Call for proposals

Call for proposals

The International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI) 2021

The window for submitting proposals is now closed.

We are pleased to extend this invitation for proposals for the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI) first virtual congress. This online congress will be hosted by ICSEI with technical support provided by LearnLab from Norway. All keynote and parallel sessions will be conducted online, and each session will be hosted with technical support and facilitation.

The first two days of the conference will be held March 8 and 9. The second half of the conference will take place on March 17 and 18.

We invite proposals from practitioners, policy-makers, academics and community members with contributions relating to educational effectiveness and improvement. In particular, we welcome proposals that connect with the theme for our 2021 Congress themes—Crossing Boundaries and Building Bridges—and sub-themes described below.

Due date for proposals:  November 15, 2020

Submission system is now open!

If you would like to download the Call for Proposals information in pdf format, please click on the download button below. Thank you.

ICSEI 2021 Theme

Crossing Boundaries and Building Bridges.

ICSEI is a global community collaborating for enhanced quality and equity in education, related to educational and school effectiveness and improvement. To improve the quality and equity of education at a global scale, it is important to cross multiple borders and boundaries. Discussion and debate are crucial in crossing these borders and boundaries to be able to improve education for all children and youth.

We need to critically engage with new and innovative ideas if we want to make our educational organizations more effective, especially in the light of the pandemic we are facing. What policies need to be in place to support quality and equity, and the wellbeing of our students? How does policy influence educational practice? What are urgent questions from educators that researchers need to address? How can educators learn from research, and researchers learn from practice? It is the aim of this conference to cross these boundaries to collaboratively improve education around the world. Bridges need to be built: among different stakeholders (e.g., parents, students, teachers, school leaders), different roles (e.g., researchers, policy makers, and practitioners), and different geographies (e.g., the North, South, East and West). We can all learn from one another.

Proposal Selection and Topics

ICSEI Networks

All proposals must be submitted to one of the ICSEI network themes of the conference. This information will also be used in the program to allow participants to more easily identify papers and sessions with different themes. ICSEI consists of seven networks:

  • Crisis Response in Education Network
  • Data Use Network
  • Early Childhood Education and Care Network
  • Educational Leadership Network
  • 3P Network for Policymakers, Politicians, and Practitioners
  • Methods of Researching Educational Effectiveness and Improvement MoR∑) Network
  • The Professional Learning Networks Network

Further information about the ICSEI networks can be found at: www.icsei.net

ICSEI Network Sub-themes

Crisis Response in Education Network: Reimaging learning in response to the pandemic

The Crisis Response in Education Network (CREN) is a new ICSEI network dedicated to exploring how educational systems respond to significant crises and how crises impact on education systems, learning, health and wellbeing of practitioners, children, young people and their families. CREN has committed to focusing on COVID-19 for the next two years. The themes we wish to explore in this congress are how education systems, schools, other educational organisations and their partners have been affected by the pandemic, how they have responded, and how they can adapt successfully in the future. We welcome proposals in the following areas:

  1. What has the short, medium and longer-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on learners and their families? 
  2. How have education systems around the world responded to the COVID-19 pandemic?
  3. What new ways of working have emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic? How have these supported or hindered the quality of education provided by educational systems? 

Data Use Network: Connecting educational practices with students’ diverse needs

The issue of educational equity has become increasingly important during the COVID19 pandemic. Questions of evaluation, instructional practice, and student grouping have always been present in educational research, but they have become utterly important during this crisis. How can we build bridges between teachers and students when there is no physical teaching in schools? How can we understand educational needs of socially vulnerable groups when we cannot bring them to school? How can we assess the progress of students and educational outcomes during home schooling?  Data-based decision making (DBDM) has shown to strengthen the fairness and equity of assessment and can help teachers to tailor instruction to individual needs. Further, data use has shown to help interrupt intuitive judgment leading to, for example, self-fulfilling prophecies. We welcome proposals that address these areas:

1) How can the use of data help teachers and schools to assess educational needs?

2) How can data use help teachers and schools to tailor education to diverse needs?

3) How can we use data and evidence to strengthen evaluation and assessment in these challenging times?

We want to build bridges by connecting international good practices, by connecting individual and collective perspectives on data use, and by exploring teacher judgement from different perspectives.

Early Childhood Education and Care Network: Crossing boundaries in the field of early years and childhood. 

Maintaining educational equity and quality in the early years has become increasingly important during COVID19 as lock down has disrupted how children are educated and by whom. During the pandemic, attainment gaps between different groups of children have widened further with a resultant need to effectively tackle ‘learning loss’. The Early Childhood Education and Care Network is interested in proposals which will contribute to an ongoing discussion on bridging the gap between early education policy, research and practice, in particular: 

1) What are the opportunities and challenges to effective learning posed by COVID-19? How has the situation in ECEC during different stages of lockdown been evaluated, and what lessons can be learned from the evaluations?

