The Iowa Talented and Gifted Association (ITAG) is holding its 2025 Annual Conference at the Sheraton West Des Moines on October 13-14, 2025 with the theme Bridging Generations: Honoring Legacy, Empowering Innovation.
The purpose of our Annual Conference is to convene educators, administrators, and parents from across the state of Iowa, so they may network and learn from experts in the field on how to better support the educational needs of gifted children and youth. This year, our first keynote speaker will be University of Calgary Professor and Research Chair in High Abilities Studies, Matt Makel, who will focus on identification and gifted learning programming. Keynote speaker Molly McConnell will focus on issues specific to Iowa Code and gifted services. We are expecting more than 30 additional presenters and over 350 attendees! Registration for this conference includes ITAG annual membership.
See our Annual Conference Sponsorship Benefits here:
https://iowatag.starchapter.com/images/AnnualConferenceSponsorship.jpg
Our Conference Keynote Speakers:
Dr. Matthew Makel: Professor and Research Chair in High Abilities Studies in the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary. His research focuses on academic talent development and open science research methods. In talent development, he investigates the equitable allocation of gifted identification and services as well as how schools can better meet student learning needs. In open science, he explores how to improve research transparency and rigor so that society can better understand the generalizability, reproducibility, and replicability of research findings. The influence of education research is too great to be driven by narrow irreplicable results. He has conducted direct and conceptual replications, both in collaboration with the original authors and independently. He co-edited Toward a More Perfect Psychology: Improving Trust, Accuracy, and Transparency in Research with Jonathan Plucker (American Psychological Association) and From Giftedness to Gifted Education: Reflecting Theory in Practice with Jonathan Plucker and Anne Rinn (Prufrock Press). He has earned degrees from Duke University, Cornell University, and Indiana University.
Molly McConnell: Education Program Consultant for Gifted and Talented at the Iowa Department of Education; a role which she assumed in June 2023. Prior to starting at the department of education, Molly spent 11 years as a gifted and talented educator and coordinator. Molly holds a bachelor's degree in vocal music from Drake University. In 2012 she earned her masters of arts in teaching with endorsements in English, Speech, Theatre, and Talented and Gifted, also from Drake University. Molly lives in Polk City with her husband, 3 sons, Will, Tucker, and Murphy, and their dog, Benny.
Thank you to our sponsors:
Morningside University, Beisser Lumber, University of Iowa Belin Blank Center, Grand View University, Jester Insurance, Hills Bank, Casey's Here for Good
Click on the tcket URL to register, or sign up to be a vendor and sponsors!
https://iowatag.org/meetinginfo.php?id=10&ts=1748875423
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