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Buy-in on Montana's first state-funded early literacy program has been lower than expected in its first year of operation and a school administrator group plans to offer training to help increase the numbers.

State lawmakers in this year's session added math literacy to a 2023 reading literacy program for K-3 students, which is voluntary for both students and schools.

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Rob Watson, executive director of the group School Administrators of Montana, said the most successful early literacy programs are aligned with their associated upper grade levels.

"Everything down to how the curriculum aligns, how the assessments align, how you identify which kids need extra help," Watson outlined. "The strategies have to be aligned in grades pre-K all the way through 3."

Watson applied for a grant to help train elementary school principals about alignment, which he thinks could increase use of the programs. Participation varies widely by region, which he noted is likely related to the availability of accredited teachers. According to his research, nearly 70 percent of districts in north central Montana have launched the program, compared to only 5 percent in northeast Montana.

Watson pointed out fewer than half of Montana's school-age kids are reading at or above their grade level, according to Zero to Five Montana.

"That's a big predictor for a lot of different things later on in life with regard to progression in middle school and high school, dropout rates, graduation rates," Watson outlined. "All that stuff is connected to students' ability to read."

He estimated fewer than 2,000 4-year-olds participated last year, of about 11,000 kids that age.