8 | ACTON-BOXBOROUGH REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT | ANNUAL REPORT 2023–2024
SPECIAL EDUCATION The Special Education Department had another very successful year supporting our students with disabili- ties and their caregivers. As a department, we have focused on professional learning about the new IEP form that was released by DESE. The district is required to implement this new form, the first change in 20 years, beginning in September, 2024. The district also collaborated with SEPAC on two parent trainings to further support the transition everyone will experience this fall. In addition, elementary special education staff worked with their general education colleagues to im- plement the new literacy curriculum and participated with mathematics specialists in professional learning about dyscalculia. We look forward to continuing this work in the 2024–2025 school year. EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY The Department of Educational Technology (EDTech) is dedicated to integrating technology into teaching and learning to enhance student learning, transform instructional practice, and support our district’s educa- tional goals. In A-B, every student has access to digital learning tools and resources that can be tailored to specific needs and learning opportunities. Our Digital Learning team works alongside teachers, staff, and students to create dynamic and interactive lessons serving as a catalyst for student-centered learning. We know that having technology in our schools supports MTSS by providing data-informed instruction and interventions that address the diverse needs of students. Teachers utilize our universal screening and progress monitoring tools to identify students’ needs and track their progress. The data collected from these tools allows teachers to make informed decisions about interventions, tailoring instruction to meet each student’s’ unique needs.
DATA PLATFORM: FOREFRONT One of the significant outcomes of this year’s work was to select a new data platform. The Forefront platform can be used to upload, store, and display multiple data points and types of data that allow for a more holistic view of student learning. STUDENT OPPORTUNITY ACT The MA DESE Student Opportunity Act (SOA) Plan was established to address the education of all students. It directs districts to address a subset of initiatives, focused on evidence-based programs and strategies that improve the educational experiences and outcomes of students and focus on rapidly improving outcomes of students with low academic performance. For the 2024 SOA Plan our Leadership Team identified chronic absenteeism as the priority area. The majority (57.7%) of survey respondents indicated that, in order to address chronic absenteeism, the District focus area should be on developing partnerships with students and their families. The qualitative comments from the survey provided us with valuable information about the complexity of chronic absenteeism and the many causes of student absence from both external and internal factors. The input from the focus groups was very granular and provided us concrete examples of ways to obtain better information about the barriers of student attendance, how we could increase and measure family engagement, what learning we need to do as a District to effectively address chronic absenteeism, and what resources we should consider utilizing. The District’s SOA Plan includes steps to: 1. Increase consistent communication and engagement between schools and families
2. Create a multi-tiered system for reporting, recording, and responding to student chronic absenteeism 3. Provide for all staff more learning opportunities to learn about and address chronic absenteeism (from mindset and bias work to strategies and tools to engage with students and families/caregivers in meaningful, collaborative, proactive, and supportive two-way communication). MULTILINGUAL EDUCATION During 2023–2024, the number of multilingual learners (MLs) in Acton-Boxborough increased rapidly. We began the year with 319 multilingual students and ended with 439 multilingual students, an increase of 120 students. Many of these students are arriving from Brazil, Central and South America, and Russia which represents a new trend in our population. Another con- tinuing trend is that the majority of MLs arriving are at the beginning levels of English proficiency. Historically, Acton-Boxborough has been very successful at exiting ML students within two to three years of entry into the Multilingual Education (MLE) program. This year was no exception with 95 MLs exiting from the MLE program.
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