ILLINOIS Business Education Association

Name: Susan Timm, IBEA 2021 Conference Chair FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: November 8, 2021

Boyles Presented Workshop on the Closing the Achievement Gap at Illinois Business Education Association’s Annual Conference

Patrice Boyles, Director for the Center for Teaching and Research Excellence and Associate Professor of Secondary Education at Chicago State University, recently presented at the 59th annual fall conference of the Illinois Business Education Association (IBEA): Adding Cultural Fluency to Your Briefcase. Over 100 business educators and other professionals from middle schools, high schools, community colleges, universities, and businesses across the state and beyond attended the annual event held virtually on November 4-5, where sessions were held to increase the knowledge and skills of school and district leaders and teachers.

Boyles in her workshop entitled Closing the Achievement Gap with Culturally-Relevant, Technology-Based Activities explained that in response to addressing the existing achievement gap, a plethora of educational technologies have emerged to address social and cultural issues. She shared that educational technology can be used to help identify topics within students’ experiences and build on topical knowledge to explain significance in social justice issues, research, awareness and self-efficacy. Participants discovered how to promote engagement and learning in the classroom by incorporating culture throughout design and development of courses and assignments. By using Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), teachers understand interrelationships between technology, pedagogy, and content. Those in attendance were especially impressed by Boyles’s knowledge and enthusiasm.

In addition to Boyles’s workshop, the two-day conference featured 5 attention-grabbing Spotlight speakers, 29 additional breakout sessions, a number of hands-on opportunities for earning industry certifications, teacher round tables, an award ceremony, and more. Educators are able to earn Professional Development hours as they deepened their content knowledge and learned research-backed instructional strategies for enhancing student learning.

IBEA is a professional organization whose members represent educational institutions throughout Illinois. Since its formation in the mid-1930s, IBEA (originally known as Illinois Commercial Education Association) has promoted the study, development, and teaching of business and vocational education in all educational and business settings. Members meet at annual conferences to share information, to support research efforts, and to promote the practice and teaching of all areas of business, technology, and vocational education. The cooperative and engaging atmosphere also provides opportunities to share applied, theoretical, and strategic ideas. For further information about the IBEA, visit here.