Montana
Montana moves ACT testing online for high school students
MISSOULA – The ACT has been a standard, college-readiness take a look at for highschool college students since 1959. However like every part in schooling, the ACT is evolving.
Beginning this spring, most Montana highschool juniors will take their ACTs solely on a pc.
The Montana Workplace of Public Instruction (OPI) piloted this on-line model final yr and is now urging faculties to make the change this yr.
Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Elise Arntzen got here out with a press release mid-February, explaining that the district would administer a web based ACT to their 2023 highschool juniors.
Arntzen stated within the assertion that she was engaged on bettering ACT take a look at scores, and this resolution might assist.
“As I’ve stated many occasions, Montana should get again to the fundamentals of Math and Studying in order that our college students can obtain academic excellence and be faculty prepared,” Arntzen stated within the press launch.
Different districts are following go well with, together with Missoula County Public Faculties and Kalispell Public Faculties.
In an electronic mail, Kalispell superintendent Michah Hill stated, “Sure, Kalispell Public Faculties plans to manage the ACT take a look at on-line. It’s kind of of a juggling act to check virtually 800 juniors district-wide. We’ll seemingly break college students out into teams in order that we’ve got sufficient accessible expertise. In lots of circumstances, offered that the expertise works the best way it’s speculated to, this may streamline and make administration of this take a look at extra environment friendly.”
Barbara Frank, Director of Curriculum and Evaluation for MCPS sighted the same purpose for Missoula’s change to on-line.
“You will get sooner scoring, it’s simpler to make it possible for college students are registered, that each one of their data is appropriate,” Frank says. “I all the time assume there’s advantages to having a expertise element to evaluation.”
Hamilton Public Faculties determined to decide out of the net model this yr however will participate within the pc model beginning the 2023-24 faculty yr.
In an electronic mail, Hamilton Excessive Faculty principal Marlin Lewis stated ready till subsequent yr to modify to a web based ACT “will enable our employees to raised put together our college students for the TIMED Typing model of the ACT subsequent spring.”
Hamilton Faculties needed to apply for a variance with OPI in an effort to administer the 2023 ACT on paper.
Lots of highschool college students begin making ready for his or her ACT as early as freshman yr, however this yr’s juniors had been solely not too long ago knowledgeable of the change to on-line.
Huge Sky Excessive Faculty junior Madelyn McInnis, took the paper ACT earlier this yr as a technique to put together for her second take a look at.
“It’s like I took the paper take a look at to arrange to take the ACT once more, after which I’m taking one thing else,” McInnis says.
ACT prep work is usually carried out on paper, and these college students have anticipated an ACT evaluation just like their observe exams.
McInnis says she wished there have been extra methods to arrange herself for the timed typing model.
“There’s just one observe take a look at that’s accessible for the ACT on-line, and there’s like seven paper ones which you could print out,” she says.
Nonetheless, college students don’t really feel the change will have an effect on them negatively. In reality, most would like a web based model.
“I believe the paper one was okay, it feels sort of archaic as a result of it’s important to spend so lengthy ensuring the bubbles are stuffed in accurately, after which what’s arduous for me is after I took the ACT, the place I used to be located, I couldn’t see the clock, as a result of it was behind me, which was sort of tough,” McInnis says.
For this technology of scholars, on-line testing isn’t a novelty.
“Rising up, on this period of expertise, my complete life, virtually all of my faculty work has been on-line, particularly with COVID and stuff,” says Huge Sky Excessive Faculty junior Finley Stratford. “So I really feel like I’m sort of in tune with that greater than writing on paper.”
Barbara Frank says extra college students shall be on board with a pc ACT somewhat than the paper one. She believes even with the late discover, excessive schoolers received’t have a lot drawback adjusting.
“I believe while you discuss to highschool college students, they’re extra stunned to do one thing on paper, than they’re to do one thing electronically,” she says.
A web-based ACT has a number of advantages. College students can hear solutions learn aloud, they’ll spotlight or zoom in, flip by means of their solutions simpler and time themselves with the pc clock.
It additionally eliminates the chance for human error whereas filling in reply sheets or organizing exams.
As an alternative of sitting in a big auditorium with just a few proctors, college students shall be cut up into small teams and given computer systems to take the take a look at.
