The Educators Rising National Conference 2020 will take place June 17–21, 2020, in Washington, DC. Everyone is invited to participate in this action-packed event filled with networking, learning, competing, and celebrating; please note, students must be paid, Active-level members of Educators Rising in order to participate. It's an opportunity for students and their teacher leaders to:

• Connect and learn from each other through breakout workshops;
• Compete for national titles in 21 competitive events designed to allow students to develop and showcase their teaching skills; and
• Be inspired by keynote presentations from national education leaders.

This year's conference theme: Growing and Connecting Educators

The conference will be held at the Marriott Marquis in Washington DC. Please note that in an effort to go green this year, we will not be providing a printed program book. We will instead be providing a conference app and a pdf version of the program book. If you need a printed version, be sure to print a copy before you arrive.

Call for Session Proposals

To submit a proposal, please create an account here and go to Educators Rising National Conference underneath the Events side tab. Deadline for submissions is January 13, 2020.

Proposal Guidelines

All submitted proposals must address at least one of the Strands listed below. Each proposal much contain the following in order to be considered: At least one Strand, defined Target Audience(s), and a Presentation Type. The Guiding Questions provide context for topics within each strand.

Due to historic volume of submissions in recent years and our goal to keep all sessions as interactive as possible, please limit planned AV use for your proposal.

Proposals will be evaluated on:

• Is it clear what the attendees will learn from the session?
• Is the focus of the session appropriate for the strand selected?
• What are the key takeaways the participants will acquire?
• Is this topic important to the teaching and education community?
• Is the use of AV elements balanced with strong audience engagement?

Conference Audiences:

• High school and middle school students who are members of Educators Rising
• Those seeking a career in education, including undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in schools of education
• Teachers, including early career, mid career and veterans
• Aspiring and current school system administrators

Presentation Formats:

• Poster (1-2 presenters): Presentation of research information on a poster that will be viewed alongside other posters.
• Deep Dive: Interactive session focused on better understanding or solving of a specific issue as told by a thought leader on the topic. Presenter must explain expertise in this area (publications, strong social media presence, proven record in the classroom, previous speeches, career focus, professional experiences, etc.)
• Hot-topic Roundtable: Research-based discussion between 2-4 presenters focused on a specific topic in front of an audience.
• Interactive Presentation: A session with active engagement between the presenter and the audience, and audience member to audience member.

STRANDS

Evaluation, Assessment and Accountability

At PDK, we adhere to continuous improvement efforts and promote practices that ensure accountability for education professionals.

Sessions in this strand will explore the effective use of data, evaluations, and assessments to ensure accountability and continuous improvement.

Guiding Questions:

• What are best practices, lessons learned, or reflections around data use during a teacher’s first year in the classroom?
• What area innovative methods and approaches that improve program evaluation practices, student assessment, and accountability?
• How are schools and districts evaluating student learning in a way that leads to continuous improvement and ensure excellence for special populations?

Learning and Growth

At PDK, we believe students and adults should be placed at the center of their own learning and deserve to be an integral part of decisions that impact their lives.

Sessions in this strand will explore the examples of practices that promote student-centered learning, goal setting, and progress monitoring to ensure student success and growth.

Guiding Questions:

• How can students, teachers and leaders foster a learning culture in the schools? What goal setting and progress monitoring practices are effective?
• What are indicators of success for teacher education programs? How are new (or preservice) teachers prepared to be reflective practitioners?
• How are student and teachers leading their own learning?

Policy and Practice

At PDK, we hold others and ourselves to the highest professional standards and promote results-based practices that improve public education.

Sessions in this strand should include topics that promote excellence in schools through policy and practice.

Guiding Questions:

• Who is responsible for providing equitable and adequate education in our country?
• What is the role of the government for ensuring student success? Community?
• What does excellence look like in a school system?  What does it look like to students? To teachers? To community? States? Federal?

Leadership and Development

At PDK, we believe that if educators learn research-based best practices, they will be positioned on a path to becoming highly effective and accomplished educators.

Sessions in this strand should include strategies for leadership and advocacy, as well as evidences and strategies to best navigate career and teacher preparation pathways, options, and requirements (i.e.: certification, testing, alternative routes).

Guiding Questions:

• What are research-based best practices around mentoring, instructional coaching, and stewardship of education students and early-career educators?
• What are best practices in advocating for your classroom and your school?
• How are leaders prepared or developed in schools and systems to lead from an equity stance?

Chapter Development and Growth

At PDK, we understand the importance of networks and the professional development opportunities available through chapters and other network driven groups.

Sessions in this strand should focus on how organizations work to promote chapter growth and networking. Sessions focused directly on chapter development and growth for PDK and Educators Rising are also welcome.

Guiding Questions:

• How does your chapter recruit new members? How does it keep them engaged?
• What are your most-attended activities throughout the year and what value do they have for the larger teaching community in your area?
• What social/emotional supports does your chapter provide to help retain teachers in your community and how can these efforts be replicated/expanded?

For submission questions, please reach out to Nicole David at ndavid@pdkintl.org.

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