FEBRUARY 22-23, 2016 | SHERATON GRAN

D SACR

AMENTO HOTEL | SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA

STRONGER TOGETHER:

TRANSFORMING OPPORTUNITY

FOR EVERY CHILD

THE EARLY LEARNING WATER COOLER CONFERENCE

Co-Sponsored by the California Department of Education

By uniting and working together, we can ensure that California’s children ages 0-5 benefit from access to quality early learning opportunities. These early years are crucial to every child’s overall development and well-being. Throughout the conference, national, state, and local experts will share their experiences and insights on a variety of early education topics and the impact that they have on our children. Speakers and panelists will:

• Underscore the importance of engaging elected officials and prioritizing early care and education in policy decisions to ensure proper investment

• Explore strategies and best practices that communities and community organizations have utilized to better prepare our children for long-term success

• Examine recent developments in transitional and expanded transitional kindergarten as a way of providing access to and educating California’s four and five year-olds

WE ARE EXCITED FOR OUR KEYNOTE SPEAKERS (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE):

• Dr. Patricia K. Kuhl, Co-Director, Institute for Learning & Brain Science & Bezos Family Foundation Endowed Chair of Early Childhood Education

• David B. Grusky, Executive Director, Stanford’s Center on Poverty & Inequality

• Paul Tough, New York Times Magazine Writer & Author of How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character

Speakers will offer perspectives on the current early learning policy environment and how California can most effectively contribute to policy change. The conference is designed as an opportunity for policy leaders, experts, First 5 county commissions, early learning teachers, and other early learning supporters to highlight success, strategies, and promising practices that meaningfully improve the lives of young children and their families.

WELCOME

WE LOOK FORWARD TO THE OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE, INFORM, AND INSPIRE YOU AT THE WATER COOLER.

DAY 1 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2016

DAY 2 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2016

STRO

NGER

TOGETHER: TRANSFORM

ING OPPORTUNITY FOR EVERY CHILD

AGENDA

DAY 2 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2016 (CONTINUED)

ERIC HEINS,President, California Teachers Association

SENATOR HANNAH-BETH JACKSON, Chair of the Women’s Legislative Caucus, California State Senate

DAVID KIRP, James D. Marver Professor of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley

ASSEMBLYMAN KEVIN MCCARTY, Chairman of Subcommittee No. 2 of Education Finance, California State Assembly

MODERATOR: KIM PATTILLO BROWNSON, Managing Director, Policy & Advocacy, Advancement Project

JEFF BELL, Program Budget Manager, California Department of Finance

DEBORAH KONG, Executive Director, Early Edge California

KAREN MANSHIP, Senior Researcher for the American Institutes for Research

DEAN TAGAWA, Administrator for Early Education, Los Angeles Unified School District

MODERATOR: ERIN GABEL, Deputy Director, First 5 California

*Agenda Subject to Change

PATRICIA K. KUHL, PHD.Co-Director for the Institute for Learning & Brain Science, Bezos Family Foundation Endowed Chair of Early Childhood Education, University of Washington

DAVID B. GRUSKYExecutive Director, Stanford Center on Povery & Inequality

PAUL TOUGHNew York Times Magazine Writer, Author

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Dr. Patricia K. Kuhl holds the Bezos Family Foundation Endowed Chair in Early Childhood Learning and is Co-Director of the UW Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, Director of the University of Washington’s NSF Science of Learning Center, and Professor of Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle. She is internationally recognized for her research on early language and bilingual brain development, for pioneering brain measures on young children, and studies that show how young children learn. She presented her work at two White House conferences (Clinton White House in 1997 and Bush White House in 2001). Dr. Kuhl is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Rodin Academy, and the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Acoustical Society of America, the American Psychological Society, and the Cognitive Science Society. Dr. Kuhl was awarded the Silver Medal of the Acoustical Society of America in 1997. She received the University of Washington’s Faculty Lectureship Award in 1998. In 2005, she was awarded the Kenneth Craik Research Award from Cambridge University, and in 2007, the University of Minnesota’s Outstanding Achievement Award. In Paris in 2008, Dr. Kuhl was awarded

