wright and Allyson Fraser
  • Family and Community Engagement: Building a Sense of Belonging, with special guest Nichole Pieper, Superintendent/Principal Power School District
  • Every Voice Every Day: Embracing Diversity Through Inclusive Instruction with special guests, Carrie Owen, Rebecca Turk, and Aria Peters
  • Data Matters: Protecting Student Privacy in a Digital Age, with special guests Cathleen Kuchera, West Valley School District and Kiki Moses, Cayuse Prairie School District
  • "Learning is Human:" AI in Education, with special guests Jason Neiffer and Connor Mulvaney
  • ALL IN! Collaborative Teaching for Accessible Classrooms (This highlights the removal of barriers to learning for all students), with special guests Dr Douglas Fisher and Dr Nancy Frey, authors and co-authors of multiple educational books including, "Your Students My Students Our Students, Rethinking Equitable and Inclusive Classrooms" 
  • Indigenous Knowledge in Action: Harnessing the Power of Play with Special Guests Rebecca Goff and Megan Callahan from Native Teaching Aids
  • Coming soon:  
  • July: Social Emotional Learning: More than Just Chair Yoga, with Principal Rhiannon Beery and Superintendent Darin Hannum of Bainville Public Schools

  • August: New Standards - New Year - updates and resources available for the new school year 2025/2026

  • September: Looking Forward: 5th graders report out on what they need from school, with teacher leader Tracy Babcock and her 2024/2025 5th grade class 

                                                                    

Professional Development Unit Certificates

The following document provides guidance for educators to receive professional development units for a group professional learning session. Try your skills in teacher leadership!

In order to receive professional development units, provide feedback on an episode, or suggest topics for future episodes, please respond to this Qualtrics survey and answer the questions corresponding to the episode in which you listened.

 

Brought to you by the educators of Montana and the OPI Content Specialists:

Claire Mikeson (ELA), Katrina Engeldrum (math), & Michelle McCarthy (science)

Montana’s constitutional requirement and duly enacted policy require recognition of the distinct and unique cultural heritage of American Indians and a commitment in our educational goals to preserve their cultural heritage. Every Montanan, whether Indian or non-Indian, must learn about the distinct and unique heritage of American Indians in a culturally responsive manner. The OPI Indian Education for All (IEFA) Unit works with districts, tribes, and other entities to ensure all schools have the knowledge, tools and resources necessary to honor the IEFA requirement and integrate it into their teaching materials and methods. 

Please go to the Indian Education for All main OPI page for implementation guidance, instructional resources, and professional learning! 

Professional Learning for New Standards

English Language Proficiency 

 
Board of Public Education Adoption Implementation Date
2023 July 1, 2025

Resources:

OPI's specialist on English Language Learners Serena Wright, English Learner Specialist, 406-410-4098: English Language Learner OPI website
 

World Languages

 
Board of Public Education Adoption Implementation Date
2025 July 1, 2026


National Conference:

Resources:

 

Mathematics

 
Board of Public Education Adoption Implementation Date
2025 July 1, 2026


Webinars:

  • Big Sky Standards: Real-World Data: Register Now!
    • Data Science 4 Everyone is partnering with OPI to bring a free, monthly, professional learning series to Montana’s educators.
      • This series will address why data skills are woven into the new MT math standards, why they matter for students today, how they can drive engagement in the classroom, and so much more!
      • Join us, starting August 19th, from 4-5 pm! 
      • This series will occur, from August 2025 through April 2026. 
  • Montana Math: Monthly Math Implementation Series Register Now!
    • This free webinar series is designed to support school-based Montana educators through the adoption and implementation of the new standards, effective July 2026.
      • This series will offer practical guidance, job-embedded strategies, support for curriculum alignment efforts, and create a community of professionals engaged in a shared learning experience.
      • Webinars will occur at 4 PM MT the third Thursday of every month, August 2025 - April 2026.
      • Join us, starting August 21st, from 4-5 pm!

Keep Apprised:

  • MT Math Minute

    • The Montana Math Minute contains news related to math in Montana, resources for teachers, and information on professional development. This month's features include recommendations for teachers seeking to implement IEFA, newly released resources for the new math standards, summer professional learning opportunities, and relevant, helpful resources. Future editions will include district and school spotlights when available. Districts, schools, or teachers interested in being featured in future Math Minute editions can fill out this form. 

