The Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) Assessment Unit supports teaching and learning in Montana’s accredited schools through the Montana Comprehensive Assessment System (MontCAS), which includes a suite of required state assessments aligned to Montana’s academic content standards. Data literacy and its direct influence in guiding instruction, alongside a balanced approach including the use of formative and interim strategies ensures all children have fair and equitable opportunities to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging academic content standards. The Assessment Unit is organized under the leadership of Chief Program Officer Dr. Julie Murgel in the Education Services Division within the Teaching and Learning Department. The Teaching and Learning Department is led by Senior Manager Marie Judisch. 

 

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Assessment Help Desk: 1-844-867-2569

 

Cedar Rose

 Cedar Rose

406-444-0733
Assessment Director

Work-Related Duties:

  1. Oversees and directs the Montana Comprehensive Assessment System.
  2. Provides training on assessment administration and test security, develops resources, and conducts professional development to ensure effective statewide assessments.
  3. OPI liaison to the Technical Advisory Committee which ensures the validity and reliability of test scores and fairness in testing all students.

Cedar Rose serves OPI as Director of Assessment. Originally from northwestern Montana, she received her undergraduate degree in elementary education from the University of Montana. She started her teaching career in Missoula and taught elementary math and science for nine years. Cedar earned her master’s degree in educational leadership from Montana State University and holds a Montana Administrator License.

Marcy Fortner

 Marcy Fortner

406-444-3511
Assessment Specialist

Work-Related Duties:

  1. Serves as the Project Manager for the OPI Assessment Team, leading Special Projects.
  2. Manages test security and provides assistance to the field for test security tasks.
  3. Manages monitoring activities for the Assessment Unit around the Title I Monitoring Tool and Assessment Observations.

Ms. Fortner has been with the OPI since joining the Assessment Unit in 2016. She brings experience from a varied background of work history. She works closely with Montana's System Test Coordinators to provide assistance with the state assessments and to ensure proper test security across the state. 

Shantel Niederstadt

 Shantel Niederstadt

406-444-3450
NAEP State Coordinator

Work-Related Duties:

  1. Coordinate the administration of NAEP within the state in accordance with NAEP requirements, schedules and timelines.
  2. Coordinate and conduct quality assurance reviews of NAEP samples, student list submission, NAEP assessment data, and other NAEP activities within the state.
  3. Participate in scheduled web-based seminar trainings, distance learning, and informational sharing sessions for the NAEP State Coordinators convened by National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

Shantel Niederstadt has served as the NAEP State Coordinator since September 2018. Before working at OPI, she has taught for more than 20 years in elementary education. Most of her experience was teaching in the classroom but has had the opportunity to work as a Title 1 Coordinator. Her teaching experience has helped her become familiar with state and district assessments and the power behind the data. She has a master’s degree in Curriculum and Teaching. Shantel lives in Helena with her husband and golden retriever named Blu. Both of her daughters are attending MSU in Bozeman.


Dylan Conway Headshot

 Dylan Conway

406-444-4420
Assessment Specialist

Work-Related Duties:

  1. Serves as the liaison between the field and the federal and state assessment mandates for Montana’s English Learner and alternate student populations providing accommodation guidance to Montana schools and educators, along with other Montana assessments.
  2. Collaborates with Montana stakeholders and assessment contractors in the development and implementation of classroom assessments, state required assessments and the reporting and analysis of test results.
  3. Conducts quality assurance and maintenance activities for the English Language Proficiency (ELP) and alternate assessment systems to ensure the continued validity and reliability of state assessments and MontCAS within the state.

Dylan Conway serves as the Special Populations Assessment Specialist within the assessment unit at the OPI. Dylan received his undergraduate degree in elementary education from the University of Montana Western, where he received the Outstanding Teacher Candidate Award in 2017. Upon graduation, Dylan began his teaching career in a rural school, primarily teaching 6th grade, but eventually moving into a variety of subject matter in grades 6-8. After his first year of teaching, Dylan pursued his master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Western Governors University, where Dylan’s works were awarded for exemplary understanding and performance of content knowledge, graduating in 2019. Dylan lives in Butte with his wife, son, and two dogs.

Erin DeGraw Headshot

 Erin de Graw

406-444-0748
Assessment Specialist

Work-Related Duties:

  1. Protect, collect, analyze, interpret, and report student achievement results.
  2. Coordinate and facilitate the implementation of Smarter Balanced and Montana Science Assessment.
  3. Promote an understanding of assessments and provide technical assistance to schools.

Erin is excited to join our team after a career in education and educational technology. She taught kindergarten, second, third and fifth grades for 17 years before becoming a K-6 site administrator for five years. Her last role was in Educational Technology as a Professional Learning Manager working with teachers and leaders to implement best practices for using diagnostic data to plan and inform student instruction. She passionately believes that All means ALL and looks forward to working with the Assessment team to improve outcomes for all Montana students. She has a Masters in Educational Leadership and holds teaching and administrative credentials in California and Montana.

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 Tressa Graveley

406-444-4524
Assessment Specialist

Work-Related Duties:

  1. Protect, collect, analyze, interpret, and report student achievement results.
  2. Coordinate and facilitate the implementation of MAST.
  3. Promote an understanding of assessments and provide technical assistance to schools.

Born and raised in northwestern Montana, Tressa graduated from Carroll College with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Elementary Education. Over the course of 17 years in the classroom, Tressa gained experience teaching in several elementary grade and content areas ranging from individual self-contained, multi-grade classrooms, K-6th technology & music, and 7th & 8th grade ELA/Math. In 2018, she obtained a Master of Science in Mathematics–Mathematics Education from Montana State University-Bozeman where she added teaching experience in high school math classes such as Algebra I, Algebra II, and Dual Credit high school math courses. She looks forward to pairing her classroom and educational experience with her role as an Assessment Specialist to help Montana’s schools and students.