GRANTEE ABSTRACT 

Montana
 

Overview 

Montana is focused on increasing high-quality 

preschool for children throughout the state as 

evidenced by Governor Bullock’s Early Edge 

Preschool Initiative which would provide $37 

million in state funds for preschool education, 

new program and accreditation standards for 

state funded preschool, and revised education 

requirements and licensure qualifications for 

public preschool teachers. These are critical 

steps to ensuring a quality education for 

Montana’s youngest learners, but the state also 

faces some challenges. Montana is 

geographically vast with a sparse population. 

Nearly half of Montana children live at or below 

200% of the federal poverty level. 

This grant will help Montana improve access to 

high quality preschool education in 24 high 

needs communities, eight of which are on 

Indian lands. The Governor’s Office, The Office 

of Instruction, and The Department of Health 

and Human Services will implement the grant. 

Montana has instituted successful early literacy 

programs in high needs communities and these 

programs will serve as models and mentors for 

new programs that are added each year of the 

grant. 

The Subgrantees have been categorized in 

Cohorts. Cohort I consists of Early Learning 

Providers that have been part of the Montana 

Striving Readers Project (MSRP) and have 

already begun to implement many of the 

Lead Agency 

Montana Office of Public Instruction 

Year 1 Federal Award Amount 

$10,000,000 

Plan Period 

January 1, 2015 – December 31, 2018 

Preschool Development Grants will support
 

states to build, develop, and expand voluntary,
 

high-quality preschool programs for children 

from low- and moderate-income families.
 

There are two types of grants. 

Development Grants are for states that 

currently serve less than 10 percent of fouryear-olds and have not received a Race to 

the Top – Early Learning Challenge (RTTELC) grant. 

Expansion Grants are for states that 

currently serve 10 percent or more of fouryear-olds or have received an RTT-ELC 

grant. 

components of Montana’s Program Standards. 

Cohort II consists of Early Learning Providers 

who are in districts that are implementing a 

MSRP. Cohort III consists of Head Starts on 

Indian Reservations that do not have schools 

participating in the MSRP. Cohort I will serve as 

a mentor to Cohorts II and III through ongoing 

collaboration and site visits facilitated by the 

State Implementation Team. 

Project Objectives and Activities 

The State will accomplish the project activities 

and objectives in phases: Phase 1: Developing, 

Phase 2: Expanding, Phase 3: Implementing, 

and Phase 4: Sustaining. All activities will 

This abstract was submitted as part of Montana’s Preschool Development Grant Application. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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DEVELOPMENT GRANTEE: MONTANA
 

ultimately lead to the sustaining phase. 

The State has four primary ambitious and 

achievable outcomes, which will be measured 

by our external evaluator Education Northwest. 

See table below for project activities and 

outcomes. 

•	 Implement the Montana Program 

standards within each high-need 

community to ensure high quality 

preschools for all eligible children. 

The expansion will include new slots 

for state preschool programs. 

•	 Expand a comprehensive early learning 

assessment system which will be 

implemented and sustained by 

subgrantees beginning in the first 

year of implementation. 

•	 Align standards (both program and 

content) from birth to grade three. 

•	 Expand, implement and sustain
 

comprehensive services in the
 

high-need communities.
 

•	 Expand a comprehensive early 

learning assessment system which 

will be implemented and sustained 

by subgrantees beginning in the first 

year of grant implementation. 

Project Outcomes 

•	 Expand the number and percentage 

of children served overall in state 

preschool programs. 

•	 Expand the number and percentage 

of eligible children in high-need 

communities served by high-quality 

preschool programs and who are ready 

for kindergarten as determined by a 

valid and reliable assessment for 

kindergarten readiness. 

High Need Communities to be 

Served under Montana’s Plan 

•	 Develop and implement a kindergarten 

entry assessment system for participating 

children by the end of Year Three of 

the grant. 

Support targeted early learning providers 

and gather data about the implementation 

of structural elements of high quality preschool 

programs as identified in Montana’s program 

standards. 

Anaconda Helena 

Boulder Kalispell 

Box Elder	 Lame Deer 

Bozeman	 Lewistown 

Browning Libby 

Butte Livingston 

Crow	 Pablo 

Poplar Crow Agency 

Point East Helena 

Rocky Boy Fort Belknap 

Great Falls Ronan 

Wolf Hardin 

This abstract was submitted as part of Montana’s Preschool Development Grant Application. 2