 

Coming Soon ~ English Language Arts

 
Board of Public Education Adoption Implementation Date
TBD TBD

 

Resources: ~ Coming Soon

 

 

 

 

To import Montana Standards to an Infinite Campus student information system use these resources.

The Board of Public Education (BPE) approved the Career and Technical Education, Computer Science, Library Media and Information Literacy, Social Studies, and Technology Integration Standards at their November 5, 2020 meeting.  The implementation date for the new standards is July 1, 2021.  See individual content area pages to access documents and other helpful information.

NEW Webinar: New Standards for 2021: Overview and Planning for Implementation (February 8, 2021)

Districts should consider their 5-year curriculum review cycle in order to plan for a staggered approach to aligning to new standards.

To learn about the standards adoption process and how to get involved, take the Montana Content Standards 101 course on the Teacher Learning Hub (1 renewal unit)

Instructional Materials and Best Practice Selection Guidance

RFI Curriculum Review Results for the Montana ARP/ESSER Plan

ARP-ESSER Aligned Evidence-Based Instructional Resources Review

The OPI’s Content Standards and Instruction team has completed reviewing vendor responses to a Request for Information regarding evidence-based curricular materials. Five vendors responded with information on twenty-six programs. Information provided includes Scope 1: Evidence-Based Digital Supplemental Programs and Scope 2: School Year Programs with Targeted Acceleration Using Evidence-Based Instructional Materials and Services to enrich and deepen K-12 students’ conceptual understanding of English language arts, mathematics, and/or science.  

Informational recording of RFI Review:

RFI Review Results Table

RFI Review Rubric Look-Fors

Transcript for video

Contact OPICSI@mt.gov if you have any questions

Instructional Materials Guidance Documents

Criteria for Selecting Instructional Materials (word version) 

Acceleration Guidance

Acceleration and Evidence-Based Instruction page for guidance on instructional best practices 

A Guide to Planning and Implementing Acceleration 

ESSA Tiers of Evidence

Evidence-based activities, strategies, or interventions are those that demonstrate a statistically significant effect on improving student outcomes or other relevant outcomes based on the listed criteria. When selecting evidence-based instructional materials, you may want to reference the ESSA tier of evidence for the resources in your selection process.

All tiers require ongoing efforts to examine the effects of such activity, strategy, or intervention.

Evidence Levels:

Tier I: Strong Evidence- Strong evidence from at least one well-designed and well-implemented experimental study.

Tier II: Moderate Evidence- Moderate evidence from at least one well-designed and well-implemented quasi-experimental study.

Tier III: Promising Evidence- Promising evidence from at least one well-designed and well-implemented correlation study with statistical controls for selection bias.

Tier IV: Demonstrates a Rationale- Demonstrates a rationale based on high-quality research findings or positive evaluation that such activity, strategy, or intervention is likely to improve student outcomes or other relevant outcomes.

Evidence-Based Resources:

For a quick reference on evidence-based definitions, districts can use this large-print definition provided by the IES. This tool provided by the Midwest REL provides a crosswalk between ESSA levels of evidence and existing clearinghouses, such as the WWC commonly used by educators.

 

The K-12 content standards describe what students shall know, understand, and be able to do in these content standards. These K-12 standards define end-of-year expectations and a cumulative progression designed to enable students to meet college and career readiness expectations no later than the end of high school. Montana content standards are guidelines school districts can use to develop their curriculum. They are not the curriculum. In Montana, each school district develops its own curriculum and teachers decide on how they will provide instruction to ensure student learning meeting grade level content standards. 

 The content standards are found in Administrative Rule of Montana (ARM) and shall be used by school districts to develop local curriculum and assessment in all the content areas including:

Financial Literacy in Montana

The Office of Public Instruction has developed this webpage to support local school districts concerning financial literacy instruction for K-12 schools.

 

Standards, Instruction, and Professional Learning Team Contacts

Michelle McCarthy, Science Coordinator, 406-444-3537 

Katrina Engeldrum, Math Instructional Coordinator, 406-465-4117

Claire Mikeson, ELA and Literacy Instructional Coordinator, 406-438-0278

Jackie Ronning, Early Literacy Coordinator, 406- 438-0522

Aimee Konzen, Professional Learning Manager, 406-444-3114

Marie Judisch, Senior Manager of Teaching and Learning, 406-444-5883

 

opicsi@mt.gov