2024 was a banner year for proposal submissions for Learning Forward’s Annual Conference in Denver, with 830 proposals vying for 252 available spots. The conference team described the submissions as “competitive” and “high quality.”

Our selection process includes layers of proposal reviews, and each proposal is read by multiple reviewers. To make your proposal submission stand out, here are three tips to help you craft an effective application.

1. Sessions that include school district or division employees are given priority. We encourage others in the field to submit presentations with education practitioners as co-presenters.
2. We prioritize sessions with diverse presentation teams. The selection committee values diversity of race, culture, gender, level of experience, or areas of educational expertise.
3. Providing data is key. We seek sessions that provide evidence or impact data that illustrates what effect the work has had in a school, district, or other setting. If the professional learning has been implemented for three or more years, we’re looking for impact data. If it has taken place for less than three years, include emerging data.

Learning Forward would like to thank the volunteers who spent hundreds of combined hours to carefully review and comment on the submissions. We are grateful to our applicants, a community of devoted, driven educational improvers who do some of the most important work every day — engage in professional learning to improve educational outcomes for each and every student.