Testing program

But when it comes to academic and thinking skills, it is not just intelligence and grit that make the difference – but student ethics, engagement and empowerment. Cognitive and developmental science research shown that students who are more actively involved in extracurricular, community-based activities, social causes and solving real-world problems are more engaged in school, more empathetic, feel more empowered and are more likely to become active citizens. Learn how to increase student thinking, engagement and empowerment through greater student autonomy, choice, voice, purpose, passion, interest, real-world problem solving, social justice and social/community service. By moving away from high stakes testing and toward student empowerment and character, we can create the engaged, ethical students and citizens we need to change the world.

Featured Speakers

Anne Bishop

Anne Bishop, EdM, Mind, Brain and Education Program, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Founder, Brain Body Connect; Online Instructor, Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST); Pilates Instructor; Past Teaching Assistant, San Francisco State University; Leadership Team, Mind, Brain and Education Services Network

Brock L. Eide

Brock L. Eide, MD, MA, Co-Director, Neurolearning Clinic; Pediatrician; Fellow, University of chicago Center for Clinical Medical Ethics; co-author, The MIslabeled Child: How Understanding Your Child's Unique Learning Styles Can Open the Door to Success (2006)

Ansley T. Gilpin

Ansley T. Gilpin, PhD, Assistant Professor, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Alabama; Co-Author, “The Relationship Between Fantasy Orientation and Emotion Regulation” (2015, Journal of Early Education and Development), “Fantasy Orientation Constructs and Related Executive Function Development in Preschool” (2014, International Journal of Behavioral Development)

James Paul Gee, PhD

Psychologist; Psycholinguist; Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies, Arizona State University; Author, Teaching, Learning, Literacy in Our High-Risk High-Tech World (2017), What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy (2nd edition, 2014), The Anti-Education Era: Creating Smarter Students through Digital Learning (2013) and Language and Learning in the Digital Age (2011)

Eduardo Briceno, MBA

Co-Founder and CEO of Mindset Works with Carol Dweck, Stanford University; Creator, Brainology, a program developed to motivate learners; Author, “Mindsets and Student Agency” (2013, Unboxed)