the Gold Medal of the Acoustical Society of America for her work on early learning and brain development. In November 2011 in Paris, Dr. Kuhl was awarded the IPSEN Foundation’s Jean-Louis Signoret Neuropsychology Prize, and in 2013 she received the William James Lifetime Achievement award. In 2014, Dr. Kuhl was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Stockholm University, and in 2015 the George A. Miller Prize in Cognitive Neuroscience. Dr. Kuhl is co-author of The Scientist in the Crib: Minds, Brains, and How Children Learn (Harper Collins). Dr. Kuhl’s TED talk can be viewed at: http://www.ted.com/talks/patricia_kuhl_the_linguistic_genius_of_babies.html

David B. Grusky is Barbara Kimball Browning Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences, Director of the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality, and coeditor of Pathways Magazine. His recent books include Monitoring Social Mobility in the 21st Century (2015), Social Stratification (2014), Occupy the Future (2013), The New Gilded Age (2012), The Great Recession (2011), The Inequality Reader (2011), and The Inequality Puzzle (2010).

A contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine, Paul Tough is also the author of Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America, which focuses on the steps necessary to improve the lives and education of underserved children. Through the case study of the Harlem Children’s Zone, Tough describes the inspiring struggle to establish a way to combat poverty that could be replicated nationwide. Tough has also contributed to This American Life and The New Yorker, where he has honed his focus upon education, poverty, parenting, and politics. The film rights for his New York Times Magazine cover story “A Speck in the Sea,” about the rescue of fisherman John Aldridge, have been acquired by Harvey Weinstein for production by The Weinstein Company.

Our society currently places a great deal of emphasis on intelligence as the sole indicator of value in children’s education. But in this talk, Paul Tough lays it bare: we believe that success comes from those who score highest on tests, from preschool to SATs. Yet evidence indicates that our story here might be dead wrong. The work of a new generation of researchers and educators points to the fact that the qualities that have a better shot at indicating lifelong success are “non cognitive” or what we might refer to as “personality traits” such as: curiosity, conscientiousness, optimism, self-control, and grit. 

Using the tools of science, Tough peels back the mysteries of character and traces the links between early childhood neurological development and environment. By showing how “nature” and “nurture” are intertwined, Tough explores how childhood stresses modify life success and the surprising ways that parents do—and do not—prepare their children for adulthood. Tough helps us understand how early adversity affects childhood emotional, social, and cognitive development in ways that will carry on throughout their entire lives, and what we can do about it.

LINDA ASATOExecutive Director, California Child Care Resource & Referral Network

JEFF BELLProgram Budget Manager, California Department of Finance

SENATOR KEVIN DE LEÕNPresident pro Tem, California State Senate

SPEAKERS

Linda Asato has been with the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network since 2012. She brings over twenty years of successful public sector, non-profit management experience, and a lifetime commitment to child and family advocacy. She has extensive experience from community organizing to public administration, and organizational development and incorporates her ground up approach and community connections to the world of policy and public system support. Her work has included serving as Executive Director of Wu Yee Children’s Services in San Francisco, a multiservice and child care resource and referral agency, and working in the San Francisco Unified School District as Director of the Intergovernmental and School Linked Services. She also served as Chief Planner for the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Children, Youth and their Families.

Linda has served as Commissioner on the San Francisco Children and Families Commission (First 5 San Francisco) since 2011. She has also served as chair of various local planning bodies including the Early Childhood Interagency Council, the Mayor’s Children and Youth Planning Council, and has served as member of numerous non-profit boards.

She holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of California at Berkeley.

an education consulting company based in Sacramento.  Prior to that, Jeff was the Assistant Program Budget Manager for the Education Systems Unit at the Department of Finance.  Jeff began his state career in 1997 as a Finance Budget Analyst in the Education Systems Unit.  He has served as a Principal Program Budget Analyst in various assignments, primarily working on budget and policy issues surrounding the state K-12 education budget.

In addition to working at Department of Finance, Jeff served as both an Education Consultant and later as a Fiscal Staff Director in the State Senate, where he was directly involved in staffing budget negotiations between the Governor and legislative caucus leaders.  At the local level, Jeff served for 4 years as the County Budget Administrator for Placer County.

