Teaching for Democracy: Navigating Civic Responsibility & Policy in Education
2025 Bill and Linda Tubbs Teaching Connections
Will the newly proposed social studies standards prepare students to be active participants in our American democracy?
The Bill and Linda Tubbs Teaching Connections will examine contemporary efforts to cultivate civic literacy, civil discourse, and student agency among K-12 students and have a special focus on the new Iowa Social Studies standards.
Join the discussion on Oct. 31, 2025, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Schindler Education Center at the University of Northern Iowa College of Education. A light lunch is included at this free event.
Keynote speaker Beth Ratway will invite the audience to: Reimagine Standards for a Stronger Democracy: Lessons Learned from Social Studies Standards Revisions. Ratway was the social studies consultant for the Wisconsin Department of Public Education and a High School social studies educator, she now works in the education statistics program at American Institutes for Research (AIR) as a principal technical consultant.
Additional tracks will offer a deeper dive into policy creation or further explore practical applications in K-12 classrooms.
Who should attend:
This professional learning opportunity is open to UNI faculty, staff and pre-service students. In addition, school and district administrators, teacher leaders and practicing teachers are encouraged to attend.
Questions? Contact coe-events@uni.edu.
Schedule At-A-Glance
9 to 9:15 a.m. -- Welcome and Introduction (SEC 220)
9:15 to 10:15 a.m. -- Keynote Speaker (SEC 220)
Reimagining Standards for a Stronger Democracy: Lessons Learned from Social Studies Standards Revisions
Beth Ratway, principal technical assistant, American Institutes for Research (AIR)
Choose your track:
Practical Applications (SEC 216)
10:20 - 11:10 a.m.
-OR-
Dive into Policy Creation (SEC 220)
10:20 - 11:10 a.m.
11:15 a.m.- Noon (SEC 220)
Closing Panel with Q&A
Noon to 1 p.m. -- Lunch and Networking
About the Conference
Begun in 2017, this initiative is an annual professional development conference which was renamed in 2019 to reflect the generous donations of Bill and Linda Tubbs to the UNI Foundation. This free, professional development opportunity is intended to provide pre-service teachers, practicing teachers, teacher leaders and other interested colleagues to come together for inspiring professional growth through dialogue and engagement.
Recent speakers and topics have included:
Fall 2024: A half-day on-site conference "The Future of Teaching"
Fall 2023: A full day on-site conference, "LGBTQ+ Inclusivity in Education."
Fall 2022: A half-day virtual conference, "A Day in the life of PreK-12 Teachers in 2022" (Watch Day 1; Watch Day 2)
Fall 2021: A one-day virtual conference, "Teaching and Learning Through a Pandemic."
Fall 2020: A one-day virtual conference, "ACEs: Building Trauma-Sensitive Communities."
January 2020: A two-day conference, "Meeting the Needs of Emergent Bilingual Students and Families."
February 2019: A two-and-a-half day program focused on non-traditional delivery of educational programs, education in the nonprofit setting, youth development and STEM education, featuring alumna Becky Wolfe, M.Ed.
Planning committee
The COE Faculty Senate leads the planning for this event. This year's committee includes: Dana Atwood-Blaine, Elementary and Middle Level Education; Carolyn Weber, Elementary and Middle Level Education; Jenny Connolly, CATS Office; Sunni Kegebein, COE Development/Foundation; Amy Curley, Dean’s Office/Events.