EdWeek Market Brief Virtual Forum

Save your seat!

June 11 & 12, 2024 | 12:30-4:30 pm ET

Are you ready for the next big changes in education? Join us to hear directly from school district leaders and industry peers about important trends playing out in school systems – and in organizations like yours.

This 2-day forum offers unmatched intelligence for education company executives, including those in the C-suite, top-level directors of sales, marketing, product development, customer success, and market research. Get up to speed on:

How school districts are preparing for the loss of federal stimulus funding, and what alternate funding streams are available to districts and providers
Major policy shifts in curriculum and state policy that are changing buying conditions in school systems
How new technologies like AI will impact sales, marketing, and other core functions within education companies

You’ll get insights from EdWeek Market Brief’s original survey research, panel discussions, flash briefings and 1-on-1 interviews with district leaders and key industry players. Our district and industry guests will take your questions throughout. And find what your peers are saying about these topics through real-time interactive polls.

Outstanding conference that allows you to hear how trends, challenges, and solutions actually play out in top districts from around the country.
Alec Bramschreiber | Product Marketing Manager | Nearpod
I learned so much from a wide variety of industry experts.
Mary Pedigo | UX Director | McGraw Hill
I was able to level-set my industry knowledge and benchmark where my company was compared to others in the industry.
Alexander Kahn | Director of Marketing | Booksource

Who will I hear from?

Our expert panelists include edtech leaders, senior-level district officials, and state-level policy experts. Check back for an updated speaker list!

School District Officials

Tamara Acevedo | Chief Academic Officer, Colorado Springs School District 11 (CO)
Rennette Apodaca | Chief Financial Officer, Albuquerque Public Schools (NM)
Stephen Edwards | Director of Student Achievement and Instructional Verification, Fox Chapel Area School District (PA)
Denise Ling | Director of Federal and State Programming, Academics and Innovation, Berkeley County School District (SC)
Candice McGann | Coordinator of Mathematics and Science, Middle Schools, Brockton Public Schools (MA)
Barbara Mullen | Superintendent, Rush-Henrietta Central School District (NY)
Bridgette Robinson | Director of Federal & Special Programs, Indianapolis Public Schools (IN)
Leticia Roman | Director, Federal Programs & Grants Dev. Services, Volusia County Schools (FL)
Kathryn Shuler | Chief of Schools, Orange County Public Schools (FL)
Elizabeth Triden | Executive Director, Science and Social Studies, Detroit Public Schools (MI)

Education Company Leaders

Alex Bardales | Senior Director, Customer Support and Engagement, Istation
Jenny Bradbury | Senior Director of Solutions Strategy and Innovation, Digital Promise Center for Inclusive Innovation
Pep Carrera | CEO, Newsela
Christine Condon | Senior Director of Content Marketing, HMH
Fernando Cruz | Head of Education Marketing & Public Sector Executive Programs, Google Cloud
Russ Davis | CEO & Founder, SchoolStatus
Annie Galvin Teich | Founder & CEO, The Teich Group
Steve Houston | Education Publishing Consultant, HillCo Partners
Susan Lamberg | Host, Amplify’s Science of Reading podcast
Elana Leoni | CEO, LCG Agency and Host of All Things Marketing and Education podcast
Nat Malkus | Senior Fellow and Deputy Director, Education Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute
Eve Myers | Education Publishing Consultant, HillCo Partners
Tara Reid-Cherry | Partner, Strategos Group

Who should attend?

Anyone who cares deeply about the needs of K-12 buyers and wants to make well-informed business decisions, including:

Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Product Officer
Chief Marketing Officer; VP, Marketing; Director of Marketing
VP, Sales; VP, Customer Success
Director, Research; VP, Strategy
Investors; Venture Capital, Private Equity, Strategic

NOTE: While we do invite District and School leaders to participate on panels and in social functions, this is to foster learning and professional development for the service provider community. EdWeek Market Brief Summit is not an opportunity for commercial activity.

Research & Insights

Hear straight from K-12 buyers as you gain access to research, surveys, and lively panels that bring their needs alive. Featuring our time-tested EdMarketer research, you’ll gain leading insights on hot topics helping you understand the changing buyer landscape.

Community

Join other Education Leaders as we focus on sharing solutions for today’s complex education challenges and strategies. Hear from District Leaders on how they’re thinking about this school year and beyond.

Today’s Context

Featuring versatile sessions presented by award-winning journalists and editors of EdWeek Market Brief, packed with valuable insights on where K-12 district budgets are heading and how best to support districts as they struggle with reopening.