Prior to working in state and local government, Jeff was an active-duty officer in the U.S. Navy for 10 years, where he served as a surface warfare officer, engineering officer, and targeting and intelligence officer. 

Jeff Bell is the Program Budget Manager for the California Department of Finance’s Education Systems Unit responsible for overseeing budget and program policies affecting higher education, K-12 education, child care, the State Library, and local library grant programs.

Prior to his current position, Jeff served as a Director of Management Consulting Services at School Services of California,

Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles), serves as President pro Tempore of the California State Senate. He is the first Latino elected to the position in over 130 years.

Senator De Leon is focused on building a more prosperous, equitable, and sustainable economy for the Golden State. He’s working to make college more accessible and affordable, combat climate change while building the clean energy economy, improve retirement security for low-income workers, and support California’s growing diverse communities.

Last year, Senator De León authored SB 350, which gives the state the most ambitious renewable energy goals in the nation. In 2012, he passed SB 1234, a first-of-its-kind retirement-savings program for low-income workers and SB 535 which requires a quarter of all cap-and-trade revenue be spent in disadvantage communities. He also co-chaired the campaign for Proposition 39, which closed a corporate-tax loophole and steered billions to improve energy efficiency in California’s public schools. Senator De León was instrumental in negotiating the new film and TV tax credit program that is now bring production jobs. He also has an extensive legislative record on women’s rights, public safety, and worker’s rights.

Senator De León served four years in the Assembly before being elected to the Senate in 2010. Before the Legislature, he taught citizenship courses to immigrants and led opposition to 1994’s anti-immigrant Proposition 187. Senator De León credits his immigrant mother as his inspiration to help build a brighter future for generations to come.

ERIN GABELDeputy Director, First 5 California

RAFAEL GONZÁLEZDirector of Best Start, First 5 LA

Erin Gabel is the Deputy Director of the External and Governmental Affairs Division, where she is responsible for the Commission’s legislative and public affairs initiatives. Prior to joining the First 5 California team, Erin was the education consultant for California State Senate President pro Tempore, Darrell Steinberg, and advised the pro Tem and Senate on a wide range of education reform issues that included preschool and early learning, kindergarten through grade 12 public education, and higher education.

Before joining Senator Steinberg’s policy team, Erin was the Director of Government Affairs Division at the California Department of Education. Erin was responsible for the Department’s involvement in all state and federal budget and legislative processes. She served State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson as a policy advisor under different hats in the Department, Assembly, and the Senate over an eleven year tenure.

Prior to working at the state Capitol, Erin served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia. Erin was one of the founding staff members of the Partnership for Children and Youth as their first Children Nutrition Project Director, and now serves on its Board of Directors.

Rafael González serves as Director of Best Start Communities for First 5 LA. He is responsible for implementing Best Start Communities, a place-based, community-building approach to advance the implementation of a broad-based, inclusive effort to improve outcomes for children and families in their respective communities as well as to achieve policy and systems change.

Rafael has worked in the spheres of community development, local government, corporate philanthropy, national service, civic engagement, civil rights, immigrant integration and youth development. He shares a common belief with others in the place-based field that by investing in the capacity of our families and the social infrastructure to support them, and by working from the inside out that parents and other critical community stakeholders will improve the social conditions that impact their neighborhoods. With the proper alignment of services and collaborative systems in place, families can have a collective impact on the change we all seek.

Prior to First 5 LA, Rafael was with the Los Angeles Dodgers where he served as Director of Community Relations and responsible for building a strong and proactive partnership with the community. Previously, he served as Chief Service Officer and Director of Neighborhood & Community Services for City of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, where he developed and led “We Serve LA”, the civic engagement initiative of the City of Los Angeles, and directed the Mayor’s city-wide field operation and community relations team.

Prior to his service in City government, González was the catalyst in the community-level change efforts of two non-profit organizations. He served as Executive Director of Public Allies – Los Angeles; a community development and service organization that created opportunities for diverse young leaders to practice leadership and strengthen communities in nonprofit organizations in Los Angeles, and Collective SPACE (Social Power through Action & Community Education); a community based organization in the MacArthur Park/Westlake community with a mission of building an informed and active citizenry to bring about social change through grassroots organizing, education and leadership development.

