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Challenge for All
Summit 2027

The Science of Potential

The 9th Annual Virtual

February 5 & 6, 2027

Day 1: 1:00 pm – 7:00 pm ICT (Indochina Time)
Day 2: 1:00 pm – 7:00 pm ICT (Indochina Time)

Find out when the Summit takes place in your local time here.

Register For the CFA Summit!
Register for the EmpowerEd Strand!

Session Previews

    What Does It Take to Grow Potential?

    Every school makes decisions about how to identify, place, and challenge its most able learners. This year’s theme for the CFA Summit 2027 is The Science of Potential, and we’re looking at the research behind those decisions and what it means for classrooms.

    Sessions at the Summit are organized into three strands: Evidence-Based Pathways to Excellence, Precision Strategies for Unlocking Talent, and Nurturing Cognitive & Affective Growth. Together, they move from the research behind program decisions, to the classroom strategies that put it into practice, to the social, emotional, and intellectual development of the learners at the center of it all. Across these strands, we’ll explore a wide range of practices and questions that shape how highly able students learn and grow. Among them are acceleration, ability grouping, cluster grouping, strategic grouping, and curriculum compacting: when each one works, for whom, and what it takes to implement well.

    We’ll also take a closer look at how intelligence is measured, including how assessments such as CAT4 and CogAT compare, what their scores can and can’t tell us, and how that data can guide meaningful next steps for students. Check out the session previews to see the full range of topics at this year’s CFA Summit.

    Where top international schools and educators
    come to advance
    highly able
    learner education

    ISC Research and NFI’s international school survey found that while most international schools (74%) admit students with gifts and talents, only 29.27% report satisfaction with their provision for gifted and talented students (ISC Research, 2020).

    The intention of our annual Challenge for All Summit is to provide an opportunity for schools to learn from some of the leaders in the field and to support international schools as they navigate their journey towards improving intentional support for highly able/gifted learners.

    Challenge for All Summit | Thailand, Bangkok

    What the Challenge for All Summit offers

    Challenge for All Summit | Virtual Edition

    Challenge for All Summit | Cairo, Egypt

    • From talent development frameworks and identification in context to building high ability programs from the ground up, sessions are led by practitioners with deep, field-tested expertise.

    • Explore concrete approaches to differentiation, extension, and project-based learning that work within real classroom conditions.

    • Engage with peers navigating the same challenges. This includes strategic planning for inclusive excellence to designing personalised pathways for highly capable learners. The Summit is structured to make space for dialogue.

    • Sessions draw on current research and practice across programming models, psychoeducational evaluation, twice-exceptional learner profiles, multilingual learners, and the social-emotional dimensions of giftedness, giving you a connected, evidence-informed picture.

    • Every session will be available to watch after the event. Revisit complex ideas at your own pace and use them as a starting point for professional learning conversations within your school.

    • Whether you need to document continuing professional development or are working toward formal graduate credit through SUNY, the Summit supports your professional growth. Click here to learn more.

    EmpowerEd: Classroom Teaching Assistants & Learning Support Assistants Strand

    Designed for Learning Support Assistants & Classroom Teaching Assistants, this strand within the CFA Summit provides:

    • Small-group support & behavior management strategies

    • Recognizing giftedness & twice-exceptionality

    • Observation tools & equitable group work approaches

    • Professional growth & peer networking

    Learn more
    TA/LSA Registration for Friday & Saturday
    TA/LSA registration for Saturday Only

    Trusted by educators at leading international schools

    Worldwide Challenge for All: Country Representation for Previous CFA Summit Participants

    • “I was really impressed by the presenters who were not only experts, but also very down-to-earth and empathetic with some of us who are new to beginning a program or implementing these strategies.”

      —CFA Summit Participant

    • “I was provoked by one question posed: what is the goal, a student meeting standards or experiencing a year of growth? This question is at the core of how my school may need to reframe their thinking about our most able students.”

      —CFA Summit Participant

    • "The enthusiasm, the passion for the topic, really inspired me to want to support teachers and students."

      —CFA Summit Participant

    • "I liked that we had advisory groups. It was helpful to connect with them throughout the sessions to continue to debrief and share ideas."

      —CFA Summit Participant

    • “There was not just one best part but several; the parallel sessions, the resources, the advisory groups and I really liked how we ended with planning”

      —CFA Summit Participant

    Read all our CFA Summit Testimonials

    Get a taste of what's coming — watch a full session from a prior Summit, on us.

    Tell us a little about yourself and choose one session from three curated recordings. We'll send you the full recording with no strings attached.