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Click here to download the full brochure (PDF) Autism Trainings:   Discipline for the Elementary Age Child on the Spectrum, Monday, Aug 26 @ 4:30-7pm (Free - 2 OPI credits)  Preventing and Managing Challenging Behaviors,  Tuesday, Aug 27 @ 9-4pm ($35 with 6 OPI credits)  Building Friendship Skills and Friendships with Classmates, Wednesday, Aug 28 @ 9-4pm ($35 with 6 OPI credits)  Increasing the Odds for a Successful Transition to Middle School, Thursday, Aug 29 @ 9-4pm ($35 with 6 OPI credits) 

The OPI-Division of Special Education will be offering a series of 5 webinars on secondary transition.  Providing great secondary transition services to high school youth can be challenging.  This webinar series, presented by Montana teachers and providers, will give multiple strategies on implementing secondary transition in a rural district or a large district that has provided great results for the Montana school districts that have used them.  A flyer with descriptions of each of the webinars can be found at: http://www.OPI.mt.gov/pdf/SpecED/Link/10NovWebinarBestPractices.pdf The webinars are free and no registration is required. The webinars will start at 3:30 p.m. and last about an hour each.  One renewal unit will be offered for each live webinar.  The webinars can be attended individually or the whole series.  The webinars will be posted on the OPI Web site after the live webinar.  Please forward this information to high school teachers and other personnel that you think may be interested. Questions regarding this series can be sent to Nikki Sandve at nsandve@mt.gov or call (406) 444-0299.

The Office of Public Instruction, Division of Special Education, is pleased to announce that the Speech Language Pathology Traineeship program is now accepting applications for the July 1-June 30 fiscal year.  The Speech-Language Pathology Traineeship was created to encourage and support individuals in pursuing a speech-language pathology license.  The OPI is now offering two separate traineeship stipends: $1,500 per year for up to three years for leveling coursework and $3,000 per year for up to three years for master's coursework

In accordance with the requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA),  the state must report annually to the public on the performance of each local educational agency located in the state on the targets in the State's Performance Plan. Because baseline data and/or performance targets have not been established for all of the performance indicators, the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), has informed states that they are only required to report district performance for students with disabilities on indicators 1-5 and 8-12 this year. These performance indicators address the following: Graduation, Dropout, Assessment, Suspension/Expulsion, Least Restrictive Environment (ages 6-21), Parent Involvement, Disproportionality As A Result Of Inappropriate Identification, Child Find Timelines, and Early Childhood Transition (transition from Part C to Part B). The district's performance data is 2008-2009 data that was submitted by the district to the OPI as a part of its child count, exiting, student discipline collections and/or collected during a compliance monitoring record review. Performance data for performance indicator #8, Parent Involvement, is based on parent survey data. The Parent Involvement Survey was distributed to districts that were compliance monitored in school year 2008-2009. Districts were asked to provide a copy of the survey to all parents of IDEA-eligible students receiving special education and related services through an Individualized Education Program (IEP). The District Public Reports can be found on the OPI Web site at:  http://data.OPI.mt.gov/SPEDReporting/ .

What: The fourth Friday of September was designated by the 1997 Legislature as American Indian Heritage Day, in recognition of Montana’s constitutional commitment to preserve the cultural integrity of American Indians. The definition of a quality education in Montana includes specific language for the integration of Indian Education for All throughout the curriculum. MCA 20-9-309. Activities that celebrate American Indian Heritage Day can create sustained interest in learning about the distinct and unique cultural heritage of American Indians, setting the tone and creating connections for a year of integrating Indian Education for All. Spark interest with these activities… Display information about Montana tribes – tribal specific posters, maps, and books. Learn the names of all Montana reservations, tribes that live on them and languages spoken there. Research how names of the tribes are spoken in their own languages. Explore nearby Montana Indian cultural and historical sites and community museums. Invite cultural resource experts from Montana’s tribal nations to visit. Display OPI Indian Education for All curriculum materials. Through the study of Montana Indian cultures and peoples, all students become more self-aware of their own cultures and develop a reference point to support greater understanding of others. Explore the OPI Indian Education website for links to DVDs, websites, publications and lessons for most content areas and grade levels: http://OPI.mt.gov/Programs/IndianEd/Index.html When: Friday, September 23, 2011

