The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education and the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning have awarded David Spence, its 2006 Virginia B. Smith Award for Innovative Leadership in Higher Education. Mr. Spence is formerly executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer of the California State University system and now president of the Southern Regional Educational Board. The award recognizes his leadership in establishing the Early Assessment Program in California and his continued efforts to encourage other states to develop strategies for assessing college readiness. In this article, the newly chosen recipient of the Virginia B. Smith Award is interviewed by the scholar after whom the award is named about his role in developing a very successful program for early assessment of high school students' readiness for college. Among other things, Spence mentions that the most significant element of the program is to make college readiness concrete and specific for schools, school teachers, and their students, so they'll know exactly how to become ready for college.