1. (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. (2) School districts may receive and/or provide distance, online, and technology delivered learning programs.

   1. (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.
   2. (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.
   3. (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. (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 accredited 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.

   1. (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.
   2. (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.
   3. (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.
   4. (d) The school district must ensure that the distance, online, and technology-delivered learning facilitators receive in-service training on technology-delivered instruction.
4. (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. (5) Digital content providers serving Montana schools accredited by the Board of Public Education shall:

   1. (a) annually register, prior to delivering courses, with the Office of Public Instruction;
   2. (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
   3. (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.

Authorizing statute(s): Mont. Const. Art. X, sec. 9, 20-2-114, 20-2-121, 20-7-101, MCA

Implementing statute(s): Mont. Const. Art. X, sec. 9, 20-2-121, 20-3-106, 20-7-101, MCA

History: 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. 7/1/23.