Professional Development

Coming Soon: PD Mega Event From ISTE/ASCD

By Alyson Klein — March 26, 2024 2 min read
Attendees walk around the expo hall, where technology companies showcase their products, at the 2022 International Society for Technology in Education conference in New Orleans on June 28.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Get ready for a K-12 mega-conference: The International Society for Technology in Education, or ISTE, and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, or ASCD, will be hosting their conferences together, beginning next year in San Antonio, Texas.

ISTE, a nonprofit that helps K-12 teachers make the most of digital tools, and ASCD, one of the oldest and largest K-12 professional development associations, announced plans to merge in 2022.

Bringing the two conferences into the same space is a huge step for the combined organization—which still doesn’t have an official name. The move is meant to help serve school districts better, since it will allow a district’s education technology team to travel with their colleagues who focus on professional development and curriculum, said Richard Culatta, the CEO of ISTE/ASCD.

“Part of the reason we did this merger in the first place is that we believe [in] bringing teams together to help create experiences in schools,” Culatta said. “We are creating an opportunity where teams can actually come together and learn together.”

Having both conferences in the same location will also be a boon for the many district leaders—particularly in smaller systems—who might oversee technology alongside another department, such as curriculum and instruction, Culatta added.

“If you wear multiple hats, you can switch your hat and go to different parts of the event, all in one place,” Culatta said.

While attendees will have to register for one conference or the other, they’ll be able to attend sessions at both, Culatta said. And while each organization’s event will have its own identity, there will be some shared programming, he added.

“There will be some moments that we are intentionally designing to have some connections happening,” Culatta said. That might include some mainstage sessions, shared themes, and events that will be listed in both programs.

How will people navigate the bigger event?

ISTE usually attracts about 15,000 to 20,000 people, already making it one of the largest K-12 conferences. In fact, when the conference was held in Philadelphia in 2019, the Panera Bread across from the street from the event space ran out of food, according to an Education Week reporter who attended the conference. ISTE’s conference has typically offered about 1,000 sessions.

Adding ASCD’s usual conference attendance—about 3,000 to 5,000 people—will obviously make the event even bigger. ASCD’s conference typically offers somewhere between 250 and 300 sessions.

Richard Culatta

How will people be able to navigate an event that size? The combined organization has done a lot of thinking about that, Culatta said.

“The biggest thing that we have been working on is how to make sure that it doesn’t feel overwhelming,” Culatta said.

One example: The event will give attendees who have something in common—say, similar roles in their school or district—a physical space to connect. And the event will offer a “design desk” staffed with people who can offer advice on which sessions to attend, based on what an educator wants to get out of the conference.

ISTE/ASCD will be looking for feedback on how the co-located event works for attendees, and make adjustments if needed.

“If people say, ‘man, we love this. This is a great model.’ We’ll run with it,” Culatta said. “If people say ‘we wish there was more overlap,’ we will adjust those dials. And if people say ‘we wish there was less overlap,’ we can adjust those dials.”

Related Tags:

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management Webinar
Leadership in Education: Building Collaborative Teams and Driving Innovation
Learn strategies to build strong teams, foster innovation, & drive student success.
Content provided by Follett Learning
School & District Management K-12 Essentials Forum Principals, Lead Stronger in the New School Year
Join this free virtual event for a deep dive on the skills and motivation you need to put your best foot forward in the new year.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Modern Data Protection & Privacy in Education
Explore the modern landscape of data loss prevention in education and learn actionable strategies to protect sensitive data.
Content provided by  Symantec & Carahsoft

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Professional Development Opinion Personal Finance Courses Are Booming. Do We Have the Teachers We Need?
Too few teachers currently have the training or the confidence for the job, writes an expert in personal finance education.
John Pelletier
5 min read
Illustration of teacher teaching about finances.
Aleksei Naumov / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Professional Development Opinion In Staff Professional Development, Less Is More
There’s a key ingredient missing from most PD sessions, PLCs, and education conferences.
Brooklyn Joseph
4 min read
Image of a grid with various segments dedicated to training and a large section dedicated to a clock.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva
Professional Development This Principal Knew PD Was Irrelevant. So He and His Teachers Changed It
A Vermont principal and teacher describe their school's new approach to PD.
5 min read
Emilee Fertick, left, a first-year teacher at Westview Middle, and Jenny Risinger, the director of professional development and induction, practice a phonemic exercise during induction.
Emilee Fertick, left, a first-year teacher at Westview Middle, and Jenny Risinger, the director of professional development and induction, practice a phonemic exercise during induction.
Lindsey Hodges/The Index-Journal via AP
Professional Development Q&A Teachers Dread PD. Here's How One School Leader Made It Engaging
Teachers need to collaborate in their own learning, said Courtney Walker, an assistant principal from Georgia.
5 min read
Photo of teachers working with instructor.
E+ / Getty