Conference

Learn how to strengthen your universal PBIS implementation through best practices. Teams will analyze current systems based on universal-level Tiered Fidelity Inventory (TFI) line items and identify action steps specific to their building’s level of implementation. Participants should have access to their universal data and system artifacts (matrix, behavior lesson plans, flow charts, etc.).

Successful PBIS tier 2 implementation can take longer and be more difficult to achieve than tier 1 implementation. To fully implement tier 2, school teams and staff require a growth mindset to deconstruct old practices and install new practices—while continuing to teach and support students. This session supports previously-trained school teams who want concrete strategies to strengthen their current tier 2 implementation.

dr. monique liston, Black woman, is the Founder, Chief Strategist, and Joyful Militant of UBUNTU Research and Evaluation. This stimulating address centers the Black thinkers across time and space such as W.E.B. DuBouis, Fannie Lou Hamer, Asa Hillard, Ana Julia Cooper, Nannie Helen Burroughs. We think about the current political context of equity in education, how we show up in that space, and what we must be committed to if we believe change is possible. Participants in this session should exit with more questions than answers, but be moved toward a deeper and more intentional praxis in their own spheres of influence.

LIVE STREAMED TO AFRICA BALLROOM

Sustainable system change starts with focus on early learners. Research has shown that this investment can lead to improved outcomes for each and every learner ages 3-21! This interactive session will focus on effective leadership practices for any system that serves 3- and 4-year-olds. Learn how to improve your system by including EC/4K staff, families, community partners, and community agencies into your district and school teaming structures. Leave with strategies to identify and address challenges as you incorporate early learning stakeholders into your system.

LOCATION: GUAVA/TAMARIND

Successful tier 2 implementation is built on a solid foundation of tier 1 practices. Learn the six characteristics of tier 2 interventions and explore how to construct secondary supports onto existing strong universal practices. Participants will identify a tier 1 practice on which to build and begin applying tier 2 features to it.

LOCATION: AFRICA 50/60

Are you installing trauma-informed practices within a PBIS/MTSS framework and struggling to measure implementation and impact? This session will help teams who are beginning to integrate trauma-informed practices within their continuum. Examine current data points that are already being monitored and explore ways to expand data collection. Teams will leave with methods to monitor fidelity, outcomes, and perceptions of students, staff, and families. A template to support developing a comprehensive evaluation will be shared.

LIVE STREAMED IN AFRICA 30/40

In this interactive workshop, dr. liston will help participants push themselves to think reflexively about their identity as it relates to being an ally, accomplice, anti-racist, and abolitionist with authentic accountability as educators. Session includes 15-minute question and answer session.

LIVE STREAMED IN AFRICA 10/20

In order to level the playing field, school systems must address areas of policy and practice in school discipline. This session will describe key elements for policy and provide examples for their application in schools. A tool for assessing aspects of policies to enhance effective and equitable discipline will be shared.

LIVE STREAMED IN AFRICA 70/80

Systems are perfectly designed to achieve the outcomes they do, regardless of intent. Adult practices and beliefs are the leverage points for change. Join us as we examine components of universal PBIS systems that contribute to disparate impacts across student groups. Participants will learn strategies and approaches to attend to these components and to ensure success for all students.

LIVE STREAMED IN GUAVA/TAMARIND

For tier 2 interventions to be effective and efficient, a school’s entire staff must be involved. When teams identify the skills every staff member must have, they are able to build capacity and implement tier 2 interventions with fidelity. We’ll share key strategies for developing and measuring the impact of professional learning around tier 2 intervention delivery. Participants will identify a key takeaway that their team(s) should consider in order to improve implementation for fall 2022.

LIVE STREAMED IN AFRICA 50/60

Most educational leaders in Wisconsin are White. Without intentionality, leadership teams can unconsciously create structures, policies, and practices that marginalize students, families, and staff of color. Together, we will examine pitfalls and promising practices to challenge current notions of advocacy, access, agency, and action within leadership teams to dismantle inequitable systems and practices.

