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All states / Montana

Montana

Verified against current sources (2026-05-08) Cite this page ↓

Montana does not offer a bilingual education credential; ELD/ESL is an add-on endorsement. SEI training is not mandated for all teachers. As of 2021, 2.4% of public-school students are classified English Learners (NCES). Re-verified against current SEA sources on 2026-05-08.

2.4%
classified ELs (2021-10-01)
view trend →
ELD
credential types offered

Credentials

Bilingual education

Not offered.

No bilingual-education endorsement on the FY2026 OPI endorsement code list. Montana offers world-language endorsements (06A ARA/ASL/CHI/FRE/GER/IRI/ITA/LAT/RUS/SPA) and tribal-language endorsements (06Z ASB/BLA/CHE/CHI/CRE/CRO/DAK/GV/KOO/SAL), plus a separate Class 7 American Indian Language and Culture Specialist license, but these are language-content credentials, not bilingual-education credentials.

ESL

  • Add-on endorsement
Approved program
Required
Coursework
Unknown
Practicum
Required
Subject test
Unknown

Endorsement code 06A ESL (English as a Second Language K-12), added to a Class 1 or Class 2 license per ARM 10.57.412. ARM 10.57.301 explicitly excludes ESL K-12 from the degree-major / portfolio / PRAXIS-only / National Board substitute pathway, so completion of an OPI-approved educator preparation program with supervised teaching experience is the operative pathway (program=true, practicum=true). The state rule does not specify a freestanding coursework-hour count or a required exam at the SEA-policy level; coded null per the project's ambiguity rule (absence-from-rule is not affirmative absence).

Sheltered English Instruction (SEI)

Not mandated for all teachers.

Montana does not require sheltered English instruction (SEI) training for all teachers. ARM 10.58.501 (Teaching Standards) requires educator preparation programs to address ELLs and diverse cultures and languages, but does not impose a universal in-service SEI mandate.

State policy signals

Seal of Biliteracy

Recognition for graduating students proficient in English plus another language.

Adopted in 2021.

Source: sealofbiliteracy.org (opens in a new tab)

ELP assessment

Annual English Language Proficiency test used for EL identification and reclassification.

ACCESS for ELLs · WIDA Consortium member.

Source: opi.mt.gov (opens in a new tab)

History of licensure

Dated policy and verification events shaping this state's EL teacher credentials.

  1. Indian Education for All Act enacted (HB 528, 1999)

    The Montana Legislature enacted the Indian Education for All Act (HB 528, codified at MCA 20-1-501), implementing Article X § 1(2) of the Montana Constitution which commits the State to recognize "the distinct and unique cultural heritage of the American Indians" and to preserve their cultural integrity in its educational goals. IEFA requires every public school to teach about Montana's twelve federally-recognized tribes — and, after 2005 funding (HB 528 of 2005), the State funds districts on a per-pupil basis to support implementation. While not an EL credential per se, IEFA is the legal source of Montana's tribal-language and Native-American-Studies teacher pipelines and shapes how OPI frames cultural-competence elements of the educator-preparation standards (ARM 10.58.501).

    opi.mt.gov (opens in a new tab)

  2. EPAA 29(100) document analysis (Leider, Colombo & Nerlino, 2021)

    Leider, Colombo & Nerlino published in Education Policy Analysis Archives 29(100) a comprehensive document analysis of every state and DC's bilingual, ELD/ESL, and SEI teacher-credentialing requirements, professional teaching standards mentions, and EL-percentage figures, based on primary SEA sources collected October–December 2019. The 2019 coding of Montana's EL-credentialing landscape is preserved as a temporally-anchored research baseline against which the catalog's later verifications are framed.

    doi.org (opens in a new tab)

  3. ARM 10.58.501 (Educator Preparation Standards) revised to enumerate ELL

    Montana's revised educator preparation/teaching standards rule (ARM 10.58.501) explicitly names "English Language Learners (ELL)" within the diversity standard, replacing the 2014-era predecessor standards that did not enumerate ELL. Grounds the `professionalStandardsMentions.el: false → true` flip.

    rules.mt.gov (opens in a new tab)

  4. Montana Board of Public Education adopts Seal of Biliteracy

    The Montana Board of Public Education adopted the Seal of Biliteracy in July 2021, authorizing districts to award the Seal to high school graduates who demonstrate proficiency in English and one or more additional languages. Flips `sealOfBiliteracy.adopted` from null to true with `year: 2021`.

    bpe.mt.gov (opens in a new tab) · opi.mt.gov (opens in a new tab)

Sources

  1. [1] Montana Office of Public Instruction (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2019-11-15 (via Leider et al. 2021)
  2. [2] Leider, Colombo & Nerlino (2021), EPAA 29(100). Tables 2-5 + Appendix A. (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2019-11-15 (via Leider et al. 2021)
  3. [3] OPI Educator License Options & Requirements (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  4. [4] OPI Endorsement Codes (FY2026, revised 08/18/25) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  5. [5] ARM 10.57.412 — Class 1 and 2 Endorsements (Montana) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  6. [6] ARM 10.58.501 — Teaching Standards (Montana) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  7. [7] OPI English Learners landing page (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  8. [8] OPI English Learner Guidance for School Districts (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  9. [9] Montana Board of Public Education — Seal of Biliteracy (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  10. [10] NCES Digest 2023, Table 204.20 (ELL by state, Fall 2021) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08

Cite this page

Site content is published under CC BY 4.0. When citing a fact from this page, please cite both projectcert and the original Leider et al. (2021) paper the dataset extends.

APA
projectcert. (2026, May 8). Montana EL teacher certification. https://projectcert.org/states/mt/
Leider, C. M., Colombo, M. W., & Nerlino, E. (2021). Decentralization, teacher quality, and the education of English learners: Do state education agencies effectively prepare teachers of ELs? Education Policy Analysis Archives, 29(100). https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.29.5279
BibTeX
@misc{projectcert_mt_2026,
  author  = {{projectcert}},
  title   = {{Montana EL teacher certification}},
  year    = {2026},
  url     = {https://projectcert.org/states/mt/},
  urldate = {2026-05-08},
  note    = {Last verified 2026-05-08}
}
@article{leider2021decentralization,
  author  = {Leider, Christine M. and Colombo, Michaela W. and Nerlino, Erika},
  title   = {{Decentralization, teacher quality, and the education of English learners: Do state education agencies effectively prepare teachers of ELs?}},
  journal = {Education Policy Analysis Archives},
  volume  = {29},
  number  = {100},
  year    = {2021},
  doi     = {10.14507/epaa.29.5279}
}

See the methodology for how these data were collected, or the glossary for term definitions.