Rafael previously served as Director of Civic Education & U.S. Citizenship Project Director at the National Association of Latino Elected & Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund; Affirmative Action Campaign Coordinator at the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund (MALDEF); Campaign Field Director at Coalition LA & Senior Field Deputy for LA Councilmember Mike Hernandez.

Rafael was born and raised in the downtown area of Los Angeles. He graduated from Cal State University at Northridge with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chicano Studies. He is currently working on his Master’s Degree at the USC Price School of Public Policy. He is married & has three sons.

SANDRA GUTIERREZNational Director, Abriento Puertas Opening Doors

ERIC C. HEINSPresident, California Teachers Association

Sandra Gutierrez is the Founder and National Director of Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors. Ms. Gutierrez led the development of Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors-the nation’s first evidence- based, comprehensive training program for Latino parents with children 0 to 5. Prior to her work with Abriendo Puertas / Opening Doors, Ms. Gutierrez developed a series of training programs to support children and families involved in the child welfare system for Parents Action for Children. She brings over forty years of experience with legal, children’s advocacy and community service organizations. Her multi-faceted career has included founding the first service organization to assist Central American Refugees, developing health education programs for the United Farm Workers of America and leading campaigns to promote the benefits of preschool to the Latino community. In addition, for seven years, she served as a founding member and State Commissioner for First 5 California where she established the Advisory Committee on Equity. Ms. Gutierrez serves as an Advisory Board member for the Too Small To Fail Initiative. In March 2014, Ms. Gutierrez was named by the White House as a César E. Chávez Champion of Change, and in February 2015 she received the James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award.

Believing in positive, teacher-driven change through collaboration and a student-centered focus on advocacy, CTA President Eric C. Heins has spent his professional life fighting at the local, state and national levels for the rights and dignity of all educators and the promise of the teaching profession.

He believes in connecting core union values with the power of the 325,000-member CTA gained through organizing, negotiating and advocating to create a stronger teaching profession and a stronger union. Over his 24-year California education career, he has been inspired by colleagues — paraprofessionals, librarians, counselors, nurses, music teachers, campus monitors and office staff — and their profound dedication to students.

“What excites me the most about taking on my new role are the opportunities before me to give back to all those students and educators who have made an impact in my life,” Heins says of his optimism now at the start of his two- year term as president after serving as CTA vice president. “Working together with my fellow officers and colleagues, we will focus on what matters most, and that is ensuring that every student has the quality education they need and deserve, and that educators are working with parents and our communities to lead education change in California.”

President Heins has taught kindergarten through fifth grade, including music, in the Pittsburg Unified School District in the Bay Area, and is a member of the Pittsburg Education Association. As the grievance chair for his chapter, which rarely filedgrievances, Heins handled nearly 100 by his second year. While collaboration is always key, Heins also believes in reminding administrators that it is difficult to put students first at the district level if you’re always putting teachers last when it comes to resources and respect. He believes standardized testing is not learning, and that teachers should never be evaluated solely by test scores.

He’s very hopeful that California’s supportive governor and billions in new education funding will continue the path of healing that our schools are on. Heins vows that CTA will remain vigilant against attacks from wealthy, corporate-style reform forces that look at our schools as profit centers instead of community centers that can strengthen our cities.

He was elected vice president in 2011 directly from his position as a member of the CTA Board of Directors, where he served five years, representing thousands of educators and education support professionals in all of Contra Costa County and most of Alameda County.

He served on CTA’s Long-Term Strategic Planning Workgroup that recently developed a comprehensive strategy to move CTA forward around the goals of organizing, advocacy, community engagement and social justice.

His advocacy for at-risk students runs deep. He chaired the CTA Quality Education Investment Act (QEIA) Workgroup, charged with monitoring the progress of the CTA-sponsored QEIA, the landmark 2006 reform law. This turnaround program, which ended June 30, 2015, provided nearly $3 billion over eight years for proven intervention reforms at hundreds of schools of greatest need.