Day 1 | June 11, 2024
Tuesday
12:30 - 1:00
Welcome
12:30 - 01:00
Welcome & The State of the Education Industry
By Maurice Bakley Publisher | EdWeek Market Brief, Chief Revenue Officer | Education Week

EdWeek Market Brief Publisher Maurice Bakley opens our event by presenting new insights about the state of the education industry in 2024. He'll discuss the results of a new survey conducted by the EdWeek Research Center on K-12 companies' actual and projected revenues, spending across departments, and more.
1:00 - 1:20
What Makes for a Can’t-Miss K-12 District Testimonial?
By Alexandria Ng Staff Writer | EdWeek Market Brief

What are the core elements of testimonials from K-12 district officials that will persuade other districts to try a product? Is it the profile of the school system shown in the testimonial? The enthusiasm or conviction that comes across in the district administrator's or educator's message? The form of delivery of the testimonial (website, targeted video, message sent by email)? We ask forum attendees about the types of testimonials that have given their organizations the best ROI, those that could have produced better results, and lessons they've learned.
Interactive Polling Session
1:20 - 2:10
Inside Title I: Getting to Know District Needs, and Untapped Opportunities, Through the Multibillion-Dollar Federal Program
By Bridgette Robinson Director of Federal & Special Programs | Indianapolis Public Schools (IN), Leticia Roman Director, Federal Programs & Grants Dev. Services | Volusia County Schools (FL), Denise Ling Director of Federal and State Programming, Academics and Innovation | Berkeley County School District, SC, Sean Cavanagh Managing Editor | EdWeek Market Brief

The federal Title I program is funded at more than $18 billion per year and supports a broad array of school district programs and initiatives – broader than many K-12 officials and companies know. In this session, we’ll talk to experts on the Title I program on how school districts spend funding through Title I, misunderstandings about what the money can be used for, and opportunities for education companies to meet school district needs.
Panel Discussion
2:10 - 2:35
Why Hasn’t Your Organization Launched an Education Podcast?
By Christine Condon Senior Director of Content Marketing | HMH, Susan Lambert Academic Officer of Elementary Humanities and Host of “Science of Reading: The Podcast" | Amplify, Michelle Caffrey EdWeek Market Brief | Staff Writer

Over the past few years many education companies – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Amplify, and Scholastic, to name a few – have launched education podcasts, in an effort to connect with K-12 audiences and build new ones. Amplify’s reading-focused podcast, for instance, has produced more than 120 episodes been downloaded more than 5 million times. We take our audience inside the decision-making process at a company that created a podcast, and answer your questions about costs, messaging, and ROI. How do podcasts compare with traditional forms of outreach like social media, email marketing campaigns, and conferences.
Flash Briefing
2:35 - 2:50
Program Break
2:50 - 3:10
What State Education Lobbyists Do for K-12 Companies
By Tara Reid-Cherry Partner | The Strategos Group, David Saleh Rauf Contributing Writer, EdWeek Market Brief

State legislatures are where much of education policy gets made – in curriculum, assessment, finance, and in countless other areas that can help or hurt education companies. Many education companies recognize this, and hire lobbyists to make sure their voices are heard by lawmakers. In this flash briefing, we go inside the process with a lobbyist from a major firm that represents education organizations at the state level. How do companies know if they’re ready to hire a lobbyist, and what’s the ROI they can expect?
Flash Briefing
3:10 - 4:00
Future Budgets and the End of Stimulus Aid: K-12 Administratrators Talk About What’s Next for District Spending and What Vendors Should Expect
By Tamara Acevedo Chief Academic Officer | Colorado Springs School District 11 (CO), Rennette Apodaca Chief Financial Officer | Albuquerque Public Schools, Barbara Mullen Superintendent | Rush-Henrietta Central School District (NY), Kathryn Shuler Chief of Schools | Orange County Public Schools (FL), Sean Cavanagh Managing Editor | EdWeek Market Brief

School systems are at a critical moment. While tax revenues have been strong and their budgets are relatively flush with state and local aid, they also know that the end of federal stimulus aid will come at the end of this year. We’ll talk with top district administrators who take us inside their process for deciding what stimulus-funded programs and projects they will cut or keep, how stimulus projects have influenced their long-term planning on personnel and academic resources, and how they view the flexibility and extensions offered by federal officials for making the money last longer.
Panel Discussion
4:00 - 4:25
Email Strategy: The Send Times and Messaging That Get K-12 Officials to Pay Attention
By Elana Leoni CEO | LCG Agency and Host of All Things Marketing and Education podcast, Michelle Caffrey EdWeek Market Brief | Staff Writer

Education companies count on email campaigns and personalized outreach to break through to school districts. But are their messages getting read? In this briefing, we’ll break down the results of EdWeek Market Brief’s nationally representative survey of district and school leaders on what time of day and say of the week they open emails, and what kinds of messaging gets read – or gets ignored.
Flash Briefing
4:25 - 4:30
Closing Remarks

Day 2 | June 12, 2024
Wednesday
12:30 - 12:35
Opening Remarks
12:35 - 1:00
The Severity of Student Absenteeism, and Its Impact on K-12 Budgets
By Nat Malkus , Alexandria Ng Staff Writer | EdWeek Market Brief

