Glenview 34 highlights Mongolian language program, AAC supports and fall staff professional development
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Summary
Superintendent and teaching-and-learning staff told the board the district received recognition for multilingual work with Mongolian learners, has expanded augmentative and alternative communication supports, and hosted a full-day fall institute focused on AI, IXL training, phonics pilot and student-services topics.
District leaders told the Glenview CCSD 34 board about recent program recognitions and a full day of staff professional development.
Superintendent remarks noted that representatives from the district's multilingual team, led by Raquel Kim, attended the Research Institute of Mongolia conference at the Mongolian Embassy in Washington, D.C., at the invitation of a Library of Congress librarian who requested the district share its work uplifting Mongolian multilingual learners. The superintendent said the district has developed an after-school Mongolian language program to support home-language maintenance and cultural identity.
In recognition of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Awareness Month, the superintendent reported the district supports more than 80 AAC users across its schools. Communication boards, funded by the Glenview Education Foundation, are now available on every school playground, and the district is implementing a core-vocabulary initiative that highlights one focus word each month for staff, students and families to model.
Separately, Dr. Silverman from the teaching-and-learning team summarized the district's Sept. 26 full-day institute for staff. The institute included sessions for all staff on artificial intelligence (AI) as an instructional and productivity tool, training on the IXL digital practice platform (kindergarten through fifth-grade emphasis), interdisciplinary instruction strategies in grades 6—, phonics-pilot check-ins (Bridge to Reading and Really Good Reading), and content-area sessions for physical education and fine arts.
Student-services strands included a session from Dr. John Frampton of Formative Psychological Services on a tiered approach to healthy technology use and training for associates on the intersection of behavior and communication and AAC supports.
Teaching and learning staff said participants rated the sessions positively; feedback data (collected through the district's evaluation tool) showed about an 85 percent agreement/strong-agreement rate on items tied to professional growth and student outcomes. Staff identified offering more choice in session selection as an area for improvement.