Southeastern to host parental involvement in education lecture
Tuesday, March 10, 2015 
by: Tonya Lowentritt
SHOULD YOU GET INVOLVED - Southeastern Louisiana University's College of Education will present a lecture about education involvement on Thursday, March 26. Angel Harris, professor of sociology and African and African American Studies at Duke University, will present "Is Parental Involvement in Children's Education Good or Bad? Lessons from Research" on March 26, at 11 a.m. in Hammond at Southeastern's Teacher Education Center lecture hall, room 1022.
HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana University's College of Education will present a lecture about education involvement on Thursday, March 26. Angel Harris, professor of sociology and African and African American Studies at Duke University, will present "Is Parental Involvement in Children's Education Good or Bad? Lessons from Research."
Scheduled for 11 a.m. in Hammond at Southeastern's Teacher Education Center lecture hall, room 1022, the free lecture is sponsored by the Department of Teaching and Learning. A booksigning will be held following the lecture from 12:30 p.m. until 1:30 p.m.
"I am excited about the prospect of a lecture that can question if encouraging parents to become more involved in their children's academic lives does in deed increase academic achievement," said Schlieder Endowed Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning Celena Echols. "I expect the audience might reflect upon and consider that certain involvement might actually be associated with decline in achievement. We hope the public will attend and engage."
Harris is director of the Research on Education and Development of Youth (REDY) program. His research interests include social inequality, policy, and education. He has published several book chapters and articles on the racial achievement gap that have appeared in various academic journals, such as "Social Forces," "Sociology of Education," and "Social Science Quarterly."
Harris is the author of "Kids Don't Want to Fail," (Harvard Unvierstiy Press) which provides an in-depth quantitative assessment of whether youth from marginalized groups purposefully resist schooling in both the United States and the United Kingdom. He is also the author of "The Broken Compass: Parental Involvement with Children's Education," (Harvard University Press) which examines the link between parenting and youths' school outcomes.
A light complimentary reception and community talk will take place the day before the lecture on Wednesday, March 25, at the Michael J. Kenny Recreation Center, 601 West Coleman Avenue, from 6-7:30 p.m. Echols said the public is invited to attend and engage.
For more information or to RSVP, contact Echols at cechols@southeastern.edu.
