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

10:15 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

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

2:30 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