Pre-Conference

Leveraging Flexibility to Support Student-Centered Learning

Join FullScale for an engaging half-day workshop to explore how states can use flexibilities in federal policy to support student-centered learning. This workshop is specifically intended for state leaders and their local intermediary partners to come together to explore opportunities for flexibility in policies affecting assessment, accountability, and professional learning, learn from other states, and start to plan to use those flexibilities to achieve their goals. Hear from state leaders and their intermediary partners doing the work, learn about specific approaches to pressing policy issues, and leave with ideas for how to align policy to achieve your state’s vision for teaching and learning.

Mapping the Markers of Quality: Understanding and Advancing High-Performing Competency-Based Learning in U.S. High Schools

What does high-quality competency-based learning (CBL) actually look like in practice—and what conditions allow it to thrive? This interactive pre-conference convening will bring together leaders from 10 nationally selected CBL high schools, policymakers, funders, technical assistance providers, and system leaders to explore findings from a national study examining the relationship between CBL practices, student outcomes, and enabling policy conditions. Participants will engage with practical tools, cross-sector dialogue, and peer learning designed to clarify what distinguishes high-quality CBL, what the evidence suggests about impact, and what must shift at the policy and system levels to support responsible scale. The session will culminate in identifying coordinated next steps for strengthening coherence and impact across the field.

Reimagining Readiness through the ISTE+ASCD Profile of an AI-Ready Graduate

What does it truly mean to be “ready” for an AI-augmented workforce? It’s not about mastering a specific tool—it’s about a fundamental shift in the student experience. Join ISTE+ASCD leaders for a high-impact, 3-hour preconference session that moves beyond teacher productivity and focuses squarely on the learner.

Together, we will explore the ISTE+ASCD Profile of an AI-Ready Graduate, a framework that elevates students from passive consumers to empowered Problem Solvers, Storytellers, and Synthesizers. Rooted in the Transformational Learning Principles, this collaborative session will help you:

• Empower Agency: Shift from “AI literacy” to “AI fluency,” where students use AI to get “unstuck,” set self-directed goals, and iterate on their work.
• Nurture Human Connection: Discover how AI can act as a Connector, breaking down language barriers and simulating divergent perspectives to build empathy.
• Guide Strategic Inquiry: Train students to evaluate claims and find patterns in an era of information overload.

Whether you are just starting your AI journey or are already piloting new experiences, you will leave with a clear roadmap, actionable pathways for your district, and a peer network ready to move the work forward.

Rural AI Strategy Lab Pre-Convening

Derived from lessons learned from FullScale’s Rural AI Strategy Lab — a six-month initiative in which 13 rural school district teams explored, piloted, and implemented AI in ways that reflected their local priorities and realities — participants will engage in cross-sector dialogue, explore practical examples of AI in action in rural K–12 contexts, and reflect on what it takes to move from promising ideas to implementation. Through structured collaboration and peer exchange, attendees will surface key lessons, identify enabling conditions, and help shape what responsible AI adoption can look like for rural schools and the communities they serve.