Help us equip leaders to better prepare children and youth for college and careers. Donate Today!

Renowned Child Poverty Researcher to Speak at AERA/IEL Forum

Karl Alexander poses in front of a row of file cabinets.

Renowned Child Poverty Researcher to Speak at AERA/IEL Forum

On February 13, the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and IEL are hosting an educational policy luncheon featuring distinguished sociology scholar, Dr. Karl Alexander, as he discusses his new book.

On February 13, the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and IEL are hosting an educational policy luncheon featuring distinguished sociology scholar, Dr. Karl Alexander, as he discusses his new book, The Long Shadow: Family Background, Disadvantaged Urban Youth and the Transition to Adulthood. The book is based on his longitudinal work in west Baltimore, following the lives of inner-city children and how their environment affected their long-term wellbeing. The lessons that emerge in Dr. Alexander’s work resonate for urban children across America.

Alexander is Academy Professor and Research Professor of Sociology, having retired as the John Dewey Professor of Sociology in 2014 after 42 years at Johns Hopkins University. He received his Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Alexander chaired the Department of Sociology at Hopkins from 1985 to 1993, 2006 – 2009 and 2011 – 2014. He co-directed the Baltimore-based Beginning School Study Youth Panel, a long-term study of youth development, from 1982 to 2006. This work led to more than 70 journal articles and book chapters and three books. Prominent issues addressed include studies of summer learning loss, high school dropout, and grade retention. His interests center on schools and problems of educational stratification that can be addressed via organizational, social-psychological, and life course perspectives.

AERA and IEL will hold the luncheon from noon to 2:00 pm EST on Friday, February 13 in IEL’s conference room, located at 4301 Connecticut Avenue, NW in Washington DC.

Reservations are required and can be made by emailing AERA’s Christy Talbot at ctalbot@aera.net. Limited available seating is assigned according to the order in which reservations are received. Thirteen dollars for the subsidized lunch will be collected at the door.

UPDATE: Visit the Facebook photo album.