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District outlines civic-readiness seal, new ELD curriculum and early-childhood inclusion under strategic-plan Pillar 2
Summary
Teaching-and-learning staff presented the district's Pillar 2 student achievement plan, including a new Seal of Civic Readiness field test, a secondary ELD curriculum purchase, early-childhood co-teaching models and steps to pilot AI platforms and VR projects.
Dr. Hall, director for Teaching and Learning, told the Salt Lake City School District Board of Education on Feb. 4 that the district is field-testing a new Seal of Civic Readiness and will host a showcase April 22 where students will present projects tied to civic competency.
Dr. Hall said the seal can be earned through three pathways: a stand-alone civic-and-communications class for credit, modular "push-in" lessons taught inside other classes, or an independent project mentored by a teacher. The district plans to scaffold the project with a rubric and toolkit so it is accessible to students with different learning needs.
The presentation also covered academic-discourse goals (structured classroom conversation and higher-order thinking), literacy and English-learner supports and a new secondary ELD curriculum. Dr. Hall said staff sought curriculum options and found a high-quality program for secondary ELD instruction and set a district target to increase the share of multilingual learners who meet annual growth goals (the district's current and target percentages were included in the packet).
On technology, Dr. Hall said the district will evaluate three state-adopted artificial-intelligence platforms and convene a group beginning Feb. 10 to develop guidance for teacher and student use. She described the district's ongoing virtual reality work, noting 60 pairs of VR goggles are being programmed for middle-school space-exploration projects and that middle-school students will use VR-enabled modules to collect and analyze data and present findings.
Early-childhood work received extended discussion. Dr. Hall described a three-tier inclusive model for 3- and 4-year-old classrooms: (1) general early-childhood classrooms with collaboration from special-education staff, (2) "supported" classrooms with early-childhood and special-education paraprofessionals, and (3) co-taught classrooms with both early-childhood and special-education teachers and paraprofessionals. She said research supports roughly 20-30% of students with IEPs in inclusive early-childhood settings to maximize peer access.
Trustees raised questions about WIDA testing supports, the district's Canvas usage rates, and how to measure classroom academic talk. Dr. Hall and instructional staff said the district can provide metrics on Canvas adoption and that the assessment and IT teams support schools during testing windows.
Why it matters: The civic-readiness seal, ELD curriculum upgrade, VR pilots and explicit inclusion goals for early childhood represent implementation-level changes that affect classroom instruction, assessment and professional learning. Trustees asked for follow-up measures and comparative state proficiency figures to benchmark district outcomes.
No board vote was taken on the strategic-plan pillar presentation; staff asked for direction and will return with further metrics and potential plan refinements ahead of a full strategic-plan update planned for summer.
