Board hears updates on project-based learning, evaluation model and new website/app

Administrators told the Silver Lake J1 School District board they are expanding project-based learning (PBL) in grades 5–8, switching to a coaching-focused educator evaluation model and launching a new website and family app.

An administrator described PBL units in which students conduct sustained inquiry, produce a public product and present to external professionals. "When given a patient's medical file, students will create a hypothesis of what the patient's diagnosis is, then defend their reasoning to a panel of medical professionals," the presenter said, describing a recent science project.

Andrea (presenter) walked the board through the district’s new teacher-evaluation approach (referred to in the meeting as an EP/CSIS 6 model) that emphasizes coaching, growth and rubric-based indicators rather than a purely evaluatory system. "We really wanted to look for something different... more of a coaching model and more of expanding the teachers' thinking," Andrea said.

Julie of App2G demonstrated the district’s redesigned website and family app, highlighting a floating menu, Google Calendar integration, translate functionality and a staff dashboard that is password-protected. The board discussed mobile behavior and ADA accessibility concerns; administrators said the vendor adjusted designs to ensure ADA compliance.

Board members praised the reforms as aligning staff development with classroom practice; there was no formal vote on curriculum or the evaluation model at the meeting.