Honing in on our best hopes for every student’s future sets true north for learning for every educator, student, community member and parent.  Beginning with the end in mind gives purpose to our work and to our plans for learning every day.

• How do we know we are preparing students to be successful when they leave our classrooms? Our grade-level pods? Our schools? Our districts? 

• What attributes do our students need to be prepared for success in what comes next? When will they be developed? How will they be developed? 

In this preconference you are in charge of your learning. We’ll frame this Designing for Learning session using three questions about a ‘profile of a learner/graduate’. You’ll decide where you want to go deeper.

Why is it worth it? 

• How do we design a profile of an ideal learner/graduate? How do we go about engaging our community stakeholders in conversations about the attributes they expect our students to have once they leave us?  

• How can we systematically integrate development of our profile attributes into the day-to-day operations of their schools? 

• How will our students develop these attributes? How will we know they are developing these attributes? What will we do if they aren’t?

Opening message from Denise Airola and Secretary Key.

As the world changes, how do we educate differently so students, teachers, and staff are empowered to thrive in this environment? In this new talk from bestselling author A.J. Juliani, you’ll learn a clear process to guide risk-taking and lead change so you can be intentional about innovation in your classroom, school, and life. Juliani shows why we need intentional innovation and how to implement it effectively using the PLASMA framework:

• What to Praise, Look For, and Assess

• Support What is Different

• Make Time for Creative Work

• Allow for the New and Unknown

In this session, Jasper High School students will share the journey of how their school broke with tradition and transformed their school to a School of Innovation.  Students will share their views on flexible scheduling, personalized learning, using a blended curriculum, and how they were empowered as students to develop and lead in this transformation.  Students will share their personal stories and the impact this change has had on them educationally.  

Are you looking for ways for students to become independent learners and step out of their comfort zone?  Would you like to find creative ways to introduce students to new ideas and experiences? Our session is the place to learn how to incorporate blended learning, Google Classroom, SPARC Clubs, and individualized learning plans and goals. Wynne Intermediate School of innovation is the place to be!

The guiding principle for Trice Elementary Renaissance Magnet School is based on Leonardo Da Vinci's words that knowledge must be applied and mastery is accomplished by doing. To meet the challenge of creating a learning environment that is “robust and relevant to the real world,” Trice uses its rich heritage as a visual and performing arts magnet school to approach learning through Project-Based learning opportunities that are hands-on, practical, and product driven.  In this presentation students will discuss their academic journeys through the Project Based Learning which prepares them to become young adults ready to face challenges in an ever changing world.

What makes us want to learn? In our session we will explore the innovative methods Cross County High School is implementing to allow students to take more ownership of their education. We will explore topics such as project based learning, the writing center, virtual internships, and impact of real world connections. This will be a panel style presentation, made up of students 8th - 12th grade.

The LISA Academy Solar Car 18-19 team will share their experiences in modifying, adapting, coding, and ultimately winning 5th place in the nation in the Solar Car Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.  This team lit a fire under younger students, the community, and the faculty to grow in their STEM knowledge. As a STEM focused team they continually innovated throughout the process. They will additionally share plans for the future.

Students who enroll in the Parkway Elementary broadcast journalism team aren’t just studying the news, they’re reporting it!  After spending several weeks at the beginning of each school year learning to write quality news stories, use the green screen, and tell meaningful stories through video creation, news team students take complete responsibility for writing, filming, editing, and producing the news for our school community. You’ll find them “on air” with school officials and community members as well as “anchoring” from behind a desk. What students gain from this experience is immeasurable - self confidence, insight, and a thriving interest in current events. 

Tyronza Elementary was identified as a School of Innovation in the 2018-2019 school year.   The student focused goals guided the development of every component within the learning environment. Students will discuss the development, implementation, and maintenance required to meet each goal of innovation.  School wide goals included the opportunity for middle school students to take a foreign language for high school credit, growing and maintaining a school garden to supplement the cafeteria while expanding agricultural and business knowledge, and digital citizenship/computer technology to develop high level presentations, broadcasts, and community based projects.

