Call for Presenters

Call for Presenters

The submission window for proposals opens April 16, 2024 and closes May 31, 2024.

Presenters will be notified of the selection committee decisions in August.

WSSDA’s Annual Conference in November connects school directors, superintendents, student board representatives, and educators from around the state to share, learn and be inspired. The conference also gives attendees the opportunity to be both a learner and a teacher.

School directors, board-superintendent teams, student leaders, educators, and subject-matter experts are invited to submit breakout session proposals for the WSSDA Annual Conference to share your experiences and voice with conference attendees. Not every presenter has be an “expert” or have all the solutions as long as what you’ll share is relevant and informative for our school boards. We encourage submissions that represent a diverse range of voices, concepts, and subject matter to provide a full menu of options for session attendees.

Sessions that center student experiences and voice, feature students as presenters, and/or focus on the role of the students in board decision-making will be given high priority.

Strands

These six strands encompass the most important work of school boards, plus there is a category for sponsored sessions that include a vendor. Use them as a framework to think about topics in which other boards would benefit from your experiences.

Visionary Leadership – Strategic planning and implementation, innovative practices, trends in education and technology, district culture, professional development, collaborative process, board-superintendent roles and responsibilities, superintendent search and evaluation, facilities planning and leadership in times of crisis.

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, and parliamentary procedure.

Strategic Advocacy – Community engagement, legislative advocacy and outreach, partnerships, passing bonds and levies, new ways to connect virtually, advocating for student and district needs.

Educational Equity – Eliminating opportunity gaps; equity policies; cultural competency 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.

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; virtual tools and instruction.

Student Well-Being – Supporting students post-pandemic; social-emotional learning; counseling and mental health; physical health and safety; social emotional learning (SEL); inclusionary and/or trauma-informed practices, addressing issues of homelessness and foster care; re-engaging dropouts.

Sponsored — topics presented by vendors relevant to school boards and districts

Tips

Breakout session proposals are most likely to be selected if they:

  • Offer action steps and replicable ideas for the success of our students and schools
  • Include school directors and/or students in the presentation team
  • Incorporate student voice
  • Include data or other evidence of success
  • Provide insight into how a district has successfully tackled an issue and made improvements, even if not fully resolved yet
  • Describe the school board’s role in the process

Questions

Email wssda.presentations@kfevents.com