CONNECTING RESEARCH, POLICY, AND PRACTICE THROUGH SHIFTING PARADIGMS IN PUBLIC EDUCATION
The landscape of public education is constantly shifting, navigating enduring and emerging issues while integrating new technologies, innovations, and evidence-based practices. To help PK-12 schools adapt to these changes and support positive outcomes in the communities that they serve, it is critical to connect across educational research, policy, and practice. The Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC) is a longstanding partnership between the School of Education at Virginia Commonwealth University and PK-12 school divisions in the metropolitan Richmond region. The MERC Summit is its annual gathering of key stakeholders who come together to collaborate around some of the most complex issues and exciting ideas in public education.
The goals of the MERC summit are:
1. To offer interactive sessions where educational practitioners, researchers, and policymakers can learn together and collaborate on strategies to address prominent issues in public schools.
2. To explore innovative approaches to supporting PK-12 students, educators, and families.
3. To learn from locally-developed research exploring trends, outcomes, and recommendations specific to metropolitan Richmond schools.
4. To leverage the benefits of research-practice partnerships between universities and PK-12 public school systems by forging meaningful connections between stakeholders.
The summit format will focus on collaborative sessions where attendees are invited to actively contribute their ideas and expertise.
What is included at the MERC Summit
The program will be released in May 2024 and will feature interactive sessions with presenters from educational research, policy, and practice. Participants will receive a certificate for 8 contact hours to be used towards continuing education credit. Lunch is also included in the price of admission.
Submit a Proposal
We welcome proposals on a variety of topics pertinent to public PK-12 education from researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. Accepted proposals will be combined into interactive sessions with other presenters discussing related topics in order to promote diverse perspectives and collaboration. Click here to submit a proposal by April 26th.
