Breakout Sessions for the LCRE Conference
View the following breakout sessions for the Leading Courageously for Racial Equity Conference.
Breakout #1:
(Session #1 registration closed. This session is full)
Keynote follow-up session
Presenter– Dr. Decoteau J. Irby
Presentation Description-Dr. Decoteau J. Irby will use this session as a follow-up to the morning's keynote, further focusing on what it means to have the capacity for racial equity improvement, the role leadership and professional learning plays in strengthening a school’s capacity for racial equity improvement, and how to evaluate if and to what extent racial equity progress is happening in a school.
Breakout Session #2:
(Session #2 registration closed. This session is full)
Speak Up! Effectively recognizing and responding to hurtful/hateful and derogatory language or behaviors in the moment, to create more inclusive environments for all.
Presenter(s) – Ken Essay, Seema Pothini
Organization – Equity Elephant Consulting, LLC
Presentation Description - This presentation provides concrete tools & strategies for supporting all who work with youth to speak up immediately and effectively when hate, bias or derogatory comments and behaviors occur in the educational, athletic, professional, or community setting. Participants will engage in learning how to sustain inclusive spaces for any person who feels marginalized because of some aspect of their identity, including race, socioeconomics, gender, (dis)ability, language, body size, sexual orientation, and more.
Breakout Session #3:
#Leadership Matters: A Model for Principal Culturally Responsive Leadership Support, Improvement, and Evaluation
Presenter(s) - Dr. Frances Becquer, Nathan Swenson, Dr. Stacie L. Stanley
Organization – Edina Public Schools
Presentation Description - Minnesota Statute requires school districts to provide annual principal evaluations to improve a principal's culturally responsive leadership practice. This presentation will introduce attendees to the Tools of Cultural Proficiency Framework, and how a local district has not only utilized it since July of 2021 but also extended the use of this tool to develop an evaluation system for principals. This presentation will provide a deep understanding of the framework and reveal a successful implementation protocol for the framework and the principal evaluation system.
Breakout Session #4:
Addressing Chronic Absenteeism
Presenter(s) - Kate Suchomel, Salena Acox
Organization – Minnesota Alliance with Youth
Presentation Description - This session will review national research on the most effective solutions to addressing absenteeism, highlight local schools and programs implementing these strategies, and dive into detail on an effective model of intervention: the AmeriCorps Promise Fellow program. This program builds strong relationships and a sense of belonging with students who are struggling with attendance, academics, and persistence in learning, and implements a variety of supports to keep students engaged in their education.
Breakout Session #5:
Self-Reflective Art as a Starting Point for Equity Conversations
Presenter(s) - J. Scott Baker
Organization – St. Cloud State University
Presentation Description - This presentation addresses how art-based reflections for preservice teachers through teacher identity can also be used in all school contexts – as a jumping-off and returning point – for courageous conversations regarding racial/educational equity.
Breakout Session #6:
AI in Education: Building Equitable Pathways through Bias-Aware Prompting
Presenter(s) - Tiffany Harris-Gill
Organization – THG Learning Solutions
Presentation Description - This session is designed for educators, administrators, and leaders at every level who believe in building a future where AI helps close racial equity gaps instead of widening them. You will see how bias is present in AI systems, and you’ll gain practical, research-backed strategies to spot and disrupt bias, build inclusive prompts, and implement AI tools that serve all students, especially students of color.
Breakout Session #7:
Social Justice in the Classroom -- Every Day, Every Kid
Presenter(s) – Shannon Dodson, Allie Duellman, Megan Tulia Krolnik
Organization – West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan Area Schools(ISD 197)
Presentation Description - Discover how one MN school district embeds social justice learning in its fourth-grade classrooms through exploring social identities, developing an appreciation of diversity, exploring social justice issues, and building empathy. Attendees will learn how these classrooms have become the home of informed, empowered students, who are inspired to change the future.
Breakout Session #8:
Interactive Theater of Isms: Building Racial Equity Amidst the Turbulence of Whiteness
Presenter(s) – Timothy Berry, Beth Beschorner, Brooke Burk, and Michael Berry Organization – Minnesota State University, Mankato
Presentation Description - Through informance combining theater and research-based content, this presentation aims to increase awareness and guide reflection related to anti-blackness, racism, sexism, and other forces that work to diminish rather than empower individuals and communities. The setting of the interactive theater of isms is a talk show entitled The uprootED Show. It engages the audience through the host of the uprootED show and guest panelists grappling with how to Build a Wider Road Toward Racial Equity in Education and suggests practical and critical anti-racist frameworks for leadership as undeterred ways forward in the times in which we find ourselves.
Breakout Session #9:
(Session #9 registration closed. This session is full)
Racial Microaggressions: Research in Real Time
Presenter(s) – Melissa Krull, Bernadeia Johnson, Natalie Rasmussen
Organization - MSU Educational Leadership
Presentation Description - Participants will actively engage in, deeply reflect on, and contribute to the crucial conversation about racial microaggressions and the lived experiences of Black leaders in K-12 and higher education. This workshop, built on new research, findings, and the voices of newly published Black leader authors, serves as a catalyst for discussion, learning, and, most importantly, action. Collectively, we will determine change steps that will transform educational leaders’ lived experiences at all learning levels.
Breakout Session #10:
Empowering Young Changemakers: A Case Study in Advocacy and Equity
Presenter(s) – Molly Dengler, Jonathan Filzen
Organization - World Savvy
Presentation Description - Attendees will gain insight into best practices for school-city partnerships, playground design, and the policy changes needed to create more inclusive and equitable spaces for all students, as well as evidence-based principles that offer a comprehensive framework for transforming schools into globally competent, community-centered environments.