2) How can equitable learning environments be provided for all children in ECEC during the pandemic?

3) What is the role of formal and informal learning on child development and well-being, and what do we know about how to ensure quality learning environments for young children?

4) What are effective practices to build/enhance collaboration among key education stakeholders in order to reduce learning loss and promote equitable outcomes for young learners?

5) How can professional collaboration in ECEC/collaboration between ECEC and primary schools be sustained during times of COVID-19?

Educational Leadership Network: Reimagining the global leadership agenda

The COVID 19 pandemic has exposed problems in education systems around the world. Some of these challenges have been similar across countries, other challenges have been context-specific. Moreover, some challenges to educational leadership have received more attention than others in the international discourse. Therefore, the Educational Leadership Network wants to ask to what extent the discourse on leadership in general, and specifically within the context of the challenges of the COVID 19 pandemic, has taken account of a broader diversity of experiences and voices, particularly from historically underrepresented groups. We want to explore leadership practices responding to and reflecting on the pandemic experience, and establish what we know already, what we need to know, and what voices we need to hear in order to meaningfully and authentically cross boundaries and build bridges between leaders across the world. We welcome proposals that address these areas:

1) To what extent and in what ways has the discourse on leadership changed?

2) How are education leaders taking into account diverse experiences and voices?

3) How have leadership practices changed during the pandemic experience?

4) What do we need to know and whose voices do we need to hear to cross boundaries and build bridges globally?

3P Network for Policymakers, Politicians, and Practitioners: Connecting different voices to rethink education

Reflecting on the future of schooling and on educational models that foster well-being and the development of key skills in the new generations has become even more important with the Covid-19 pandemic. The health emergency has forced us to question established practices and habits, but it has also offered the opportunity to reflect on what really matters for learning. The 3P network aims to listen to and involve various stakeholders on the subject of rethinking education: students and parents, school leaders and teachers, middle tiers, academics and experts in education policies. We are interested in proposals concerning:

1) Educational policies adopted by policy makers in different countries. To what extent have these policies been effective? What is missing?

2) Programmes, projects or activities offered by the middle tiers to support schools, school leaders and teachers. What elements of these programmes—developed in specific contexts—could be of inspiration for other contexts?

3) Students and parents’ views. What are their expectations and demands? How might their voices be heard by policy makers, politicians and professionals?

4) Social equity issues, moral and ethical dilemmas faced by practitioners. Teaching methodologies, organizational and technical solutions implemented by teachers and school leaders. What answers are emerging? Which methodologies and solutions are best suited to specific contexts or school levels? 

5) The rapid spread of digital technologies for education for all. To what extent are the different levels of the school system able to exercise conscious control over digital technologies?

Methods of Researching Educational Effectiveness and Improvement MoR∑) Network: Building bridges in research development and execution during COVID-19 times

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global crisis which reveals challenges and suggests the necessity of breaking barriers, more than ever before, to tackle anticipated consequences of ‘learning loss’. MoREI network is interested in proposals which will contribute to an ongoing discussion on bridging the gap between research, policy and practice during COVID-19 times.

1) How do the policies at government and institutional levels affect the scope, scale and methods of social science research in these challenging times? 

2) What are the opportunities and challenges encountered in carrying on with research of school effectiveness and improvement in your education context during the pandemic?

3) Which are some good practices to build/enhance interaction with key education stakeholders to make research with an impact on the ground?

4) What can different communities and stakeholders (researchers, practitioners and policy makers) do to reduce research ‘learning loss’ in the current context?

The Professional Learning Networks Network: Crossing boundaries and building bridges for sustainable impact

Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) provide a way of helping schools and practitioners work effectively both within and beyond times of crisis. Recent developments have presented many challenges for existing PLNs: at the same time new incentives for collaboration (and hence new PLNs), new modes of working together, and new opportunities for data collection and use have also arisen.

Key, though, is understanding how PLNs can sustain and endure, ensuring their effectiveness is long-lasting and its positive impact is maximal. We welcome contributions in relation to the following areas:

1) How are boundaries crossed and bridges built in PLNS to support educators in tackling issues of pressing concern?

2) What policy conditions are required to ensure PLNs sustain?

3) What is the role of school leadership in sustaining PLNs?

4) In what ways do/have PLNs formed to help teachers deal with pressing concerns?

5) How are new ideas mobilised to help educators deal with key issues of practice and need?