Part of our innovation process was a multi-stakeholder council that included several of our current and former students. One of our innovations was to implement a Student Leadership team that would work along side of the school's Building Leadership Team. Several of the students on the team has participated in the Student Voice Institute sponsored by the Arkansas Leadership Academy. Students will be presenting their experiences at Student Voice and how that has been incorporated into our school.

EAST strategically connects students with their community to foster learning and engagement.  Discover how the EAST model of community involvement helps to develop 21st century skills, as well as greater student ownership and independence in learning. Leave with simple practices to connect your students to the community, raise awareness of community issues and challenges, and increase soft skills.

Participants will experience tools and processes to move past theories of personalized learning to implementation in the classroom. Starting with a definition of personalized learning and moving to processes that are useful to engage educators in implementation. Ideas will be shared on how to provide educator voice and how to LIGHT A FIRE with educators by empowering all to personalize implementation within their classrooms and grade levels. We will examine how to use the learning standards to create lines of learning that LIGHT A FIRE for all learners. Academic facilitators and classroom teachers will share the process that is being used at Northside Elementary to personalize learning for all. 

Are you ready to transform your classroom into the optimum blended learning powerhouse of teaching and learning? This session will lay the foundation by defining blended learning and ways to promote a positive culture through routines and procedures, peer accountability, and growth mindset. Bring a device and join us as we learn about transforming to student-focused while you experience a blended workshop setting! 

Participants will leave this session able to:

• Define blended learning.
  
• Promote a culture that places students at the center of learning.
  
• Develop routines and procedures to foster an effective student-focused learning environment.
  

Next Generation Professional Learning for Impact^© (NGPLI) practices provide educators with the types of learning experiences that are likely to result in effective instruction and positive impact on student outcomes. Over the last year, in partnership with educators across the region, we’ve been exploring which practices are making an impact. We will share what we are learning – in real time through cycles of inquiry – alongside these educators. Join us to find out how you can apply very simple changes to your professional learning experiences to enhance effectiveness and encourage educator voice and choice in professional growth!

Tyronza Elementary was identified as a School of Innovation in the 2018-2019 school year.   The student focused goals guided the development of every component within the learning environment. Students will discuss the development, implementation, and maintenance required to meet each goal of innovation.  School wide goals included the opportunity for middle school students to take a foreign language for high school credit, growing and maintaining a school garden to supplement the cafeteria while expanding agricultural and business knowledge, and digital citizenship/computer technology to develop high level presentations, broadcasts, and community based projects.

This session will focus on the use of the advisory program to launch Sonora Middle School's CAMP STRONG. CAMP STRONG teaches the components of SMS-STRONG (Seeking greatness, Taking chances, Respect ourselves & others, Never giving up and Giving Back). SMS Advisory program is a blend of a strong personalized advisory program that embraces the new ADE "G.U.I.D.E. for Life" skills (Grit, Understanding, Interaction, Decisions, Empathy) for personal success with Primetime Enrichment Clubs & RTI. 

In this session, Jasper High School students will share the journey of how their school broke with tradition and transformed their school to a School of Innovation.  Students will share their views on flexible scheduling, personalized learning, using a blended curriculum, and how they were empowered as students to develop and lead in this transformation.  Students will share their personal stories and the impact this change has had on them educationally.  

Part of our innovation process was a multi-stakeholder council that included several of our current and former students. One of our innovations was to implement a Student Leadership team that would work along side of the school's Building Leadership Team. Several of the students on the team has participated in the Student Voice Institute sponsored by the Arkansas Leadership Academy. Students will be presenting their experiences at Student Voice and how that has been incorporated into our school.

Join this session and see where Holt Middle School has been, where we are now, and what's next in our journey to personalize learning.  You will leave this session with learner disposition definitions (how to get there), flexible learning space ideas (Integrity Cards), flex time ideas (master schedule templates & activities), Learner Profile template and more!  This session will give you at least one thing to try when you return to your building.

Grit, Goals and Graduation is an opportunity for students to experience going to a real conference. From choosing which sessions to attend, listening to a key note speaker and even eating a box lunch, "3G" allows students to learn more than math, reading and writing. Students choose what they want to learn and who they want to learn from based on their interests. Through the partnership of local businesses, entrepreneurs, college representatives, and sometimes their own teachers, students find out about careers, their community, learn life skills and more! 

