The Literacy Promise Conference 2022 has been postponed and will be held on March 23-25, 2022, at the Utah Valley Convention Center.
Register Online
Conference Information
Individual registration is:
$349/person
For a team of 5 or more:
$299/person
Utah Valley Convention Center
220 West Center Street Provo, Utah
Keynote Speaker Bios



Featured Author

Josh Allen
Josh Allen’s debut book, OUT TO GET YOU: 13 TALES OF WEIRDNESS AND WOE, received starred reviews from
School Library Journal and Booklist and was named Junior Library Guild selection. His second book, ONLY
IF YOU DARE: 13 TALES OF DARKNESS AND DOOM, came out in August, and Booklistcalled it “delightfully
dark.” Publisher’s Weekly said it was a book “ready to thrill.” And The Wall Street Journal said Josh’s
horror stories for children “[get] the balance just right . . . with stories that are scary but not
scarring.” Both OUT TO GET YOU and ONLY IF YOU DARE include artwork by the award-winning illustrator
Sarah J. Coleman, and both of Josh’s books feature covers that glow in the dark.
Josh holds a bachelor’s degree in English from BYU and a Master’s of Fine Arts degree in Creative
Writing from Old Dominion University. He lived in Egypt from 2002-2004 where he taught composition and
critical thinking at The American University in Cairo. Since 2004, he’s been teaching creative writing
and literature at BYU-Idaho. He has a lovely wife, four kids, and a pet snake named Pumpkin.
Conference Schedule
Wednesday, March 23 | |
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5:00 p.m. | Conference Registration |
6:30 p.m. | Keynote: Josh Allen |
Thursday, March 24 | |
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7:00 - 8:30 a.m. | Conference Registration |
8:30 - 9:45 a.m. | Welcome and Opening Keynote: Nancy Frey |
9:45 - 10:00 a.m. | Break |
10:00 - 11:15 a.m. | Breakout Session I |
11:15 - 11:30 a.m. | Break |
11:30 - 12:45 p.m. | Breakout Session II |
12:45 - 1:45 p.m. | Lunch |
1:45 - 3:00 p.m. | Breakout Session III |
Friday, March 25 | |
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7:30 - 8:30 a.m. | Conference Registration |
8:30 - 9:45 a.m. | Welcome and Opening Keynote: Steven Layne |
9:45 - 10:00 a.m. | Break |
10:00 - 11:15 a.m. | Breakout Session I |
11:15 - 11:30 a.m. | Break |
11:30 - 12:45 p.m. | Breakout Session II |
12:45 - 1:30 p.m. | Lunch |
1:30 - 2:45 p.m. | Closing Keynote: Debbie Silver |
Keynote Sessions
Be a Teacher, Be a Hero!
Visible Learning in Literacy
Session Description: Educators have been in search of "what works" for decades. Our collective search for better ways to reach students and ensure that they develop knowledge and skills has resulted in thousands and thousands of books, hundreds of thousands of research articles, and countless websites. The truth is, not everything works. Only a few things work at ensuring that students gain a full year's worth of growth for a year of enrollment in school, and we think it's time we focused on what works, what doesn't work, and what can't hurt. And we've turned to Visible Learning (Hattie, 2009) for help.
As he noted, students must develop surface-level learning if they are ever going to go deep. And we know that deep learning can facilitate transfer, which has been a goal shared by educators for as long as there have been teachers. In this interactive session, we focus on specific approaches that work at the surface level of learning and note that they are different from strategies that work at the deep and transfer levels. Importantly, we will clarify which approaches work at which phase of learning.
Confessions of a Reading Arsonist
Session 1 Breakouts
Moving Readers and Writers From Victimhood to Agency
What Works in Writing Instruction
This is Balanced Literacy
The three simulations address reading problems experienced by students of all ages.
- Simulation #1 Breaking a Habit is more appropriate for understanding older students who have developed poor reading habits, but also demonstrates the importance of allowing students to develop accurate reading habits before encouraging students to read faster.
- Simulation #2 Fluency is appropriate for teaching both younger and older students. It demonstrates how both accurate decoding and understanding word meanings affect reading comprehension.
- Simulation #3 Learning to Read with a New Alphabet is appropriate for teaching beginning reading. This simulation demonstrates that learning to decode is not nearly as easy as those of us who decode effortlessly think it is.
Teaching Academic Volcabulary to Els and Struggling Readers
- Select academic language using different types of words, phrases, and language structures to address core standards and classroom discourse.
- Teach vocabulary expeditiously before reading, during close reading, and for text-based writing.
Preparing for Reading Conferences with Powerful and Practical Tools
In this presentation, Barry will help you plan and launch small group interactions that energize student-initiated conversations and inspire deep connections for all your students. Making small groups happen in your classroom, where talking heightens understanding and ownership, begins with a few simple, well-crafted teaching moves.
Recent Advances in Understanding Word-Level Reading Problems: Implications for Instruction and Intervention
Text Dependent Questions and Close Reading
Explore examples, texts, and extension activities for close-reading lessons, and develop your own text-dependent questions to use right away!
This session will develop and deepen participants' understanding and implementation of close reading and text-dependent questions.
Session 2 Breakouts
Assess More. Grade Less.
Developing Strategic Writers
Poetry Across the Curriculum
Teaching Reading Comprehension to K-5 ELs
- Delve deeper into reading comprehension.
- Using two close reading strategies.
- Overview of follow up writing, editing, revising after reading.
- Participants will have online access to lesson sequences/templates, and other teacher and student tools.
Teach Like Yourself: Why Your Students Need You to Be You
Fall Down 7 Times, Get Up 8: Teaching Kids to Succeed
Presentation Title: Creating ACTIVE Readers
Understanding the Role of Phonemic Proficiency in Boosting Reading Skills in Struggling Readers
Writing and Assessment in the Visible Learning Classroom
We will explore how writing can be used to foster deep learning and transfer beyond the walls of the classroom. Marisol will share her experiences as a classroom teacher at Health Sciences High and Middle College, as well as provide examples of and ideas for planning for these fruitful experiences in classrooms.
Participants will leave the session with a better understanding of what writing in the visible learning framework is, and what it looks like in a classroom.