Heins also chaired the pivotal CTA Teacher Evaluation Workgroup, which adopted new guidelines in 2011 stressing that reforms for teacher assessments must focus on strengthening the teaching profession and improving student learning, not punishing educators. He was also an active member of CTA’s Elementary and Secondary Education Act Reauthorization Workgroup.

In addition, he represented local Bay Area teachers for six years as a California member of the National Education Association’s Board of Directors. He is a past president of the Pittsburg Education Association and was bargaining chair for that chapter during its five-day strike in June 2000 over health benefits, salaries, and the district’s refusing to provide benefits for domestic partners.

Active on many human rights issues, Heins was a cadre trainer for LGBT leadership training done by CTA, and the “Breaking the Silence” workshops. He chaired the CTA Diversity Committee and served on the union’s Equity and Human Rights Conference Planning Committee.

He holds a bachelor’s in music from Chapman College in Orange County. His master’s in language and literacy education and his reading specialist credential are from the University of California, Berkeley. Born in Amsterdam, he speaks fluent Dutch. Heins lives in Malibu with his husband, David.

MARY IGNATIUSStatewide Organizer of Parent Voices, California Child Care Resource & Referral Network

SENATOR HANNAH-BETH JACKSON Chair of Women’s Legislative Caucus, California State Senate

JOHN KIMExecutive Director, Advancement Project, California Office

Mary Ignatius is the Statewide Organizer of Parent Voices, a parent-led grassroots organization fighting to make quality child care accessible and affordable for all families. As the Statewide Organizer since August 2005, she coordinates the work of its 15 chapters and implements the leadership development model Parent Voices has crafted for 20 years. Under her tenure, Parent Voices has won campaigns to update income eligibility guidelines to qualify for subsidized child care, restore a child care program that was eliminated, and protected child care subsidies for thousands of families. As a mother of 2, a first generation daughter of immigrants who grew up in the Bay Area and is committed to social and economic justice, Mary brings passion and inspiration to her peers in Parent Voices. She holds a Master of Social Work in Administration and Social Planning from Temple University and a Bachelor of Social Work from Rutgers University. Her previous experience includes work with the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, Community Legal Services in Philadelphia, Instructor- City College of San Francisco, and Project SURVIVE. Mary loves to travel and is inspired by the curiosity and wonder that her sons bring to this world.

Hannah-Beth Jackson is an educator, former State Assemblymember, former Deputy District Attorney, and small business owner. She was elected to the California State Senate in 2012 to represent the 19th Senate District, which includes all of Santa Barbara County and western Ventura County.

From 1998 to 2004, she represented the 35th Assembly District in the State Assembly.

Hannah-Beth also co-founded two non-profit organizations, has served as policy-maker in residence at UC Santa Barbara and currently serves as adjunct professor at Antioch University.

In the Senate, she is chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and serves on key committees, including the Budget Committee, the Environmental Quality Committee and the Natural Resources Committee. She’s also chair of the Select Committee on Passenger

Since 1997, John has fought to expand the voice and influence of marginalized communities throughout California. Through building new tools, coalitions, and institutional capacity, his commitment has been to ensure that the experience of low-income people and communities of color can no longer be ignored.

John started his community-building work as a cultural artist/activist and youth organizer in the Bay Area. In 1999, he became the Executive Director of the Korean Community Center of the East Bay where he was instrumental in launching new programs in the areas of domestic abuse, community development and community technology.

John first joined Advancement Project in 2002 to launch the Healthy City Project, became the Managing Co-Director for the California Office in 2008, and was named Executive Director in January 2015.

Over the years, John has developed advocacy and research initiatives on issues ranging from community health, redistricting, community engagement, education, and public finance. Under his direction, many of these initiatives have resulted in the reallocation of tens of millions of public and private dollars to the most underserved neighborhoods and have lifted up the voice and power of marginalized communities throughout California. John also has a long track record as a coalition-builder and facilitator and has established a wide-range of partnerships with foundations, community-based organizations, and elected/governmental bodies statewide. In leadership at Advancement Project, John has been the driving force in expanding the California Office’s budget, staffing, organizational development, and fundraising efforts.