Does winning in the Game of School prepare students to win in the Game of Life? Using game theory as a framework, we will unlock the hidden structure inside our schools and see why students, teachers, and parents push back against new initiatives. To help visualize the future game we must prepare students for, Eric will give the audience a glimpse of the innovations on the horizon, including income share agreement models as an alternative to college, job automation, and universal basic income.

Description:In this session participants will engage in a deeper discussion on how to implement the elements and strategies in the T2) Transformational Innovation Domain. The precise sequence of strategies in this domain were shown to have an effect size of ES=1.6, which is equivalent to quadrupling student achievement (Magana & Marzano, 2014). Participants will learn how to begin the process of masterfully implementing and evaluating the impact of T2.1) Production, and T2.2) Contribution on student achievement and well-being.

Outcomes:

·     Understand and be able to describe the differences between T1) Translational Technology Use and T2) Transformational Technology Use;

·     Develop a plan for implementing the T2.1) Production and T2.2) Contribution strategies in your classroom or school; and

·     Begin to develop a plan for evaluating the impact of the Elements T2.1) Production, and T2.2) Contribution on students’ achievement in your classroom or school. 

This session is a guide for how to better engage students through making your lessons awesome. Participants will hear numerous examples of how to make their learning, lessons, and “Teacher Street Cred” rise instantly. This a must for those looking to breathe new life into their classrooms. Don’t miss out on the culminating, hands-on workshop experience that everyone will be talking about.

Unless we redesign the intersection of learning and teaching, we will never achieve the outcomes and the level of excellence our communities, economy, and society expect and need from our schools. The good news is that there are educators across the country who are making this shift to a learner-centered ecosystem. This session will cover what it means to be a learner-centered classroom and the research that supports it. Participants will leave the session with useful ideas and practical strategies they can use to begin or continue this urgent and important journey.

A creative, collaborative arts integration program in the Springdale School District (SSD) will be shared by panel members. Panel members will represent SSD, University of Arkansas School of Art, and the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. The panel will be moderated by ForwARd Arkansas. Discussion will address our diverse, collaborative partnership, overview of arts integration as a learning tool, community planning process, and a short demonstration of how an artist might work with a teacher.

LIGHTING A FIRE to transform learning requires increasing academic rigor. But what does "rigor" mean and how can we increase it? In this session, we'll explore Norman Webb's Depth of Knowledge schema, learn what it is and is not, and discover ways it can be used to provide deeper learning for your students. Helpful tools include Eric Francis' Game Show analogy, links to Karin Hess' application guides, and specific examples for ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Fine Arts. 

This session is a predecessor to creating innovative change. Learn from an experienced educational leader on what will make innovation "stick". Jon will create a roadmap for change with Eight (8) Concrete Steps for leading successful innovation and share his experience in a culture of change.

TED Style Keynote

TED Style Keynote

Yes, And thinking; Surprise and Delight; and starting to Think Differently about solutions..  

Bring your best questions to this one of a kind session in which Dr. Berry takes on all questions, no matter how tough. Come participate in this interactive adventure into the messy world of innovating education through personalization while being stared down by high stakes accountability. This session will test your own boundaries!

Since 2012, Kenowa Hills Public Schools has been working to transform from the traditional model of schooling to one that is grounded in the philosophies of Competency Based Education (CBE). Teachers and administrators from Kenowa Hills will share successes, failures and lessons learned from the middle school's seven year journey.  This presentation will focus on some of the key elements of CBE through lens of culture and climate, instructional and assessment practices, use of a Learning Management System, and innovative practices that support a student-centered master schedule. 

In this dynamic session, Dr. Lana Israel (the Founder of Muzology) presents a scientifically proven way to boost your students’ interest, engagement, and math achievement. Muzology is a nationally recognized learning platform that uses the power of music to get students algebra-ready. You’ll discover why students go from failing to passing math quizzes in a single 15-minute session using Muzology.

During this session, you will also hear directly from Hall High School Math Department Head, Shirley Forehand, and her students about their experience using Muzology. Find out what’s possible when cognitive science, music, data analytics, and math education collide.

