Science of Teaching Reading Conference
In partnership with W&M T/TAC and W&M Literacy Lab
Teachers Make the Difference
This one-day conference will focus on providing just-in-time resources for our classrooms. This year we are expanding the scope of the conference to include sessions to support the second phase of implementation of the Virginia Literacy Act for students in Grades 4-8. Join us again this fall as we implement the Virginia Literacy Act in our schools.
Dr. Devin Kearns, Goodnight Distinguished Professor in Early Literacy at North Carolina State University at Raleigh, kicks off the conference with a keynote, A Few Strategies: The Little Things Can Make All the Difference. There are a lot of things we can do to improve student achievement. There are a few strategies that can make your instruction much more powerful with relatively little effort… in fact, some strategies might even reduce the amount of effort needed for students to be successful! In this session, several high-value, easy-to-implement strategies are presented—including ways to increase students' immediate success with new skills and ways to keep students engaged in cognitive processing as they learn.
Dr. Heidi Anne Mesmer, Professor in Literacy in the School of Education at Virginia Tech, and Dr. Katie Hilden, Professor in Teacher Education & Leadership at Radford University, recently published There's Research for That, a practitioner-based book that will serve as the basis of their closing keynote.
DETAILS
- Thursday, November 6, 2025
- 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.; Registration opens at 8:00 a.m.
- William & Mary School of Education
AUDIENCE
- K-8 General & Special Education Teachers, Literacy Specialists, and School Leaders
FEES
- $200/person - SURN Division Member
- $275/person - General (Non-SURN Division Member)
- Includes conference, materials, and lunch
SURN Division Member Registration:
CREDIT CARD STORECheck/Invoice Store
General (Non-SURN Division Member) Registration:
CREDIT CARD STORECheck/Invoice Store
Please contact surn@wm.edu with any special dietary needs that you may have prior to October 23, 2025. After this date, we are not able to accommodate any dietary requests.
SURN is unable to provide a refund for this event. If a registered individual cannot attend, a substitute can be sent in their place. Please email surn@wm.edu with this change.
Registration will close approximately one week in advance of this event or earlier, if the event reaches capacity. We will update this webpage when registration closes.
If you're interested in your division joining SURN, please have your Superintendent or Superintendent's designee contact Amy Colley at accolley@wm.edu.
Email surn@wm.edu with questions about this event or registration.