2023 SIMposium
We're very excited to see everyone this July as we celebrate 45 years of the KU Center for Research on Learning, with a Disco theme! We have many former CRL Doc Students, retired SIM Network members, and special guests planning to attend. With exciting presenters and fun opportunities to reconnect with friends and colleagues and make new connections, this will be a conference you won't want to miss. So, grab your leisure suit and a friend and get registered today to boogie on down to the SIMposium!
FEATURED SPEAKERS
We hope you'll join us! Click on the buttons below for more information.
2 years StrateWorks member benefits are included as part of your conference payment, making you active until 2025!
Regular Registration (Jan. 1 - June 15, 2023): $425
Late Registration (June 15 - July 11, 2023): $450
1. Register online
2. Payment options
- Download form to pay by check or PO
- Visit our online store to pay by credit card. The conference is listed in the Professional Learning Tab.
- Call 785-864-4780 with your credit card information between 9 AM and 4 PM CST.
Refund Policy:
If you find you are not able to attend the conference notify KUCRL by June 27 for a refund of your registration minus a $25 cancellation fee.
For questions regarding registration, please contact simpd@ku.edu, 785-864-0626. For questions regarding payment, contact orderkucrl@ku.edu, 785-864-4780.
Conference Hotel:
Springhill Suites by Marriott - Lawrence Downtown
One Riverfront Plaza,
Lawrence, Kansas, USA, 66044
Toll Free:+1-785-841-2700
Book your group rate for SIMposium
For those who prefer, we also have a room block at theEldridge Hotel:
Group Rate: $125
Group Name: 45th Annual SIMposium
To book, please call the hotel Friday 8:30 - 6pm, Saturday 10am -5pm or Sunday 10am - 3pm CENTRAL TIME
785 749 5011
Valet parking $15/vehicle/night
Conference Hotel:
Springhill Suites by Marriott - Lawrence Downtown
One Riverfront Plaza,
Lawrence, Kansas, USA, 66044
Toll Free:+1-785-841-2700
Book your group rate for SIMposium
Other Nearby Hotels:
The Eldridge Hotel
701 Massachussets St.
Group Rate: $125
Group Name: 45th Annual SIMposium
To book, please call the hotel Friday 8:30 - 6pm, Saturday 10am -5pm or Sunday 10am - 3pm CENTRAL TIME
785 749 5011
Valet parking $15/vehicle/night
Towneplace Suites by Marriott - Downtown Lawrence
900 New Hampshire St.
Downtown Lawrence:
There's lots to do in downtown Lawrence and it's all walkable from the conference hotel. Please check out the Explore Lawrence website or download the Downtown Lawrence app for more information.
Favorite Restaurants: list coming soon

We're very excited to announce that our Keynote Speaker this year will be Cynthia Coburn!
Coburn is the Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence at the School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University. Coburn studies the relationship between instructional policy and teachers’ classroom practices in urban schools, the dynamics of school district policy making, and the relationship between research and practice for school improvement.
She has won numerous awards for her scholarship, including the American Educational Research Association Early Career Award (2011), election as a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association (2015), an honorary doctorate (Doctor Honoris Causa) from CU Louvain in Belgium (2019), election to the National Academy of Education (2020), and Northwestern University’s Ver Steeg Distinguished Research Fellowship (2020). She is a member of the California Collaborative for District Reform, the DREME network investigating coherence of early mathematics instruction, the National Academy of Sciences, Medicine and Engineering NASEM) Standing Committee on Scientific Communication, and the NASEM Committee on the Future of Educational Research. We're so looking forward to continuing our conversation with Dr. Coburn and to learning about her recent research, since she last keynoted for us in 2014.
Draft Schedule
Tuesday, July 11, 2023 | |||||
Ballroom A | Ballroom B | Allen Room | Boardroom | Atrium | |
8:00 - 8:30 am | Registration | ||||
8:30 - 10:15 am | Welcome & Awards (Hock, Washburn) Mini-Keynote (Beachboard, Creneti) | ||||
10:15 - 10:30 am | break | ||||
10:30 -11:45 am | Breakout Session: Xtreme Reading Tips and Tools (Leitzell, Sherman) | WRITE (Rowland, Smith) | KUCRL Doc. Student Mini Reunion & Rap Session (Deshler, Schumaker) | ||
11:45 am - 1:00 pm | LUNCH | ||||
1:00 - 2:00 pm | Keynote with Cynthia Coburn | ||||
2:00 - 2:15 pm | break | ||||
2:15 - 3:30 pm | Interactive Keynote Follow-up Session with Cynthia Coburn | ||||
3:30 - 4:00 pm | Quiz Show Game / Celebration Video with Drs. Don Deshler and Jean Schumaker | ||||
4:15 - 5:30 pm | Social and Photos in the Atrium | ||||
Wednesday, July 12, 2023 | |||||
Ballroom A | Ballroom B | Allen Room | Boardroom | Lobby | |
7:30 - 8:30 am | Poster Session | ||||
8:30 - 9:45 am | General Session: Introducing KUCRL's Adaptive Professional Learning Model (APLM) (Myers, Washburn, Rowland) | ||||
