Northwestern Lehigh middle school pilots student‑led conferences; board hears plan to shift conferences to January

Northwestern Lehigh School District staff described a year‑long pilot of student‑led conferences at the middle school and told the board the district plans to expand the approach to all grade levels and shift the annual winter conferences from November to January.

Catherine Krager, a seventh‑grade social studies teacher who led the pilot team, said the model hands students primary responsibility for presenting work and tracking progress. “It is a conference where the student takes the lead, presenting their work, guiding discussion about progress and grades with their parents and teachers, and the teacher serves as the facilitators,” Krager said. Team Roar, the seventh‑grade pilot team, conducted roughly “70‑ish” student‑led conferences this year, the presenters said, and reported positive parent feedback.

District administrators said the change responds to research on middle school practice and a faculty survey that identified student‑led conferences and advisory as areas for development. The pilot began with goal‑setting in September, required students to set an academic, a personal and a social‑emotional goal using SMART criteria, and included interim check‑ins; students were to build a portfolio of work by year end for a culminating presentation.

Board members and several parents asked detailed questions about implementation. One parent asked whether the program should be “tiered” so sixth graders first learn to write goals and older students take on more responsibility. Krager and a middle school administrator (identified in the meeting as Mr. D'Vico) said the district plans grade‑level differentiation: sixth graders will receive more teacher guidance and scaffolding, while eighth graders will be expected to present more independently.

Parents and board members also pressed how the district will support students who lack an engaged support person at home. Krager said the pilot identified about seven or eight students for whom a family support person could not attend; in those cases staff provided an adult from the school (a counselor, teacher or administrator) to sit with the student so the student could still have the student‑led experience. Krager said every student in Team Roar participated in a student‑led conference this year.

The board approved the 2025–26 district calendar at the meeting; presenters and some board members described the approved calendar as moving the middle‑school student‑led conference window to January next year to allow students more time to gather evidence and prepare portfolios. The vote on the calendar was recorded as approved; the transcript does not show a roll call tally.

Teachers and administrators acknowledged this will add planning time and scaffolding needs. Krager said the middle school’s daily schedule includes 45‑minute team planning blocks and additional prep time that teams will use to plan and scaffold the program; the district also plans summer curriculum hours and in‑year professional time to build templates and grade‑level plans.

District staff said the model includes options for students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). One teacher reported piloting student‑led IEP components this year: students tracked their own IEP goal data and presented progress on specific, classroom‑relevant portions of their IEPs when appropriate.

Administrators and parents recommended privacy protections and logistics refinements: limiting concurrent conferences in the same classroom, ensuring at least one staff member sits near each conference to assist if needed, and providing parents with question lists in advance to prompt conversation. Presenters said they will adjust scheduling, rooming and scaffolding based on survey feedback from parents, students and staff.

District leaders told the board the move to expand student‑led conferences aims to build student ownership, communication and self‑advocacy skills but emphasized that traditional parent‑teacher meetings and early problem‑solving conferences will remain available year‑round if concerns arise.

What’s next: administrators plan to refine the model over the coming months, produce grade‑level templates and training for staff over the summer, and implement the district‑wide rollout in the 2025–26 school year with student‑led conferences scheduled in January.