His work in the Bay Area was recognized by KQED/Channel 9 as the 2001 Local Hero of the Year Award and by then-Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown with the proclamation of a “John K. Kim Day”. In 2011 he accepted the Unsung Heroes Award from the California Community Foundation, given for “outstanding excellence in community engagement.” He has recently concluded a term as a member of the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners for the City of Los Angeles, and in 2011-12, he was selected for and completed the prestigious Rockwood National Yearlong Fellowship.

Born in Los Angeles, John currently lives in Highland Park with his wife, Jung Hee Choi, and their two children, Naiya and Ellis. In his free time, John enjoys growing his own vegetables, traveling/hiking with the family, and playing guitar.

Rail, the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management and vice-chair of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus.

During the six years she served in the State Assembly and now as a State Senator, Hannah-Beth is an effective advocate for improving public education, increasing public safety, improving access to health care, promoting job growth in green industries and others, protecting the environment and protecting the privacy and rights of consumers.

DEBORAH KONGDEBORAH KONGExecutive Director, Early Edge California

CAMILLE MABENExecutive Director, First 5 California

Deborah leads Early Edge California’s day-to-day work and collaborates closely with senior staff on vision, strategy and execution. Prior to joining Early Edge California, she was a reporter for 15 years at media outlets including the Associated Press, San Jose Mercury News, and Philadelphia Inquirer. Deborah has also acted as a policy analysis and fund raising consultant to foundations and nonprofits. She holds a master’s degree in public policy from UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy and a bachelor’s degree in English with a specialization in Asian American studies from UCLA.

In December 2012, Camille Maben began serving in her current role as Executive Director of First 5 California. In that role, she is responsible for staffing the California Children and Families Commission, in addition to directing the work of the agency and its staff. Through her leadership, First 5 California is implementing several evidence-based and results-driven Signature Programs targeted to children, parents, and teachers that focus on quality.

Prior to her appointment at First 5 California, Camille served as the Division Director of the Child Development Division at the California Department of Education (CDE). Part of her responsibilities in that role included providing leadership and oversight to over 700 early care and education contractors with a $1.7 billion dollar budget. She most recently served as Co-Chair of the State Advisory Council on Early Learning and Care, and also helped win and implement the $52.6 million federal Race-to-the-Top Early Learning Challenge Grant.

She was previously appointed by the Governor to serve as Chief of Staff for the Office of the Secretary of Education. She worked closely with the Secretary on the coordination and development of the Governor’s education policy agenda.

In earlier work at CDE, Camille served as Division Director of the School and District Accountability Division. Her division included the No Child Left Behind Office, oversight of the Categorical Program Monitoring process, the Title I Policy and Partnerships Unit, and the English Learner Accountability Unit. She served as the Superintendent’s representative to the California Interscholastic Federation. Camille also served as Senior Advisor to former State Superintendent Delaine Eastin and has worked as a consultant to the Assembly Education Committee.

Camille currently serves as a school board member for the Rocklin Unified School District. She has served on the Rocklin Board for over 20 years.

DAVID L. KIRPDAVID L. KIRPMarver Professor of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley

David L. Kirp is a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, a member of the National Academy of Education, a contributing writer to the New York Times Sunday Review and a senior scholar at the Learning Policy Institute. In his seventeen books and hundreds of articles, he has mainly focused on education and youth policy, spanning the age range from cradle to college and career.

Improbable Scholars: The Rebirth of a Great American School System and a Strategy for America’s Schools, his most recent book, chronicles how a poor urban school district has brought Latino immigrant children into the education mainstream and what nationwide lessons can be drawn from this success. It was selected as the outstanding book of the year by the American Education Research Association.

A former trustee of Amherst College, he has worked with policymakers at all levels of government, as well as foundations and nonprofits. He served on President Barack Obama’s 2008 transition team, where he drafted an early education policy agenda. Earlier in his career he was the founding director of the Harvard Center for Law and Education and an associate editor at the Sacramento Bee. Currently he serves on the boards of Friends of the Children and Experience Corps East Bay, and is on the policy advisory council of the Economic Policy Institute, the Campaign for College Opportunity and Common Sense Media.

