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Board reviews AVID expansion, questions Expeditionary Learning fidelity and NoRedInk usage
Summary
At the May 13 student achievement meeting, district administrators briefed the board on planned AVID professional development for three middle schools, renewal requests for Expeditionary Learning and NoRedInk, and data and fidelity questions from board members and a student about how the writing tool is used in classrooms.
Waukegan CUSD 60 administrators told the board May 13 they will expand AVID professional development to three middle schools and brought several curriculum and instructional-tool renewal requests to the Student Achievement Committee for review.
Board members pressed for measurable goals and implementation fidelity on multiple items: they asked for clearer targets in school improvement plans, pressed that Expeditionary Learning has not been implemented with sufficient fidelity at some schools, and sought data showing how the NoRedInk writing tool is used and whether it improves student outcomes.
Administrators said the AVID training will include representatives from multiple grade-level teams at Lewis — newcomers, GAP and gifted/accelerated programs — so that the district can establish common note-taking and executive-functioning strategies across classrooms. Principal Shaffer said representatives “are from all the teams” and that AVID will be rolled out beginning with study skills and phased in across classes. Board members welcomed the move to middle schools.
On Expeditionary Learning (ELA for grades 6–8), district staff acknowledged benchmark and MAP windows are still open and that prior implementation had “not been there” with fidelity; staff said they plan additional professional development and schedule adjustments to support stronger implementation next year. Dr. Cesario framed the work as part of a district-wide push to build a more robust tier‑1 assessment and instruction system that connects benchmark checks to classroom practice.
The renewal for NoRedInk prompted the most pointed public discussion about usage. Administrators described NoRedInk as a resource that provides grammar lessons and practice and said the district can report usage statistics through the district’s learning platform, but they cautioned that the program is intended primarily as a supplemental resource rather than a classroom curriculum.
Student speaker Max Granda told the board: “my teachers specifically use it as a tool to to teach us instead of using it to help us and further develop our understanding.” District staff responded that they would investigate classroom implementation and usage patterns; Dr. Cesario said, “It is a resource for students and it does help with that,” while acknowledging that classroom practice and communication to families could be improved. Board members recommended clearer communication plans for families and more baseline or cohort tracking if the district intends to link platform access to measured outcomes.
Other informational items included scholarship donations (Alan Larson and Lulu Rippenberger funds), an AP Human Geography summer institute, a Visible Learning conference presentation by bilingual coordinator Bridget Maloney, and renewals of Better Lessons and no-red-ink/NoRedInk-related tools. Several board members asked that similar professional-development requests be clustered on future agendas to streamline discussion.
