State Superintendent Susie Hedalen releases 2025-26 assessment results showing strong student academic growth in reading and math.
HELENA, Mont.—Superintendent of Public Instruction Susie Hedalen released statewide student achievement results for the 2025-26 school year today. Across the board, more students are mastering grade level expectations in both English language arts (ELA) and math with improvements showing up in every tested grade.
Statewide, ELA proficiency improved from 43.1% to 45.6%, and math proficiency increased from 36.9% to 40.5%. Third-grade math posted the largest gain from 37.3% to 43.3%. With 72.8% of students at near proficient, proficient and advanced for ELA, and 69% of students at near proficient, proficient and advanced for math in grades 3rd-8th.
“My commitment is to bring education back to the core academic foundations: reading, writing, and math and that is exactly where we have focused our efforts,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction Susie Hedalen. “Today, we are seeing the focus pay off! Montana students are making exciting gains in reading and math across every tested grade, and that is something worth celebrating. This is a tremendous win for our students, families, and educators. We know there is more work to do, but our students are heading in the right direction, and we are building real momentum. We are going to keep our foot on the gas, keep academics first, and build on this success for every Montana student.”
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The gains come from the Montana Aligned to Standards Through-Year (MAST) assessment, which replaces one long summative test with shorter testlets given throughout the school year. Each testlet is tied to recently learned content, and teachers receive results the Monday after testing. Families have immediate access to test results throughout the year following each assessment because transparency and parent involvement are critical to student success.
Progress was also seen among multiple student groups. Students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals improved in math (26.6% to 29.8%) and ELA (32.7% to 34.5%). American Indian students improved in math (9.9% to 12.5%) and ELA (15.1% to 16.7%). With 98.2% of eligible students participating, these numbers offer a true, reliable snapshot of how Montana classrooms are thriving.
These gains are encouraging and refelct Montana’s strong national performance. Superintendent Hedalen highlights Montana’s results on the 2024 NAEP Report Card, which show the state performing above the national average and ahead of other western states in all assessed categories. “When the next national assessment results are released this spring, we are confident we will see gains in Montana’s national standing.”
Furthermore, through the Montana Reads Initiative and the Math Skills Map schools and educators have received meaningful resources and professional development from the OPI to directly impact reading and math instruction and interventions to increase student achievement.
This is the first year Montana can compare MAST results year over year, and OPI will continue to track the data to see that these gains hold. Full results are available at https://gems.opi.mt.gov/