Present

Share your expertise with other educators as a presenter at the 2025 WIDA Annual Conference!  

Speaking at the WIDA Annual Conference is a rich and rewarding opportunity.

Use the information on this page to learn about becoming a presenter, proposal submission information, the presenter timeline, and get answers to frequently asked questions.

What did #WIDA2024 presenters say?

“WIDA offers a platform for educators to share their real-world experiences, amplifying our voices in the field. The conference provides valuable resources, connections, and opportunities for future collaboration, all while strengthening the focus on language and culture for multilingual learners and educators.”

– 2024 WIDA Annual  Conference presenter

“This is my third year attending the WIDA Annual Conference, and it continues to exceed my expectations. The variety of sessions offers something valuable for everyone — whether you're a teacher, administrator, community partner, or cultural advocate working with multilingual learners. Being surrounded by passionate professionals who share interests and goals has me inspired and ready to apply what I’ve learned. I highly recommend this conference to anyone committed to the success of multilingual learners.”

– 2024 WIDA Annual  Conference presenter

Presenter Information

Primary Presenter and Co-Presenter(s)

Each presentation must have one person identified as the Primary Presenter. Please review the Primary Presenter Responsibilities before submitting your proposal. The maximum number of presenters for a session is 3. Please note that co-presenter(s) will not receive proposal notifications.

Primary Presenter Responsibilities

It is the responsibility of the primary presenter to ensure that all co-presenters receive any pertinent information regarding the proposal (all notifications will be sent to the email address of the primary presenter only).

Additionally, if the proposal is accepted it is the responsibility of the primary presenter to:

• Confirm that all presenter information, session title, and abstract are correct by April 25, 2025.
• Ensure that all presenters on their proposal are registered for the conference. If all proposal presenters (including co-presenters) are not registered by June 14, 2025, the presentation may be canceled. 
• Notify conference organizers of changes to co-presenters. 
• Provide copies of printed handouts (if needed) at the presenter's expense.
• Upload the PowerPoint presentation and session handouts to the Speaker Resource Center by September 29, 2025. Note: Instructions for accessing the Speaker Resource Center will be provided to accepted primary presenters by mid-May.

Conference Registration

All conference presenters (primary and up to two co-presenters) will be offered a discounted presenter rate and must be registered for the conference by June 14, 2025. If any proposal presenters (including co-presenters) are not registered by June 14, 2025, the presentation may be canceled.

Lodging and Travel

All accepted presenters are responsible for their own lodging and travel. WIDA will neither arrange nor provide funding for presenter lodging and travel.

Audio Visual Equipment

Presenters are responsible for bringing their own computers and HDMI adapters. All presentation rooms will be equipped with an LCD projector, AV cart, screen, speakers, one wireless handheld microphone, flip chart, markers, and electrical cables at no cost. Presenters will be responsible for the costs and arrangements for any additional equipment needed for their session(s).

Submission Information

Deadline: January 21, 2025 

Submission Types - You can submit either a workshop or concurrent session. If you are a consulting/education services company, please see below for submission types available. 

Workshops - These 2.5-hour sessions are extended, hands-on professional learning sessions that allow for in-depth exploration of a topic, strategy, or practice. Participants will leave these sessions with concrete ideas, tools, or resources to use in their contexts. 

Concurrent Sessions - These 75-minute sessions examine research-based strategies, practices, or topics that align to the conference theme and one of the topic strands.

Instructions and Helpful Documents

Please fully review the information in each document below before starting a submission.

• Concurrent Session Instructions: Overview of concurrent session proposal process
• Workshop Instructions: Overview of workshop proposal process
• Guiding Questions: Help determine your topic area
• Sample Proposal Submission: View a sample proposal submission
• Scoring Rubric: Review how your submission will be evaluated

Note: If you are submitting a workshop and a concurrent session, you will need to create an account for each session type, but you may use the same email and password for both.

