Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) and Professional Learning Communities (PLC)
MTSS and PLC's are the foundational fabric to the curriculum, instruction, and assessment systems in Bozeman Public Schools. MTSS and PLC's foster culture and belief that ALL students can learn and achieve at high levels. When braided together MTSS + PLC = Learning For All. Click link below to learn more about MTSS and PLC processes in Bozeman Public Schools.
Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
Important Links
- CANVAS LMS Resources
- Curriculum Websites
- Professional Learning
- Social Emotional Learning
- Standards-Based Grading For Personalized Learning
- Teacher On Special Assignment (TOSA)
CANVAS LMS Resources
Curriculum Websites
Curriculum Resources for families
**This link is under construction. Please check back later. Thanks!**
Professional Learning
Social Emotional Learning
The Bozeman School District prioritizes the social emotional well-being of students and supports the development of skills to manage emotions, to establish and maintain heathy relationships, set goals, and make good decisions. We provide evidence-based Social Emotional Learning (SEL) opportunities on a daily basis as part of our K-12 curriculum. If you have questions please reach out to your child's school counselor.
Standards-Based Grading For Personalized Learning
The Board believes cooperation of school and home is a vital ingredient in the growth and education of students and recognizes its responsibility to keep parents informed of student welfare and progress in school.
The issuance of grades and progress reports on a regular basis serves as a basis for continuous evaluation of student performance and for determining changes that should be made to effect improvement. These reports will be designed to provide information helpful to the students, teachers, counselors, and parents.
The Board directs the Superintendent to establish a system of reporting student progress and will require all staff to comply with such a system as part of their teaching responsibility. Staff and parents will be involved.
Teacher On Special Assignment (TOSA)
The Bozeman School District utilizes a Teacher On Special Assignment (TOSA) to perform the following duties:
-
Coordinate tech mentors
-
Coordinate curriculum adoptions
-
Coordinate standards adoptions
-
Coordinate PD
-
New classroom technology integration
-
Building level MTSS / PLC support
-
Training and ongoing coaching to school leadership teams and administration on the MTSS / PLC frameworks
-
Elementary Assessments
Acadience
Acadience Reading is a universal screening and progress monitoring assessment that measures the acquisition of early literacy skills from kindergarten through fifth grade. Acadience Reading is comprised of six brief measures that function as indicators of the essential skills that every child must master to become a proficient reader. These measures are used to regularly monitor the development of early literacy skills in order to provide timely instructional support and prevent the occurrence of later reading difficulties.
STARThe Star Math test is designed for students in grades 1 through 5 (also for students in kindergarten who have basic reading and math skills). In general, the student should have beginning reading skills and some math skills. Star Math’s audio support can be used with students whose math ability outpaces their reading ability. If the student can work through the practice questions unassisted, that student should be able to be tested using Star Math software. If the student has a lot of trouble getting through the practice, the student probably does not have the basic skills necessary to be measured by Star Math. Star Math is not normed for Kindergarten students (due to a lack of data in the last norming study), however, the test can be used for Kindergarteners who have transitioned to the Star Reading assessment in order to measure the student’s numeracy ability until 1st grade.
CogAT
The CogAT is administered to all 3rd grade students.
The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) Forms 7 and 8 measure students’ verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal figural reasoning abilities and assists educators in determining instructional strategies.
Authored by Dr. David F. Lohman of the University of Iowa and Dr. Joni Lakin of Auburn University, CogAT:
-
Measures three separate cognitive domains to provide a more comprehensive perspective on a student’s reasoning abilities,
-
Offers superior technical quality,
-
Links teachers to instructional strategies through unique Ability Profiles™,
Delivers predictive data in conjunction with the Iowa Assessments™ to highlight significant discrepancies between expected and actual academic achievement.
ML/EL Access Testing
From the Montana Office of Public Instruction: The WIDA screeners are used to provide an objective measure to help districts determine when a student who has another language spoken in the home should be identified as an English Learner (EL).
Once a student is identified as an EL, the appropriate ACCESS for ELLs test (Kindergarten ACCESS for ELLs, Online ACCESS for ELLs, or Alternate ACCESS for ELLs) is used to help monitor EL progress in Grades K-12 toward English language proficiency according to Montana's proficiency criteria on an annual basis. Student participation is important for both federal and state compliance (ARM 10.56.101). This assessment is aligned with Montana’s ELP standards, is equitable for all students, provides a comprehensive system of assessments to support instructional practice, and yields usable scores to describe what ELs can know and can do to meet the standards.
DESSA
The DESSA is a nationally standardized, strength-based behavior rating scale that assesses students’ social and emotional competence with editions that support students K-12. It has been used by districts and out-of-school time programs across the country to support social and emotional learning, and has been used or evaluated in 130+ peer reviewed studies. The DESSA is administered to all students twice a year - once in the fall and again in the spring.
Montana Science Assessment (MSA)
The MSA is administered to students in grade 5 only (and Alternate MSA for grades 5). This is the new science assessment that replaced the CRT suite of assessments.
Curriculum Based Assessments
The repeated, direct assessment of targeted skills in basic areas, such as math, reading, writing, and spelling, using materials taken directly from the teaching curriculum to measure how well a student has learned the material from the curriculum.
