February 23, 2015

‘Closing the Gap’ education conference set

by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The 14th annual “Closing the Gap Conference” is March 20 at John A. Logan College in Carterville. 

The conference is presented by the Southern Illinois P-20 Education Alliance, which includes Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and is for educators in pre-k through college programs. 

Shelley Taylor, director of teacher effectiveness at the Consortium for Educational Change, will provide the keynote address, “Empowering Educators for Student Success.”  Her presentation will focus on various types of empowering educator assessments, establishing policies for teacher evaluation, teachers becoming a community of learners and the practice of social learning. 

SIU Carbondale’s Continuing Education and Outreach is among the event sponsors. The conference regularly attracts more than 400 educators. 

The event will also include a classroom management workshop and a variety of breakout sessions. Topics will include gifted education, early literacy, mentoring, special education, higher education issues. The conference features formal presentations, panel discussions and a poster session. 

The conference is from 8:30 a.m. to 2:40 p.m. The course fee is $60 for professionals and $20 for undergraduate students and retirees. For professionals registering after March 10, the course fee is $75 after that date. 

Participants can earn five continuing professional development hours for completing the conference. 

For registration or more information, visit http://www.continuinged.siu.edu/ or call 618/536-7751.