7:00 AM -- 2:30 PM
National Forum Registration Desk (session #300)

7:00 AM -- 2:30 PM
Media Office (session #310)

7:00 AM -- 2:30 PM
Cyber Cafe (session #320)

7:30 AM -- 9:30 AM
James Bryant Conant Award Breakfast (session #340)
Minnesota Governor and 2008-10 ECS Chair Tim Pawlenty will present the 2008 James Bryant Conant Award to Ron Wolk, chairman of Big Picture Company and former founding editor of Education Week. Named in memory of ECS' co-founder, the award is given to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to American education. Screening of the James Bryant Conant: The Man and the Award, courtesy of Pearson. Buffet Breakfast will be served from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.

PARTICIPANTS
	Ron Wolk, Chairman, Big Picture Company Editorial Projects in Education, Rhode Island

9:30 AM -- 10:00 AM
Learning What Works (session #341)
Vicki Phillips will share the Foundation's lessons learned from 8 years working to improve graduation rates and college readiness, and the implications for their strategy moving forward.

PARTICIPANTS
	Vicki L. Phillips, Director, Education Division, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Washington

10:00 AM -- 10:15 AM
AM Break (session #345)

10:15 AM -- 12:15 PM
Creating the 21st Century Community College: Aligning Policy and Practice to Increase Student Success and Meet Workforce Needs (session #348)
Fulfilling expectations to maintain access, ensure success and respond to regional workforce needs in a time of limited resources requires community colleges to be more innovative and entrepreneurial. This session will examine how community colleges can align their efforts to effectively balance their commitment to access, success and workforce preparation. Those in attendance will examine how policymakers, community college leaders and business leaders can work together to develop policy and implement strategies to achieve all three of these important goals.

PARTICIPANTS
	Julian L. Alssid, Executive Director, Workforce Strategy Center, New York
	Richard Kazis, Senior Vice President, Jobs For The Future, Massachusetts
	John B. Lee, President, JBL Associates, Inc., Maryland
	Paul W. Sechrist, President, Oklahoma City Community College, Oklahoma

10:15 AM -- 12:15 PM
No More Parallel Play: Governors’ Symposia on Early Learning and the Early Grades (session #346)
The roots of children’s academic success or failure are already firmly in place by grade 3. Even gains made by many children in high-quality pre-K programs can fade if they are not supported by continued high-quality learning experiences in the early elementary years. Policies and practice that effectively align early learning and the early grades (P-3) represent effective strategies for closing the achievement gap. These policies and practices are emerging in some pioneering states as part of an enlarged focus on school readiness that links two separate and distinct systems—early care and education, and public education. Governors in several states have convened key policymakers and education leaders from early care and education, and K-12 education to work together to create strategies to effectively link systems through transition and alignment. This session highlights the proceedings, outcomes and lessons learned from these Governor’s Summits on Early Learning and the Early Grades.

PARTICIPANTS
	Tony Berkley, Evaluation Manager, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Michigan
	Harriet Dichter, Deputy Secretary, Office of Child Development and Early Learning, Pennsylvania Departments of Education and Public Welfare, Pennsylvania
	Janice M. Gruendel, Governor's Senior Policy Advisor, Children and Youth Co-Chair Early Childhood Education Cabinet, Office of Govenor M. Jodi Rell, Connecticut
	Sharon Lynn Kagan, Marx Professor of Early Childhood and Family Policy, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York
	Kristie Kauerz, Early Childhood/P-3 Policy Director, Office of Lieutenant Governor Barbara O'Brien, Colorado
	Eva Lester, Early Childhood Policy Advisor, Division of School Readiness, Office of Governor Janet Napolitano, Arizona
	Sandy Miller, Director, Office of Early Childhood Education, Ohio Department of Education, Ohio

10:15 AM -- 12:15 PM
Preparing and Supporting Teachers for Urban Schools (session #347)
The nation’s education system continues to be plagued by a gap in academic achievement between students of different racial/ethnic groups. Many lower performing students are enrolled in urban schools. One challenge faced by many of these schools is how best to prepare quality teachers for urban settings and support them as they begin their careers. This session will present two programs that are addressing this challenge through unique partnerships between colleges and urban K-12 schools. The process of establishing these programs, necessary elements and results of these efforts will be presented along with a “view from within” by a distinguished teacher grappling with the challenges of teaching in an urban setting.

PARTICIPANTS
	Neema Avashia, Teacher, John W. McCormack Middle School, Massachusetts
	Jennifer Frish, Kindergarten Teacher, Chicago Public Schools, Illinois
	Liam S. Goldrick, Director of Policy, New Teacher Center at UCSC, Wisconsin
	Jesse Solomon, Director, Boston Teacher Residency, Massachusetts
	Amy Treadwell, Induction Coach, Chicago Public Schools, Illinois
	Lisa Vahey, Director, Chicago New Teacher Center, California

10:15 AM -- 12:15 PM
Using Growth Models to Measure Student Performance (session #349)
Nine states are involved in a pilot project to use "growth models" to supplement the current adequate yearly progress (AYP) approach for measuring school performance under No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The U.S. Department of Education has extended this option to any state that meets specific criteria. This working session will help participants understand the purposes and types of growth models, the necessary components to put in place to sustain such an approach, and how growth models can be used to move beyond NCLB student proficiency goals to ensure students are ready for college and work. Participants will have the opportunity to work with representatives from the pilot states and accountability experts to develop plans for growth models in their own states.

PARTICIPANTS
	Chrys Dougherty, Director of Research, National Center for Educational Accountability, Texas
	Charity Smith, Assistant Director of Accountability, Arkansas Department of Education, Arkansas
	Robin R. Taylor, Associate Secretary of Education, Assessment and Accountability, Delaware Department of Education, Delaware

12:15 PM -- 12:30 PM
Break (session #350)

12:30 PM -- 2:15 PM
Benchmarking Internationally: The Need Confronts the Reality (session #355)
Too few students are leaving the K-12 system ready for college and the global economy, yet the public appears to fear an overemphasis on test scores and a decrease in attention paid to the whole child. This session provides both the rationale and strategies states can take to benchmark to international standards while protecting the public’s traditional commitment to a comprehensive education. The session will raise and address the following questions: · How can we balance a tradition of local control with the need for international level expectations? · How can states keep from reinventing the wheel? · How can assessments be aligned to highest standards without great cost in dollars or in testing time? · What does it take to improve the balance of liberal education expectations with application of knowledge?

PARTICIPANTS
	Andreas Schleicher, Directorate for Education, Indicators and Analysis Division, OECD, France

2:15 PM -- 2:30 PM
PM Break (session #360)

2:30 PM -- 5:30 PM
In It to Win It – High-Leverage (Yet Often Overlooked) Elements of P-20 Reform (session #370)
While virtually every state has taken on the challenge of P-16 or P-20 reform — either through the creation of a P-20 council or through state policy efforts — relatively few states have adequately addressed the essential components of (1) comprehensive, aligned data systems; (2) the "P" in P-20; and (3) the involvement of professional schools (the 17-20 in P-20). This highly interactive session will provide information on what states need to address in each of these components to enhance the success of P-20 efforts.

PARTICIPANTS
	Kristie Kauerz, Early Childhood/P-3 Policy Director, Office of Lieutenant Governor Barbara O'Brien, Colorado
	Michael W. Kirst, Emeritus Professor for Education and Business Administration, Stanford University, California
	Sarah E. Redfield, Professor of Law, Education Law Institute, Franklin Pierce Law Center, Maine; member, ECS Steering Committee and ECS Commissioner