Getting great teachers in every classroom is a basic requirement for transforming education in Arkansas, but the current job posting/ application process creates roadblocks for teachers and districts.  ARteachers.org is a free service developed by OEP to match teachers looking for jobs with districts looking for teachers.  

Are you a secondary school looking to embrace trauma-informed practices but having trouble finding strategies for middle and high school students?  Coffeyville Public Schools ran into these same issues. When chosen as a Mercury 7 Redesign District, Coffeyville Public Schools set out to transform their schools by incorporating trauma-informed practices and social emotional learning. During this session, Coffeyville Public Schools will provide a step-by-step game plan and timeline for implementing trauma-informed practices school wide and district wide, with specific strategies for implementation at the secondary level. This session will include an in-depth look at student of concern meetings, regulation interventions, training of staff/students and effective utilization of community resources. We'll also delve into the data collection and data-driven practices used, as well as the initial and ongoing building professional development initiatives taken. 

How well aligned are your instructional practices to your school's intended outcomes? If you want tighter alignment between the two, then this session is for you! Participants will identify the knowledge, skills, and attributes students need to be successful in their chosen postsecondary path then explore student-centered teaching strategies aligned to those outcomes. Attendees will leave with several tools from the NTN toolbox to continue work in their communities.

Does your school have the right teams committed to helping you revolutionize learning for your campus? Currently, there are Arkansas schools who have worked with Team Digital to plan, implement and evaluate a process that has successfully transformed their district to provide a more personalized education for students. Team Digital is coordinated in partnership with the Arkansas Department of Education and the Education Service Cooperatives located across the state. We provide professional development, guidance, resources, and support during the planning, implementation, and evaluation of digital learning environments. Come see what schools are saying about the services being provided by Team Digital and how the process can begin to revolutionize learning for today's students.

Implementing a schoolwide social and emotional learning program can be daunting.  This session will help educators prepare for possible barriers to implementation and provide examples and solutions that lead to success.  This presentation will allow participants to ask questions and receive specific guidance that will help schools achieve a successful social and emotional learning program.

Session goals:

1. Participants will be able to plan to alleviate barriers to whole-school SEL implementation.

2. Participants will learn how to create buy-in from teachers and school personnel for a successful SEL implementation.

3. Participants will learn how to incorporate routines that promote SEL.

4. Participants will learn how to use assessment to guide SEL instruction whole group, small group and individually (Tier I, II and III),

This presentation will engage participants in the journey that one, diverse high poverty elementary school took in the development and implementation of a school-wide Social-Emotional Learning program as an integral part of student academic success.  Not previously having SEL standards, our school began their efforts by recognizing the need and making SEL part of the mission, vision and values as a school community. This presentation will allow participants to learn about processes used to create a school wide focus on SEL, identify and select appropriate SEL curriculum and determine how SEL curriculum would be implemented daily throughout the school. The presentation will also explain how social and emotional learning by students can be measured throughout the year and how the information is used to improve student skills within CASEL’s social and emotional learning frameworks.

Participants will learn about the assessment, school-day routines, and positive behavior supports (PBIS) all teachers use to support SEL learning for students.  Specific barriers will be addressed to help school administrators prepare for the transition to school-wide SEL learning including SEL curriculum options, job-embedded teacher support and parental involvement.  Participants will engage in an interactive workshop using Poll Everywhere to encourage questions and discussions about the challenges and successes of school-wide SEL implementation.

In a system where teachers and educators are consistently asked to do "one more thing," this session will focus on how to use innovative strategies to take things off of your plate.  This presentation is intended to empower educators with tips and techniques to know even more about their learners, while spending less time doing the things that take time away from meaningful educational goals.

With the explosion of the maker movement, schools are beginning to embrace creativity. However, what does this mean for assessment? Should we assess the creative process? Should we assess the finished product? Does assessing creativity actually make kids more risk-averse? In this session, we explore what it means to assess both the creative process and the creative product without leading to risk aversion.  

Many states are exploring opportunities to provide schools with the flexibility and support needed to reimagine learning.  Although there is wide recognition that the traditional, one-size-fits-all model is no longer sufficient, it is widely assumed that state policy barriers are what stand in the way of innovative leaders.  We will present new research exploring that premise and share the best opportunities for state leaders to push boundaries and empower innovative educators to design new ways to meet the needs of 21^st century learners.  

