Read the Cover Letter
Proposed federal waiver for field testing flexibility of state assessment requirements now available for public comment.
Dear Partners in Education,
The Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) is seeking public comment on a Field Test Flexibility waiver. As required by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the OPI must provide public notice and give an opportunity for public input on a waiver request. According to US Department of Education (USED), a Field Test Flexibility waiver is a one-year waiver granted to state education agencies (SEAs) that are changing their assessment systems and want double-testing flexibility and identification flexibility.
Approval of this waiver will support OPI’s Montana Alternative Student Testing Pilot Program (MAST) that better equips educators with the data they need to personalize high-quality education for all students. This Field Test Flexibility waiver will eliminate an undue burden on students, teachers, and district leaders by preventing double-testing and ensuring identification flexibility. It will advance student academic achievement by enabling the OPI to design and develop a more balanced assessment system that centers around student learning and provides additional support for educators.
With approval, Montana would be the first state to gain approval for the reading/language arts and mathematics multiple state interim assessments that result in a single summative score that provide valid, reliable, and transparent information on student achievement. The OPI assures that an operational multiple state interim assessments will be administered statewide in grades 3 through 8 to all students who take the general reading/language arts and mathematics assessment during the 2024-2025 school year. Following the final Spring administration in 2025, standards-setting will occur. The results will be publicly reported, disaggregated by student groups, shared with parents and educators, and feed into the Federal accountability system.
The waivers will only be applicable to districts and schools participating in the MAST pilot program during the 2023-2024 school year, and parents will be notified of their child’s participation in the field test. Non-participating districts and schools will continue to administer the Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBAC) for Grade 3-8 in Spring of 2024. Accountability provisions and reporting for non-participating districts and schools will not be changed.
Key Takeaways
- To ensure students, teachers, and district leaders are not overburdened with double testing, OPI is submitting a field test flexibility waiver to the USED.
- The OPI will ensure that all students in 3rd to 8th grade who do not take a field test in Reading/Language Arts and Mathematics will take the current SBAC assessment.
- Precedent for the approval of these field-testing flexibility waivers was established under the No Child Left Behind Act by States transitioning to Smarter Balanced and PARCC assessments.
- Parents of students in each school participating in the field test will be notified of the school’s participation, including by ensuring that the notification to parents includes a discussion of the implications of the school’s participation in the field test and a notification of whether the parents’ child will participate in the field test.
- The waivers would allow the OPI and participating school districts to gather data to establish the validity and reliability of the field tests during the 2023-2024 school year, prior to publicly reporting student test results.
- Schools that participate in the field test will maintain the federal school identification determined in Fall of 2023 based on data collected during the 2022-2023 (i.e., school participating in the field test will not be identified for support, or existed from support status, on the bases of data collected during the year of the field test-2023-2024).
- OPI assures that an operational test will be administered during the 2024-2025 school year that, following standards setting, will result in data that can be publicly reported, disaggregated by student groups, shared with parents and educators, and feed into the Federal accountability, providing an opportunity for OPI, in partnership with New Meridian, to lead the nation in implementing a statewide innovative assessment system.
How can you find more information and provide public comment on the waiver?
- View the Waiver: View Montana’s request for a field-testing flexibility waiver (PDF).
- Complete a survey: You are invited to participate in a survey by April 28, 2023 using this survey link.
- Provide your feedback: Submit written comments by April 28, 2023 to essainput@mt.gov.
- Participate in a webinar: Provide input during a virtual webinar.
Below is a Timeline outlining the process with stakeholder involvement:
March 30, 2023: Initiate public comment, by sending email to stakeholders, opening a survey, and posting information on the OPI webpage with links to the draft Field-Testing Flexibility Waiver and a FAQ.
April 2023: Consultation with the Governor’s office
April 12, 2023: Assessment Site Testing Coordinator Webinar, 3:30pm-4:00pm
April 12, 2023: Webinar 1 for public input, 4:15 pm-5:00pm
April 18, 2023: Discussion with Education Advocates
April 19, 2023: Webinar 2 for public input, 4:00pm to 5:00pm
April 25, 2023: Webinar 3 for response to public input, 4:00pm to 5:00pm
April 28, 2023: Public comment and survey deadline
May 2, 2023: Final Waiver prepared and submitted to the USED.
Webinar-Zoom Links:
Please send feedback, input, and questions to ESSAinput@mt.gov