Great Falls Public Schools secondary teachers have been piloting new math materials in preparation for selecting new resources.

Last summer, the district adopted the new state math standards for elementary and secondary levels.

At the time, the elementary level adopted Amplify Desmos Math as their resources and materials.

Secondary teachers opted to pilot the enVision products from Savvas.

After piloting those materials in grades 7-10 during the first semester, the math committee and pilot committee voted 15-4 to adopt the enVision materials, which includes math resources through Integrated II, formerly geometry

The materials are available for public viewing March 10-20 in the Evergreen conference room at the GFPS district office, but the public should call 406-268-6761 ahead to make sure the room is open.

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Beckie Frisbee, GFPS’ secondary curriculum coordinator, told the school board during their March 9 meeting that the purchase for grades 7-8 includes a five-year digital license through July 2031, classroom sets of books and additional books per building to be used as needed, for $209,354.05.

The purchase for grades 9-10 includes a six-year digital license through July 2032, classroom set of books and additional books per building to be used as needed for $267,334.

The license lengths are different due to available funding at each level and to stagger renewal costs across fiscal years, Frisbee said.

The materials purchase for Algebra II materials will be made next year for a rollout in the fall 2027 semester.

Frisbee told the school board on March 9 that the process to purchase new math materials has been a multi-year process.

The math committee reviewed five different models and decided to pilot the enVision materials for grades 7-10, which includes regular and honors classes of pre-algebra, algebra and geometry.

The materials start at a high level, which was a concern for some teachers, Frisbee said, but if the district were to purchase materials based on the lowest performing students, they’d outgrow the materials quickly and if teachers don’t ask students to reach higher levels, they never will.

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She said other concerns from the four teachers who voted no for the enVision materials was that it takes time to get used to, using digital resources at the middle school level, needing more practice programs and scaffolding for each section.

Frisbee said change is always hard and teachers aren’t being asked to teach 100 percent digitally, but can choose when and where it’s appropriate.

“Pencil and paper should never be replaced in math, you still need that skill,” Frisbee said.

Frisbee said her office and administrators will help teachers find resources and develop plans for students, meeting them at their level, through the implementation plans.

This first purchase of math materials doesn’t include Algebra II, or third year math, Frisbee said, since it’s a slow rollout of an integrated system and students will need the foundation in the new materials before switching at the higher level course.

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The board will be asked to approved the enVision materials purchase during their March 23 meeting.

Last year, the board adopted new math materials for K-6, selecting Amplify Desmos.

That cost was $910,650 with a five-year purchase that included digital access for teachers and students, blended with some written work materials. The materials also include hard copy teacher manuals, daily presentation guides, kits, online formative and summative assessments, Rachel Cutler, GFPS’ elementary curriculum coordinator, told the board at the time.

During the April 28, 2025 school board meeting, Cutler said that in looking for any new curriculum resources and materials, they start with research and data.

Last year, Cutler said much of the beliefs developed by K-12 math teachers for instruction and the new standards were found in the Amplify Desmos materials.

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Frisbee told the board last spring that high school math teachers tested some of the materials, but they only went up to algebra so it can’t be used at the middle and high school level.

She said despite that, they liked what they saw and wish it was an option for secondary materials.

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Frisbee said that the company is working to develop math materials for the higher grades, so that may be an option in the future.

In May 2025, the board approved new math “know-understand-dos” that represent the standards adopted by the Montana Board of Public Education.

Frisbee said she’d received no comment on the KUDs since they were first presented in April.

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District teachers worked through the state standards to develop workable documents for teachers to use in helping students learn.

They were also used to select new the new math materials.

The district began its effort to develop new math standards in 2022 with the math task force that included K-12 math teachers from across the district.

They looked at data and best practices and also pushed the task force into all schools with some coaching and new practices.

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In the summer of 2024, the state released a draft of the new math standards that were expected to be approved within a few months, but instead they were approved in March 2025, leaving the district waiting on some drafts, Culter told the school board in April.

Cutler said that overall, some elements were added, but some condensed so there are now seven overarching standards.

Language was updated for clarity and a larger focus was placed on problem solving and real world application, Cutler said, plus clarifying fluency in each grade level.

Montana standards were last updated in 2011, Cutler said, and the bulk of the changes was in the high school standards.

She said they essentially took a bank of standards and separated them into two buckets: the core foundational standards every student needs and core-plus standards for those students could pursue for more advanced coursework.

Some content areas were reorganized and some classes were more integrated through the update.