2023 Montana Code Annotated › Title 20. Education › Chapter 7. School Instruction and Special Programs › Part 1. Accreditation and Curriculum › 20-7-104. Transparency and public availability of public school performance data -- reporting -- availability for timely use to improve instruction

20-7-104. Transparency and public availability of public school performance data -- reporting -- availability for timely use to improve instruction.
(1) The office of public instruction shall establish, maintain, and continually improve a statewide K-12 data system that, at a minimum:
(a) includes data entry and intuitive reporting options that school districts can use to make timely decisions that improve instruction and impact student performance while creating a collaborative environment for parents, teachers, and students to work together in improving student performance. Options that the office of public instruction shall incorporate and make available for each school district must include data linkages to provide for automated conversion of data from systems already in use by school districts or by the office of public instruction that allow districts to collect, manage, and present local classroom assessment scores, grades, attendance, and other data to assist in instructional intervention alongside the existing school accountability and statewide student achievement results. The office of public instruction shall ensure that the design of the system is enhanced to prioritize collaborative support of each student's needs by classroom educators, administrators, and parents.
(b) eliminates redundant data collections and siloed data systems and facilitates data sharing among the various divisions within the office of public instruction;
(c) facilitates matching of student-level K-12 data with higher education and workforce data; and
(d) protects each student's education records in compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. 1232g, as amended, and its implementing regulations at 34 CFR, part 99 and any applicable state laws exceeding those requirements.
(2) The superintendent of public instruction shall make available on the office of public instruction's website an educational profile for each school district. A school district's educational profile must include, at a minimum, the following elements:
(a) school district contact information and links to district websites, when available;
(b) testing results from statewide assessments required by the board of public education;
(c) accountability metrics required by federal law, including, if applicable, district and school-level report cards;
(d) student enrollment and demographics by grade level; and
(e) graduation rates.
(3) Each school district shall annually report to the office of public instruction in a manner prescribed by the superintendent of public instruction the following district data for the preceding school year:
(a) the number and type of employee positions, including administrators;
(b) for the current employee in each position:
(i) the total amount of compensation paid to the employee by the district. The total amount of compensation includes but is not limited to the employee's base wage or salary, overtime pay, and other income from school-sanctioned extracurricular activities, including coaching and similar activities.
(ii) the certification held by and required of the employee;
(c) the student-teacher ratio by grade;
(d) (i) the amount, by category, spent by the district for operation and maintenance, stated in total cost and cost per square foot; and
(ii) the amount of principal and interest paid on bonds;
(e) the total district expenditures per student;
(f) the total budget for all funds;
(g) the total number of students enrolled and the average daily attendance;
(h) the total amount spent by the district on extracurricular activities and the total number of students that participated in extracurricular activities; and
(i) the number of students that entered the 9th grade in the school district but did not graduate from a high school in that district and for which the school district did not receive a transfer request. For reporting purposes, the students identified under this subsection (3)(i) are considered to have dropped out of school.
(4) (a) Each school district shall post on the school district's internet website a copy of every working agreement the district has with any organized labor organization and the district's costs, if any, associated with employee union representation, collective bargaining, and union grievance procedures and litigation resulting from union employee grievances.
(b) If a school district does not have an internet website, the school district shall publish the information required under subsection (4)(a) in printed form and provide a copy of the information upon request at the cost incurred by the school district for printing only.
(5) The superintendent of public instruction shall continually work in consultation with the K-12 data task force provided for in 20-7-105 to analyze the best options for a statewide K-12 data system meeting the requirements of subsection (1). Emphasis must be placed on developing or purchasing and customizing a statewide data system that promotes and preserves community ownership and local control and that incorporates innovative technologies available in the marketplace that may be in use and that are successfully working in other states.
(6) In addition to the school district profiles under subsection (2), the superintendent of public instruction shall gather and make available on the office of public instruction's website longitudinal, actionable data in at least the following areas:
(a) demographic information;
(b) enrollment data, including average daily attendance;
(c) statewide assessment data;
(d) untested students;
(e) graduation and dropout data; and
(f) school finance data.
(7) In accordance with 20-7-136 through 20-7-138 and except as otherwise provided and explicitly directed in state law, the superintendent of public instruction may not share or restrict the sharing of student educational records beyond what is allowed or restricted under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. 1232g, as amended, and its implementing regulations at 34 CFR, part 99.
History: En. Sec. 4, Ch. 418, L. 2011; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 400, L. 2013; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 12, L. 2019; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 196, L. 2019; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 747, L. 2023.