Montana

Montana reports student test scores improve in math, fall in English

Published

1 year ago

September 10, 2024

Montana reports student test scores improve in math, fall in English

HELENA — The Montana Office of Public Instruction has released the latest rounds of student assessment data – the last round of data before a big change in the state’s testing model.

The 2023-24 assessment scores for students from third grade to eighth grade are based on the year-end Smarter Balanced test. Only a little over half of Montana students in that age group took the test last school year, as a number of school districts piloted the new MAST program – four or five short “testlets” given throughout the year, instead of a large final assessment. All districts are implementing MAST for the 2024-25 school year.

Last year, 38.7% of students who took the Smarter Balanced assessment rated “proficient” or “advanced” in math. That number has increased each of the last three years – 35.6% in 2020-21, 36.5% in 2021-22 and 37.5% in 2022-23 – but it’s still lower than the 41.9% in 2018-19, the last year of data before the COVID pandemic disrupted assessments.

For English and language arts, 44.2% of students were at least proficient last year, down from 45% in 2022-23, 46.2% in 2021-22 and 46.4% in 2020-21. In 2018-19, 50% of students were proficient or advanced.

MTN News

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen says the aggregate numbers may not be giving the full picture.

“There are multiple stories with just a single number, let’s put it that way,” she said.

Arntzen said her office is more focused on “cohort numbers” – tracking how proficient the same group of students has been each consecutive year. For example, students who completed eighth grade last year were third graders in 2018-19. OPI’s data shows the number of students rated proficient or above in reading fell from 48.4% when they were in third grade to 42.9% when they were in eighth grade. In math, those numbers fell even further, from 48.6% to 33.7%.

“We’ve got a trend of data that has come since we’ve had the disruption of learning – the disruption of learning was COVID,” said Arntzen. “We all remember that something was lost during that period of time.”

Arntzen has long argued that year-end tests aren’t the best way to measure students’ proficiency, and her office has touted MAST as a way to get a better view of their learning, while allowing teachers to make adjustments sooner.

“If the federal government demands that we have an assessment tool, should it not also be one that Montana teachers can also use as a way of enhancing their teaching?” she asked?

For now, MAST covers only math and English, but the U.S. Department of Education has awarded the state a grant of nearly $4 million to develop science assessments for sixth grade through eighth grade.

“One more time, I’m grateful for the federal government to allow Montana to be innovative,” Arntzen said.

Arntzen says there are more positive signs in the assessment results for older students. Among 11^th grade students taking the ACT, 52.5% were proficient in English – down slightly from 53.4% in 2022-23 but up significantly compared to 42.1% in 2021-22. In math, 30.7% of students were proficient – up from 30.6% in 2022-23 and 25.3% in 2021-22.

Arntzen says that could be a sign that students who were older when COVID happened are having an easier time rebounding.

“Normally you have a learning curve that goes uphill, but that’s not what has happened in our earlier grades,” she said.

Assessment results for individual schools and districts are now available on OPI’s website, through the GEMS tool.

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Related Topics:elsie arntzen Featured mast Office of Public Instruction Smarter Balanced Superintendent of Public Instruction

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Montana

Evacuation orders issued as 5,000-acre wildfire burns near Roundup, Montana

Published

1 hour ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Evacuation orders issued as 5,000-acre wildfire burns near Roundup, Montana

ROUNDUP, Mont. —
The Rehder Creek Fire is burning 16 miles southeast of Roundup has grown to about 5,000 acres, prompting evacuation orders for residents in the Bruner Mountain Area/Subdivision.

The fire started Feb. 26, the cause is unknown and containment was at 0%.

Evacuation orders are in effect for all residents in the Bruner Mountain Area/Subdivision. The Musselshell County Sheriff’s Office is coordinating the evacuation orders, and 911 reverse calls have been sent out to advise people in the area.

A shelter is opening at the Roundup Community Center. Residents were told to contact Musselshell County DES for further information.

Firefighter and public safety remain the top priority. The public is asked to avoid the Fattig Creek and Rehder Road area so emergency personnel can safely and effectively perform their work.

Fire resources assigned to the incident include 40 total personnel, 11 engines, one Type 2 helicopter, three tenders and two dozers.

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Montana

February 26 recap: Missoula and Western Montana news you may have missed today

Published

13 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

February 26 recap: Missoula and Western Montana news you may have missed today

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Montana

Escobar, Jayapal, Members of Congress Call on Camp East Montana to be Shut Down – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

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Escobar, Jayapal, Members of Congress Call on Camp East Montana to be Shut Down – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) – joined by Representative Pramila Jayapal, the Ranking Member of the Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee, and 22 other Members of Congress – sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons calling for the immediate closure of Camp East Montana in El Paso. They cite urgent humanitarian concerns following multiple deaths in custody, documented unsafe conditions, and serious deficiencies in medical care.