DEBRA MCMANNISDirector of Early Education & Support Division California Department of Education

KAREN MANSHIPSenior Researcher, American Institutes for Research

ASSEMBLYMEMBER KEVIN MCCARTYChairman of Subcommittee No. 2 of Education Finance California State Assembly

JACQUELYN MCCROSKEYJohn Mile Professor of Child Welfare , University of Southern California School of Social Work

Jacquelyn McCroskey, the John Milner Professor of Child Welfare and Co-Director of the Children’s Data Network at the USC School of Social Work, focuses on structure, financing and performance improvement in and across the child welfare, juvenile justice and early care and education (ECE) systems in Los Angeles County. Recent scholarly interests include prevention of child maltreatment, improving access to ECE services for at-risk families, and cross-system collaboration. Dr. McCroskey currently serves on the Los Angeles County Commission on Children and Families and the Policy Roundtable for Child Care and Development. In 2003, the California Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers named her the California Social Worker of the Year.

Website – www.datanetwork.org

Debra McMannis brings 25 years of experience in the field of Early Education in the private and public sectors. Prior to joining the California Department of Education, she worked as a teacher and administrator at the San Juan Unified School District implementing state and federal early learning programs. She holds an undergraduate degree in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena. She also holds a Program Director permit, teaching credential, and administrative credential.

Karen Manship is a Senior Researcher with the American Institutes for Research with more than 12 years of experience focusing on early childhood program evaluations and and K-12 education policy and finance. She currently serves as the Director of the impact study of California’s Transitional Kindergarten program, which examined the implementation of TK in the state in its first year and is now investigating outcomes for participating children. Her other work at AIR has focused on statewide early childhood policy and planning and transitions into early elementary school. She received her Master’s degree in Urban Affairs and Public Policy from the University of Delaware.

Assemblymember Kevin McCarty was elected to the California State Assembly in November, 2014 to represent Assembly District 7, which includes the cities of Sacramento, West Sacramento, and parts of unincorporated Sacramento.

As Chair of the Assembly Budget Sub-Committee on Education Finance, McCarty worked to steer significant investments in funding for early childhood, K-12, and higher education. In 2015, McCarty helped craft an on time state budget which included the largest education investments in history and increased access for early learning programs and community college, California State University, and University of California systems.

A lifelong Sacramentan, McCarty went to local public schools, attended American River College, and earned a B.A. in Political Science from CSU Long Beach and an M.A. in Public Policy and Administration from CSU Sacramento.

McCarty lives in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Sacramento with his wife Leticia and their twin daughters, Victoria and Barbara.

JOLENE SMITHChief Executive Officer, First 5 Santa Clara County

Since the passage of Proposition 10 in 1998, Jolene has been instrumental in establishing FIRST 5 as an organization that supports the healthy development of children prenatal through age five and enriches the lives of their families and communities throughout Santa Clara County. As the leader of the Early Childhood Development Collaborative in 1999, Jolene was responsible for developing the original county Strategic Plan that led to the creation of FIRST 5. In 2000, she served as the Director of Program Development, and worked her way up to Deputy Director, and eventually became the Executive Director in January 2005.

During her tenure as Chief Executive Officer, FIRST 5 has been recognized for its leadership on ensuring that the healthy development of our youngest children is viewed as a high priority in the county. Through her efforts, she has worked to engage and unite the community through strategic partnerships and collaborations to tackle challenging issues such as children’s health insurance, early literacy, high-quality early education, screening and assessment for developmental delays, model court programs, and a cross-disciplinary, cross-sector community of learning. Under her leadership, FIRST 5 has worked closely with policymakers and elected officials at the federal, state, and local levels to create the necessary change in our laws and in our politics to improve the lives of the people in the community.

Jolene’s 30 years of public service are based around her strong commitment and dedication to help people in need. As a high school youth counselor, a national trainer, and a Program Manager with the Santa Clara County Health and Hospital System and the Social Services Agency, Jolene has used her expertise in strategic planning, program development, and training and consultation, to ensure that children, youth, and their families receive vital social services.

