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Call for Presentations: Submission Guide

2026 South Dakota Special Education Conference

Hitting it Out of the Park for every Student

March 3-4, Sioux Falls Convention Center

Submit by November 24, 2025

OVERALL TIPS & HINTS

Before you submit your proposal, here are a few overall tips and hints:

           

As you develop your proposal, consider your audience. How can you focus your presentation (from description, to learning objectives, to the outline) to ensure the right participants are in the room and are learning what you intended?

Use unique experiences to help each participant generalize about other situations.  Ensure the presentation can relate to schools across South Dakota.

Consider the level of your presentation.  Is it at introductory, intermediate, or advanced level?

                 

REQUIRED PRESENTER INFORMATION

PRESENTER CONTACT AND DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

There will be a primary presenter for each proposal and correspondence will be sent to this primary presenter. Please provide the following information on each presenter:

  • Name
  • Institution
  • Position Title
  • Professional level
  • Email address
  • Contact Phone Number

PRESENTATION SESSION INFORMATION

PRESENTATION TITLE

This is the title that will appear in the conference guide and conference website. The title should draw the participant’s eye while accurately capturing the essence of the presentation.

PRESENTATION ABSTRACT

Presentation Abstract is a brief summary/description of the session you will present. This description should effectively and concisely inform the participants what content to expect in the presentation.

PRESENTATION SESSION TYPE

You will select from one of the following presentation session types:

TRADITIONAL INTEREST SESSION

This session type allows the presenter(s) to present their content to their audience in a variety of styles/formats of their choosing with the main focus being on giving the audience information about their topic/theme.

FACILITATED DISCUSSION

This session type allows the presenter(s) to facilitate a discussion among audience members through the deliberate creation of prompts or questions surrounding a general topic. The main focus should be on the sharing of the audience members who are also participants.

PANEL

In this session type a group of speakers (the panel) comes together to discuss a specific topic. The aim of a panel discussion is to present different perspectives, bounce ideas off each other, and come up with some ah-ha moments.

HANDS-ON

This session type is structured and interactive involving hands-on activities, facilitation techniques, group discussions, simulations, and collaborative exercises.

PRESENTATION SESSION LEVEL

To assist attendees attending the conference, sessions should be rated as introductory, intermediate, or advanced.

PRESENTATION SESSION GRADE LEVEL

Early education, elementary school, middle school, high school, and all are available to select.

PRESENTATION SESSION DATE

Presentation sessions are offered on Tuesday, March 3 and Wednesday, March 4, 2026.

PRESENTATION SESSION LENGTH

Presentation sessions are offered for 60 minutes and 75 minutes.

Every effort will be made to accommodate your preferred presentation length and date though we cannot provide guarantees.

PRESENTER ACCOMMODATIONS

Presenters will not receive reimbursement for their presentations.  Presenters and co-presenters are responsible for their own travel and lodging expenses.  

Presenters may attend the conference and partake in the meals on the day of their presentation for free. If attending the entire conference, presenters must register for the second day at a reduced rate.

The session rooms at the Convention Center are equipped with a computer keyboard, projector, screen, and WIFI access.  Bring your presentation on a flash drive as this will be accessed through the WIFI system at the Convention Center.