Call for proposals has closed. thank you for your submissions!

Our Call for Proposals closed February 22 at 11:59pm PST. If you submitted a session idea, you'll head back from us by April 3.

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is excited to host the 2023 National Charter Schools Conference in Austin, TX, June 18-21. If you’re interested in presenting at NCSC, the call for proposals will be open on February 3 - February 22, 2023.

We’re seeking presenters to train, challenge, and inspire our audience in breakout sessions. These sessions are designed to share and broaden awareness of strategies, tools, and techniques that are working to solve common challenges facing charter schools. 

We will select submissions that allow attendees to dive deeper into relevant and timely content with experts and peers and come away with practical tools and techniques they can implement at their schools and organizations.

Important Dates

Call for Proposals opened:

Friday, February 3, 2023

Call for Proposals closed:

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Acceptance notifications sent via email: 

By Monday, April 3, 2023

NCSC23 (Austin, TX):

June 18-21, 2023

 

Content Focus Areas

This year, we are shaping NCSC23 content around four areas of focus, based on audience feedback and trends in the field. Click on each content area below to see topics we seek to cover at the conference.

  • Talent Pipeline, Recruitment, Development, and Retention
  • Teacher Coaching and Mentoring
  • Succession Planning
  • Leading Under-Resourced staff
  • Adaptive and Transformational Leadership Practices
  • Budgeting for Managing the Impact of Inflation
  • Facilities Funding and Access
  • Fundraising and Revenue Generation
  • ESSR Funding and Managing the Fiscal Cliff
  • Student Recruitment
  • Effective DEI Leaders
  • Understaffing and Fiscal Challenges
  • Staff Development
  • Leading Gen Z Staff
  • Leadership Team Culture
  • Improving Academic Performance
  • Impact of Trauma on Learning
  • Accelerated Learning
  • Effective Use of Data
  • Early Childhood Education
  • Academic Achievement and Charter Renewals 
  • School Culture
  • Education & Instructional Innovations 
  • Staff Mental Health and Burnout
  • Student Counseling, Mental Health, Social, Behavioral Skills and Resilience 
  • Reengaging Disengaged Students 
  • Equity in Discipline
  • Supporting Academic Growth
  • Future of the Teacher Workforce
  • Future of Public Education
  • New Models of Education
  • Sustaining and Improving the Teaching Profession
  • EdTech and the Future of Learning
  • Pipeline for Diverse Teachers and Leaders
  • Diverse by Design Charter Schools 
  • Developing Students for the Future of Work 
  • Equity in Education
  • Uniting a Diverse Sector into a Coalition 
  • Charters Role in Public Education
  • Parents and Students as Advocates 
  • Partnering with Parents
  • Teachers Voice in the Sector
  • The School/Home Partnership
  • Legal Issues in Schools / Education
  • Diversifying Political Supporters and Stakeholders
  • Navigating the Political Environment
Presentation Types

We are accepting proposals for the following session formats with preference given to proposals that include audience engagement and opportunities for attendees and presenters to engage in meaningful dialogue. Please note, we plan to except a limited number of panels. 

  • Workshop: 90-minute in-depth subject-focused session that develops specific professional competencies, practical skills, and tools participants can implement at their schools and organizations. 
  • Fireside Chat: 60-minute, interactive discussion involving a moderator and guest, allowing the audience to gain insights into the guest’s personal and professional  thoughts on various topics. 
  • Interactive Panels: 60-minute panel presentation by up to three presenters that includes audience discussions and Q&A during the session. 
  • Peer-Group Consultancy: 90-minute interactive session designed to get new perspectives and independent feedback from the audience to address a widespread challenge. Presenters briefly introduce an issue and open the discussion for input and suggestions from the audience. Often, presenters break the audience into smaller groups based on their roles, shared challenge, or organization type to have several possible solutions to share out to the entire room at the end. 
  • Bright Spot: 15-minute presentations highlighting successful and innovative school programs, community partnerships, achievements, research, and more. Three bright spot topics are presented back-to-back during one 60-minute time block, followed by questions and discussion.
Audience Strands
  • Lead: The lead strand addresses the many challenges facing charter school leaders and trains those looking to lead tomorrow. 
  • Advocate: The political landscape impacts charter schools immensely. Session in the advocate strand allows you to stay informed focusing on the latest developments in local districts, states, and federal legislation and advocacy. 
  • Govern: The govern strand provides professional development for those who oversee charter schools, including board members and authorizers. 
  • Operate: From facilities management to fiscal sustainability, communications, and public relations to professional development, content for those who support schools with the necessary tools to ensure long-term organizational health. 
  • Educate: The educate strand provides advanced content in learning strategies and other classroom-specific topics
Preparing Your Proposal

Review the content focus areas and topic suggestions above. Within the three content focus areas, is there a topic that aligns with your professional expertise? Is there an unlisted topic that you can lead a deeper discussion on and provide diverse perspectives? Content should be advanced-level and have clear learning outcomes participants can implement or address a relevant need to their issues. 

Identify the audience who will get the most out of attending your session. You will have the opportunity to select up to two audience strands for your session. Review the audience strands descriptions below to determine which audience best aligns with your topic.   

The National Charter Schools Conference believes it is important to select diverse speakers to share their perspectives. Speaker gender, racial, geographic background, school type, and school geography are considered when selecting sessions.  We encourage you to be mindful of speaker diversity at all stages as you plan your proposal and not an afterthought. You will be prompted to submit the names, email addresses and select demographic information for each of your proposed presenters in your submission. Please note the maximum number of presenters and time lengths for each session type. 

Write a short session description of no more than 150 words. This is your chance to convince attendees to attend your session. Focus on the intended audience's needs and problems, and address the benefits of the presentation for the attendee. Consider catchy titles that appeal to what your session offers attendees and draw them to your session description. Keep your session title concise and straightforward. 

Write three one-sentence learning objectives that you want attendees to remember after your presentation. The objectives should be clear and achievable within the allotted time. 

Selection Criteria

Proposals will be reviewed by the conference program committee using the following criteria:

  • Relevant Topic: The proposal topic is relevant, meaningful, valuable, and attractive to the audience. 
  • Presenter Knowledge: The presenter has sufficient knowledge, expertise, and authority to address this topic based on evidence provided in the proposal or prior experience with or knowledge of the presenter. 
  • Session Outcomes: There is alignment between the session outcome and description. The proposal provides attendees with timely, relevant, and applicable content with valuable takeaways.
  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: The proposal shows how the session will reflect or address diversity, equity, and inclusion, including subject matter, perspectives, and demographic characteristics. We are striving to have a high percentage of women and people of color as speakers.

Call for Proposals Closed February 22 at 11:59pm PST.

If you submitted a session idea, you'll head back from us by April 3.

Questions? Contact the Presenter Support Team at presenterinfo@publiccharters.org.