Two-Day Pre-Conference Institutes

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Our two-day Pre-Conference Institutes will be held March 23–24, 2017, in Anaheim, California and will run from 8:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m., daily. Specific location information for each institute is included below.

Disrupting Poverty: Turning High-Poverty Schools into High-Performing Schools
Room 303A, Anaheim Convention Center

Presenters: William Parrett and Kathleen Budge, Boise State University, Boise, ID

What does it take to disrupt poverty's adverse influence on student learning? It requires far more than a teacher’s diligent and often heroic effort in the classroom. Based on the ASCD book Turning High-Poverty Schools into High-Performing Schools, this institute with William Parrett and Kathleen Budge will provide a framework for collaborative action. Nearly three decades of lessons learned from high-poverty, high-performing schools demonstrate how teachers, principals, central office personnel, and others work from various vantage points to create cultures of high expectations and support for all learners. In this institute, you will enhance your knowledge of what works for underachieving students who live in poverty; understand how low-performing, high-poverty schools become high performing; increase your leadership capacity to facilitate transformational change; and walk away compelled to take informed, courageous action to better meet the needs of student living in poverty. Learn self-study, planning, and coaching tools to design action plans that disrupt poverty’s negative influence in any school and to guide rapid transformation when you return to your own school.

Materials Fee: $23.00 for Turning High-Poverty Schools into High-Performing Schools

Registration Code: PD17PC004

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Building Teachers' Capacity for Success
Room 206AB, Anaheim Convention Center

Presenters: Pete Hall, EducationHall, Coeur d'Alene, ID; Alisa Simeral, ASCD Consultant, Reno, NV

Based on the ASCD best-selling books Building Teachers' Capacity for Success and Teach, Reflect, Learn, authors and lead presenters Pete Hall and Alisa Simeral will discuss the tools, strategies, language, and mindset needed to support all teachers’ growth as reflective practitioners. Research shows that teacher quality is the primary determinant of student success—it is time to put forth every effort to strengthen teacher development. With content drawn from John Dewey's research a century ago and grounded in the practical experiences of the past two decades, this collaborative two-day institute is for every person who supports teacher development:

• Principals and other administrators will learn how to cultivate a school culture that values instructional coaching, continuous growth, rich feedback, and professional dialogue.
• Instructional coaches and teacher-leaders will discover the art and strategies of providing individualized support to teachers in a way that addresses their unique and individual needs.
• Classroom teachers will identify and strengthen their patterns of thought in order to grow as reflective practitioners, taking the reins of their own professional growth.

Materials Fee: $23.00 for Building Teachers' Capacity for Success: A Collaborative Approach for Coaches and School Leaders

Registration Code: PD17PC005

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Instruction Is (Always) the Answer: Developing Every Teacher's Instructional Know-How—CANCELED

Presenters: Harvey Silver and Tom Dewing, Silver Strong & Associates, Franklin Lakes, NJ

In our work with schools over the last 40 years, we have learned that the schools with the greatest gains focus on a simple but powerful concept called know-how. These schools do not necessarily have the newest or most wired buildings. They’re found in urban, suburban, and rural areas. Their district and state curricula differs. And they certainly do not teach to the test. So what is know-how? Why is it so powerful? And how can we help our teachers develop it? This workshop will focus on the key know-hows of strategic teaching. A strategic teacher does more than teach content: a strategic teacher knows how to use a variety of methods to motivate all students; how to design and deliver instructional sequences that are effective and engaging; and how to build students' critical-thinking skills and differentiate instruction without sacrificing core concepts. In this interactive two-day session, participants will

Materials Fee: $22.00 for The Strategic Teacher: Selecting the Right Research-Based Strategy for Every Lesson

Registration Code: PD17PC006

This institute has been canceled.

