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ZERO TO THREE LEARN Conference 2025

Baltimore, MD — October 8-9, 2025

 

Call for Proposals 

Welcome to the ZERO TO THREE LEARN Conference proposal submission page. 

ZERO TO THREE’s LEARN Conference is the go-to event for professionals from across the early childhood field seeking to advance their knowledge and practice. The LEARN Conference provides a range of learning experiences designed to offer them the latest research, promising practices, and policy strategies. 

The 2025 LEARN Conference will be held in Baltimore, MD on October 8-9, 2025.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION DEADLINE: December 13, 2024, 11:59 PM PST. 
All notifications will be made by the end of February 2025.

ZERO TO THREE invites four types of proposals for the 2025 LEARN Conference:

  1. Poster Presentations
    • Poster Presentations will be displayed throughout the LEARN Conference with designated live Q&A times.
    • Poster Presentations use text and graphics to share a concise visual presentation of (A) research concepts and questions, studies, and/or findings; or (B) the story of field knowledge, models, processes or other implementation projects, and/or lessons learned.
  2. Baby Talks (grouped 15-minute presentations & discussion) 
    • Baby Talks are rapid-paced sessions with presentations summarizing one powerful idea and teeing-up one related question or consideration for discussion.
    • Selected proposals will be presented in groups of 2; ZERO TO THREE will group the 2 presentations by themes.
    • Baby Talk Sessions are a total of 60 minutes; two 15-minute presentations with 30 minutes of discussion.
  3.  Lecture Sessions (60-minute presentations)
    • Lecture Sessions present new information or evolving understandings about a specific topic, process, or issue.
    • Lectures are 60 minutes of content presentation or information sharing, with Q&A incorporated if/as proposed and feasible.
    • HealthySteps specific submissions should be grounded in integrated pediatric care, and may focus on the domains from the HealthySteps Specialist Competencies, HealthySteps implementation, Continuous Quality Improvement, and/or addressing and advancing equity.
  4. Issue Intensives (120-minute presentations & interactive activities)
    • Issue Intensives take a deep dive focus on a topic, process, or issue at an advanced level with opportunities for learners to explore ways to use and apply the content in their work.
    •  Issue Intensives include a mixture of presentation/information sharing to set context and interactive activities (e.g., Q&A, framed discussions, small group activities, polls, guided individual reflection). Interactive activities should account for at least 50% of Issue Intensives.
    • Issue Intensives are delivered in 2-parts, each 60 minutes for a total of 120 minutes (2 hours).
    • HealthySteps specific submissions should be grounded in integrated pediatric care, and may focus on the domains from the HealthySteps Specialist Competencies, HealthySteps implementation, Continuous Quality Improvement, and/or addressing and advancing equity.

Proposals should feature content that is: (1) relevant to professionals working with and on behalf of children under 5 years old (including those in the prenatal period) and their families, (2) grounded in the domains from the ZERO TO THREE Competencies for Prenatal to Age 5 Professionals™, and (3) focused on addressing and advancing equity. All presentations must be educational in nature and may not be used to market products or services.

Each year ZERO TO THREE receives several hundred responses to its Call for Proposals with a limited number of slots available for accepted session proposals. We are pleased to feature the valuable work being done in the early childhood field as much as possible at the ZERO TO THREE LEARN Conference. All notifications will be made by the end of February 2025.

Review Process Overview 

ZERO TO THREE uses a two-part review process.

Part 1: Peer Review

Proposals are evaluated by ZERO TO THREE staff, HealthySteps National Office staff, and ZERO TO THREE fellows and members who are subject matter specialists with specific expertise in the ZERO TO THREE Competencies for Prenatal to Age 5 (P-5) Professionals™ and HealthySteps Specialist Competencies as applicable. 

Peer review evaluation criteria:

  1. Relevance of proposed content to inform field knowledge and enhance practice;
  2. Alignment with the ZERO TO THREE Competencies for Prenatal to Age 5 (P-5) Professionals™ domains or HealthySteps Specialist Competencies ;as applicable, and ;
  3. Clarity on how the session will include a focus on addressing and advancing equity. 

Part 2: Quality Assurance and Program Balance Review

A secondary review by the ZERO TO THREE LEARN Conference leadership is made to ensure that all review processes were followed and that the overall program content is well-balanced and relevant to the LEARN Conference audiences. 

Presenter Information and Requirements 

  • Number of Presenters: To support high-quality interactive programming, each presentation is limited to no more than three (3) presenters. There is no limit to the number of authors or contributors for a poster; up to three authors/contributors may answer questions about their poster during the designated time(s).
  • Schedule: All presenters must agree to participate in-person at assigned dates and times. Any special scheduling requests should be made at the time of acceptance, but we cannot guarantee that all requests can be accommodated. 
  • Presenter Support: Guidance to support session planning and orientation to the LEARN Conference are provided, but presenters should carefully reflect on their ability to design and deliver their session before they offer a proposal. 
  • Presentation Materials: Presenters will be required to upload supporting presentation materials (e.g., PowerPoint deck, articles, or other handouts) to be shared with attendees on the conference mobile app.  
  • Registration: All presenters are required to complete a speaker agreement and pay registration fees for the conference. We are pleased to offer a discounted registration fee of $285 to honor presenter’s contributions to the conference.  
  • Disclosure: All presenters will be required to: 
    • Verify that all reference materials that will be used are current and that all education materials are accurate; 
    • Verify that all the materials to be used, including handout materials, are free of any liens or encumbrances, or that all necessary permissions and/or licenses have been secured for their use; and 
    • Disclose any proprietary interest in products, instruments, devices, services, or materials discussed in the session. 
  • Learner Objectives: At the beginning and end of each session (excluding Poster Presentations), presenters are required to review session learner objectives. Please note: if your session is selected you will be required to create assessment questions/answers that provide evidence of learner objective achievement.

Click here to sign-in or create an account and begin your application.

Submitting your proposal will take approximately 30-60 minutes to complete. The application includes each step of the submission process, prompting you for all required information. If you cannot complete the entire submission process at one time, the online system allows you to save a draft, exit the system, and log back in to complete it.