Featured Sessions

Featured sessions from AASA's 2021 Virtual National Conference on Education are now available on demand through January 2022!

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Keynotes

Thursday, February 18

All times are Eastern Standard Time (EST)

11am – 12:30pm

Executive Director Address

President Address

National Superintendent of the Year® Award

Dr. Effie H. Jones Humanitarian Award

Supporting the Whole Child in a Whole New World

We all know that one great teacher can change a child’s life. While the last year has completely upended education in America, it has also underlined something we already knew: teachers need much better tools and more support to forge deeper connections with their students. From video journals that make it easier for teachers to help students reflect and grow, to online resources designed to help build resilience or manage stress, technology’s role is evolving through collaboration and iteration between educators, learning scientists, and technologists. In this session, Dr. Priscilla Chan, co-founder and co-CEO of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), will discuss CZI’s work to bring educators, researchers, and technology experts together — translating the best learning science and development research into practice — to meet the needs of the whole child.

Friday, February 19

All times are Eastern Standard Time (EST)

10 – 11am

President-Elect Address

Women In School Leadership Award

Embracing the Core of Innovative Teaching and Learning Now and Moving Forward

Although teaching face-to-face is different than in a remote or a hybrid learning situation, the core values of what is important should stay the same no matter the environment. How do we ensure that we support our educators, communities, and students while we are all feeling overwhelmed? How do we embrace the “Innovator's Mindset” when innovation is no longer optional, but necessary for all learners?

In this keynote, George Couros will focus on the “Core of Innovative Teaching and Learning” and provide examples of how we can create a “new and better normal” in education even when facing uncertainty, with a presentation that will make you “laugh, cry and think” while providing practical ideas you can use within your school community.

3:45 – 4:45pm

VH1 Save The Music

AASA President-Elect Candidates

AASA Past Presidents

Advocacy Update

Social Emotional Learning and the Road to Recovery: How We can Build Back Better in our Schools and Society

This keynote will discuss the ways in which we can reinvent schools as we are reopening them, and the ways in which school leaders can incorporate social emotional learning and supports throughout this work. It will also describe the ways in which the Biden Administration’s plans propose to support and enable schools that support the whole child.

Thursday, February 18

All times are Eastern Standard Time (EST)

12:30 – 1:15pm

LEARNING 2025: National Commission on Student-centered, Equity-focused, Forward-leaning Education

Session Description

Reaching for the Stars: Inspiring the Next Generation of Leaders and Explorers in Unprecedented Times

During this panel discussion, the panelists will share how we are currently preparing future generations to become the leaders and space explorers of tomorrow, what that means, and why we must inspire students to dream, learn and go for it! The panelists will also discuss how education played a role in their decision to apply for the Astronaut Corps and what historic milestone(s) and who inspired them.

1:20 – 2:05pm

National Institute on Race and Equity

Session Description

What the Growing Demand and Expanding Research on SEL Means for District Leaders

The research and practice of social and emotional learning (SEL) has expanded over the last couple decades, informing enhanced definitions and an updated framework for SEL, along with new learnings about how SEL can promote equitable outcomes and be applied across all of the environments where students live and learn. Now, more than ever, school districts are being called upon to attend to SEL for both students and adults. Join Tim Shriver, board chairman of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL); Melissa Schlinger, CASEL vice president of practice and programs; and Claudia DeMegret, senior program officer for the Wallace Foundation, as they discuss how district leaders can apply the latest SEL research and learning across schools and out-of-school time.

1:20 – 2:55pm

Navigating Leadership Under the Microscope: Black Women Superintendents Share Personal Perspectives on Race, Gender and Leadership

Outstanding in their profession, these superintendents have broken glass ceilings to, in many cases, be the first woman, the first Black woman or the first educator of color to serve as superintendent in their district. Four of these superintendents are home-grown, leading school districts they attended as students. Fierce advocates for children, these dreamkeepers have had to carve a path to the superintendency, often without a roadmap, and continue to navigate challenges that are unique to them as Black women leaders. These superintendents are compelled by their own journeys to mentor other women and people of color and to boldly address inequities in education within their districts, within the superintendent pipeline and more. You are invited to be a fly on the wall in this intimate conversation as these leaders pose questions to one another that reveal their individual and unique stories, challenges and perspectives.

3 – 3:45pm

Superintendent/School Board Relations

Come hear an informative discussion between the AASA and NSBA executive directors and Presidents who agree that an effective superintendent/school board management team is essential to a school system’s success and learn how the two organizations work together to accomplish common goals.

The State of Education: A Discussion with State Leaders

Session Description

Trauma Informed Learning and Leading

Since mid-March 2020, our daily routines have been ruled by a public health crisis unlike anything most of us have seen. We feel frustrated, annoyed, overwhelmed and unsure of what to do next. The normality in education has been shattered. Yes, COVID-19 has been the catalyst for the process, but the changes both inside and outside of education have been constant for over the last 20 years. We are not powerless in this challenge; we must be the ones to act. In this session Ray McNulty will share strategies and practices helpful to the challenges leaders, educators and students are facing.

3:50 – 4:35pm

Beyond COVID-19: The Academic and SEL Needs of Our Students

The COVID-19 interruption brought unparalleled challenges to every school district in the country. Using the lessons we have learned from those experiences, coupled with the dramatic changes in the workplace, home and society, Dr. Daggett will focus attention on what now needs to be done for the 2021/22 school year and beyond to prepare our students and our schools for future success — a future that will be dramatically different than the past in terms of what, how, when and where students will learn, interact and work.

Lessons We’ve Learned: Healthy Habits & Germ Prevention Tips to Combat the Spread of COVID-19 in the Classroom

Session Description

Friday, February 19

All times are Eastern Standard Time (EST)

11 – 11:45am

Leading Through Connectivity: How FCC Policy Supports Our Learners

Session Description

11:50am – 12:35pm

Schooling for Resilience: A Holistic Approach to Student Success

In recent years, as policymakers and educators have sought to find new ways to improve student outcomes, there has been a call for greater focus on addressing social and emotional needs. Additionally, the disruptions created by the pandemic have significantly exacerbated pre-existing disparities and brought greater awareness to the wide range of needs among our most vulnerable children. Too often, past reform efforts have focused narrowly on achievement while ignoring the psychological, emotional and social challenges confronting many children. It is now clear that in order for more students and schools to make greater academic progress, social and emotional needs cannot be ignored. This presentation will present research and describe strategies that have been utilized at schools that have been successful in countering the risks facing students and in motivating them to excel academically. We will show that it is possible to do both, and make the case that it is possible to create schools that are more supportive, more equitable and more engaging when they reopen after the pandemic subsides.