Leading up to the 58th Annual Conference and Exhibit Show, look in this space for a new "Previewing the Conference" program. Kathleen Burke, Director of ASCD Annual Conference, hosts a series of exciting interviews highlighting key issues and themes that ASCD members will discuss in San Francisco. Meet and hear the views of key conference participants — presented in streaming audio and text.

And if you haven't yet registered to attend the Annual Conference, do it today. Simply click here to go to the ASCD Annual Conference registration page.

The Multiple Intelligences of Reading and Writing: Making the Words Come Alive — An Interview with Author Thomas Armstrong

Kathleen Burke interviews author Thomas Armstrong who is slated to lead an Annual Conference workshop related to the multiple intelligences of literacy, the topic of his latest book published by the ASCD. Armstrong relates his own experience in rediscovering reading to his determination to help students acquire the reading and writing capabilities they need to "get to the good stuff."

ASCD Professional Development Institutes: Opportunities at the Annual Conference and Beyond - An Interview with ASCD's Ann Cunningham-Morris

Kathleen Burke interviews Ann Cunningham-Morris, who organizes ASCD's Professional Development Institutes, the Teaching and Learning Conference, and the ASCD Summer Conference. Ann is also responsible for the ASCD Faculty Program. Their discussion spans the extensive pre-conference institutes offered at this year's ASCD Annual Conference and plans for additional professional development institutes throughout the year.

"Igniting the Passion for Learning" — An Interview with ASCD President Peyton Williams

ASCD President Peyton Williams remarks that the past two decades have seen only limited attention to the interaction between the science and the art of teaching and its impact on transforming students. Rather, he says, educators need to be "igniting the passion for learning" — bringing together the teaching and the learning and instilling in students an abiding appreciation of why it's important to study and to learn. Kathleen Burke interviews Peyton Williams on this and other issues slated for discussion at the Annual Conference.

An Interview with Vermont Commissioner of Education Ray McNulty

Noted educator and ASCD leader Ray McNulty looks at the major issues facing education. In San Francisco, Ray McNulty and Tom Hoolihan will lead a workshop entitled "The No Child Left Behind Act: Challenges and Opportunities for Districts and Schools."

The Commercial Assault on Children and on School Academic Standards — Kathleen Burke Interviews Alex Molnar

Alex Molnar is Professor of Education Policy and the Director of the Education Policy Studies Laboratory at Arizona State University. He has authored numerous books and has served on the Board of Directors and the Urban Education Advisory Board for ASCD. In this "Previewing the Conference" interview, Professor Molanar will discuss trends in education. In particular, he and Kathleen Burke will discuss the dangers inherent in education increasingly becoming a commercial marketplace.