Whereas this may require extra educated proctors, Frank says it saves a whole lot of work in the long term.
“There’s a number of safety features to those sorts of exams, so while you’re doing it with paper, you’ve received to have every part organized alphabetically,” she says. “So there’s much more clerical work to a paper model, and actually much more alternatives for exams to get misplaced, misplaced, since you’re dealing all with paper.”
A potential setback to a web based ACT is expertise points, which is a threat every time testing is finished electronically.
Each pupil in MCPS will take the take a look at the identical day — April 12 — at their dwelling highschool. This might doubtlessly bathroom down servers and trigger crashes.
This concern is likely one of the causes the state piloted the net model final yr. They’ve slowly constructed up a dependable infrastructure to account for the excessive visitors through the ACT.
College students who took the ACT through the pandemic might imagine this change is coming too late.
Many individuals who took the ACT throughout COVID had been required to drive far distances to keep up social distancing guidelines.
Frank says the state was not prepared for a web based model on the time.
“I don’t assume they’d the infrastructure or the planning able to roll out the net model through the COVID testing years,” Frank says.
A web-based ACT doesn’t imply the take a look at will ultimately have the ability to be administered at dwelling to college students.
“We realized that in COVID, we allowed a few of our benchmarking assessments to be carried out at dwelling, and people scores had been very completely different than when college students took these within the constructing,” Frank says.
Total, the change appeared inevitable, and can seemingly be customary transferring ahead.
BILLINGS — A new tortilla shop is bringing the warmth of Mexico to Billings and holds cultural significance for the owners.
Watch the video below:
New tortilleria rolls out in Billings, brings a fresh taste of Mexico to Montana
Colima Tortilleria, located at 2212 Grant Road, sells fresh corn and flour tortillas by the pound each morning. They are made with a large tortilla-making machine shipped directly from Mexico, which pushes out 2,800 tortillas an hour.
“People say they feel excited when they come here and see the machine and say, like, ‘Wow, that’s a really fresh tortilla,’” said owner Rubi Murillo.
Isabel Spartz/MTN News
The process begins each day at 9 a.m. before the doors open at 11 a.m. to prepare the masa, or dough, and run the oven-like machine. Though they currently rotate between corn and flour tortillas daily, the plan is to eventually offer both all day. Customers can also enjoy tacos and snacks made with the tortillas on-site. Corn tortillas are made in a six-inch and four-inch size for tacos, while flour tortillas come in 6, 10, and 12-inch sizes. Most days, they sell out before closing.
The venture is new for Murillo, who said she did not learn to make tortillas until the equipment arrived.
“We start making the masa and we start making a process (…) to make the quality tortillas,” said Murillo. “It’s hard work because you have to use the machine, you have to check the temperature (to) make the tortillas, because it’s not the same when you make corn or flour.”
Isabel Spartz/MTN News
The tortilleria, which opened its doors at the end of April, is the latest venture for Murillo and her husband, Miguel, who are known for their other businesses: Fiesta Mexicana, Camachos Tacos, and Colima de Mis Amores, a Mexican store and bakery just next door to the tortilleria. The store sells various snacks, meals, clothing, and other goods not commonly found in the U.S.
“At the beginning, when I started to open the store, is because I (missed) home,” said Murillo.
Isabel Spartz/MTN News
Murillo wanted to open the tortilleria to bring an authentic and fresh taste to Billings, and the plan came to fruition sooner than expected.
“I haven’t seen these tortillerias here in Billings, so I was thinking, ‘Why not bring the machine?’” said Murillo. “It’s not the same when you go to the store and buy frozen tortillas.”
The business has also helped fill a gap in their hearts, serving as a reminder of home. Murillo, who moved from Colima, Mexico, to the U.S. 10 years ago, remembers her own childhood trips to the local tortilleria.
Isabel Spartz/MTN News
“In Mexico, every day you go to buy tortillas from the tortilleria, come back to home and start eating like the dishes that you have with the fresh tortillas,” said Murillo. “That brings me memories when I was at home and my mom sent me, ‘Go for the tortillas! Bring the tortillas back!’”
Her mother, Natalia Ramirez, moved to the U.S. just last year and now works alongside her daughter in the kitchen.
