Presenter Biographies

Presenter Bios Appear in Alphabetical Order by Last Name

Dylan Conway

Assessment Specialist - Montana Office of Public Instruction

Dylan Conway serves as the Special Populations Assessment Specialist within the Assessment Unit at the OPI. Dylan received his undergraduate degree in elementary education from the University of Montana Western, where he received the Outstanding Teacher Candidate Award in 2017. Upon graduation, Dylan began his teaching career in a rural school, primarily teaching 6th grade, but eventually moving into a variety of subject matter in Grades 6-8. After his first year of teaching, Dylan pursued his master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Western Governors University, where Dylan’s works were awarded for exemplary understanding and performance of content knowledge, graduating in 2019. Dylan lives in Butte with his wife, son, and two dogs.

Email - Dylan.Conway2@mt.gov Phone - 406-444-4420

Marcy Fortner

Assessment Specialist - Montana Office of Public Instruction

Marcy has been with the OPI since joining the Assessment Unit in 2016. She brings experience from a varied background of work history. She currently serves as the Program Manager for the ACT with Writing assessment. Marcy works closely with Montana's System Test Coordinators to provide assistance with the state assessments and to ensure proper test security across the state; and also manages the monitoring activities for the Assessment Unit.

Email - MFortner@mt.gov Phone- 406-444-3511

Tressa Graveley

Assessment Specialist - Montana Office of Public Instruction

Born and raised in northwestern Montana, Tressa graduated from Carroll College with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Elementary Education. Over the course of 17 years in the classroom, Tressa gained experience teaching in several elementary grade and content areas ranging from individual self-contained, multi-grade classrooms, K-6th technology & music, and 7th & 8th grade ELA/Math. In 2018, she obtained a Master of Science in Mathematics–Mathematics Education from Montana State University-Bozeman where she added teaching experience in high school math classes such as Algebra I, Algebra II, and Dual Credit high school math courses. She looks forward to pairing her classroom and educational experience with her role as an Assessment Specialist to help Montana’s schools and students.

Email - Tressa.Graveley@mt.gov Phone - 406-444-4524

Marie Judisch

Academic Outcomes and Instruction Senior Manager - Montana Office of Public Instruction

Marie leads statewide initiatives in assessment, standards implementation, early learning, professional learning, literacy, IEFA, and tribal student achievement. Marie has taught students across grades K-8 and served as an elementary principal and district leader in Montana. With experience spanning classroom instruction, school leadership, statewide assessment administration, and educational policy, she brings deep expertise in advancing high-quality teaching, learning, and student outcomes across Montana.

Email - Marie.Judisch@mt.gov Phone- 406-444-5883

Claire Mikeson

English Language Arts & Literacy Instrucitonal Coordinator - Montana Office of Public Instruction

Claire provides statewide leadership, guidance, and professional learning to support high-quality English Language Arts instruction, literacy development, standards implementation, assessment literacy, and improved student outcomes for Montana educators and schools. Claire taught secondary English Language Arts for eight years, is licensed in ELA and K-12 library media, and has worked as an adjunct college instructor and freelance curriculum developer.

Email - Claire.Mikeson@mt.gov Phone- 406-444-5883

Shantel Niederstadt

Montana NAEP State Coordinator - Montana Office of Public Instruction

Ms. Niederstadt has taught for more than 20 years in elementary education. Most of her experience was teaching in the classroom but has had the opportunity to work as a Title 1 Coordinator. Her teaching experience has helped her become familiar with state and district assessments. She has a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Teaching and has worked at OPI since September 2018.

Email - sniederstadt@mt.gov Phone- 406-444-3450

Ryan Schrenk

State Assessment Director - Montana Office of Public Instruction

Dr. Ryan Schrenk is an educational leadership professional with nearly three decades of experience driving educational innovation, technology integration, and statewide program implementation. Currently serving as the State Assessment Director at the Montana Office of Public Instruction, Dr. Schrenk's team leads statewide initiatives aimed at helping Montana schools efficiently fulfill federal assessment requirements while modernizing assessment practices. His work centers on promoting through-year assessment models that empower educators to leverage actionable, timely data to directly impact daily teaching and learning decisions. Prior to joining the OPI, Dr. Schrenk served as the Instructional Program and EdReady Department Director at Montana Digital Academy, scaling statewide learning programs to serve hundreds of school partnerships.

Email - ryan.schrenk@mt.gov Phone- 406-438-0898

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