Submission requirements

Due date for proposals:  11:59 PM November 15, 2020 Central European Time (CET)

All proposals must be submitted via Conftool at https://www.conftool.com/icsei2021/

The Call for Proposals will be open from Oct. 15 to November 15, 2020. Proposals will be accepted beginning Oct. 22, 2020. All persons submitting proposals will be informed as to their acceptance by January 2, 2021.

All proposals should be submitted using the following link:

www.conftool.com/icsei2021/

All proposals should be submitted in English.

Please note that the submitted abstract will be made available to all participants should the proposal be accepted. 

All proposals will be blind refereed. They will be reviewed without the names of the authors and presenters (which will be submitted separately). Thus, the names of the organizers and presenters should not appear in the text of the proposals. 

Proposal session types

  • Individual paper presentations
  • Symposia
  • Roundtable discussions
  • Innovate sessions

Submission requirements for different proposal types

Individual Paper

Individual paper proposals can be submitted by an individual or small group of authors. Authors present abbreviated versions of their papers followed by comments/critique and participant interaction.
Paper sessions are 60 minutes in length and will include 3 papers. 

Paper proposals should be a maximum of 500 words (excluding references).

Paper proposals should address the following:

  • Objectives, purpose, problem of practice, or policy focus
  • Research question(s) or focus
  • Perspective(s) or theoretical framework, or context
  • Methods, techniques, modes or approach to inquiry
  • Data Sources/evidence
  • Results, findings, learning
  • Educational importance of this research or inquiry for theory, practice, and/or policy
  • Connection to the conference theme

Symposium

A symposium provides an opportunity to examine specific research issues, problems, or topics from a variety of perspectives. They may present alternative solutions, interpretations, or contrasting points of view on a specific subject, or in relation to a common theme. Frequently interactive, a large portion of the session may be devoted to dialogue among presenters and discussant, questions and discussion among all those present, or small-group interaction.
Symposia are 60 minutes in length. They include 3-4 presentations.

Symposium proposals should be submitted as a single document that includes:

  • An introductory abstract of maximum 200 words (excluding references) that provides an overview of:
    • the overarching theme, objectives and purpose of the symposium 
    • the issue(s) or question(s) to be addressed
    • how the above will be addressed through the papers included
    • the importance for educational theory, policy, research, and/or practice
    • how the session will be organized and the approach to interaction
  • Proposals of 3-4 papers, (500 words maximum each, excluding references) that address the following:
    • Objectives, purpose, problem of practice, or policy focus
    • Research question(s) or focus
    • Perspective(s) or theoretical framework, or context
    • Methods, techniques, modes or approach to inquiry
    • Data Sources/evidence
    • Results, findings, learning
    • Educational importance of this research or inquiry for theory, practice, and/or policy
    • Connection to the conference theme
    • Role in symposium/contribution to the symposium topic

Roundtable Discussion

Roundtable sessions offer the opportunity to discuss outcomes as well as the design of research projects or research in progress. Each round table session will consist of up to 3 projects, grouped according to a cross-cutting research problem or issue or where early career researchers, policy makers and practitioners with similar interests would benefit from exchange, discussion and collaboration. Roundtables are 60 minutes in length. Each presenter has five minutes to introduce his/her project and to raise two or three open questions. Fifteen minutes are intended for discussion.

Roundtable proposals should be a maximum of 500 words (excluding references).

Roundtable proposals should address the following:

  • Objectives of research, practice, or policy inquiry
  • Research question(s) or focus
  • Perspective(s) or theoretical framework, or context
  • Methods, techniques, modes or approach to inquiry
  • Expected or preliminary results 
  • Educational importance of this research or inquiry for theory, practice, and/or policy
  • Connection to the conference theme

Innovate session

Innovate presentations provide an opportunity to showcase innovative and creative approaches to practice. A proposal for an Innovate presentation should set out the format and approach(es) that will be used in the session to engage participants in the exploration of the area of practice.

Each Innovate presentation is 30 minutes.

Innovate proposals should be a maximum of 500 words (excluding references).

Innovate proposals should address the following, as applicable:

  • Objectives or purposes of the session
  • Educational importance for theory, policy, research, and/or practice
  • The format and approach(es) that will be used in the session to engage participants in the exploration of the area of practice
  • Connection to the conference theme

Key Dates for Submission

Submissions will be accepted from October 22, 2020 through November 15, 2020 (CET).

  • October 15, 2020 – Call for proposals
  • October 22, 2020 – Proposal submission system open
  • November 15, 2020 – Proposals submission closes (11:59 PM Central European Time (CET)
  • January 2, 2021 – Proposal submitters notified of acceptance status

Link for submitting proposals

Please submit proposals using the following link: 

https://www.conftool.com/icsei2021/

Please direct any queries about proposal requirements to:  [email protected] 

Please direct any queries about your ConfTool account to:  [email protected] 

We look forward to your proposals.