 

KIM PATTILLO BROWNSONManaging Director of Policy & Advocacy, Advancement Project

Kim Pattillo Brownson is the Managing Director of Policy and Advocacy at Advancement Project. She is a civil rights lawyer with extensive experience in law, policy, budget and advocacy. Kim leads Advancement Project’s policy and advocacy staff across Sacramento, Los Angeles and the Bay Area. Kim provides strategic direction to Advancement Project’s work on education (early education, school funding, and school facilities), public budgeting transparency, governmental relations, and state and local campaign advocacy. Prior to joining the Advancement Project, Kim was previously an education attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, and also worked in the private sector litigation at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Kim began her legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Dolores Sloviter on the Third Circuit Court of Appeal, and the Honorable Louis H. Pollak in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Kim holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College. Prior to law school, Kim worked at the Boston Consulting Group, where she provided financial and strategic planning services to Fortune 500 companies. She is happily married, and enjoys family hikes with her husband and two young daughters.

DEAN TAGAWAAdministrator for Early Education, Los Angeles Unified School District

Dean Tagawa is currently the Administrator, Early Childhood Education Division, for the Los Angeles Unified School District.  As a lifetime employee of LAUSD, he has been an Instructional Director for Early Education, a Staff Relations Field Director, an Elementary Principal, a Primary Center Principal, an Early Education Center Principal, an Assistant Principal, an advisor in Instructional Support Services, a reading coach, and an elementary teacher. He has a BA from the California State University, Los Angeles, a Masters in Educational Administration, and is currently a Doctoral Candidate in Educational Leadership.  He is a native of Los Angeles and has served on early education work groups including the Early Childhood Education Workforce Consortium, County of Los Angeles Childcare Planning Commission, and the Partnerships for Education, Articulation and Coordination through Higher Education (PEACH). Mr. Tagawa has also served on numerous work groups in Los Angeles Unified School District to support high school scholarships, multicultural coalitions, and instructional technology initiatives.  

Aside from his work in education, Mr. Tagawa served in the US Army for eight years and is the father of twins. In his spare time, he enjoys seeing movies, woodworking, and camping with his family.

THE HONORABLE TOM TORLAKSONState Superintendent of Public Instruction, California Department of Education

Tom Torlakson was re-elected to a second four-year term as California’s 27th State Superintendent of Public Instruction on November 4, 2014. As chief of California’s public school system and leader of the California Department of Education, Superintendent Torlakson applies his experience as a science teacher, high school coach, and state policymaker to fight for our students and improve our state’s public education system.

During Torlakson’s first term, he set out on a mission to provide a world-class education for all students from early childhood to adulthood. He directed the change to rigorous new California state standards in English, mathematics, and science. He advocated increasing investments in education, helping to pass Proposition 30 in 2012 and leading the effort to give local school districts more flexibility to make spending decisions. He promoted the idea of meeting the needs of the whole child by expanding pre-kindergarten and after-school and summer programs, increasing access to health care and mental health services, and promoting nutritious food and regular exercise. Under his leadership, the state’s high school graduation rate rose to an all-time high of 80 percent, with a graduation rate hitting nearly 95 percent for those students in career-preparation programs.

STRO

NGER TOGETHER: TRANSFORMING OPPORTUNITY FOR EVERY CHILD

California Association

for Family Child Care

STRONGER TOGETHER: TRANSFORM

ING OPPORTUNITY FOR EVERY CHILD

THE EARLY LEARNING WATER COOLER WISHES TO THANK OUR PARTNERS!

STRONGER TOGETHER: TRANSFORM

ING OPPORTUNITY FOR EVERY CHILDThe Early Learning Water Cooler wishes to send a special thank you to the California Department of Education for its support of this conference.

The Early Learning Water Cooler network would also like to thank Lakeshore Learning Materials for sponsoring the printing of Water Cooler conference brochures.

THE EARLY LEARNING WATER COOLER WISHES TO THANK OUR SPONSORS!

The Early Learning Water Cooler is a collaborative effort by Advancement Project, the California Community Foundation, Children Now, Early Edge California, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, First 5 California, ZERO TO THREE, and many other organizations to advance early care and learning for California’s children 0-5. Water Cooler efforts aim to bring the needs of California’s youngest children into the larger education conversation.

Printing by Lakeshore Learning Materials