1st Annual Nat'l Conference for Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools: Call for Workshop Proposals

Deadline: Nov. 1, 2017 

The Attachment & Trauma Network, Inc. (ATN) is hosting this National Conference for Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools at the Washington Hilton Washington, DC, February 19-20, 2018, to give all educators — teachers, administrators and school personnel — as well as other child-serving professionals, community leaders and parents an opportunity to explore the importance of trauma-informed care for in schools and other child-serving environments. Through the ACE studies and neurological research, we now know how significantly early trauma impacts a child’s ability to learn and develop and the importance of addressing the complexities of childhood trauma in schools. 

ATN encourages all education professionals, as well as trauma-informed community and parenting experts from across the country to share new solutions and approaches that will help students impacted by complex and developmental trauma succeed in school and at home. We’re looking for proposals from teachers, school counselors, psychologists, therapists, social workers, therapeutic parents, or any other professional from across the broad spectrum of trauma-informed education and treatment and therapeutic parenting. 

The workshops will be held in 90-minute and 75-minute blocks on Monday, February 19, 2018 and Tuesday, February 20, 2018. The official conference website is www.creatingtraumasensitiveschools.org/conference .

Session Topic Areas 

We are especially interested in sessions that address these topics: 

•   Programming and activities that improve academic outcomes for children impacted by trauma.
  
•   Recognition of the impact of trauma on neurobiology.
  
•   Recognition of the impact of trauma on learning and
  behavior in school.
  
•   Improving outcomes for children with developmental trauma
  in school.
  
•   Innovative trauma-informed teaching strategies and
  successful academic programs at all academic levels.
  
•   Strategies for teaching and supporting parents and families in
  trauma-informed, attachment-focused ways.
  
•   Leading advocacy initiatives, and implementing policy
  changes.
  
•   Strategies for parents and educators collaborating to support
  traumatized students.
  
•   Creating community partnerships and initiatives involving
  parents, families, and the community in supporting their students impacted by trauma.
  
  

Given the great range of ideas and audiences at our conference, your description should make the topic and target audience of your session completely clear. 

Keep in mind that, if accepted, your session title and description will be published online and in the conference program. All conference attendees should be able to quickly read your description and clearly understand what will be learned in your session. Avoid using abbreviations, acronyms, or references that attendees might not be familiar with. 

Proposal Requirements — What to Submit 

Sessions may have up to three presenters. Lead Presenters will not be charged registration fees, but are expected to donate their time and expenses as a contribution to traumatized children and the education community. Additional presenters can attend the rest of the conference for the discount price of $175 a day. 

Proposed presentations should: address one of the topics listed above; follow the format; provide a detailed outline; state what participants will gain from the presentation; and submit by November 1, 2017. 

ATN’s conference planning committee will notify prospective presenters about final session decisions by mid-December 2017. 

ATN is not responsible for verifying the originality of submissions, and cannot be held liable for presenters’ copyright infringements or other ownership rights violations. 

Presentation Information 

Below is the format the online proposal submission form will follow: 

• Workshop title
  
• Three goals - Describe three measurable goals of this workshop.
  
• Length—Preferred length of workshop (75 minutes or 90 minutes).
  
• Description for registration brochure—Descriptions should be no more than 100
  words in length, and give conference attendees a sense of what to expect from the presentation. ATN will edit descriptions for length, content, and clarity.
  
• Content—Suggest your intended format (lecture, open discussion, panel presentation) and provide an outline of the material you plan to present. Please attach or describe any handout(s) you would distribute. (500 word maximum)
  
• Intended audience—List the primary audience targets, including grade level. For example: elementary teachers, speech therapists, or high school counselors.
  
• Willingness to present more than once -- Please indicate whether you'd be willing to present your proposed workshop more than once during the conference.
  
  

Lead Presenter 

• Name
  
• Title
  
• Affiliation
  
• Address, e-mail, day and evening phone numbers
  
• Experience/brief bio (less than 100 words)
  Other Presenters (no more than two)
  
• Name
  
• Title
  
• Affiliation
  
• Address, e-mail, day and evening phone numbers
  
• Experience/brief bio
  
  

Your session proposal will be reviewed by a cross-professional group of educators and trauma-informed experts. Your proposed session should: 

• Present programs, practices, or models that have been effective with, developed by, and/or created for children whose trauma impacts their learning and development;
  
• Specify how the work presented has a positive impact on children with complex and developmental trauma;
  
• Be scheduled to allow for 10 minutes for Q&A or continual interaction with the audience throughout; and
  
• Present work that can be replicated in other settings.
  
• Panels can be proposed, but only the lead presenter or moderator will
  have their registration fee waived to attend the rest of the conference. Panelists will be able to attend at discounted rate.
  
  

The committee will evaluate your proposed session using these criteria: 

• Relevance: Is the content of the session significant and aligned with conference topic areas? Can it be used to help children impacted by trauma, their teachers and their families succeed?
  
• Innovation: Will the session present creative new solutions, insights, or approaches?
  
• Perspective: Does the proposed session represent multiple perspectives on the topic? Does it address both student and professional experience?
  
• Effectiveness: Will the session present ideas or strategies that are supported by data and have proven successful in the classroom or in the home?
  
• Application: Is the session applicable to a broad spectrum of pre-K–12 or higher education communities? Has the presenter clearly identified the targeted community for this session? Will the session suggest methods for implementing ideas or strategies?
  
• Interactivity: Does the proposed session encourage interaction with attendees, i.e., discussions, activities, simulations, gaming, or other ways to engage the audience?
  

The committee will review all proposals and notify you of its decision by December 15, 2017. 

Logistics 

Conference Costs 

All presenters must register for the conference. Lead presenters will have their whole registration fee waived, with additional presenters offered a discount of $175 a day. Presenters are responsible for their own travel, hotel arrangements, and expenses. Submit a session proposal only if you can secure funding to attend the conference and are available to present at any time during the conference. 

A/V Equipment and File Sharing 

Presenters will have access to an LCD or digital projector, screen, speakers, and standard VGA cables. Presenters must bring your own laptop, as well as your own connectors if you plan to use a Mac computer. If you would like to share digital presentation materials with attendees, please provide a sign-up sheet to collect contact information or provide the digital materials to ATN prior to January 15, 2018. ATN will load all digital materials provided by presenters by this deadline onto the conference website prior to the conference. Presenters who collect sign-up sheets can provide access to presentation materials via email or file sharing. 

Other Considerations 

Given time and space constraints, as well as our need to develop a balanced program, we may not be able to accept all proposals. If your proposal is not accepted for this year's conference, we encourage you to consider submitting a proposal for future ATN conferences. 

All session titles and descriptions, along with presenter names, job titles, institutions, and states are part of the official conference program and will be edited for consistency and accuracy. 

Contact 

Questions? Contact us at Melissa@attachtrauma.org.