#MCEC2024 Conference
School Safety: What Works? 

11.22.24 | Four Points by Sheraton | ​Norwood, MA

Call for Proposals

School safety affects all students, teachers, specialists, staff, and administrators. Safe schools promote protection from violence, exposure to weapons and threats, bullying and harassment, illegal substances, and other emergencies/events.  School safety is critically important for school climate, and linked to improved student and school outcomes. We look forward to receiving your proposals on creating safe and supportive school environments!

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL

Presenter Information

General Information 

• Proposals must be submitted online by May 30th, 2024. Mailed, faxed, or late proposals will not be considered. 
• Notification will occur by June 15th. Accepted concurrent sessions will be scheduled between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm on Friday, November 22, 2024. 
• Accepted presenters must RSVP by registering before June 30th, 2024 in order to expedite the release of our schedule. Presenters not registered by June 30th will relinquish their spot in the program. Most years we develop a waitlist given the number of proposals we receive. 
• MCEC provides all presentation rooms with an LCD projector and screen at no charge to presenters. All other A/V equipment (e.g. laptop computers, speakers, adapters, etc.) must be brought by presenters. 
• MCEC does not reimburse presenters for expenses associated with the conference, including travel, hotel, cost of producing handouts, or other expenses. We do use a digital system and require upload of materials for accessibility purposes. 

Important Dates 

Feb 1:         Proposal system opens
May 30:      Proposal system closes 
June 15:     Presenter notification
June 30:    Presenter RSVP (including registration) 
July 15:      Full schedule released
Oct 1:         Presenters must upload slides to conference repository

Program Details

The 2024 conference focuses School Safety and will highlight three topic strands related to School Safety.  Presenters who offer research, pedagogical insights, expertise, and relevant content aligned with our mission are desired. We encourage self-advocate presenters.
*Please note we do not accept presentations by individuals or companies that are designed to feature and promote specific products and services.

• Strand A: School Violence – This strand is focused on facilitating greater knowledge, safety, practices, and proactive measures to prevent school violence, including gun, weapon, and physical violence. 
• Strand B: Bullying and Harassment - This strand is focused on facilitating greater knowledge, safety, practices, and proactive measures to prevent bullying and harassment and promote improved peer interactions.
• Stand C: Student Safety - This strand is focused on facilitating greater knowledge, safety, practices, and proactive measures to prevent teen depression, self-harm, and suicide. 

All proposals will be submitted online. The online proposal submission system will require the following information:

Presenter Information 

• All presenters must be included in the proposal when it is submitted, including names, any affiliation, email, and a 30-word bio for each presenter. ​
• Lead Presenter: The person responsible for coordinating the presentation, notifying the other presenters of the proposal’s status (e.g. receipt, acceptance or rejection, and, if accepted, scheduled time and location of presentation), and ensuring that all presenters register for the conference by the deadline. 
• Presenter: Additional presenters who will participate in the session. 

Topic Strand

•  Choose one topic strand that best suits your proposal. 

Session Type

• Practice-Oriented Proposal - A session that is oriented toward teaching practice. Workshops provide participants the opportunity to actively participate. Emphasis on providing hands-on experience. (50 minutes) 
• Paper Proposal - Papers should be based on current research-to-practice connections. They should provide a practical benefit to the audience. (50 minutes). Papers in this section may be grouped into symposia with 3 papers (12 min/presenter).
• Poster Proposal - We welcome the submission of abstracts for poster presentations that correspond with the conference theme & strands.

Session Title

• Title of your presentation (15 words max). 
• The title should accurately reflect the content and be clear to the intended audience. 

Abstract

• The abstract is a summary of the session that appears in the conference program (50 words max). 
• Conference participants use the abstract to help decide which sessions to attend. It must be carefully written to draw the most appropriate audience to the presentation. 
• Spell out any acronyms or abbreviations that may not be familiar to all conference participants. 

Session Description
A description of the presentation  (500 words max) which includes:

• a short rationale 
• participant outcomes 
• theoretical orientation and research supporting the presentation
• an explanation of how outcomes will be achieved with activities or content to be presented