You’re invited to join The Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF), our awardees, and our AdvancED Fellows in San Antonio, Texas at ISTELive 25 & ASCD Annual Conference from June 29 – July 2!
One of the world’s most comprehensive education events, ISTELive 25 & ASCD Annual Experience is attended by over 15,000 education leaders, teachers, coaches, librarians/media specialists and more.
Join AERDF all week in the Hyatt Lonestar Ballroom C and on the Expo floor at Booth 1600 at ISTELive 25.
Explore our latest advancements in math, literacy, assessment, and AI with us.
AERDF Room Hyatt Lonestar Ballroom C
Witness the debut of cutting-edge instructional prototypes and solutions from our awardees. Connect with education R&D leaders pushing innovation and explore grant opportunities to contribute your expertise to transform education.
Register for our sessions in the Hyatt Lonestar Ballroom C and the Expo floor main entrance.
Sunday - June 29th
11:00 - 3:00pm
American Group of Innovative Learning Environments (AGILE) Network Annual Convening
Invitation Only
AERDF Awardee
AGILE Network is a group of innovative schools and educators. Members contribute to evidence-based learning solutions and receive research compensation, grants, professional development, and skills in innovation, research, and equity.
SPEAKERS
Taylor Haun
Director of School R&D and Strategic Programs, Leanlab Education
Monday, June 30th
8:30 - 9:00am
From Struggle to Strategy: The FREE Big Words program and PD Course
AERDF Awardee
The free evidence-based Big Words literacy program for struggling readers offers online teacher professional development created by experts Dr. Philippakos (UTK) and Dr. Quinn (Texas A&M). Developed with teachers through Design-Based Research, it’s designed to be very user-friendly. Explore the resources & research.
SPEAKERS
Dr. Zoi Philippakos
Associate Professor, University of Tennessee
Dr. Margaret Quinn
Associate Professor,
Texas A&M
9:00 - 10:15am
Futures beyond today’s neurotypical classroom: Can we finally personalize learning?
AERDF Fellows Foresight Series
Join us for an interactive workshop to confront futures beyond today’s neurotypical instruction.
Come explore three questions
How will AI-powered assistants change teaching & learning? What if we could unlock every learner’s potential? In a world where learners have access to all the answers, what are we optimizing for?
SPEAKERS
Carina Wong
Partner and Founder,
Craft Futures
Sam Ha
Partner and Co-Founder, Craft Futures
10:30 - 11:30am
Codesigning the Future of Education with the AGILE Network
AERDF Awardee
J Discover how Leanlab Education’s AGILE Network connects educators with edtech companies to codesign edtech for real classrooms. Join a rapid codesign session, learn about paid research opportunities, and see how your expertise can drive innovation.
SPEAKERS
Taylor Haun
Director of School R&D and Strategic Programs, Leanlab Education
11:30 - 12:30pm
Adaptable and Grounded for the future: A design session
AERDF Fellows Foresight Series
The world is changing fast. What if students were ready for anything? In this session, you will work together to design learning experiences for your students that build true adaptability—rooted in purpose, powered by deep knowledge, and transferable across whatever the future brings.
SPEAKERS
Jessica Tsang
Co-Founder, Grounded Adaptability
Jason Atwood
Co-Founder, Grounded Adaptability
12:30 - 1:30pm
Deepfakes to Deep Trust: Navigating AI's Impact on Connection, Belonging, and Youth Thriving
AERDF Fellows Foresight Series
From deepfakes to AI companions, today’s youth are navigating blurred lines between real and synthetic connection. This session explores how generative AI is reshaping belonging, trust, and wellbeing—and offers actionable principles for educators to support young people to reclaim human connection in the age of AI.
SPEAKERS
Dr. Alison Lee
Chief R&D Officer,
The Rithm Project
1:30 - 2:30pm
Closing the poverty opportunity gap by integrating breakthroughs from neuroscience
AERDF Fellows Foresight Series
The goal of OBTAIN is to integrate remarkable breakthroughs in neuroscience; robotics and sensor technologies; and AI and data science to address the challenges of closing the Poverty Opportunity Gap and enhance learning for all students. This session is for leaders ready to explore the new frontier.
SPEAKERS
Jay N. Giedd, MD
Professor, University of California, San Diego
Stephan Leeds
Deputy, OBTAIN
2:30 - 3:15pm
System-Level R&D: Creating the Conditions for Scalable, Sustainable Change
AERDF Awardee
We need to move beyond isolated innovations and start treating school systems as active engines of R&D. In this session, Dr. Devin Vodicka and Dr. Katie Martin—co-founders and co-CEOs of Learner-Centered Collaborative—will share a call to action: every district needs an embedded R&D strategy to drive scalable innovation.
SPEAKERS
Dr. Devin Vodicka
Co-CEO, Learner-Centerered Collaborative
Dr. Katie Martin
Co-CEO, Learner-Centerered Collaborative
3:45 - 5:30pm
AERDF Community Reception at ISTELIVE 25: Creating the Innovation Gems: A State and Regional Deep Dive on R&D
AERDF Foresight Series
Discover where education innovation is thriving! Join educators and leaders from across the country to map breakthrough initiatives across the country. Through collaborative storytelling and hands-on mapping, you’ll uncover hidden innovation gems, connect with changemakers, and help shape the future of education R&D.
The session will include hors d’oeuvres and open time to celebrate innovation together!