We are currently educating the "anxious generation." Our kindergarten students are already subject to anxiety disorders. Our teenagers 2nd highest risk of death is suicide. SBT provides FREE, quick, simple, turnkey mindfulness resources to create your Stop, Breathe & Think (SBT) Classroom. The activities in the SBT Toolkits only take a few minutes to implement and can have a lasting, profound impact on students and staff. Teachers will receive lifetime access to the SBT app and resources!

Sometimes school leaders just need permission to do what is best for students.  Sometimes innovation is guts plus generosity; risk plus vision; dedication plus inspiration.    If you are already a School of Innovation and are curious about designation and/or renewal, or if you want to become a School of Innovation, come to this session to get the road map for the innovation journey!

In this session you will:

            -Review the entire SOI process -- application, designation, renewal

-Gather information on supports available from OIE, ADE, and other SOI school initiatives 

-Network to spark and support ideas

-Gain tools for success as a School of Innovation

Nobody really knows how the world economy is going to look like by the year 2050: what are the industries that will be driving the economy? what kind of jobs will be available? Hence, nobody really knows what of the subjects we are currently teaching at school are truly relevant for tomorrow’s economy. The traditional model of learning a skill during the first part of our lives, only to master this skill while contributing to society during the rest of our lives is becoming obsolete. The only way to stay in the game will be to keep learning throughout our lives.  Economically active agents will have to be extremely resilient and mentally balanced to deal with a world economy in constant transformation.

The High School edition of the Social Innovation Challenge is an initiative of the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in collaboration with the Business Communications Lab that aims to promote entrepreneurship and innovation, as essential skills for the economy of the 21st century.

The session is both, a description of the initiative and an invitation to join us in future editions. 

Perhaps the greatest inhibitor of the success of schools who believe they are a Professional Learning Community is their inability to break through the misconceptions and fallacies of “PLC Lite.” Understanding the critical, but often overlooked pieces that result in increased student learning can make the difference between meaningful change and failure. This session will delve into these essential components, provide examples of how to implement them in a school, and allow participants to leave with a clearer understanding of where their school falls in pursuit of learning for ALL. 

This session will start with what our school did in the beginning of the process to inform all and the ways in which we gathered all to be a part of the process.  The thorough way in which we left no stone unturned in the beginning, set the stage for fewer difficult issues along the way.   Mistakes, as well as successes, will be shared to help those that are struggling with a part of their own plans as well as ways in which we troubleshot issues.  

Kristy Harter is a Structured Learning Teacher and Beth Lewis is a Library Media Specialist for 5th and 6th grade students at McNair Middle School in Fayetteville. We collaborate weekly to help students within the Special Education setting to engage in hands on activities related to STEAM. We wrote a grant together to provide more materials for our Makerspace that is able to be accessed by all students within McNair. Weekly we collaborate on different hands on activities and strategies to help our special education students think out of the box in the areas related to Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math.  Some of the different activities have included sewing selfie pillows, Ozobots, Stop Motion, 3D printing, and using a wind tunnel. The students at McNair look forward to their weekly time in Makerspace and talk about how it is the best day of the week!

Despite billions of dollars spent equipping classrooms and schools with the latest digital technology, the impact on student achievement remains frustratingly low. Award-winning educator and pioneering researcher Dr. Sonny Magana will share the T3 Framework for Innovation from his best-selling book, Disruptive Classroom Technologies. The T3 Framework categorizes technology use into three distinct stages: T1) Translational, T2) Transformational, and T3) Transcendent. The sequence of strategies in the T3 Framework empowers modern learners who thrive when given multiple opportunities to creatively transfer their knowledge in order to improve their world. Systemic adoption of the T3 Framework is helping whole learning systems realize the largely untapped potential of educational technologies to generate collective efficacy by catalyzing students’ current and future learning readiness.

