Kalena Cortes, an associate professor at Texas A&M University, will speak at the University of Arkansas on Friday, Dec. 6, in a lecture titled, "When Behavioral Barriers Are Too High or Low: How Timing Matters for Parenting Interventions."

The program will be at noon in room 343 of the Graduate Education Building. The Friday lecture series is hosted by the Department of Education Reform of the University of Arkansas College of Education and Health Professions.

Cortes' research revolves around the economics of education, focusing on issues of equity and access. In particular, she seeks to identify educational policies that help disadvantaged students at the PK-12 and postsecondary levels. She has worked on three key areas: improving academic performance of urban students, increasing access to postsecondary education, and raising educational attainment of immigrant students.

Cortes holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California at Berkeley. She is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research in the Economics of Education program, a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor, and most recently has been appointed as a scholar in the Mindset Scholars Network. Cortes has also been a visiting scholar at both Stanford and Harvard University's Graduate School of Education, the National Bureau of Economic Research, and Princeton University.

Unless otherwise indicated, all lectures will be held at noon on Fridays in GRAD 343. Please make sure to RSVP before 1 p.m. on the Wednesday before the scheduled lecture.

The 2019-20 lecture series and other information can be found on the website of the department.