Many school district leaders have found that parent and student attitudes toward attendance have changed dramatically – and for the worse – since the pandemic. Declines in daily attendance have implications not only for student performance and well-being, but also for school finance. We look at what is known about the depth of chronic absenteeism, what it means for K-12 budgets, and what solutions – such as early warning systems, tech-based outreach to parents, and social-emotional support for students, education companies can offer.
Flash Briefing
1:00 - 1:50
What Makes for a Winning Pilot Test of a Product?
By Elizabeth Triden Executive Director, Science and Social Studies | Detroit Public Schools, Stephen Edwards Director of Student Achievement and Instructional Verification | Fox Chapel Area School District, Jenny Bradbury Senior Director of Solutions Strategy and Innovation | Digital Promise Center for Inclusive Innovation, Candice McGann Coordinator of Mathematics and Science, Middle Schools | Brockton Public Schools (MA), Michelle Caffrey EdWeek Market Brief | Staff Writer

One of the most common strategies used by education companies of all sizes to build faith in their products in school systems is a pilot test. When done well, a pilot test can open doors to working across an entire district, and give teachers, principals, and others a reason to talk up a product. But a poorly run pilot will do exactly the opposite, undermining the company’s reputation. In this panel, we talk to district officials about what makes for a pilot that leads to a broader relationship with the district, and what mistakes companies have to avoid.
Panel Discussion
1:50 - 2:10
How Are the Culture Wars Affecting Your Work in School Districts?
By Sean Cavanagh Managing Editor | EdWeek Market Brief

Eighteen states have approved laws restricting lessons on racism, gender, and in some cases “divisive” concepts. And the same policies are playing out in school communities nationwide. In this polling session, we ask attendees about their experiences navigating these fights, and the impact it has had on their products? Have product providers found any strategies to defuse local criticism over their products? Where does criticism tend to come from – school board members, parents, or others? And what costs have companies absorbed in trying to customize products to meet state and local demands?
Interactive Polling Session
2:10 - 2:25
Program Break
2:25 - 2:50
Key State Profile: How Texas’ Sweeping Overhaul of Curriculum Adoption Will Affect Instructional Materials Providers
By Steve Houston Education Publishing Consultant | HillCo Partners, Eve Myers Education Publishing Consultant | HillCo Partners, David Saleh Rauf Contributing Writer, EdWeek Market Brief

For years Texas has been one of the most important markets for providers of instructional resources. Last year, state lawmakers approved a dramatic revision of the rules that will incentivize school districts to choose instructional resources from a state-board approved adoption list; fund state-developed curricula; require curriculum providers to post materials online for review; and meet new accessibility guidelines, among other changes. In this briefing, we talk with a pair of Texas statehouse insiders about what those changes will mean for education companies, and answer audience questions.
Flash Briefing
2:50 - 3:40
How AI Will Change Education Providers’ Sales and Marketing Efforts
By Alex Bardales Senior Director, Customer Support and Engagement | Istation, Fernando Cruz Head of Education Marketing & Public Sector Executive Programs | Google Cloud, Russ Davis CEO & Founder | SchoolStatus, Annie Galvin Teich Founder & CEO | The Teich Group, Alexandria Ng

Organizations across different sectors of the economy are already relying on AI systems to create more targeted sales and marketing campaigns. In this panel discussion, we’ll talk about what early experiments in AI-generated sales and marketing look like in education companies, and what organizations can learn from organizations that are ahead of the ed sector.
Panel Discussion
3:40 - 4:00
Making Your Case: The Arguments Education Companies Have Made to Districts to Get Spared from the Post-Stimulus Budget Axe
By Michelle Caffrey EdWeek Market Brief | Staff Writer

As districts are forced to pare down spending as stimulus dollars go away, we ask forum attendees about the arguments they’ve made to district officials that have kept their products off the chopping block.
Interactive Polling Session
4:00 - 4:25
Leadership Interview
By Pep Carrera CEO | Newsela, Sean Cavanagh Managing Editor | EdWeek Market Brief

Since taking the helm as the CEO of Newsela last year, Pep Carrera has overseen a host of major changes at the organization, from its acquisition and integration of the instruction and assessment company Formative to Newsela’s launch of new features focused on enhancing teachers’ experiences with its platform through AI and other changes. In this Leadership Interview, Carrera talks about how Newsela is managing massive changes in the market, from the rise of new technologies to continued teacher turnover in school districts to the loss of an historic amount of federal stimulus funding. The former Nearpod CEO will talk about lessons he’s learned in leadership roles and where he sees the education market heading next.
Fireside Chat
4:25 - 4:30
Closing Remarks
By Maurice Bakley Publisher | EdWeek Market Brief, Chief Revenue Officer | Education Week