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School of Education
School Leadership Institute

Annual SURN Leadership Conference

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June 10-11, 2024 | William & Mary School of Education
8:00 a.m. - 4:00 pm both days

Join us in 2024 for the SURN Leadership Conference and celebrate our 30th Anniversary with us! School division teams and individuals attend the conference to learn from and share with other educators, discuss topics with leading researchers, reflect on the prior school year, be inspired, and plan strategically for the upcoming year.

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We're excited to welcome John Hattie, educational researcher, author, and Emeritus Laureate Professor at the Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, Australia, to campus as he leads our learning on Monday morning.

Visible Learning: The Sequel is Hattie’s 2023 synthesis of over 2,100 meta-analyses drawn from more than 130,000 studies and expands on his model of teaching and learning based on evidence of impact.  It reiterates our need to move beyond claims of what works best by asking critical questions such as:

  1. Why is the current grammar of schooling so embedded in so many classrooms, and can we improve it?
  2. Why is the learning curve for educators after the first few years so flat?
  3. How can we develop teacher mindframes to focus more on learning and listening?
  4. How can we incorporate research evidence as part of the discussions within schools?

We’re excited to learn with Professor Hattie all morning on June 10!
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Also joining us this year is John Almarode, Professor of Education in the College of Education at James Madison University. John’s work in teacher clarity, in developing, implementing, and sustaining professional learning communities, in the science of learning, and in mathematics instruction (among many other best practices in teaching and learning) has been highlighted across the commonwealth, the United States, and abroad. We are excited for him to share the learning with us this summer! 

Learning Leaders are indeed visible, and alongside the work of Visible Learning, we’ll be exploring themes of Leading, Learning, Coaching, Thriving, and Evaluating. We will accomplish this through concurrent sessions, panel discussions, and keynote presentations.


Register:

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DRESS ATTIRE

The conference is business casual for all conferences and meals. Dress comfortably for possibly cool meeting rooms.

SPECIAL NEEDS

Please contact surn@wm.edu with any special dietary needs that you may have by June 01, 2024. After this date, we are not able to accommodate requests.

HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS

SURN is pleased to recommend The Hilton Garden Inn for our guests that plan on staying locally. Payments are to be billed individually. Please call to reserve your room at 757-253-9400 and let them know you're attending the SURN Leadership Conference. Reservations must be received by May 18, 2024.  After this date reservations will be accepted on a space available basis only.

DRIVING DIRECTIONS

The conference is being held on the campus of The College of William and Mary in the School of Education's Professional Development Center. The address is 301 Monticello Avenue, Williamsburg, VA 23185. A parking pass is required and will be emailed to participants.

 From Richmond and points west:

  • Take Interstate 64 East to exit 234 (Route 199 East) towards Lightfoot.
  • Follow Route 199 approximately 6 miles to the Monticello Avenue exit.
  • At the bottom of the ramp, turn left at the stop light onto Monticello Avenue.
  • Stay on Monticello Avenue for approximately 1.5 miles. At the sixth light, you’ll see a large sign on the right for the School of Education. Turn right at the light.
  • Park in the lot specified on your parking pass. Be sure to display your parking permit which will be emailed.

From Norfolk and points east:

  • Take Interstate 64 West to exit 242A (Route 199 West) towards Williamsburg and Jamestown.
  • Follow Route 199 approximately 6 miles to the Monticello Avenue exit.
  • At the bottom of the ramp, bear to the right onto Monticello Avenue.
  • Stay on Monticello Avenue for approximately 1.5 miles. At the sixth light, you’ll see a large sign on the right for the School of Education. Turn right at the light.
  • Park in the lot specified on your parking pass. Be sure to display your parking permit which will be emailed.

Travel Time from Air Transportation:

  • Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport – 30 minutes www.nnwairport.com
  • Richmond International Airport- 40 minutes www.flyrichmond.com
  • Norfolk International Airport- 1 hour www.norfolkairport.com