School Readiness
Target Audience: School Readiness Coordinators and Partners
Nearly every county commission has entered – or will soon enter – cycle two of the First 5 California School Readiness Program. Local School Readiness Programs have matured and much has been learned. This full day session focuses on current activities, emerging strategies and plans for the future; with time for peer-to-peer sharing, discussions with First 5 California Program Management staff, and gatherings by region. Topics include:

• Kindergarten assessments – Kindergarten entry assessments are embedded in nearly all School Readiness Programs, but the intensity, timing and administration of these assessments vary greatly from county to county. Programs that have developed new ways of assessing children at kindergarten entry will share the methodology and the results of these assessment efforts.
• Sustainability – With many programs in year two of cycle two, county commissions are increasingly aware of the need for sustainability planning for their school readiness programs – especially as it relates to funding for school districts and other grantees that are nearing the end of their Commission-funded partnership. The need to sustain school readiness efforts is all the more pertinent in light of increasing public attention to the persistent achievement gap, which research shows links directly to the school readiness gap. This session provides an opportunity for participants to share sustainability planning and explore ways to institutionalize their school readiness efforts.

Evaluation
Target Audience: County Commission Evaluation Staff, Program Staff, and Evaluators
Evaluation in the First 5 world serves multiple purposes: it guides commissions in their fiscal and program decision-making by documenting whether or not programs achieve desired results; it is a valuable tool for program improvement at the micro- and macro-levels; and it often provides information to help the public, media and policymakers understand what First 5 is accomplishing. This session will explore what commissions have learned about data-gathering and evaluation that serves all three roles and will provide participants with an opportunity to talk with First 5 California research and evaluation staff about current data reporting, plans for the future and the launch of the Center for Results. The session includes two parts:

• During part one, participants will discuss how evaluation findings can be most effectively used internally to guide commission decision-making and program improvement, and externally to tell the First 5 story. Presenters will use examples of specific programs to explore the challenges and opportunities in both arenas. They will focus on the method of evaluation and the ways in which the evaluation results have been used by commissions, the public, and other stakeholders. Among the topics to be addressed: data-gathering that measures improvements in child outcomes; approaches to the question of duplicated vs. unduplicated counts; how to “roll up” findings across county lines; and how to translate evaluation reports into user-friendly formats.
• During part two, First 5 California staff will provide an overview of the strategy being used to implement the Center for Results. Participants will have an opportunity to interact with the contractor responsible for developing the Request for Proposal to secure an integrated IT system vendor. The contractor will solicit input from county commission staff on potential design requirements to meet First 5 California’s goal of ensuring that the new, integrated IT system will support the First 5 world’s collective needs.

New Commissioner Orientation
Target Audience: New County Commissioners and Staff
The New Commissioner Orientation is an interactive session to help newer county commissioners negotiate the many important responsibilities of serving on a Children and Families Commission. Valuable lessons will be shared by veteran county commissioners on topics such as:

• Understanding the structure of the First 5 system and the roles of a commissioner
  
• Promoting accountability and systems change under public scrutiny
  
• Managing competing interests and expectations
  
• Creating connections with other county commissions and First 5 California
  Commissioners will have an opportunity to pose questions to their peers from around the state and learn about