Educating Hispanic and Latino Students: Implications for Learning, Teaching, and Leading
Room 304A, Anaheim Convention Center

Presenter: Jaime Castellano, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL

No one can refute the existing challenges that we face in educating Hispanic and Latino students in the United States. The problems are all too real and easily documented through Title I data; the number of Hispanic and Latino families receiving various forms of government assistance; state, national, and international achievement data and statistics; and one failed educational reform after another. Do we rest our hope and future on the Common Core State Standards; the Every Student Succeeds Act; or a system of democracy that purports to promote equity, access, and opportunity? Again, there is no easy answer, nor is there only one solution. So where do we begin? At this institute, you can be part of the solution. We will

• Identify and apply research and practices that are responsive to the unique needs of Hispanic and Latino parents and families.
• Identify practices that enable teachers and administrators to become more culturally competent and effective instructional leaders to support Hispanic and Latino students.
• Apply understanding of cultural, social, and economic diversity and individual learner differences to inform the development and improvement of programs, supports, and services for Hispanic and Latino students.
• Guide and inform teachers and administrators on how to effectively provide curriculum and instruction, and implement assessment practices in a classroom of Hispanic and Latino learners.

Materials Fee: N/A

Registration Code: PD17PC009

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Designing for Adult Learning: Practices Beyond PowerPoints That Transform and Empower School Communities—CANCELED

Presenters: Jason Flom, Cornerstone Learning Community, Tallahassee, FL; Gene Thompson-Grove, School Reform Initiative, Inc. and Gene Thompson-Grove & Associates, Boston, MA

How school leaders design and support adult learning directly affects teacher and student empowerment. Understanding and applying research and principles of adult learning catalyzes transformational learning throughout the school. During this session, participants will

• Consider research and principles of adult learning and apply them to a learning design.
• Explore assumptions about how adults learn, and map these onto research about adult development.
• Evaluate the role of adult learning tasks in promoting authentic accountability.
• Apply concepts of constructivist developmental theory to implement structures that empower the adult learners in a school ecosystem.
• Analyze and apply eight steps of design in the context of four pillars of practice.
• Develop and receive feedback on a professional learning agenda.

Participants will leave with tools, strategies, and processes for designing, implementing, and supporting transformational educator empowerment.

Materials Fee: N/A

Registration Code: PD17PC030

This institute has been canceled.

Creating an Understanding-Based Curriculum for 21st Century Learning
Room 205AB, Anaheim Convention Center

Presenters: Jay McTighe, McTighe and Associates, Columbia, MD; Elizabeth Rossini, ASCD Consultant, Fairfax, VA

Established standards provide a clear set of worthy educational outcomes. However, the standards are not curriculum. Educators must use the standards as a basis for designing high-quality curricula and assessments to support effective teaching and learning. In addition to academic standards, a growing number of voices within and outside the educational establishment are calling for an enhanced emphasis on the 21st century skills of critical and creative thinking, collaboration, and wise use of technology. In this institute, apply the principles and practices of the Understanding by Design^® framework and Schooling by Design to transform the standards and 21st century skills into a coherent curriculum that emphasizes understanding and long-term transfer. Participants will learn proven approaches for

• Creating a curriculum "blueprint" to guide the mapping of a coherent and vertically aligned curriculum.
• "Unpacking" standards to identify conceptually big ideas and transfer goals.
• Generating essential questions that spiral across the grades.
• Creating recurring cornerstone assessment tasks and companion rubrics that integrate 21st century skills with academic content.
• Using excellent web-based resources for "working smarter."
• Applying "backward design" to create strategic plans for curricular design and implementation.

Materials Fee: $24.00 for Schooling by Design: Mission, Action, and Achievement

Registration Code: PD17PC031

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Qualities of Effective Teachers: Classroom-Based Assessment and High-Yield Instructional Strategies
Room 201CD, Anaheim Convention Center

Presenters: James H. Stronge and Leslie W. Grant, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA; Lauri Leeper, Stronge & Associates Educational Consulting, Williamsburg, VA

This two-day institute focuses on a key attribute of the most effective teachers: Connecting high-quality student assessment with high-yield instructional delivery. The presenters will feature three levels of valid classroom assessment that teachers can and should use to better focus instructional planning and delivery on student improvement: pre-assessment, ongoing formative assessment, and post-assessment. Participants will practice selected research-based assessment strategies, including using student data simulations to inform instructional decisions and to provide feedback that enhances student performance. Participants will also connect student assessment to high-yield instructional strategies—such as academic rigor, active learning, and questioning teacher expectations—that can result in substantial increases in student achievement across a variety of subject areas and grade levels.

Materials Fee: $20.00 for Qualities of Effective Teachers, 2nd Edition

Registration Code: PD17PC032

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