Montana's six required statewide assessments are delivered to students mostly via online solutions. The Office of Public Instruction (OPI) contracts with test delivery contractors in order to deliver these assessments to students enrolled in Montana accredited schools. School districts must manage educator training, student rosters, student delivery, and achievement reporting through these various online portals. Each assessment is managed independently from one another as the assessments themselves have different purposes and measurement intentions. System Test Coordinators should ensure proper school district policies for managing local users and permissions to the online Test Delivery System (TDS) portals listed below.

 

DLM ELA/math Program Page DLM Alternate ELA and Mathematics Assessment [DLM ELA/math] is the alternate math and reading/language arts assessment for academic achievement reporting in Grades 3–8 and 11 for students with significant cognitive disabilities. 
  • Provide state, district, school, and individual student data 
  • Program Overview Video - coming soon
  • Math
  • ELA
 3 – 8 & 11  2 – 3 hours   TDS Portal  Training, Resources, Certification Link
ACT Program Page ACT with Writing [ACT] is the general math, reading/language arts, and science assessment for academic achievement reporting in Grade 11. 
  • Math
  • English
  • Writing
  • Reading
  • Science
 11  3 – 4 hours  TDS Portal  Training, Resources, Certification Link
 MSA Program Page Montana Science Assessment [MSA] is the general science assessment for academic achievement reporting in Grades 5 and 8. 
  • Science
 5 & 8  1 – 2 hours  TDS Portal  Training, Resources, Certification Link
DLM Science Program Page DLM Alternate Science Assessment [DLM Science] is the alternate science assessment for academic achievement reporting in Grades 5, 8, and 11 for students with significant cognitive disabilities. 
  • Provide state, district, school, and individual student data 
  • Program Overview Video - coming soon
  • Science
 5, 8 & 11  1 – 2 hours  TDS Portal  Training, Resources, Certification Link
WIDA ACCESS & Alt ACCESS Program Page WIDA ACCESS is the English Language Proficiency assessment for academic achievement reporting for English Learners (EL) in Grades K–12. Alt ACCESS is the alternate version of the assessment for ELs with significant cognitive disabilities.
  • Monitor English Learner progress.
  • Provide state, district, school, and individual student data 
  • Program Overview Video
  • Speaking
  • Listening
  • Reading
  • Writing
 K – 12  2 – 3 hours  TDS Portal Training, Resources, Certification Link

 

The OPI Assessment Bulletin is published monthly during the school year to announce important assessment and data dates and events. It provides up-to-date information necessary for the standardized administration of statewide assessments and the accompanying data. The newsletter is distributed via the OPI Monthly Compass and can be found on the RSS feed of the Statewide Testing page of the OPI website.