FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The popular media have investigated what’s been termed a crisis in the education of boys over the past few years, and researchers have argued about whether data back up the concern. The University of Arkansas has scheduled two events next week to examine the issue.

The department of education reform in the College of Education and Health Professions is bringing two academic researchers to Fayetteville to talk about their work in a discussion of the education of boys. The first event is from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11, at the Jones Center for Families in Springdale, and the second is from noon to 2:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12, in room 343 of the Graduate Education Building on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville. Both are free and open to the public. Lunch is provided on Friday with registration required by calling 575-3172. Registration is not necessary to attend the Thursday evening event at the Jones Center.

Jelani Mandara

Guest speakers are Sara Mead, a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation, and Jelani Mandara, an assistant professor of human development and social policy at Northwestern University.

In 2006, Mead authored a report titled “The Truth About Boys and Girls,” in which she says test scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress do not show boys lagging behind girls in achievement.

“In fact, with a few exceptions, American boys are scoring higher and achieving more than they ever have before,” Mead writes. “But girls have just improved their performance on some measures even faster. As a result, girls have narrowed or even closed some academic gaps that previously favored boys, while other long-standing gaps that favored girls have widened, leading to the belief that boys are falling behind.”

Mandara, a family and development psychologist, conducts research into the nature and effects of socialization, involvement by fathers and how these factors interact with gender, race and socio-economic status to affect youths’ academic and social development. He is creating a comprehensive and culturally relevant measure of parenting called the Socialization and Family Environment Scale.

University of Arkansas professor Sandra Stotsky, who holds an endowed chair in teacher quality, is helping to organize the presentations.

“We believe it will be worthwhile to have a focused discussion of the evidence on this subject,” she said of the purpose of the panel presentations. “If there’s a perception of a problem affecting a large group in the population, it’s worth looking at what people see as issues and the evidence. We have invited two people who can address the issues with research and expertise, and there will be ample time for those attending to ask questions.”

The Education Renewal Zone based in the college is helping facilitate the Thursday evening event to accommodate parents and educators who may not be able to attend a daytime lecture.

The education reform department kicks off the third year of its lecture series with the two events. Other lectures in the series begin at noon in room 343 of the Graduate Education Building. Lunch is provided with RSVP to jbutcher@uark.edu.

• Sept. 19, Julie Cullen, associate professor, University of California at San Diego, “Implicit Performance Awards in the School Principal Labor Market”

• Sept. 26, Matthew Springer, research assistant professor of public policy and education, Vanderbilt University

• Oct. 3, Paul Teske, dean and professor, School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado at Denver, “Refining Market-Based Education Reforms: Parent Choice/Information and Teacher Pay for Performance”

• Oct. 17, James Guthrie, professor of public policy and education, director of the Peabody Center for Education Policy, Vanderbilt

• Oct. 24, Dave Campbell, associate professor of political science, Notre Dame, “The Theory of Educational Relativity: Reconsidering Educations’ Relationship to Democratic Citizenship”

• Jan. 23, Eric Hanushek, Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University

• Feb. 6, Martin West, assistant professor of education, political science and public policy, Brown University, “Every Catholic Child in a Catholic School: Historical Resistance to State Schooling, Contemporary Private Competition and Student Achievement Across Countries”

• March 27, Mark Dynarski, vice president and director of the Center for Improving Research Evidence, Mathematica Policy Research Inc.

• April 3, William Ouchi, holder of the Sanford and Betty Sigoloff Chair in Corporate Renewal, UCLA, “The Secret of TSL.”