LIVE STREAMED IN AFRICA 30/40

Understanding systems, policies, and practices and one's role in identifying inequities within a system is essential when planning professional learning. During this session, participants will gain an understanding of how to leverage their critical consciousness when planning professional development for staff.

LOCATION: AFRICA 10/20

Are you having conversations about whether students should be intrinsically motivated? Are you fielding questions about the wisdom of rewarding students for what they should be doing? Join us as we share the research behind different methods of providing feedback which strengthen prosocial behaviors. The simple, evidence-based practice of positive praise and its use in levels of systemic feedback will be discussed and examined.

LOCATION: AFRICA 70/80

If you are a practitioner who self-identifies as White, join this accountability space for a facilitated discussion to reflect on the keynote session. As educators, every decision is an equity decision; we can either disrupt the status quo or maintain it. During this session, participants will engage in dialogue and commit to actionable change in recognizing and disrupting practices, policies, and beliefs that create and perpetuate inequitable outcomes in our schools.

LOCATION: AFRICA 50/60

If you are a practitioner who self-identifies as BIPOC and are interested in building community, reducing harm, and increasing safety for BIPOC practitioners in these conversations, then this affinity group is for you! In this space, participants will explore how particular aspects of BIPOC identity might be impacted by prejudice or discrimination and what we can do to counter the negative effects.

LOCATION: AFRICA 70/80

If you are a practitioner who self-identifies as White, join this accountability space for a facilitated discussion to reflect on the keynote session. As educators, every decision is an equity decision; we can either disrupt the status quo or maintain it. During this session, participants will engage in dialogue and commit to actionable change in recognizing and disrupting practices, policies, and beliefs that create and perpetuate inequitable outcomes in our schools.

If you are a practitioner who self-identifies as BIPOC and are interested in building community, reducing harm, and increasing safety for BIPOC practitioners in these conversations, then this affinity group is for you! In this space, participants will explore how particular aspects of BIPOC identity might be impacted by prejudice or discrimination and what we can do to counter the negative effects (Devevi & Richards, 2018).

In this keynote speech, Dr. Karla provides participants with a speaking engagement with the goal of building knowledge and fluency for disrupting inequitable educational systems. Additionally, we explore a framework of equity-driven outcomes for schooling contexts, with specific attention to supporting historically marginalized students. Participants will leave this presentation with:

—Knowledge of how to identify and dismantle inequitable school systems
—Strategies for building and developing equitable learning systems
—A framework for having courageous conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion with stakeholders

LOCATION: AFRICA BALLROOM

In this concurrent session, Dr. Karla will share research-driven, best practices for driving equity within K-12 instruction, curriculum, and school-wide leadership systems. Karla will also have individual, personalized conversations with participants to address specific goals and/or challenges within their organizations. Bring your conference journal to jot down questions, ideas, and key takeaways.

LOCATION: AFRICA 70/80

Healthy systems do not happen by accident! Using data to verify the health of your tier 2 system is a critically important step. In this session, explore the options your team has for measuring impact and identify a focus area for growth and improvement. Participants will also plan to collaborate to ensure that students accessing tier 2 supports have received the necessary instruction and support at tier 1.

LOCATION: AFRICA 50/60

Traditional problem-solving practices contribute to perpetuating inequities. Using scenarios, we’ll explore how assumptions and blind spots show up in data-based decision-making. Participants will practice reframing the questions to ask and learn how to ensure the data sources used more accurately represent the system. With this knowledge, you can begin shifting the conversation from "fixing kids" to changing adult beliefs and practices.

LIVE STREAMED IN AFRICA 10/20

Professional learning is a large investment. The content and design of professional learning is just the first part of the equation. It’s equally important to explore the second part of the equation: Is the professional learning having the desired impact? In this session, participants will learn best practices for ensuring that professional learning is adequately supported, monitored, and evaluated.

