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Proposal Submission

Submit a MELEd Proposal
MELEd Proposal Submission Form (PDF), for reference

Preparing your Proposal

Check out this great presentation from MELEd by MinneTESOL’s own Debbie Hadas and Bonnie Swierzbin. They give some great advice to consider as you prepare your presentation.

 

Presentation Types

  • Workshop or Panel (90 minutes)
    A workshop provides participants with a “hands on” experience in developing methods or materials, analyzing research data, or solving a specific research/teaching problem. In a workshop, there is very little lecturing; rather, the emphasis is on audience involvement. A panel explores a specific issue from the differing points of view expressed by participants.
  • Demonstration or Presentation (60 minutes)
    A demonstration describes or shows audience members how to do something, e.g. a technique for teaching or testing language which affects development of one or more language skills. A presentation is designed for sharing a variety of aspects of teaching, e.g. a successful teaching strategy, activities, curriculum ideas and materials.
  • Paper or Presentation (45 minutes)
    A presentation is designed for sharing a variety of aspects of teaching, e.g. a successful teaching strategy, activities, curriculum ideas and materials. A summary of action research or a graduate thesis or other paper would also be appropriate for this option. This is also a great option for graduate students or other newer presenters!

How will proposals be rated?
The rubric used for judging the proposals is below.

All proposal submissions will be blind reviewed. Do not include your name in the summary or abstract of your proposal.  Including your name in the summary or in the abstract will automatically exclude your proposal from consideration.  All proposal reviewers will use the evaluation criteria and scoring rubric below. Total possible score is based on a scale of 15 points.

Criterion Excellent/5 Good/4 Satisfactory/3 Fair/2 Poor/1

1

 Are the proposal abstract and title clearly written? (The abstract should weigh more heavily than the title in rating the proposal.) The proposal is succinctly written and the title clearly describes the session. The proposal is clearly written and the title clearly describes the session. The proposal is adequately written and the title generally describes what the session will entail. The proposal needs some additional work. The title may or may not describe what the session will entail. The proposal clearly needs significant work. The title may or may not describe what the session will entail.

2

 Is the proposed topic relevant, interesting and useful to all or some of the MinneTESOL conference attendees? The proposal represents issues of immediate relevance, interest and usefulness to many MinneTESOL conference attendees. The proposal is timely, interesting and useful for many MinneTESOL conference attendees OR is immediately relevant and very useful to a smaller, possibly underserved[1] group of attendees. The proposal is timely, interesting and useful for some MinneTESOL conference attendees. The proposal’s topic is less timely or of little use or interest to MinneTESOL conference attendees. The proposal’s topic is irrelevant and of no use or interest to the MinneTESOL conference attendees.

3

 Is the session based on best/recommended practice, does it add to attendees’ foundational knowledge or does it present current research within the ESL field? The session is solidly based on best or recommended practice, adds to important foundational knowledge or presents high quality current research in the ESL field. The session is based on best  or recommended practice, adds foundational knowledge or presents current research in the ESL field. The session makes some mention of best or recommended practice, foundational knowledge or current research. The session refers only to historically established practices, common foundational knowledge or research > 10 years old. The session refers to few practices, little foundational knowledge or few research contributions in the ESL field.
[1] Examples of underserved groups include rural educators with few resources, tutors, and teachers of workplace English.

Exhibitors

You are invited to exhibit at the Minnesota English Learner Education Conference, a partnership between MinneTESOL and the Minnesota Department of Education. This year’s MELEd Conference will be held at the Saint Paul RiverCentre.

You are invited to participate on November 16-18, 2023. Thursday, November 16 is the MN EL Coordinator meeting and Migrant Education meeting. The general conference is November 17-18.

We estimate that over 1,000 participants from Minnesota and surrounding states will attend this year’s conference. The participants come from all areas of ESL, Bilingual and Migrant Education. Members of our organization teach in early learning, elementary, middle school, secondary, college, and adult programs. In addition to instructors, conference attendees include students preparing to teach, paraprofessionals, volunteers, refugee service providers, administrators and teacher educators.

Click here for MELEd Sponsorship Options.

We welcome your active participation as we host Minnesota’s ESL, Bilingual and Migrant Education teachers at this excellent conference! This is a great time to increase your company’s involvement in our annual conference.

As always, we have set aside time in the program for conference attendees to visit your exhibits. The exhibit area for the general conference at the Saint Paul RiverCentre is a wide, well-lit, comfortable area. Please plan for HIGH traffic from conference attendees in this large and welcoming space.