For Consultants/Sponsors:
Presentation Details, Submission Process and Fee

Not sure if you are a consultant or sponsor? Please review the information below, as sponsor sessions require a different submission process. Sponsor sessions details are listed in the Sponsor Sessions section below.

Consulting/education services company with a school/district employee

Consulting/education services company sponsor

• No advertising or selling of services
• Focus on free tools, strategies, and/or school/district implementation
• Submitted and evaluated with the same rubric as all other sessions
• Can add on exhibit booth
• No additional charge

• Must focus on services and/or products provided by the company
• Requires exhibit booth
• Details and fee information are detailed below

Presenter Timeline

November 18, 2024 – Proposal submission opens

January 21, 2025 – Proposal submission closes

February 12, 2025 – Proposal review closes 

March 14, 2025 – Proposal notifications begin

March 31, 2025 – Presenter commitment and final corrections due

June 14, 2025 – Presenter registration deadline

September 29, 2025 – Presentation handouts due

Sponsor Sessions

We have seen a great deal of demand for sponsor session presentations. These are 75-minute sessions that take place concurrently to other sessions at the conference.

Sponsor session proposals will be collected from November 18, 2024 – January 21, 2025. Organizations are limited to one submission. ONLY SEVEN SESSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

Submissions will be reviewed and selected by the 2025 WIDA Annual Conference Content Committee. The committee will consider the following during the review process:  

1. Previous support of the WIDA Annual Conference 
2. Clear learning objectives and session plan identified in submission 
3. Inclusion of a planned takeaway item for participants (lesson plan, strategy, etc.)  

Decisions will be sent in March 2025. Organizations will have 2 weeks to accept and submit payment.  The price for a sponsor session is $1,500. Organizations may present any topic — including sales presentations — during their sponsor sessions. There is no requirement that the sessions be educational in nature, although feedback from attendees in the past has indicated they are more interested in content with immediate classroom application, rather than the promotion of products and services. You can determine what mix feels right for your organization. Sponsor sessions should be limited to no more than three presenters. 

You will be asked to submit presenter contact information, a title, summary, target audience, engagement plan, and presenter expertise. Please review the sponsor session instructions for additional details.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How long are session presentations?

A. Each concurrent session is 75-minutes long and each workshop is 2.5 hours long. You can divide your presentation however you like, but please be aware that if you want to have a Q&A period, that is also within your allotted presentation period. 

Q. Can I submit multiple proposals?

A. YES! You can submit multiple proposals, however, please be aware that the committee will be selecting sessions for the conference based not only on quality, but on a mix of the subject areas and presenters in each strand.

Q. My proposal is focused on bilingualism and/or biculturalism. Which strand should I choose?

A. The Bilingual Program Practices strand considers the holistic nature of bilingual practices and bi/multilingual language development in the advancement of language for academic purposes. 

Q. I am a consulting company or education services agency, can I submit a proposal?

A. If you are a consulting/education services company, please see the table above for available submission types. The WIDA Annual Conference has a sponsor session track. Contact conferences@wida.us to learn more about the options available. WIDA strictly prohibits the marketing and/or sale of goods or services outside of sponsored sessions.  

Q. How are the proposals reviewed?

A. We share the proposal review rubric with our reviewers to help with a consistent scoring for proposals submitted. A copy of the rubric is linked above. 

Q. If my proposal is accepted, how many people can I expect in my session?

A. Depending on venue capacity, interest and demand, sessions could hold anywhere from 50 people to 300 people. We require pre-registration for sessions and can provide presenters with a more accurate estimate closer to the conference. Reach out to conferences@wida.us to find out how many folks are registered for your session. 

Q. What is the room set up for the sessions?

A. All 75-minute sessions will be set up in classroom-style, and workshops will be set up with eight chairs at round tables. Due to space constraints, we will not be able to accommodate any requests for another type of room setup. 

Q. Can I submit a proposal to present virtually?

A. All proposal submissions will only be considered for in-person presentations. Virtual content will be curated by invitation only.