9:45 - 10:00 am | break | ||||
10:00 - 11:30 am | Breakout Session: APLM (Myers, Rowland, Washburn) | Breakout Session: Bridging HOTR to other CERs (Bulgren, Davidson) | Breakout Session: (Flores, Kaffar) | Breakout Session: Trauma Informed Instruction (Schumaker) | |
11:30 am - 1 pm | LUNCH | ||||
1:00 - 2:00 pm | Breakout Session: Leading Sustainable SIM Implementation with School Partners (Washburn, Tralli) | Breakout Session: Successful Implementation Planning for the Fusion Reading Program (Brasseur-Hock) | Breakout Session: Title TBA (Berry) | Breakout Session: VOISS Advisor: Professional Learning to Support Practice and Generalization of Social Skills (Rowland, Smith, Mosher) | |
2:00 - 2:15 pm | break | ||||
2:15 - 3:30 pm | Kaleidoscope Session 3 - 20 min discussion sessions: Multiple Topics & presenters | Breakout Session: Infrastructure: Creating Conditions for Successful School Change (Leitzell, Crawford, K. Mitchell) | Breakout Session: Hybrid Professional Learning with Canvas (Maitner) | ||
3:30 - 3:45 pm | break | ||||
3:45 - 4:45 pm | Breakout Session: Teaching Good Study Strategies in Inclusive Classrooms (Lenz) | Breakout Session: Engaging Adolescents in Learning and Transition Planning: Possible Selves 2nd Edition (Hock) | Breakout Session: Leadership Pathways (Washburn, Creneti) | Breakout Session: HOTR with Social Studies and Science (Bulgren, Minarik) | |
5:00 pm | Meetup at a local restaurant | ||||
Thursday, July 13 | |||||
Ballroom A | Ballroom B | Allen Room | Boardroom | Atrium | |
8:30 - 10:00 am | Deep Dive Session: Pushing the Pause Button: Who We Are When We Lead Change (Knight) | Deep Dive Session: The Power of Fusion Reading: Bridging the Science of Reading and Practical Implementation (Brasseur-Hock, Hunt) | Breakout Session: Fundamentals of Paragraph Writing A New Program (Miller, Schumaker) | ||
10:15 - 11:30 am | Breakout Session: Writing With Purpose: A New Content Enhancement Routine to Bring Student Motivation and Evidence-Based Writing Practices Together (Myers, Washburn) |
- Cynthia Coburn, Keynote Speaker, Professor of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University
- Cathleen Beachboard, Author and English Teacher, Fauquier County, VA
- Paula Crawford, Retired Section Chief PIPD, VA
- Gwen Berry, Associate Professor, Center for Instructional and Behavioral Research in Schools, University of Louisville, KY
- Irma Brasseur-Hock, Academic Program Associate, Assistant Research Professor, Univ. of Kansas, Dept. of Special Education
- Jan Bulgren, Research Professor, Univ. of Kansas, Center for Research on Learning
- Janice Creneti, Assistant Project Manager, Florida State Personnel Development Grant
- Don Deshler, Professor Emeritus, Univ. of Kansas, Center for Research on Learning
- Tonya Eberhart, Senior Research Assistant, KUCRL, Lawrence, KS
- Margaret Flores, Professor of Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling, Auburn University and President-Elect for the Council of Learning Disabilities
- Mike Hock, Director, Senior Scientist, Univ. of Kansas, Center for Research on Learning
- Tracy Hunt, Secondary ELA/Media Instructional Facilitator, Mid-Del School District, Midwest City, OK
- Bradley Kaffar, Department Chair, Special Education, St. Cloud State University, MN
- Jim Knight, Founder and Senior Partner of the Instructional Coaching Group
- Pam Leitzell, SIM Professional Development Leader and Educational Consultant, Learning Curve Consultants, Florence, AL
- B. Keith Lenz, Associate Professor, University of Central Arkansas
- April Maitner, MTSS Coach and Restorative Practices Trainer, Pinellas County Schools, FL
- Whitney Miller, Coordinator T/TAC@ Virginia Tech, Roanoke, VA
- Darren Minarek, Associate Professor, Special Education and Secondary Social Studies, Radford University and Co-Director of the Inclusive Practices Center at Radford University
- Belinda Mitchell, Associate Professor of Special Education, Program Coordinator of Masters of Art in Curriculum and Instruction, Shepherd University
- Karen Mitchell, Director of Secondary Education, Stanly County Schools, Albemarle, NC
- Maggie Mosher, Assistant Research Professor, KUAAI
- Suzanne Myers, Assistant Research Professor, Univ. of Kansas, Center for Research on Learning
- Kimberlee Oakes, Associate Researcher, Univ. of Kansas, Center for Research on Learning
- Amber Rowland, Associate Research Professor, KUCRL
- Jean Schumaker, Professor Emeritus, Univ. of Kansas, Center for Research on Learning
- Gloria Sherman, Xtreme ReadingTeacher / Reading Interventionist, Shelby, NC
- Sean Smith, Professor of Special Education, University of Kansas
- Rosemary Tralli, SIM Professional Development Leader & Educational Consultant, Connecticut
- Jocelyn Washburn, Director of Professional Development and Assistant Research Professor, Univ. of Kansas, Center for Research on Learning
- Suzanne Woods-Groves, Associate Professor of Special Education, Dept. of Special Education, Rehabilitation, and Counseling, College of Education, Auburn University
Check Back for Updates!