Would You Like to Be a Presenter at the 2025 Exchange?

As CASEL’s program manager for the Exchange, what I love best about my job is that I get to plan a one-of-a-kind event that brings together education researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to share their learnings in social, emotional, and academic learning. For the 2025 Exchange, we’ve picked the theme Blueprints for Tomorrow: Designing the Next Era of Learning as an invitation to envision and build the future of education, grounded in research and innovation.

I truly believe we have the tools to empower students for the opportunities and challenges of tomorrow’s world, and this conference is about using those tools to design a learning experience that equips them for success. The blueprint starts with us.

You can join us! The Call for Submissions is now open. As a presenter, you’ll have the opportunity to share your discoveries and insights, spark conversion, and inspire new innovations.

NOTE: The Call for Submissions will be open from January 28 through March 21, 2025. The 2025 SEL Exchange will be held in November 2025.

Want to learn more about creating your submission? Register for our live, online information session on Feb. 11, 2pm ET/1pm CT/11am PT.

How You Can Get Involved

There are lots of ways to participate as a presenter at the Exchange!

Do you have deep knowledge to share? Findings from a recent study or a deep dive into an urgent topic? Then you might want to consider presenting a 15-MINUTE RESEARCH PAPER. You’ll be grouped with others for oral presentations of research moderated by a discussant.

Do you want to engage with participants in an interactive exploration of ideas, strategies, or research with practical applications? Consider proposing a 75-MINUTE BREAKOUT OR PANEL SESSION, where you can offer hands-on activities, provide “take and use” resources, and lead large-group and small-group discussion.

Do you have a story to tell of a bite-sized idea that made a big impact? You might want to create a PECHAKUCHA PRESENTATION. It’s a solo presentation, during which you have seven minutes to narrate the story (“beginning-middle-end”) of a great idea you helped execute to spread the power of social, emotional, and academic learning. Each 75-minute PechaKucha session will group a variety of stories.

Do you want a high-visibility, low-pressure way to discuss your latest work? Researchers, practitioners, and policy leaders have a chance to showcase their efforts and join in conversation with participants during the “TOAST TO INNOVATION” POSTER RECEPTION.

Tips for Submitting Your Proposal

When you submit your proposal, It will be reviewed by experts from both inside and outside of CASEL using detailed rubrics for each presentation type to rank and select submissions. Here are some tips I’d like to share so your submission looks its best and provides all the information we need!

• Give yourself time to develop a great submission. Our application process is very detailed, and we read, weigh, and balance every piece of information you provide.
  
• Make sure you take advantage of all resources we provide. We’ve updated the process this year, as well as the information we ask for, and we’ve created a new rubric for scoring submissions. So even if you’ve submitted in the past, be sure to review these materials:
  • Access all the information about submitting a proposal on the The Call for Sessions Website. It’s also where you’ll upload your submission when you’re ready
  • Since, as I said, you’ll need to take some time creating your submission, be sure to keep track of everything you need to provide using the Call for Submissions Checklist.
  • To get a glimpse into what we’ll be looking for in each type of session, review the Call for Submissions Rubric, which outlines standards that reviewers will use in their assessments.

• Be engaging! We want sessions that attendees are eager to attend, so we can have as many “Oh, I can’t miss THIS” moments as possible over the course of the Exchange. For us, engagement means two things:
  • Compelling titles and descriptions that convey exactly why this session is so important and what to expect. We’ll help fine-tune final titles and descriptions after acceptance, but if you think about what would make attendees really take notice, it can help you conceptualize the kind of session we’d be happy to consider.
  • Need-to-know information and actionable next steps. Always foreground what participants need and want and how you’ll provide it. Ask, “Why should a participant attend THIS SESSION?” The clearer you are about your answer to that question, the more likely you’ll create a compelling and urgent session that we’re interested in hosting.
    
• Don’t miss the deadline! With all the great submissions we’re expecting, we need to be ready to start reviewing as soon as we can. That means we must put a hard stop on when we’ll continue accepting submissions. But keep in mind …’
  • You can revise your submission until the submission deadline of March 21, so you can start your submission, save it, and return to it later. (But remember to hit SUBMIT when you’re done.)
  • Look for email confirmation. After you submit, you should receive an automated email. If you do not, go back to your submission and make sure you hit “Submit.” If you experience further issues, contact me at kkrengel@casel.org.

• Be sure to revise thoughtfully if you’re resubmitting a proposal from an earlier Exchange submission process. Over the years, we’ve seen applicants send the same submission more than one year. We advise against that since the conference theme changes every year, as do our requirements and rating rubric. If you wish to re-use a submission from a prior year that was not accepted, be sure to spend some time ensuring it meets our current theme and requirements.

Want more tips? Check back to the CASEL blog to hear from past reviewers.

Good luck! We’re excited to see all the proposal submissions, and to learn and grow with you in 2025.

Related Posts:

• Highlights and Insights From The 2024 SEL Exchange
• What Is a PechaKucha? Storytelling at the SEL Exchange

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