LIVE STREAMED IN GUAVA/TAMARIND

Families and community members are critical stakeholders in educational systems. Cultural and language differences or not knowing how to develop modes of communication are often cited as barriers to engagement and collaboration. This session will explore how students’ families and communities are valuable assets to school climate, culture, and social and academic curricula. Participants will gain strategies for addressing barriers to promoting communication and collaboration with families and community members.

LOCATION: AFRICA 30/40

"Black girls are suspended, expelled, referred to law enforcement, and arrested on school campuses at rates that far exceed the public school population as a whole and far exceed their white female peers." Join us for a special screening of the documentary: PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools. After the film, participants are invited to stay to engage in 30 minutes of processing and reflection. Together, we'll examine how schools marginalize, criminalize, and push Black girls out of educational spaces and into confinement, and what educators must do to promote policy change so policies don't disrupt one of the most important factors in girls' lives–education. The documentary is based on the work of Dr. Monique W. Morris, author of PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools.

LOCATION: AFRICA 70/80

Discover how we can move beyond talking about student needs to identifying student needs and matching students to interventions. The development of an intervention grid provides a foundational means to ensure efficient, effective, and equitable access to tier 2 supports. Intervention grids map a systematic process for identifying students and use data to guide intervention decisions. We’ll practice using an intervention grid and participants will be prepared to develop their own grid.

LIVE STREAMED IN PORTIA/WISTERIA

Understanding and adhering to the 10 evidence-based principles of tier 3 is the best way to ensure supports are having their intended impact. This session will explore how the success of tier 3 implementation is directly tied to adult beliefs and behaviors. Strengthening and operationalizing these principles across all tiers leads to greater student success. Examples of how principles align across tiers will be provided.

LOCATION: AFRICA 10/20

Schools and districts renew their commitment to their students by providing exceptional and relevant professional learning opportunities to their staff. Together, we will explore best practices for creating professional learning plans that focus on proactive classroom strategies. Throughout the process, we will share what leveling up equity efforts can mean. Team members will walk away with helpful tools to get them started.

LIVE STREAMED IN GUAVA/TAMARIND

The saying “Nothing about us without us is for us” holds true for schools systems! This session will challenge traditional approaches to engagement designed FOR students, families, and communities. Instead, we will explore what it means to adopt a focus of designing WITH students, families, and communities. We will share how co-creation that centers the voices and experiences of those who are most often silenced in our system cultivates a system that fosters a sense of belonging for all.

LIVE STREAMED IN AFRICA 30/40

If you are a practitioner who self-identifies as White, join this accountability space for a facilitated discussion to reflect on the documentary screened in session E1. As educators, every decision is an equity decision; we can either disrupt the status quo or maintain it. During this session, participants will engage in dialogue and commit to actionable change in recognizing and disrupting practices, policies, and beliefs that create and perpetuate inequitable outcomes in our schools.

LOCATION: AFRICA 50/60

If you are a practitioner who self-identifies as BIPOC and are interested in building community, reducing harm, and increasing safety for BIPOC practitioners in these conversations, then this affinity group is for you! In this space, participants will reflect on the documentary screened in session E1 and explore how particular aspects of BIPOC identity might be impacted by prejudice or discrimination and what we can do to counter the negative effects (Devevi & Richards, 2018).

LOCATION: AFRICA 70/80

If you are a practitioner who self-identifies as White, join this accountability space for a facilitated discussion to reflect on the keynote session. As educators, every decision is an equity decision; we can either disrupt the status quo or maintain it. During this session, participants will engage in dialogue and commit to actionable change in recognizing and disrupting practices, policies, and beliefs that create and perpetuate inequitable outcomes in our schools.

If you are a practitioner who self-identifies as BIPOC and are interested in building community, reducing harm, and increasing safety for BIPOC practitioners in these conversations, then this affinity group is for you! In this space, participants will explore how particular aspects of BIPOC identity might be impacted by prejudice or discrimination and what we can do to counter the negative effects (Devevi & Richards, 2018).