Strands
These seven strands encompass some of the most important work of school boards, plus there is a category for sponsored sessions that include a vendor. Together with the conference theme, use them as a framework to think about topics in which other boards would benefit from your experiences.
Educational Equity – Eliminating opportunity gaps; policies that support equitable, culturally competent, and culturally-relevant practices; belonging, addressing disproportionalities including race, poverty, gender, special education status, multilingual learners and migrant status; diversity, equity and representation; and ensuring equity in your budget and strategic plan.
Effective Governance – Policy and legal issues, district oversight, accountability, board governance tools, finance, budgeting, collective bargaining, governing during a crisis, lessons from virtual meetings and events, effective meeting practices, communicating with your community, and parliamentary procedure.
Innovative Practices – trends in education and technology, virtual tools and instruction; Artificial intelligence (AI), policies and practices around technology adoption and use; social media and cell phone usage/policies; and preparing students/families/the board for the future.
Sponsored — topics presented by vendors relevant to school boards and districts
Strategic Advocacy – Authentic family and community engagement, legislative advocacy and outreach, partnerships, passing bonds and levies, new ways to connect with community, strategies for gathering family and community feedback, advocating for student and district needs.
Student Success – Understanding and using student data; multiple measurements of success, including academic achievement; students prepared for life, college and career; student engagement; student voice; student board representation; learning standards implementation; and curriculum/instructional materials selection.
Student Well-Being – Practices that supporting students’ mental, emotional, and physical health; social-emotional learning; counseling and mental health supports and partnerships; physical health and safety; social emotional learning (SEL); inclusionary and/or trauma-informed practices; addressing issues of homelessness and foster care; re-engaging dropouts.
Visionary Leadership – Strategic planning and implementation; district culture; professional development; collaborative processes; board-superintendent roles and responsibilities; superintendent search and evaluation; facilities planning; leadership in times of crisis; and incorporating student voice in decision-making.
Submitting a successful session proposal
The breakout sessions at the WSSDA Annual Conference are an excellent way to learn from peers and share your own discoveries and experiences with others. School directors attending the conference prefer to hear from other board members, board-superintendent teams and students. Superintendents are encouraged to present as a part of a board-superintendent team.
Focused on the work of boards by board members
- The session must be relevant to school board members and their governance, advocacy and leadership roles.
- The session should provide practical information, interactive learning, and implementable takeaways for school directors, rather than general topic overviews.
- The school board’s role in the project, program or issue presented must be clearly defined. Sessions led by board members, students, board-student teams or board-superintendent teams are more likely to have their proposals selected.
- Presentations that include students and/or student voice are strongly encouraged.
Consider how to engage the audience
- Ensure your description clearly, concisely depicts the presentation content so attendees can select sessions with confidence
- Most sessions are 60 minutes long, although a few are 75 or 90 minutes. Design your content to allow 10-15 minutes for questions.
- Get the audience involved with interactive segments to keep them engaged.
- Load your materials on the conference app so attendees have access to them onsite.