SPEAKERS
Welcoming
Richard Culatta
CEO, ISTE ASCD
Joseph South
Chief Innovation Officer, ISTE ASCD
Auditi Chakravarty
CEO, AERDF (Advanced Education Research & Development Fund)
Dr. Sasha Rabkin
Chief of Program Strategy and Innovation, AERDF (Advanced Education Research & Development Fund)
Session
Dr. Devin Vodicka
Co-CEO, Learner-Centerered Collaborative
Timothy Michalak
Director of Strategic Policy Initiatives, Alliance for Learning Innovation
Katie Boody Adoro
Founder & CEO, LeanLab Education
Chris Liang-Vergara
Senior Advisor, AERDF (Advanced Education Research & Development Fund)
Cameron Berube
InnovateEDU
Tuesday, July 1st
10:00 - 1:00pm
AERDF AugmentED: Co-Creating the Future of Teaching and Learning with AI
Invitation Only
AERDF AugmentED Program
AugmentED, in collaboration with Playlab and Teach for America, is hosting a 3-hour interactive workshop about the future of teaching and learning in the age of AI. In this workshop, educators will integrate their classroom expertise with future-casting techniques to dream of ways AI can support educational transformation.
SPEAKERS
Sherry Lachman
Executive Director, AugmentED AERDF (Advanced Education Research & Development Fund)
Brian David Johnson
Futurist in Residence,
Arizona State University – Center for Science and the Imagination
Sarah Zaner
Co President, Bendable Labs
Mike Yates
Senior Product Designer, AI,
The Reinvention Lab at Teach for America
1:00 - 2:00pm
The Virtuous Cycle: Accelerating Your K-12 Literacy Screening to the Research Lab with ROAR from Stanford University
AERDF Awardee
What if your approach to literacy screening could do more than just generate data? What if it could create a dynamic partnership between your school and leading neuroscience researchers?
The ROAR platform, born out of Stanford’s Brain Development & Education Lab, offers a new path forward. In this session, you’ll see how the latest neuroscience is translated into a fast, reliable, and scalable screening tool that saves critical district resources and time.
We’ll discuss how your implementation provides invaluable data that shapes the future of educational neuroscience. Leave this session with a clear understanding of how this virtuous cycle works and how it can empower your teachers to focus on targeted instruction by making screening efficient, insightful, and part of an exciting, collaborative ecosystem.
SPEAKERS
Dr. Carrie Townley-Flores
Director of Research & Partnerships at the Rapid Online Assessment of Reading (ROAR), Stanford University
2:00 - 3:00pm
Read STOP Write: A Multicomponent Intervention to Improve Foundational Skills and Comprehension
AERDF Awardee
Read STOP Write (grades 4-9) is a novel intervention developed by Dr. Strong (Univ Buffalo) and Dr. Tortorelli (Mich St Univ). Come explore evidence-based practices to improve foundational reading skills, comprehension, writing, and motivation using informational text to build knowledge.
SPEAKERS
Dr. John Z. Strong
Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Education at the University at Buffalo
Dr. Laura Tortorell
Associate Professor, Michigan State University
3:00 - 4:00pm
From Playgrounds to Classrooms: Boosting Math Mastery with Play
AERDF Awardee
Let’s Play! Step onto a Fraction Ball court and experience how play improves math learning! Discover research-backed, standards-aligned strategies that spark collaboration, confidence, and joy to fuel academic gains. Explore designs, discuss evidence, and forge partnerships to reimagine K-12 education where students thrive.
SPEAKERS
Dr. Kreshnik (Keka) Begolli
Co-Founder; Chief Innovation & Success Officer – Juego!
Emir Elliot-Lindo
Co-Founder
Juego!
4:00 - 5:00pm
Smart Tech, Smarter Teaching: Critical Considerations for using AI in the Classroom
AERDF Awardee
Join AI experts Dr. Stephen Hutt (Univ Denver) and Dr. Sam Rhodes (GSU) in this workshop to equip educators and school leaders with frameworks and questions to make informed, equity-centered decisions around AI in classrooms. We’ll explore how AI can support — or hinder — student thinking, highlight risks and opportunities, and foster critical reflection on AI adoption.
SPEAKERS
Dr. Stephen J. Hutt
Assistant Professor, University of Denver
Dr. Sam Rhodes
Assistant Professor, Georgia Southern University
Monday, June 30th
Wednesday, July 2nd
8:30 - 9:30am
If It Works, Study It Again: A Research Strategy for Real-World EdTech Confidence
AERDF Awardee
Most edtech research stops after one successful study. Real-world schools need confidence a program will consistently work. This session reveals MIND Research Institute’s continuous, multi-method research strategy (Impact Rate, LADDDER, MILD) to track repeatability, reduce risk, and improve outcomes, creating a relevant evidence infrastructure.
SPEAKERS
Andrew Coulson
Chief Data Science Officer, MIND Research Institute
9:30 - 10:30am
Top of Mind, Bottom of List: Grow Your District AI Capacity & Lesson Planning
AERDF Awardee
Differentiation, standards-alignment, interest-based engagement, building academic mindsets, SEL… the list of important aspects of lesson planning for each lesson can be overwhelming and time consuming. Explore a new AI tool that leverages a research-validated Student Experience Survey that was co-designed with educators & learners to efficiently & effectively design lessons and empower teachers.
SPEAKERS
Malika Ali
Chief Innovation Officer, Throughline Learning
10:30 - 11:30am
Flip the Script on Assessment Culture with ASELA, a strengths-based assessment
AERDF Awardee
As teachers, we often focus on what needs fixing—in students, schools, and ourselves. In this session, you’ll experience ASELA, a strengths-based assessment that helps reframe challenges through an assets-based lens. Walk away with practical strategies for building classrooms that center assets over deficits.
SPEAKERS
Nakeyshia Kendall Williams
CEO,
MindCatcher Education
Uzma Chowdhury
MindCatcher Education