iNACOL PLUGGED IN | 02.8.2019 – How to Craft a Winning iNACOL Symposium Proposal, New Policy Agenda and More

February 8, 2019

iNACOL Plugged In Newsletter

Plugged In
Feb. 8, 2019

You Are Invited to Submit a Presentation Proposal for the 2019 iNACOL Symposium

iNACOL is now accepting proposals to present at the iNACOL Symposium, to be held October 28-31, 2019 at the Palm Springs Convention Center in Palm Springs, California. This year's theme is "Shining a Light on the Future of Learning." Visit our RFP site to learn more and submit your presentation.

The deadline for submitting presentation proposals is Friday, March 8, 2019 at 11:59 p.m. ET. You may download the RFP questions in advance to support building your proposal offline. The iNACOL Program Committee will notify applicants of proposal status no later than Monday, May 6, 2019.

Of particular note for this year is an intention to provide more sessions on implementation challenges common to new student-centered learning models. To that end, we are encouraging presentations that target specific nuances of implementation, dig below the surface and offer clear learning objectives and action steps that participants can take back to their states, districts and schools. Our recent webinar provides more details.

Registration for the Symposium will open in early spring. Find more information on the iNACOL Symposium website, and follow our Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn feeds for updates.

iNACOL 2019 Policy Agenda Announced

With a goal to ensure our nation’s education system is fit for purpose and better able to prepare students for the future, iNACOL announced its policy priorities with the publication of two issue briefs, iNACOL 2019 State Policy Priorities and iNACOL 2019 Federal Policy Priorities.

It is time to build a system on the core principle that all students can succeed and be ready for the next step in their learning, the workforce and citizenship and for lifelong health and prosperity. The issue briefs offer insights on how to catalyze transformative policies beyond short-term fixes and work toward the long term. The intent of the new policy priorities is to push current thinking beyond the assumptions that perpetuate root causes of educational inequity and to focus on policy strategy to support K-12 systems change that can sustain over time.

Reminders

A Primer on Submitting Your Proposal to Present

A Primer on Submitting Your iNACOL Symposium Presentation Proposal

Interested in presenting at the iNACOL Symposium in 2019? In a webinar last week, our Chief Operating Officer Bruce Friend and Strategic Partnerships Director Natalie Slocum shared key points to help your session stand out, as well as a timeline of events around the submission process. View this archived webinar to learn about the Symposium RFP process, hear tips on getting proposals selected to present, and ways to improve interactivity in your session.

WATCH

Keep the Social Media Conversation Going on Education Transformation

Our social media platforms are vibrant communities where educators, parents, policymakers and community members dialogue about innovations in education, make connections, ask tough questions, get support, and share all the latest happenings in the fields of personalized, competency-based education. You are welcome to join and extend the conversation by following and engaging with us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and YouTube.

CONNECT

New from iNACOL's Blog: Education Domain

Developing a Funding Strategy to Support Innovation in Rhode Island and Arkansas

Rhode Island and Arkansas have sparked the evolution of student-centered learning through community-based and statewide partnerships and funding streams. The states have partnered with nonprofit organizations, universities and school districts working to remove policy barriers that hinder the innovation and scaling of new learning models.

-Maria Worthen and Natalie Truong

Developing a Funding Strategy to Support Innovation in Rhode Island and Arkansas

Bless the Mess: A Teacher’s Reflection on Student Voice and Choice

I have been in the classroom for going on 10 years, and the most powerful thing I have learned is that if you want engagement, managed behavior, growth and achievement, students must have choice and voice. Though I had experimented with choice and voice a couple of times over my career, it wasn’t until I attended the iNACOL Symposium in fall 2017 that I had the impetus to make it a pedagogical focus. I, like many other educators, was terrified that I would lose control over my classroom. I attended a session led by educators and administrators from Holmes Elementary School in Boston, and they inspired me to “Bless the Mess” and not worry about having absolute control.

- Rhiannon Dunn, English 9 Teacher at Science Hill High School, East Tennessee

Featured Resource: What Learners Need to Thrive in a Changing World: Building Richer Definitions of Student Success

School leaders and educators across the country are reframing and transforming K-12 education in America to ensure that students are building the skills they’ll need to succeed in the complex society of the future. Enabling students to develop 21st-century competencies requires a thorough reimagining of the goals, processes and structures that define our schools. iNACOL hosted a webinar with NGLC, New Hampshire Learning Initiative and Distinctive Schools to hear how school leaders are using the MyWays Student Success Framework to begin conversations around new definitions of student success aligned to more holistic learning outcomes. Learn how you can use this framework, tools and resources to launch your school-change initiative and reimagine your learning and assessment designs.

WATCH

BONUS: Future-Focused Education Innovations: Insights from Global Leaders

Plugged In Headlines: News about Education Transformation

Johnson: In NC, We’re Doing Away With Overtesting and Using Personalized Learning to Make Sure Students Get the Education They Deserve
Mark Johnson, The 74

Colleges Optimistic about Competency-Based Education Despite Slow Uptake
James Paterson, Education Dive

Social-Emotional Learning Data May Identify Problems, But Can Schools Fix Them?
Evie Blad, Education Week

Thomas Jefferson High School Adding Personalized Learning Period, Cutting Class Rank
Stephanie Hacke, The Tribune-Review

Special Report: Projects, Portfolios, and Performance Assessments
Education Week

Beyond the Classroom
Will Boggs, Harvard Political Review

Students Learn From People They Love
David Brooks, The New York Times

74 Interview: Richard Culatta on How to Do Personalized Learning Well — and Why It Could Be the Key to Narrowing a School’s Equity Gap
Kate Stringer, The 74

iNACOL in the News

2019 Will See Progress on Personalization’s Last Frontier: Education
Education research clearly demonstrated in the 1980s the tremendous human growth potential of meeting the personalized needs of every student. These leaders called upon our schools to engage our future citizens personally...Read More.

From Redesigned Professional Learning to Teacher Leadership, 6 Strategies to Support Teachers of Competency-Based Education
The 74's Kate Stringer takes a deep dive into our latest report, Moving Toward Mastery: Growing, Developing and Sustaining Educators for Competency-Based Education, Read More.

iNACOL’s State and Federal Policy Priorities
The Hechinger Report's Tara García Mathewson takes up our new federal and state policy agenda in The Future of Learning newsletter. Read More.

SAVE THE DATE

Policy

The iNACOL Center for Policy Advocacy leads the multi-stage evolution of policy necessary for the growth of effective personalized learning models toward the goals of high quality, equity, access and dramatically improving student learning to close the achievement gap and ensure every student has access to high-quality, world-class learning opportunities.

CompetencyWorks

CompetencyWorks is an online resource dedicated to competency education in K-12 education. CompetencyWorks shares original research, knowledge and a variety of perspectives through an informative blog with practitioner knowledge, policy advancements, papers on emerging issues and a wiki with resources curated from across the field. Bookmark this resource and check often for frequent updates.

Resources

Working collaboratively with diverse experts in the field, iNACOL produces reports, books, policy briefs, blog posts, webinars and related resources on key topics and tough issues that equip and empower educators and leaders to catalyze and scale personalized, next generation learning models. Use our web-based library to freely access and share materials.


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The mission of iNACOL is to drive the transformation of education systems and accelerate the advancement of breakthrough policies and practices to ensure high-quality learning for all.

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