Effective Schools Conference Series

2021-2022 Conference Programs

Register Online

Beyond Heroes, Holidays and Food: Best Practices for Racially Equitable Educators and Schools

November 2, 2021
Dr. Paul Gorski

Dr. Paul Gorski is the founder of the Equity Literacy Institute and EdChange. He has more than 20 years of experience helping educators, nonprofit workers, and others strengthen their equity efforts. In this virtual workshop, educators will explore ways to bolster new levels of equity consciousness in classrooms, enabling participants to become change agents on the ground, today. Dr. Gorski specializes in helping individuals, organizations, and schools shift from a "celebrating diversity" orientation to one grounded in principles of equity.

Why should Pre-K-12 educators attend?

• Information to achieve deeper levels of transformative potential in all equity efforts.
• Materials to strengthen the ability to recognize even the subtlest racial bias and inequity, respond to it effectively in the immediate term, address it at its root cause, and then actively cultivate equitable practices.
• Strategies to for committed educators to deepen equity approaches and action.

Fearless Schools: Building Trust and Resilience for Learning, Teaching, and Leading

February 8, 2022
Dr. Doug Reeves

One key to students’ psychological safety is the use of grading and assessment systems that are accurate and fair. Competency-based assessment, for example, rewards the necessary struggle and ultimate learning that students achieve. This is stark contrast to the use of the average or other means of punishing students for practice rather than performance. In this new book and presentation, Dr. Doug Reeves outlines the conditions for fearlessness in classrooms and schools: not tolerating mediocrity, confronting reality over wishful thinking, listening and candor, and resilience and learning together from errors. Doug invites you to develop the courage to create schools that are fearless, such that all educators and students are improving, aspiring, and are part of a learning organization. Doug is the author of more than 40 books and 100 articles on education and leadership. Twice named to the Harvard University Distinguished Authors Series, Doug is a proud Kansas native and lives in Boston.

Why should educators, administrators and board members attend:

• Data and evidence to explore competency-based assessment and their benefits for educators, students and families.
• Information on how to evaluate alternative methods of change and apply those methods to teacher-leader responsibilities.
• Evidence of the benefits to improved change leadership and increased psychological safety due to grading and assessment changes.