John D. Welty Center for Educational Policy and Leadership

Exemplary Practices in Educational Leadership Conference (EPC)

Fresno State’s annual Exemplary Practices in Educational Leadership Conference brings together Central Valley leaders from schools, districts, businesses and community organizations to share best practices and challenges. Past conferences have focused on the following topics:

21st Century education
systems thinking
growth mindset
setting and maintaining high expectations
leading change
social emotional learning
distance learning
equity and access
multi-district collaboration

Exemplary Practices in Educational Leadership Conference (EPC)

November 1, 2022 (Held live, in person)

2022 Theme: Developing Curious Minds for the 21st Century

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Kenneth Wesson

Kenneth Wesson photo Speaks throughout the world on the neuroscience of learning, emotional impacts on learning and methods for creating 21st C. PK-16 classrooms and learning environments that are "brain-considerate." Current popular significant topics include STEM/STEAM/ST2REAM, access and equity, brain compatible learning environments, preparing the “whole child” for college and/or a career, design and engineering, social-emotional learning and impact of stress on learng, and 21st C. learning safe spaces.

--Launched first U.S and international Dubai STEM conferences as keynote speaker
--Member of Scientists without Borders and advisory board member Korean Institute of Brain Science, Kids at Science, and International Association of STEM Leaders.
--Featured in PBS specials on human learning and the teenage brain.
--Who’s Who Lifetime Achievement Award. (2017)
--Collaborates with educational association in Africa (AISA), South America (AASSA), the Central and Eastern Europe (CEESA), East Asia Regional Council (EARCOS), and the Near East South Asia (NESA)

Kenneth Wesson with students

“Each year, new findings in cognitive psychology and neuroscience will be infused into teacher preparation, curriculum, instruction, student assessment, and the classroom environment. The works of Kenneth Wesson (Brain-considerate Learning has been influential in reshaping the school classroom" of the future.” Forecasting Independent Education to 2025 NSIA

Dr. Kenneth Wesson’s latest articles, just to name a few, include:

Saber Toothed Tigers and Stressed-Out Students: An examination of the neuroscience behind safe secure learning environments; “Emotions and Education: How Children Feel Affects How They Learn” “STEM Branches Out: Preparing for the jobs of the future”; “Neuroplasticity: The Effects of Experience on the Brain”; “Brain-STEM: Using Interdisciplinarity to Improve Our Minds and Our Schools”; “From STEM to ST2REAM: Reassembling our Disaggregated Curriculum”; “Minds, Models and Maps: Visualizing Science”; “Learning and Memory: How Do We Remember and Why Do We Often Forget?”; NSTA Reports: “Brain-considerate Learning”; “What Recent Brain Research Tells Us About Learning.”