Please note: This is a Sole Source Notification. The ACT with Writing Assessment is developed by ACT, Inc. and can only be supplied by ACT, Inc The ACT with Writing is the general mathematics, ELA, and science assessment for academic state achievement reporting in Grade 11. The ACT with Writing is aligned to the Montana Content Standards (2011) in Math and ELA and currently under alignment studies to the Montana Content Standards (2016) in science. It is used to provide state, district, school, and individual student achievement information on the state-adopted content standards in mathematics, ELA, and science. The ACT with Writing has been used as Montana’s high school assessment for accountability since 2015-16. The OPI’s need to fund the assessment comes after the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education informed the OPI it is unable to continue to provide federal grant funds that have support the assessment since 2019 While other assessments can be used at the high school level for state and federal accountability, there would be state, district, and school implications of moving away from ACT at this point especially with other major changes to the statewide assessment program in 2024-2025. As stated above, the ACT has been used as the state assessment for accountability at grade 11 since the 2015-2016 school year.