Rule 10.55.907 - DISTANCE, ONLINE, AND TECHNOLOGY-DELIVERED LEARNING(1) This rule establishes requirements for distance, online, and technology-delivered learning programs and/or courses that fulfill elementary or middle grades basic education programs and/or high school graduation requirements.(2) School districts may receive and/or provide distance, online, and technology-delivered learning programs. (a) School districts receiving distance, online, and technology-delivered learning programs to supplement instruction may utilize distance, online, and technology-delivered learning as they would other supplementary resources without restriction.(b) Distance, online, and technology-delivered learning programs and/or courses shall at a minimum be aligned with state content standards and content-specific grade-level or grade-band learning progressions.(c) Annually, a school district shall provide a report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction documenting all distance, online and technology-delivered courses, student enrollments, and the digital content providers.(3) Except as provided in (3)(a), teachers of distance, online, and technology-delivered learning programs shall be licensed and endorsed in Montana or elsewhere in the area of instruction with such license granted as a result of the completion of an approved professional educator preparation program as defined in ARM 10.57.102. School districts receiving distance, online, and technology-delivered learning programs described in this rule shall have a distance learning facilitator for each course and available to the students.(a) When a teacher of distance, online, and technology-delivered learning programs and/or courses does not possess the qualifications specified in (3), the facilitator must be licensed and endorsed in Montana or elsewhere in the area of instruction facilitated.(b) When a teacher of distance, online, and technology-delivered learning programs is qualified as provided in (3), the receiving school district's facilitator shall be a licensed teacher or a para-educator.(c) School districts receiving distance, online, and technology-delivered learning programs and/or courses must provide qualified facilitators for synchronous delivery to students in schools accredited by the Montana Board of Public Education, requiring physical presence of a facilitator, and for asynchronous delivery, requiring facilitators be available to students.(d) The school district must ensure that the distance, online, and technology-delivered learning facilitators receive in-service training on technology-delivered instruction.(4) Montana school districts providing distance, online and technology-delivered learning shall comply with the teacher load requirements of ARM 10.55.713(3).(5) Digital content providers serving Montana schools accredited by the Board of Public Education shall: (a) annually register, prior to delivering courses, with the Office of Public Instruction;(b) annually identify the Montana school districts served in the current school year by the digital content provider, including the courses and student enrollments for each school district served; and(c) document the professional qualifications, including Montana teacher licensure and endorsement, of their teachers of distance, online, and technology-delivered programs and/or courses by providing names and credentials of other licensing entities, when not licensed and endorsed in Montana.Mont. Admin. r. 10.55.907
NEW, 1989 MAR p. 342, Eff. 7/1/89; AMD, 1995 MAR p. 626, Eff. 4/28/95; AMD, 1998 MAR p. 2707, Eff. 10/9/98; AMD, 2000 MAR p. 3340, Eff. 12/8/00; AMD, 2004 MAR p. 719, Eff. 4/9/04; AMD, 2007 MAR p. 692, Eff. 5/25/07; AMD, 2008 MAR p. 2048, Eff. 9/26/08; AMD, 2012 MAR p. 2042, Eff. 7/1/13; AMD, 2023 MAR p. 255, Eff. 7/1/2023AUTH: Mont. Const. Art. X, sec. 9, 20-2-114, 20-2-121, 20-7-101, MCA; IMP: Mont. Const. Art. X, sec. 9, 20-2-121, 20-3-106, 20-7-101, MCA