Moderator:
Lowell Milken, Co-Founder, Knowledge Universe Education; Founder, TAP: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement

The American people and the politicians finally seem to have reached a consensus: Children in our K-12 public schools deserve and must have better. Everyone - superintendents, administrators, teachers, principals, union officials and elected legislators - is on the hot seat, expected to start delivering results. Proposed solutions abound, from President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to school superintendents, business executives, labor leaders, and nonprofit foundations and think tanks. But are we headed in the right direction? Are our education and political leaders ready to meet world standards? Can there be consensus and collaboration on reaching shared goals?

Moderator:
Joel Kurtzman, Senior Fellow; Executive Director, Center for a Sustainable Energy Future, Milken Institute

Innovation, creativity and the ability to collaborate across great distances will be the cornerstones of future growth. In a world that's powered by increasingly sophisticated technology, it's all about developing and attracting skilled human capital. While the United States has fallen behind in science and math proficiency, other nations are racing to build their capabilities. How are companies tapping into the new global talent pool? How are management and training paradigms changing? Which skills will be in greatest demand in the future? This panel will examine the mobility of talent, future human capital requirements and how to train people to succeed.

Moderator:
Vivek Wadhwa, Director of Research, Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization, Duke University; Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Halle Institute of Global Learning, Emory University

The U.S. has long benefited from immigration policies that entice the world's best and brightest to arrive, learn and stay in America. The consequent creative and productive strengths have contributed significantly to the nation's global leadership in countless fields, especially high-tech innovation. But now, for the first time in history, talent appears to be migrating the other way. Not only are foreign nationals returning home after getting a top-flight education in American graduate schools, but U.S. policy now actually encourages them to take their diplomas and leave. And why shouldn't they? China, India, Chile, Singapore and other nations actively recruit talent - including native U.S. talent - with attractive, career-advancing jobs and abundant research funding. How can America retain valuable human capital? Is high-skill immigration policy reform sufficient? How might it differ from low-skill immigration policy reform? Can more robust STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) curricula in U.S. schools take effect in time to compensate? Expect a lively debate among leaders from public, private and academic sectors with real stakes in this historic development.

Moderator:
Adam Nordin, Managing Director, Barclays Capital

Teachers and professors are increasingly using technology in their classrooms. Yet many would argue that the education industry, unlike others, has not reaped the benefits of a true high-tech revolution. Education is a widely watched sector that has provided investors strong opportunities for over two decades, and online learning has offered the tantalizing promise of dramatically expanding access to education in the U.S. and internationally. Yet concerns and obstacles remain. Can for-profit companies demonstrate reliable student performance? Can quality programs be made available on an international scale to people and nations where education opportunities are urgently needed? Are U.S. students graduating with so much debt they are unable to pay it off? And conversely, will the government regulations under development in the U.S. strangle the business opportunity? Industry leaders will examine the opportunities and challenges of the for-profit education sector.

Moderator:
Lowell Milken, Co-Founder, Knowledge Universe Education; Founder, TAP: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement

Lowell Milken, founder of TAP: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement, will lead a spirited conversation with education leaders about their challenges and successes in providing sustained and meaningful improvement in student performance and teacher effectiveness in an environment of diverse student populations and constrained economic conditions. Business, education and philanthropic leaders are welcomed to respond by providing input on how they can help find solutions to the challenges facing American K-12 education.

Moderator:
Barry Munitz, Trustee Professor, California State University, Los Angeles; Chair, Sierra Nevada College Board of Trustees

The costs of providing a college education and the price tag of tuition are rising just as rapidly as seats in the university classroom are vanishing. Affordability and access are falling victim to budgetary constraints in tough economic times. Can state universities develop alternate models for providing instruction and support services that will ensure longer-term financial stability? Will private university endowments earn strong enough returns on investment to continue the dramatic subsidies that these institutions require to hire strong faculty and provide quality curriculum? How will online access and the broader impact of technology affect universities in traditional, hybrid and online settings?

Moderator:
Richard Lee Colvin, Executive Director, Education Sector

The quality of the teacher is the most influential school-related factor when it comes to establishing excellence in education. But in the United States, only 23 percent of teachers finished among the top one-third of their college graduating class, and only 14 percent of top graduates teach in high-poverty schools. Once a teacher is hired, issues arise such as further developing that teacher's skills, evaluating performance, providing competitive compensation, and establishing incentives that encourage effective teachers to remain in the profession. How can the profession be restructured to attract and retain larger numbers of highly educated, skilled teachers? What initiatives, both public and private, are succeeding in keeping the most talented teachers in the profession? Is the current political debate in several states over public employee unions helpful or detrimental to improving the teaching profession?

Moderator:
Fran Durekas, Founder and Chief Development Officer, CCLC

Look at any successful enterprise: Human capital is the secret weapon that generates creativity, momentum, client loyalty and a dynamic corporate culture that breeds success. To build and retain a high-caliber workforce, companies need to offer innovative work-life programs that meet increasingly diverse employee needs. The best programs can reduce turnover, increase employee motivation and reduce employer costs. Leading executives will join us to describe how initiatives focusing on health and wellness, diversity, employee benefits and flexibility have been crucial to improving their competitiveness.

Moderator:
Krisztina Holly, Vice Provost for Innovation, USC; Executive Director, USC Stevens Institute for Innovation

Universities are critical assets in promoting technology-based and other high-value-added economic development. Public research universities, supported in part by government funding, will play an increasingly vital role in the future. The most successful university systems feed a region's capacity for innovation and entrepreneurship, which drives economic growth and job creation. Recognizing this dynamic, state and local governments provided roughly $75 billion for higher education in 2008. But today budgets are tightening, and state legislatures are asking these institutions to justify these expenditures on an economic basis. This session will consider new methods to more accurately measure the full economic contribution of publicly supported universities to a state's GSP over the long term. We'll also discuss fresh approaches for increasing the impact of universities on the surrounding economy.

Moderator:
Kelly Flynn, Managing Director and Senior Education Analyst, Credit Suisse

By looking at their most profitable international education business opportunity in recent years, panelists will enrich our understanding of the business landscape and the strategies they used to succeed. Each panelist will be asked to outline their most compelling market opportunity or problem, their business strategy, the challenges they faced and met, and the result of their initiative. At the close of these vignettes, the audience will be invited to ask questions. The panel will close with final reflections from each panelist summarizing the key lessons from these real-world examples.

Moderator:
Ronald Packard, Chairman and Founder, K12 Inc.

Technology has made great strides in building cutting-edge learning tools, and new government-funded education initiatives have taken effect. But in classrooms across America, what is being done to create a true personalized learning environment? Are students becoming more engaged in their day-to-day classroom experience? How will proposed changes and new innovations transform the learning process? In an era of data-driven decision making, what are the critical elements every school must be able to address in order to enhance the student experience? This panel discussion will explore how technology and public policy improvements can help establish an ideal learning environment for K-12 education.