Inquiry Matters

INQUIRY MATTERS has a rich history of nurturing inquiry for classroom instruction and ongoing, job-embedded professional development. The Center for Inquiry (CFI), a small school partnership between Richland School District Two and the University of South Carolina, gave birth to this unique conference in 2013. It is a FREE event, sponsored by the Center for Educational Partnerships (CEP) at USC and hosted by CFI. The conference is designed to inform and inspire pre-service and in-service teachers, coaches, and administrators across South Carolina and beyond. This distinguished spring conference is typically held on a Saturday toward the end of April. Over the years, INQUIRY MATTERS has gained popularity and momentum as a powerful professional development venue that inspires rigorous, authentic, inquiry-based instruction and assessment practices.

Teachers, coaches, and administrators flock to INQUIRY MATTERS because:

• Teachers are at the heart of the conference, just as they are at the heart of our profession.
• Classroom teachers and their students conduct authentic presentations in the context of real classrooms to show what teaching and learning through inquiry looks, sounds, and feels like.
• Presenters illuminate how students learn to inquire, communicate, and share their understandings as readers, writers, mathematicians, scientists, and social scientists.
• Students share their social action projects and service-learning engagements through exquisite, informative, and heartfelt exhibits.
• Teachers, coaches, administrators, and university partners demonstrate the power and potential of an inquiry stance for job-embedded, ongoing professional development.
• The conference foregrounds and honors our professional community’s brilliance, experience, and expertise.

Pre-service and in-service teachers, coaches, administrators, and university partners consistently rave about the content, form, and impact of INQUIRY MATTERS on their practice.

Year after year, participants describe it as being both informative & transformative with comments like:

• “I am speechless, actually. There is so much to carry back for improved practice and action.”
• “I learned that hope is a verb. I am energized, and my passion is stirred each time I attend this conference.”
• “The passion for education within this conference has inspired me to follow my dream of becoming an educator.”
• “Teaching students how to think is the most important job of teachers.”

• “I now feel more equipped to engage my mathematicians in meaningful number talks.  Also, I made connections with other professionals in order to receive support in teaching mathematicians as a first-year teacher!”
• “I loved all the connections made during the sessions.  Really enjoyed hearing different experiences from all the amazing teachers and coaches.”
• “I loved that the kids were involved today.  Quite powerful!”
• “It is always encouraging and inspiring to learn from peers who are passionate and who also know their content and their students. I was reminded to be mindful, deliberate and intentional in the preparation and delivery of lessons and activities, and most importantly, with the children in mind.”
• “Kidwatching is most important to develop relationships with your students, to teach them intentionally, systematically, and responsively.”
• “So thankful for the opportunities to observe the great things that are being done in public education!”
• “Hope, students @ core, coaching session was relevant and real!  The kids in opening, their projects, their presence…… and the closing…..WOW! I cried during the opening and I cried during the closing…..HOPE!”
• “Wonderful celebrations of engaging learning centered around making an impact on our world.”
• “Teach and learn literacy through inquiry!”
• “Integration can and should be happening all across your teaching day.”
• “This has me charged up even more. I am motivated with all that the facilitators taught. It was refreshing to attend a PD that really engaged me.”
• “I feel more confident in using inquiry in my classroom. There are reasonable and easily accessible ways to use inquiry.”

• “Inquiry is vital! Not only for students but teachers as well.”
• “WOW!  I didn’t think this experience would change me like it has.”
• “As a future teacher, I feel that this conference has helped me grow so much in my understanding of how to create a strong and culturally relevant classroom.”
• “Mathematizing Our World. I loved the idea of student math journals and how they are extremely student-centered, based on their strengths, needs, and interests. And the fact that students enjoy them!”

99% of attendees responded positively to the 2025 event. In response to the survey question, “Overall, how satisfied were you with the Inquiry Matters Conference?” 88% responded very satisfied with another 11% satisfied, continuing the positive trend that has become a hallmark of this event.