NM PED 2026 Literacy and Humanities Summer Conference

NM PED Literacy and Humanities Summer Conference

New Mexico Public Education Department 2026 Summer Literacy and Humanities Conference – The Power of Progress: Building on our Literacy Success!

The New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) invites you to the 2026 Summer Literacy and Humanities Conference on June 3 and 4 at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, NM. This year’s theme is The Power of Progress: Building on our Literacy Success! The selection of this theme comes off the heels of the release of the most recent statewide summative assessment results, which revealed significant gains in literacy proficiency across the state. These results are a testament to the hard work and determination of our students, teachers, administrators, and families.

At this year’s conference, attendees will hear from esteemed keynote presenters, national practitioners and researchers, and New Mexico educators and administrators in a variety of breakout sessions, workshops, and panel discussions. This conference will provide us all with an opportunity to come together to celebrate our literacy success, learn new strategies and further our knowledge, and connect and share ideas with our colleagues and national education partners. We look forward to you joining us for what we believe will be an incredible 2 days!

We are excited to announce both keynote presenters alongside the release of registration this year!

Day 1 – Wednesday, June 3, 2026: Mickey Smith Jr.

Mickey Smith Jr. is a Grammy Music Educator Award winner, 8-time Teacher of the Year, and full-time educator who helps staff reconnect with the purpose behind their profession. When he is not working in his classroom as a full-time teacher at a K–12 preparatory school, he spends time delivering his unique combination of message and music with thousands of students and a teacher, all-state conductor, and clinician. Additionally, he also travels across the country to hundreds of educational conferences, school district meetings, and leadership development stages to share his “Keep On Going” approach. Mickey seeks to empower educators to build genuine relationships with students in order to discover the unique sound of every child in their class. Throughout Mickey’s career, he has experienced firsthand that every child is just one sound adult away from achieving success. He believes that modern day teaching is a relationship-based approach, and that more than ever, teaching cannot simply be about subject matter, but also about showing students that they matter.

https://mickeysmithjr.com/

Day 2 – Thursday, June 4, 2026: Dr. Timothy Shanahan

Timothy Shanahan is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chi­cago. Previously, he was director of reading for the Chicago Public Schools, and Visiting Research Professor at Queens University, Belfast, Northern Ireland. He is author/editor of more than 300 publications including the book, Leveled Reading, Leveled Lives (Harvard Education Press, 2025). His research emphasizes the connections between learning to read and learning to write, literacy in the disciplines, and improvement of reading achievement. He was recently recognized as one of the top 2% of scientists in the world, according to a study published by Stanford University. He played a leading role in the National Reading Panel, and chaired two other federal research panels (National Early Literacy Panel, National Literacy Panel on Language Minority Children and Youth). Shanahan has received several prominent awards for his teaching, research, and public research. He was inducted to the Reading Hall of Fame in 2007, and is a former first-grade teacher.

For more information, visit his website: www.shanahanonliteracy.com

To access Dr. Shanahan's podcast, visit him on spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5nahC8HVAk642cy7L0l9zB