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A large part of the 2025 Great Ideas in Education Conference, hosted by the Kansas State Department of Education, served as an enhanced school improvement day to kick off the second year of KESA 2.0., a slight departure from past conference formats.
“A lot of people worked long hours to pull that off,” Kansas Education Commissioner Dr. Randy Watson said of the conference, July 28-30, that drew nearly 500 attendees to Wichita’s Hyatt Regency. “I thought the energy was really good. It allowed for more focused time.”
Giving districts and school systems the chance to focus on their school improvement initiatives going into the 2025-26 school year was the intent of the reimagined Great Ideas in Education Conference held this week in Wichita.
“We have to stay true to systems and processes,” Dr. Renee Nugent, KSDE deputy commissioner of the division of learning services, told the crowd of more than 400 attendees. “Your processes are important, but your people are more important.”
The 2024 KSDE Great Ideas in Education Conference: “Lighting the Path Forward” provided educators across Kansas a deeper dive into structured literacy, high quality instruction, and data-driven strategies, to name just a few of the topics covered during the three-day event, held Oct. 23-25, in Wichita.
Chris Perry, co-founder and executive director of Cultivate Education, LLC, delivered the keynote address, focusing on the art and science of effective implementation. He cited research showing only 33% of educational initiatives and programs are successfully implemented and achieve their stated goals. He said implementation can be difficult, especially when it requires more staff and resources to sustain an initiative.
Kansas educators and administrators gathered in Wichita on Wednesday, Oct. 23, for the first day of the 2024 Kansas State Department of Education’s Great Ideas in Education Conference: Lighting the Path Forward.
The conference, scheduled for Oct. 23-25, in Wichita, focuses on the tools necessary to strengthen school improvement efforts to support each Kansas student. Through professional development and networking opportunities, the conference helps educators and school personnel improve policies and strategies to create safe learning environments and quality teaching and learning practices for each student.
Kansas students have two opportunities to be showcased during the 2024 Kansas State Department of Education’s (KSDE) Great Ideas in Education Conference.
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The Kansas State Department of Education does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, or age in its programs and activities. (more information...)
To accommodate people with disabilities, on request, auxiliary aides and services will be provided and reasonable modifications to policies and programs will be made. To request accommodations or for more information please contact the Office of General Counsel at gc@ksde.gov or by 785-296-3201.