Click here to register!Whats and Whens:Pre sessions, Wednesday, January 18, 1-4 pm include workshops on: Proposed Montana Common Core Standards Math Proposed Montana Common Core Standards in English Language Arts Instructional Uses of English Language Proficiency (ELP), WIDA assessment results ACT Plus Writing training Thursday, January 19, 8:30-4:25 pm 8:30 am, Keynote: Tony Alpert, CEO of the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium, will provide updates and insights on the adaptive online assessment implementation in 2014-15. Friday, January 20, 8:30-11:30 am 8:30 am, Keynote: Montana GEMS data warehouse project. Conference presentations include sessions on assessment and data training for the 2012 MontCAS CRT test administration. Regularly updated information about the conference offerings and a call for proposals can be found at http://www.opi.mt.gov/curriculum/MontCAS/#p7GPc1_ Where:Red Lion Colonial InnHelena, MontanaContact:Judy SnowPhone: 406- 444-3656.

Click here to download the full flyer with agenda and registration form When: August 2-4, 2010 Where: Missoula, Hilton Garden Inn What: Kindergarten Transition and Model Kindergarten Curriculum The Center on the Social Emotional Foundation for Early Learning (CSEFEL) LETRS for Early Childhood Educators

Region III CSPD, in cooperation with OPI, is offering a hands-on training for special education teachers working with students ages 15 and older. Participants will have an opportunity to network with other special education teachers and share ideas and discuss best practices. Participants are required to bring two or three student files which they will work on during the session. Teachers participating in this training are required to watch the four OPI Secondary Transition webinars located on the OPI website prior to attending the Implementing Secondary Transition: Case Study Group. Participants are required to complete a brief evaluation to document attendance and participation for each webinar.

Montana's Annual Application for Funding Under the IDEA is available for public comment until April 24, 2010.

The Montana Legislative Audit Division has completed its information systems audit of OPI’s statewide student information system, AIM – Achievement in Montana.  The purpose of the audit was to 1) Verify controls are in place to ensure the availability of real time data in AIM;  2) Ensure controls are in place to prevent unauthorized access to student data in AIM;  3) Verify processing controls are in place to ensure AIM data completeness; and 4) Ensure AIM is generating accurate reports.  Click here to review the audit report Achievement in Montana: Security of Student Information for the Office of Public Instruction.

Do you know an educator who demonstrates exceptional instructional ability, is inspiring and exhibits professional leadership? Each year, the Office of Public Instruction asks for recommendations of outstanding educators and administrators for the Superintendent's Talent Pool. Please take a moment to submit names of remarkable people from your area to be included.

Identifying High-Ability/High Potential Students What: A hands-on workshop on best practices in Identification for Gifted Education Programming for Administrators, School Psychologists and Gifted Education Coordinators. Participants will gain information about achievement and ability testing, observation tools, portfolios and using multiple criteria for identification. Opportunities for discussions to allow for adaptation of material for each school setting will be included. Featured Workshop Facilitator: Dr. Karen L. Westberg is a faculty member in the Gifted/Creative/Talented education program at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. She spent ten years as a faculty member at the University of Connecticut where she was a principal investigator at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented (NRC/GT) and taught coursework in gifted education and research methodology. She began her career as a classroom teacher and gifted education specialist in Minnesota schools. She has served on the Executive Committee of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) and is a member of the Gifted Child Quarterly Editorial Board. Her research interests include classroom practices, gifted education identification, program development and differentiating instruction. When: Friday, January 21, 2011 Where: Montana State University-Billings Student Union Building Lewis/Clark Room 8:30 A.M. – 4 P.M.   Registration: There is no fee for the workshop, but registration is required. Lunch is provided and OPI renewal units will be available. For Registration Contact: Deb Poole, Gifted and Talented Specialist, at debpoole@mt.gov (406) 444-4317