BSD7 Examples
-
Curriculum/Resource-based formative assessments
-
Curriculum/Resource-based unit assessments
Middle School Assessments
STAR Math and Reading
All 6-8th grade students will take both the Star Reading and Star Math assessments. Star is administered three times a year: fall, winter, and spring.
STAR Reading™ is an assessment of reading comprehension and skills for independent
readers through grade 12. STAR Reading tracks development in five domains:
-Word Knowledge and Skills
-Comprehension Strategies and Constructing Meaning
-Analyzing Literary Text
-Understanding Author’s Craft
-Analyzing Argument and Evaluating Text
STAR Math™ is an assessment of math achievement for students in grades 1–12. STAR Math
tracks development in four domains:
-Numbers and Operations
-Algebra
-Geometry and Measurement
-Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability
ML/EL Access Testing
From the Montana Office of Public Instruction: The WIDA screeners are used to provide an objective measure to help districts determine when a student who has another language spoken in the home should be identified as an English Learner (EL).
Once a student is identified as an EL, the appropriate ACCESS for ELLs test (Kindergarten ACCESS for ELLs, Online ACCESS for ELLs, or Alternate ACCESS for ELLs) is used to help monitor EL progress in Grades K-12 toward English language proficiency according to Montana's proficiency criteria on an annual basis. Student participation is important for both federal and state compliance (ARM 10.56.101). This assessment is aligned with Montana’s ELP standards, is equitable for all students, provides a comprehensive system of assessments to support instructional practice, and yields usable scores to describe what ELs can know and can do to meet the standards.
DESSA
The DESSA is a nationally standardized, strength-based behavior rating scale that assesses students’ social and emotional competence with editions that support students K-12. It has been used by districts and out-of-school time programs across the country to support social and emotional learning, and has been used or evaluated in 130+ peer reviewed studies. The DESSA is administered to all students twice a year - once in the fall and again in the spring.
Montana Science Assessment (MSA)
The MSA is administered to students in grade 8 (and Alternate MSA for grades 8). This is the new science assessment that replaced the CRT suite of assessments.
Curriculum Based Assessments
The repeated, direct assessment of targeted skills in basic areas, such as math, reading, writing, and spelling, using materials taken directly from the teaching curriculum to measure how well a student has learned the material from the curriculum.
BSD7 Examples
-
Curriculum/Resource-based formative assessments
-
Curriculum/Resource-based unit assessments
High School Assessments
ACT
The ACT with Writing is the general mathematics, reading/language arts, and science assessment for academic state achievement reporting in Grade 11. The ACT with Writing is aligned to the Montana Content Stardards (2011) in Math and English language arts (ELA) and currently under alignment studies to the Montana Content Standards (2016) in Science. It is used to provide state, district, school, and individual student achievement information on the state-adopted content standards in mathematics, ELA, and science. It is used by the state to provide a consistent picture of student proficiency and progress across Montana's public schools and private schools seeking accreditation. It is an important measure for understanding comparisons between schools, over time, and for gaining understanding of equity in educational services.
STAR Math and Reading
Selected students will take the Star Reading and Star Math assessments or both. Star is administered three times a year: fall, winter, and spring.
STAR Reading™ is an assessment of reading comprehension and skills for independent
readers through grade 12. STAR Reading tracks development in five domains:
-Word Knowledge and Skills
-Comprehension Strategies and Constructing Meaning
-Analyzing Literary Text
-Understanding Author’s Craft
-Analyzing Argument and Evaluating Text
STAR Math™ is an assessment of math achievement for students in grades 1–12. STAR Math
tracks development in four domains:
-Numbers and Operations
-Algebra
-Geometry and Measurement
-Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability
ML/EL Access Testing
From the Montana Office of Public Instruction: The WIDA screeners are used to provide an objective measure to help districts determine when a student who has another language spoken in the home should be identified as an English Learner (EL).
Once a student is identified as an EL, the appropriate ACCESS for ELLs test (Kindergarten ACCESS for ELLs, Online ACCESS for ELLs, or Alternate ACCESS for ELLs) is used to help monitor EL progress in Grades K-12 toward English language proficiency according to Montana's proficiency criteria on an annual basis. Student participation is important for both federal and state compliance (ARM 10.56.101). This assessment is aligned with Montana’s ELP standards, is equitable for all students, provides a comprehensive system of assessments to support instructional practice, and yields usable scores to describe what ELs can know and can do to meet the standards.
DESSA
The DESSA is a nationally standardized, strength-based behavior rating scale that assesses students’ social and emotional competence with editions that support students K-12. It has been used by districts and out-of-school time programs across the country to support social and emotional learning, and has been used or evaluated in 130+ peer reviewed studies. The DESSA is administered to all students twice a year - once in the fall and again in the spring.
Montana Science Assessment (MSA)
The MSA is administered to students in grade 11 (and Alternate MSA for grades 11). This is the new science assessment that replaced the CRT suite of assessments.
Curriculum Based Assessments
The repeated, direct assessment of targeted skills in basic areas, such as math, reading, writing, and spelling, using materials taken directly from the teaching curriculum to measure how well a student has learned the material from the curriculum.
BSD7 Examples
-
Curriculum/Resource-based formative assessments
-
Curriculum/Resource-based unit assessments