Over the course of ten years, the VISIBLE LEARNING research has played a significant role in providing educators worldwide with a stepping point to examine and improve instructional practices in their schools, classrooms, and districts. As we prepared for the 2019 Annual VISIBLE LEARNING Conference, we wanted to highlight and celebrate all of the monumental milestones throughout this journey, including those milestones that educators have achieved on their own with the help of this research.
When asked to describe their experience at the 2019 Annual VISIBLE LEARNING Conference, attendees, staff members, and presenters alike offered a list of words that embodied the essence of this year’s conference.
“Thought-provoking, compelling, enlightening, conscientious, informative, powerful.”
The Annual VISIBLE LEARNING Conference is Corwin’s biggest event of the year, where educators from across the globe congregate to dive into the latest research in K-12 education, and this year was nothing short of that. On July 8th, we welcomed over 2,200 attendees into the Bellagio in Las Vegas, NV—all gathering with a common goal in mind: to elevate their impact on student learning.
Viva Las Vegas
In the spirit of Las Vegas, a few fun elements were incorporated into the overall conference experience. From stilt walkers, to show girls, and yes, even Elvis Presley, the conference welcome was one to remember. Our MCs for the morning, Sonja Alexander and John Almarode, joined the star-studded line-up stepping out as Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra as they prepped the crowd for two days of collaboration, new ideas, and professional learning.
Keeping in good company, attendees also got to enjoy engaging, thought-provoking keynote sessions presented by some of education’s most renowned thought leaders—John Hattie, Linda Darling-Hammond, Douglas Fisher, and Nancy Frey. These keynotes allowed attendees to not only learn about the latest in VISIBLE LEARNING research, but also allowed them the opportunity to reflect on their own beliefs and values held around teaching and learning in their schools.
After keynotes, attendees were able to dive even deeper into the VISIBLE LEARNING research at breakout sessions where they could further explore content areas such as Equity, Leadership, Literacy, PLC+, Assessment, and more. With over 80 breakout sessions, there was no shortage of topics to delve into.
Let’s give them something to tweet about
With so many exciting things going on, it’s hard not to talk about it. #AVL2019 was definitely a topic of conversation with attendees sending out a total of 4,410 tweets during the conference. Our audience shared nuggets from their AVL experience, tapped into conversations with colleagues for advice, and of course, snapped photos with their favs. Social media amplified the conversation about impact and kept educators engaged and informed, even if they weren’t able to be at the conference with their teams.
The Race to the Top
Aside from the excitement of learning from sought-after education practitioners, attendees competed to rack up the most points for the AVL Scavenger Hunt. The scavenger hunt consisted of activities to connect attendees with colleagues from across the world, network with presenters, meet Corwin staff, explore Las Vegas, and everyone’s favorite—find the Corwin Ravens. A total of 19 winners snagged prizes ranging from a shopping spree at the Corwin Bookstore to a free registration to AVL 2020!
VISIBLE LEARNING Research at your Fingertips
On the final day of the conference, Taryn Waters took to the stage to announce Corwin’s latest initiative, Visible Learning MetaX. John Hattie’s VISIBLE LEARNING research synthesizes 1,600+ meta-analyses, 95,000+ studies, and involves 300 million students and all those resources are now available to everyone making it the world’s largest database of evidence-based research about what works best in education. Get access to the studies used, glossary of influences, confidence factors and more here!
Next year, we’re off to New Orleans and you’re invited! Register now to take advantage of early bird pricing and join us as we explore the power of implementation. Visit www.corwin.com/avl2020 to register. Hope to see you there!