Research Base: The T3 Framework was synthesized from Dr. Magana’s 35-year inquiry which endeavored to uncover the most reliable methods for enhancing teaching and learning with digital tools. The strategies in the T3 Framework have an observed effect size of ES=1.6 (Magana & Marzano, 2013; 2014; Magana, 2017; Magana, 2018; Magana, 2019). Dr. Magana’s research methods and findings underpinning the T3 Framework have recently been inducted into The University of Oxford Research Encyclopedia for Education. The T3 Framework for Innovation has been hailed as “a visionary work; truly inspirational,” (Marzano, 2017), a “brilliant breakthrough in our understanding and use of technology for learning” (Fullan, 2017), and, “a major step forward…the T3 Challenge is a powerful, credible, and exciting challenge: Let’s do it!” (Hattie, 2018).

Outcomes: These sessions provide participants with foundational learning on the T3 Framework for Innovation. Learning outcomes include:

·      Awareness of the research findings on technology’s impact on student achievement;

·      Guidance on implementing the T3 Framework strategies in classrooms immediately to begin accelerating students’ mastery of current and future learning capacities; and,

·      Guidance on using the T3 Framework to build collective efficacy of whole learning systems.

Let’s just talk! Take advantage of this time to question, ponder and plan with an educator who is familiar with Arkansas schools. Dr. George Philhower has a passion for the day to day work in schools to empower learners. Build on the pre-conference ideas or start an entirely different conversation. This session centers on you, the learner!

It cannot be argued that there exists an opportunity gap for students who come from vulnerable populations. This is particularly true for low socioeconomic and culturally diverse students, English language learners, and students with disabilities. This session will focus on practical strategies for implementing culturally responsive and universal design learning in the classroom while also advocating for more equitable opportunities district-wide.

With budgets stretched and goals that must reached, multi-organization collaborations allow for the partnering of specialized resources to amplify results in ways that could not be accomplished should those organizations act independently. Learn how Arkansas is leading the way and creating programming to provide educators with cutting edge resources.

 Geo-Inquiry is a new integrated, project-based process that connects real-world challenges to the classroom. In this interactive session, educators will learn new strategies to help students develop critical thinking skills, ask questions, collect information, visualize and analyze data, create a compelling story, and ultimately become advocates for change in their local communities.  

Burn down the walls keeping you from implementing project based learning in your school.  In this session, our Sonora Middle School students will outline our mission to implement project based and authentic learning on a large scale academy model within our middle school.  You will learn how we are taking projects into the community and how our real world is playing a huge role in what we do and more importantly what we learn.

Curiosity is the fuel for discovery, inquiry, and understanding. Cultivating this curiosity in our classrooms will jump start intrinsic motivation and allow for deeper learning. In this session educators will explore strategies to create curious thinkers and uncover opportunities to build wonder in the classroom. Let’s make exploration, fun, and curiosity a part of their day, every day!

Based on the book, Five Levers to Improve Learning, co-authored by the presenter, this session will unlock a simple, but  powerful framework for understanding which efforts and initiatives are most likely to lead to improved learning outcomes. Not all strategies and change efforts hold equal potential to make a difference. Participants will learn how to distinguish between high potential and low leverage options for improving student learning. The key to success is not in doing more, but doing the work with the greatest potential to transform learning experiences and outcomes.

Innovative practices sound enticing and building a student-focused learning system just makes sense. But wait--how does accountability fit into the picture?  

We all want to engage students at a higher level. But how do we do that?

The key to engagement is high attention and high commitment from our students. However, in order to foster that attention and commitment we must allow students to motivate themselves and each other through choice-based work.

In this workshop, A.J. Juliani will tackle these five strategies that work to engage students at every grade level and inspire innovative work:

1. Choice-based instruction

2. Inquiry-based projects

3. Authentic audience

4. Competitive Challenges

5. Launching to the World

Join A.J. for an interactive session to learn how to develop student-centered activities with choice and inquiry. He will field questions from attendees after his presentation. This session will benefit K-12 teachers and administrators.