“In Mexico, there’s a lot of tortillerias, but here is the only one. It’s a novelty here because people can take them warm, freshly made,” Ramirez said in Spanish.
Isabel Spartz/MTN News
The tortilleria represents a dream fulfilled that ties two cultures together for Ramirez and her daughter. Helping launch the venture has been deeply emotional for her.
“I’m very proud of her,” said Ramirez. “Because she is a very hard-working person, very smart, has a lot of vision for business. She has always been a fighter.”
For the mother-daughter duo, these tortillas are a connection to home and a way to share the richness of Mexican culture with their Montana community.
Isabel Spartz/MTN News
“Right now, it’s up and down in a lot of businesses, so I’m really appreciative because it’s been good,” said Murillo.
Colima Tortilleria is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
MISSOULA — Here’s a look at Western Montana’s top news stories for Thursday.
A South African family labeled as refugees by the U.S. Department of State arrived in Missoula on Monday, aided by the International Rescue Committee and Soft Landing Missoula. The family’s arrival follows an expedited immigration process stemming from an executive order that claims Afrikaners face violence and property seizures in South Africa. (Read the full story)
Therma Wood Technologies in Polson offers an eco-friendly heat and pressure process to treat wood, eliminating harmful chemicals while enhancing durability. This method provides treated wood with a lifespan of about 20 years, significantly exceeding the typical seven to eight years of chemically-treated wood. (Read the full story)
Polson wood treatment company provides eco-friendly option
Flathead High School students showcased their heavy equipment skills on Wednesday through a hands-on program in partnership with the Montana Contractors Association. The Build Montana Initiative allows students to gain practical experience operating machinery, preparing them for future careers in construction while reinforcing the importance of a skilled workforce in Kalispell. (Read the full story)
Kalispell students showcase heavy machinery skills
Montana has done something that many states and the United States Congress have debated but failed to do: it has just enacted the first attempt to close the dreaded, invasive, unconstitutional, but easily fixed “data broker loophole.” This is a very good step in the right direction because right now, across the country, law enforcement routinely purchases information on individuals it would otherwise need a warrant to obtain.
What does that mean? In every state other than Montana, if police want to know where you have been, rather than presenting evidence and sending a warrant signed by a judge to a company like Verizon or Google to get your geolocation data for a particular set of time, they only need to buy that same data from data brokers. In other words, all the location data apps on your phone collect —sometimes recording your exact location every few minutes—is just sitting for sale on the open market. And police routinely take that as an opportunity to skirt your Fourth Amendment rights.
Now, with SB 282, Montana has become the first state to close the data broker loophole. This means the government may not use money to get access to information about electronic communications (presumably metadata), the contents of electronic communications, contents of communications sent by a tracking devices, digital information on electronic funds transfers, pseudonymous information, or “sensitive data”, which is defined in Montana as information about a person’s private life, personal associations, religious affiliation, health status, citizen status, biometric data, and precise geolocation. This does not mean information is now fully off limits to police. There are other ways for law enforcement in Montana to gain access to sensitive information: they can get a warrant signed by a judge, they can get consent of the owner to search a digital device, they can get an “investigative subpoena” which unfortunately requires far less justification than an actual warrant.
Despite the state’s insistence on honoring lower-threshold subpoena usage, SB 282 is not the first time Montana has been ahead of the curve when it comes to passing privacy-protecting legislation. For the better part of a decade, the Big Sky State has seriously limited the use of face recognition, passed consumer privacy protections, added an amendment to their constitution recognizing digital data as something protected from unwarranted searches and seizures, and passed a landmark law protecting against the disclosure or collection of genetic information and DNA.
SB 282 is similar in approach to H.R.4639, a federal bill the EFF has endorsed, introduced by Senator Ron Wyden, called the Fourth Amendment is Not for Sale Act. H.R.4639 passed through the House in April 2024 but has not been taken up by the Senate.
Absent the United States Congress being able to pass important privacy protections into law, states, cities, and towns have taken it upon themselves to pass legislation their residents sorely need in order to protect their civil liberties. Montana, with a population of just over one million people, is showing other states how it’s done. EFF applauds Montana for being the first state to close the data broker loophole and show the country that the Fourth Amendment is not for sale.
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