Keynote Presentations

Hasan will share his experience of often interrupted transitions through education, justice, and social support systems. Simultaneously navigating learning disabilities, poverty and delinquency, Hasan seemed destined to become another statistic. But, Hasan was lucky to find that on his journey there were champions, like his mother and alternative school teacher, who found ways to engage, encourage and empower him. With the support of these “Hope Dealers,” Hasan was able to transcend his mounting list of “failures” to become an advocate for himself and eventually a champion for others experiencing difficult times.

Hasan will share some of the core strategies and creative thinking that these Hope Dealers deployed to help him find the courage to complete what he calls the “JD shuffle” going from Hasan Davis, Juvenile Delinquent to Hasan Davis, Juris Doctor. Come ready to celebrate, recharge and recommit to being the Hope Dealers that you are, the Heroes their stories deserve

MTSS is a framework beneficial to supporting each and all students as education utilizing effective practices matched to student need. This session will discuss the leadership role in promoting MTSS while ensuring that implementation is correct and consistent. Dr. Goodman will focus on the critical role that leadership plays in communicating priority for MTSS implementation, and the role of leadership in promoting fidelity of implementation.

In a 1994 study, Leithwood et al found that “the problems leaders face in a school context are some of the most challenging you can find.” Earlier in 1973 Rittel and Webber described school problems as “wicked problems” being that they are difficult to define and even more difficult to solve. Over the course of the past decade the problems that leaders face in school contexts have become exponentially more complex. In this session, we will discuss how school leaders can bring clarity to the purpose of their work and to the problems that they are trying to solve.  We will examine the three problems of inclusion and consider possible solutions based on evidence and the work of other school leaders across the country.