This marks the fourth letter Congresswoman Escobar has sent to DHS and ICE leadership. The previous three letters have gone unanswered.

The letter can be found in its entirety below and here.

“Secretary Noem and Acting Director Lyons:

We are urgently calling on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS or the Department) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to shut down Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas.

Camp East Montana has been operational for six months, and at least three people have died at the site since December 2025: Francisco Gaspar-Andres, Geraldo Lunas Campos, and Victor Manuel Diaz. The El Paso County Medical Examiner has officially ruled Lunas Campos’ death a homicide, citing “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression.”

Camp East Montana was constructed in a matter of weeks and opened before construction was complete and it does not have enough federal staff on-site to provide adequate oversight. Over the last several months, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, in whose district this facility is located, has sent multiple letters to DHS and ICE regarding concerns about the conditions at Camp East Montana, and has received no responses.

According to detainees, there have been constant and consistent problems at the facility since it opened, beginning with the facility’s poor construction and poor ambient temperature control. Upon opening, the drinking water at Camp East Montana tasted foul and made some detainees sick. Detainees continue to be served inadequate meals, including food that is rotten or frozen; last fall, the facility was also consistently failing to make dietary accommodations for detainees. Detainees have shared that they have sporadic access to outside spaces and recreational areas, and that their dormitory pods are cleaned only once every eight days, despite pods housing up to 72 people at a time. Laundry services are not consistent, and people are washing their clothes in the facility showers. Additionally, the facility experiences flooding and sewage backups when it rains, leading to stagnant water.

One of the biggest concerns with the Camp East Montana facility is the inadequate medical care being provided to detainees. Our offices have heard that only the most ill detainees are referred to the medical unit and that there are inconsistencies as to how soon after arriving detainees are able to undergo initial medical screenings. Detainees with chronic health issues who rely on regimented medications for their health have had difficulty accessing necessary medications, including blood pressure medication and insulin.

At least one of the deaths that occurred in ICE custody, the death of Francisco Gaspar-Andres, appears to partially be the result of poor medical care by staff at the facility. According to ICE’s own account, Gaspar-Andres sought medical attention from facility staff for increasingly serious symptoms, but was only transferred to an area hospital once his condition had severely deteriorated.

In addition to our concerns about poor medical care, we are also aware that detainees have experienced irregular access to their legal counsel, including instances of detainees having only two minutes allotted per phone call every 8 days, which is contrary to ICE’s Detention Standards on access to counsel, and that the belatedly created law library lacks adequate resources for the amount of people currently held at the facility. In January 2026, ICE announced the on-site death of Geraldo Lunas Campos “after experiencing medical distress.” ICE opened an investigation into the death, but did not provide a cause of death. However, The Washington Post later reported that another man detained at Camp East Montana had witnessed guards choking Lunas Campos when he refused to enter a segregated housing unit. Weeks later, the El Paso County Medical Examiner ruled that Lunas Campos had experienced “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression” and ruled his death a homicide.

Lunas Campos is the first detainee to die at Camp East Montana as a result of a use-of-force incident, but we are strongly concerned that he will not be the last if ICE is allowed to continue operating Camp East Montana.

ICE was given $45 billion in taxpayer dollars in the reconciliation bill, $1.2 billion of which were awarded to Acquisition Logistics, LLC, a company with no previous experience managing immigration detention facilities, to build and oversee Camp East Montana. However, in the wake of three deaths in custody so far, continued concerns about conditions at the facility, and ICE’s apparent disinterest in responding to oversight letters from Congress, we do not believe Camp East Montana is being run professionally or responsibly.

Camp East Montana must be shut down. For the safety of everyone at the facility, for an end to abuses to detainees, and for fiscal responsibility to the American people, the site cannot continue to operate. We are calling on DHS and ICE to move to immediately close operations at Camp East Montana.

We look forward to hearing from the Department promptly on this matter.

The other co-signers include Representatives Yassamin Ansari, Nanette Barragán, Yvette Clarke, Lloyd Doggett, Maxwell Frost, Jesús “Chuy” García, Sylvia Garcia, Daniel Goldman, Jimmy Gomez, Henry Johnson, Stephen Lynch, Seth Moulton, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Delia Ramirez, Andrea Salinas, Janice Schakowsky, Darren Soto, Rashida Tlaib, Paul Tonko, Lauren Underwood, Gabe Vasquez, and Nydia Velázquez.

Issues: Immigration

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