Global collaboration is an immensely popular educational term, but what does it really mean? What does it look like in the classroom? Global collaboration actually refers to the methods in which the instructors and students are communicating with one another across the globe for collaborative experiences online. There are so many opportunities now for educators to globally collaborate for professional development. Given the choice, I bet most of us would choose those opportunities over the "sit and get" experiences. What if you could offer your students opportunities to collaborate with other students in their community or even across the globe? Global collaboration exposes students to a more diverse learning experience allowing them to practice social skills, use technology, show responsible digital citizenship, and learn in the process. It lends itself to integrated curriculum opportunities and allows for authentic learning to take place. In this session, you will see how one teacher took global collaboration and used it to solve a community/school problem and build a kindness project that reached across the United States and into Canada! 

In 2017, Arkansas Schools of Innovation came together in an Edcamp inspired gathering to organize around problems of practice. Over 40 educators crammed into a small room to re-imagine assessment in Arkansas. This marked the beginning of a movement! Over the last two years, several of these schools have participated in learning journeys in an assessment-focused learning community. Come and learn about their journey, as Arkansas educators reimagine and begin to co-design ways for students to lead their own learning and assessment. Hear from educators from Clarendon, Lincoln, and Pangburn as they share some of their learning, including:

Exemplars of Student Work and how to create and implement as part of a Profile/Vision for a Graduate

Incorporating passion projects that are engaging to students and allow for their leadership and collaboration

Student-led conferencing 

Surprise and delight and making school fun

Building reflection and “learning about learning” 

Connecting to the community for real-world and deeper learning

Integrating essential skills such as listening, speaking, collaborating, and creative thinking/problem solving into the learning

Developing a student-created portfolio system 

Implementing rubrics that allow students to self-assess their growth toward Portrait/Vision of a Graduate attributes

Creating opportunities for students to present their work during “presentations of learning” where they share their work with the community

Ask questions of these pioneering educators in Arkansas and hear about their aha’s from being a part of this ongoing learning community. 

Personalized Learning Success in Arkansas:  Come and hear from school leaders and students about how their district has successfully implemented personalized learning in their. Pulaski County Special School District, Lonoke SD along with Newport and Pangburn have effectively implemented over the past three years the pedagogy that is not only changing the lives of students but also forever transforming their schools.

This session will present the Wakefield School's Kansas Redesign journey that started in 2018. We will share how our K-12 school is shifting the culture to a student centered environment by listening to student voices and needs. We are small but mighty group that has faced adversity while working through the Redesign process. We will share how we are igniting and supporting our students to find their passion and purpose through learning by using PBL, K-12 Flight Crews, and Personalized Learning in all grade levels. 

Based on the book, Five Levers to Improve Learning, co-authored by the presenter, this session will unlock a simple, but  powerful framework for understanding which efforts and initiatives are most likely to lead to improved learning outcomes. Not all strategies and change efforts hold equal potential to make a difference. Participants will learn how to distinguish between high potential and low leverage options for improving student learning. The key to success is not in doing more, but doing the work with the greatest potential to transform learning experiences and outcomes.

The Flex Program is built on creating students who learn around the clock through major concepts.  Our students do not have attendance regulations based on a seat waiver that we received from ADE.  This program has been huge in instilling a growth mindset in young children and allowing them to learn from their environment. Technology is used to bridge the information gap between home and school.   In this second year of teaching my focus has been on ensuring that my students that attend part time gain the same foundational reading skills as their peers that attend full time...a HUGE challenge.  I have worked closely with our new literacy coach to learn and implement some great techniques that have resulted in fabulous little readers.    

Session 2 Title:Becoming a Transcendent Innovator

Description:In this session participants will engage in a deeper discussion on how to implement the elements and strategies in the T3) Transcendent Innovation Domain. The sequence of strategies in this domain prepare students to masterfully address future learning challenges while contributing to improving their world. Participants will learn how to begin the process of realizing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by masterfully implementing and evaluating the impact of T3.1) Inquiry Design, and T3.2) Social Entrepreneurship on student achievement, well-being, and global contribution.

Outcomes:

·     Understand and be able to describe how T3) Transcendent Technology Use builds upon and expands T2) Transformational Technology Use;

·     Develop a plan for implementing the T3.1) Inquiry Design and T3.2) Social Entrepreneurship strategies in your classroom or school using the guidance of the SDGs, and;

·     Begin to develop a plan for evaluating the impact of the Elements T3.1) Inquiry Design, and T3.2) Social Entrepreneurship on students’ achievement in your classroom or school.