Montana Teacher Evaluation Software
Run the evaluation system your district adopts, whether that is the state's Montana-EPAS model, a Danielson-based framework, or a rubric of your own, aligned to Montana's Chapter 55 accreditation standards.
Evaluation is the entry point, not the whole story. In EX in Education, evaluations connect to coaching, goals, PD, and retention, so every educator moves from hired to thriving.
Montana Observation
How Montana Handles Teacher Evaluation
Montana's Chapter 55 accreditation standards require every district to evaluate its licensed staff, but the state does not prescribe a single statewide rubric. Local boards adopt or design their own evaluation system, and the Office of Public Instruction offers an optional state model. In EX in Education, whichever framework you run becomes the doorway into a connected system for coaching, PD, and retention.
Local Evaluation Systems
Under Montana's accreditation rules, each local board of trustees is responsible for a written evaluation system for its licensed staff. Districts design their own, and many build on the Danielson four-domain structure. EX configures to match the rubric you already use.
- District defines the framework and rating scale
- Many districts use Danielson-based rubrics
- Bring your own forms, or start from a template
The Montana-EPAS State Model
The Office of Public Instruction publishes an optional state model, the Montana Educator Performance Appraisal System (Montana-EPAS). Districts may adopt it or use it as a starting point, but using a model instrument is not required.
- Optional state model, not a mandate
- Four framework components
- Aligned to InTASC and Indian Education for All
Whatever Framework Your District Adopts
The Montana-EPAS state model organizes practice into four framework components, and most Danielson-based local systems share the same four-domain shape. EX pre-builds these so evaluators can observe and score without rebuilding forms, and adapts the indicators to your district's rubric.
Planning & Preparation
What teachers do before instruction begins, grounded in Montana content standards.
- Knowledge of content and pedagogy
- Knowledge of students
- Instructional outcomes and design
- Planning for assessment
Classroom Environment
Culture, relationships, and the conditions that make learning possible.
- Respect and rapport
- A culture for learning
- Classroom procedures
- Managing student behavior
Instructional Effectiveness
Instruction as it happens, and its effect on student learning.
- Communicating with students
- Questioning and discussion
- Engaging students in learning
- Using assessment during instruction
Professional Responsibilities
Reflection, records, families, and continued professional growth.
- Reflecting on teaching
- Maintaining accurate records
- Communicating with families
- Growing and developing professionally
What Montana Requires
- Periodic written evaluation of all regularly employed instructional staff under contract
- An evaluation component tied to the district's strategic action plan
- Staff access to the evaluation instrument
- The right to respond in writing and access their files
What Districts Decide Locally
- Which framework and rubric to use
- The rating scale and performance levels
- Observation length, count, and cadence
- How often each teacher is evaluated
No single statewide rubric: Montana sets the requirements through its Chapter 55 accreditation standards, then leaves the framework, rating scale, and observation schedule to local boards. Using the Montana-EPAS state model is optional. EX in Education adapts to the framework your district adopts, whether that is Montana-EPAS, a Danielson-based rubric, or a system of your own, and keeps every evaluation on schedule with reminders.
Performance Levels, Tracked Over Time
Montana does not mandate one statewide rating scale. Many Danielson-based local systems use a four-level scale like the one below. EX in Education records whatever levels your district defines, ties each to its evidence, and carries them forward so growth is visible from one cycle to the next.
Distinguished
Consistently exceeds expectations and models practice for others
Proficient
Meets expectations and demonstrates effective practice
Basic
Shows developing competency and needs support in some areas
Unsatisfactory
Requires significant improvement and intensive support
Because Montana leaves scoring to local policy, districts set their own labels, cut scores, and evaluation cycles. Whatever scale you use, EX in Education keeps each teacher's rating history, cycle schedule, and improvement plans in one place, and routes the ones who need support into coaching cycles so a rating leads to next steps, not just a score. Newer and nontenured staff, who are typically evaluated more often, stay on their district's schedule with automatic reminders.
Built for Montana's Evaluation Process
EX in Education gives Montana districts what they need to run evaluation aligned to Chapter 55 requirements, then connects that evidence to coaching, PD, goals, and retention across every school.
Configurable Rubrics
Observation forms built around your framework, whether that is Montana-EPAS, a Danielson-based rubric, or your own.
- Any domains and indicators
- Your rating scale
- Evidence collection tools
Observation Cycles
Manage formal observations alongside quick walkthroughs, with scheduling and reminders set to your district's cadence.
- Formal observations
- Informal walkthroughs
- Cycle reminders
Evidence & Documentation
Keep the written record Chapter 55 calls for, with the instrument, feedback, and each teacher's response in one file.
- Written evaluations on record
- Teacher response captured
- Access to their own file
Coaching Handoff
Turn what an observation surfaces into a coaching cycle, so feedback leads to real support instead of a filed form.
- Evidence to coaching
- Structured feedback
- Follow-up visits
Improvement Plans
Support teachers who need it with structured plans tied to the evidence, tracked to completion alongside the evaluation.
- Plan templates
- Milestones and check-ins
- Linked to coaching
Growth Goals
Set professional goals tied to what the evaluation surfaced, tracked in the same module that follows a teacher across the year.
- Goal setting tools
- Progress tracking
- Linked to PD
Why Montana Districts Run Evaluation Inside EX in Education
Run evaluation aligned to Chapter 55, then use what it surfaces to actually grow and keep your teachers. Evaluation is the doorway. Educator growth and retention is the product.
Less admin, more coaching
Structured workflows and feedback tools free evaluators to spend more of their time in coaching conversations, not paperwork.
Consistent across schools
One shared rubric and process helps evaluators score consistently, whether it is a single building or a whole district spread across the state.
Growth you can see
Ratings, goals, and coaching history sit together, so progress is visible over time instead of scattered across files.
Retention, not just ratings
When feedback connects to PD, goals, and support, teachers keep developing, and rural and small districts keep the ones they worked hard to hire.
How AI Supports Montana Evaluations
AI in EX in Education helps evaluators work through your framework faster while keeping every judgment in human hands. It drafts and organizes, evaluators decide.
Draft Feedback From Evidence
Turn observation notes into clear feedback aligned to your rubric's indicators, ready for the evaluator to review and edit before it is shared.
Organize Evidence by Component
Sort notes and artifacts against your framework's components, so nothing is missed when it is time to score.
Suggest Growth Next Steps
Surface coaching moves and PD ideas tied to what an observation revealed, ready for the evaluator to assign.
Bring Montana Evaluation Into the Bigger Picture
See how EX in Education runs your evaluation framework aligned to Chapter 55, then connects evaluations to coaching, PD, goals, and retention across every school.
Built for Chapter 55 requirements. Bring your own framework, or start from ours. Connected to coaching, PD, and goals.
Part of EX in Education
One piece of the educator experience.
Montana teacher evaluations are one part of how districts support educators. In EX in Education, they connect to the bigger picture: walkthroughs, coaching, evaluations, goals, PD, recognition, surveys, and retention. Bring your own process, or start from a template, then run it across every school so every educator moves from hired to thriving.
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