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Freetown-Lakeville reports mixed early results under Student Opportunity Act plan; absenteeism down, some MCAS measures fell
Summary
District officials reported a first-year Student Opportunity Act implementation update showing decreases in chronic absenteeism overall and for students with disabilities, increases in ninth-grade passing rates, and a decline in sixth-grade MCAS math performance; the district is expanding career-pathway programs and early literacy screening.
The Freetown-Lakeville Regional School District presented its first annual update on implementation of the Student Opportunity Act plan, reporting progress on attendance and early-literacy efforts alongside mixed academic results.
Terry Fleming, staff member, summarized the state-required update and said the heat map provided by the state showed a decrease in chronic absenteeism for targeted populations from 21 percent to 20 percent and a larger drop for students with disabilities — from 29.6 percent to 21.2 percent.
“That work and effort has gone to the buildings, to encourage students and to talk to students to ensure they are feeling comfortable and safe in their learning environments,” Fleming said.
The report also noted a decline in MCAS math performance for a targeted sixth-grade cohort, from 44 percent to 41 percent. Fleming cautioned that the MCAS comparisons are not cohort-to-cohort apples-to-apples, but the district remains accountable to state-set targets.
By contrast, ninth-grade passing rates improved in the district’s targeted population from 58.5 percent to 81.2 percent; students with disabilities in ninth grade improved from 69.7 percent to 80.5 percent.
Fleming said the district is implementing two state-approved pathway programs — an innovative career pathways initiative at the high school and Project Lead The Way at the middle school — and is in a baseline year for districtwide early-literacy screening using EarlyBird and i-Ready dyslexia screening tools. The district has scheduled calls with the EarlyBird vendor to ensure teachers can use the screener data effectively.
The district also reported increases in stakeholder engagement, more multilingual communications using a paraphrase translation platform, and planned community outreach at elementary open houses to connect families with local emergency services and town officials.
The Student Opportunity Act update is provided annually to the state; the district will submit its next progress report next year and will write a new plan in 2027–28.
