EVANSTON, Ill. - Media OutReach - 24 May 2019- A diverse array of experts from leading universities,research firms and nonprofit organizations met at Northwestern University toexplore how research findings may address inequities and improve practice ineducation on May 23-24 for the Yidan Prize ConferenceSeries: The Americas.

Welcoming remark by Dr Charles CHEN Yidan, Founder of the Yidan Prize at the Yidan Prize Conference Series: The Americas

Welcoming remark by Northwestern University President Morton SCHAPIRO at the Yidan Prize Conference Series: The Americas

Keynote address by Wendy KOPP, CEO and Co-founder, Teach for All at the Yidan Prize Conference Series: The Americas

The two 2018 Yidan Prize laureates, Professor Larry HEDGES and Professor Anant AGARWAL exchange insights with educators at the Yidan Prize Conference Series: The Americas 2019

Themed "The Future of Evidenceand Innovation in Education," the two-day conferenceexplored the future of educational innovation and the role evidence plays inimplementing educational ideals.

"So many people share the dream of making theworld a better place through education, and the vision and commitment of theYidan Prize is allowing us to take real action," said Northwestern UniversityPresident Morton Schapiro, who offered opening remarks at the conference.

"By establishing the world's largest prize ineducation, by recognizing the best work in the field and by creating a networkof regional conferences to build upon the work of its laureates, the foundationis improving the quality of education on a truly global scale, and so we arehonored to co-host the 2019 Yidan Prize Conference Series in the Americas," PresidentSchapiro said.

Founder of the Yidan Prize Dr. Charles Chen Yidantouched on educational innovation in his speech at the conference.

"The time is ripe for educators across theworld to learn from each other, and realize education innovation in our owncountry," Dr. Chen said. "At the Yidan Prize Conference Series: The Americas,we have the privilege to learn from the Yidan Prize Laureates 2018. I see hugepotential for educators to benefit and be inspired from some fruitful exchangesand collaborations with the Yidan Prize Laureates and high-quality nominees."

He added: "As we engage much deeperinnovative ideas on how education should look like in the future, exchanges ofthoughts and collaborations at a global level would become increasinglyimportant. I hope the Yidan Prize can be the platform that facilitates inspireddialogues."

The Yidan Prize is the world's largest prizein education. The 2018 laureates -- Larry Hedges and Anant Agarwal, Laureates ofthe Yidan Prize for Education Research and Yidan Prize for EducationDevelopment, respectively -- also took the opportunity to share their insightson the issues. In addition, the conference saw robust and fruitful discussionson the following topics: "Synthesizing Research Evidence," "Increasing Demandfor Research Evidence," "Expanding Access to Education," and "EvaluatingTechnological Innovation."

This year, the Yidan Prize Conference Series willvisit three continents to explorenew directions for research and highlight the work of the Yidan Prize Laureates.In March, the Europe edition was held successfully at Cambridge University,followed by The Americas edition at Northwestern May 23-24. The Asia Pacific edition will take place in Hong Kong on December 3, 2019.

To learn more about Yidan Prize and the YidanPrize Conference Series, please visit www.yidanprize.org.

About the Yidan Prize