Fewer than half of Montana students in grades 3 through 8 are at or above grade-level proficiency standards in language arts and math, according to the first statewide results of a new standardized assessment implemented during the last school year.
The Office of Public Instruction released the statewide scores of the Montana Aligned to Standards Through-Year Assessment, or MAST, before the Thanksgiving holiday. State superintendent Susie Hedalen said while OPI has work to do training teachers on administering the test and early data shows a need to improve student outcomes, the format has been well received by students and offers usable data for educators.
Montana’s average of students who tested at or above proficiency levels for their grade was 43.1% in language arts, and 36.9% in math, the Daily Montanan reports.
While OPI says that the new testing format precludes direct comparisons from previous years, the scores are similar to those from the 2021-22 school year, which showed 46.1% and 36.5% of students proficient in language and math, respectively, following a well-reported slump in student achievement attributed to COVID-19’s impact on education.
“In literacy, we are higher than in math. That’s a trend we’ve seen for many years,” Hedalen told the Daily Montanan in an interview. “I look at this as really important data for us to make data-driven decisions.
Hedalen, a Republican, said she’s excited that the new MAST format allowed educators to receive feedback on student outcomes quickly.
MAST was implemented statewide during the 2024-2025 school year after piloting the test for two years under former state Superintendent Elsie Arntzen.
As opposed to previous standardized testing formats, MAST involves “testlets,” smaller math and English Language Arts tests that take place during four testing periods in the school year, creating a “through-year assessment model.”
The goal is to offer more immediate feedback to educators, students, parents and administrators by providing multiple data points to track progress and alter curriculum or teaching strategies throughout the year to benefit students.
But it may take some time for educators to smoothly integrate the new testing regimen in classrooms.
A survey, shared with the Board of Public Education during the summer, collected responses from 246 teachers across the state and showed that while the more frequent but shorter test format helped engage students and provide feedback, some teachers found they tested topics not covered in classes and they seemed “irrelevant to instruction.”
According to the survey, 72.8% of teachers felt “unable to schedule testlets in a way that aligns with their syllabus,” and a vast majority reported insufficient training in the new protocol.
Hedalen, elected in November 2024, said she had heard similar feedback from educators and administrators since she came into the position this year.
“I believe this has been very challenging … coming from the field I felt that myself,” Hedalen said. “Educators needed more professional development. We didn’t get an understanding of the new assessments to a broad enough audience. We needed to do more with school leaders and educators.”
“There’s lots of work to back up, make sure we’re on the same page, schedule testlets, and align with curriculum,” she said. “And then teachers have the data on which students are connecting on the standards, and which students are reaching proficiency and which ones might need more support.”
The survey conducted last school year included responses from more than 35,000 students, and a majority reported preferring the distributed assessment format over a single end-of-year exam, and most reported feeling positively about how the testlets helped their learning outcomes.
Hedalen said that the first round of MAST scores should be taken with a grain of salt, given it’s the first year, and that when she looks at the bigger picture of Montana students across all grade levels and compared to national standards, students are doing comparatively better.
She said that comparing national testing data shows that Montana students have had one of the highest bounce-back rates from COVID-era scores. Scores from the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress assessments show Montana eighth grade students ranking 10th in math proficiency and 4th in reading proficiency compared to all states.
In addition, Hedalen said high school ACT scores this year showed the highest language arts proficiency for Montana students since the test was adopted in the state, and she pointed to data coming in from new early literacy programs which show promising trends for younger students.
“Those are all exciting data points to me, but I completely acknowledge we have work to do,” she said. “It is really great we have a new, more accurate baseline on how students are doing in language arts and mathematics according to our state standards, and we’re going to work to provide students what they need to get college and career ready, especially with math.”
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