Freehold Township reports large year-over-year gains on i‑Ready benchmarks; district readies early literacy screening

Freehold Township School District officials reported substantial student gains on the district’s first full year using the i‑Ready benchmark and MyPath personalized instruction, and said the i‑Ready platform will satisfy the State of New Jersey’s new early literacy screening requirements.

The district presentation to the board said fall-to-spring diagnostic results show a rise in students meeting or exceeding grade-level standards and a marked reduction in students two or more grade levels below. Districtwide, the presenter said about 44% of students were at or above grade level on the fall diagnostic; by spring the combined “mid or above” and “early on grade level” groups rose to about 71% (47% mid/above plus 24% early on grade level). The share of students two or three or more grade levels below reading dropped from about 19% in the fall to about 10% in the spring, the presentation said.

Supervisors framed the gains as the result of three factors: tiered core curriculum and first‑instruction programs (Foundations in K–1 and Envisions in elementary math), targeted interventions…