Continuing Professional Education

Hosted by the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare and
the Center for Social Development at Washington University

Theme and Purpose of the Research Symposium

The symposium is designed to present new research on assets and education, stimulate thoughtful review and critique of the research to date, and guide future research efforts in the field. The topic of assets and education requires an inter-disciplinary approach, so the event is certain to be intellectually stimulating because of the involvement of scholars from diverse fields of study. The symposium will also focus special attention on educational equity, and the potential of assets to help close the gaps that exist between those who get the education they need to build fulfilling lives and those who do not. Knowledge developed for and through this symposium will help guide future studies on the role of assets in educational outcomes for children and youth, and may be particularly important for shaping policies and programs designed to increase access to, and success in, education for low-income and minority children and youth.

Goals of the Assets and Education Research Symposium

• To share new knowledge from original research on assets and education.
• To stimulate and facilitate inter-disciplinary dialogue among researchers and policy analysts about the role of assets and debt in education and in educational equity.
• To identify questions and data sources for the most pressing future studies on assets and education.

Proposed Structure and Content to be Addressed

Leading scholars in the field will be invited to present keynote speeches at the beginning of both days of the symposium. Selected scholars studying assets and education will be invited to write, submit, and present an original research paper on the relationship between assets and educational outcomes for children at the primary, secondary, or post-secondary level. The papers will be grouped and presented during four sessions over the course of the two days. Invited scholars will be encouraged to contextualize their work by discussing their studies and findings: (1) with reference to competing theories of saving and asset building for children and youth and/or theories of asset effects on educational outcomes; (2) in relationship to current policy and program efforts in asset building and/or education; and (3) with issues of educational equity issues in mind. Discussants will be invited to read papers in advance, offer a critique of the work, and facilitate discussion among the presenters and between presenters and attendees. Proceedings of the symposium will be published following the symposium, with electronic copies sent to all attendees.

Conference Program

Check back for an updated conference program.

List of Presenters (To date)

Keynotes

• Michael Sherraden, Washington University Center for Social Development
• Michael Lomax, President and CEO, United Negro College Fund
• Mark Rank, Washington University

Panels & Participants

Theory on Saving: Children and Education

• Sandy Beverly, Washington University Center for Social Development (Discussant)
• Terri Friedline, University of Pittsburgh
• Annette Otto, Johannes Gutenberg-Universitat-Mainz
• Margaret Sherraden, University of Missouri-St. Louis
• Paul Webley, University of London

Research on Assets, Primary, and Secondary Education

• Dalton Conley, New York University (Discussant)
• Deborah Adams, University of Kansas School of Social Welfare
• Gina Chowa, University of North Carolina
• Michal Grinstein-Weiss, University of North Carolina
• Youngmi Kim, Virginia Commonwealth University

Theory on Asset Effects: Children and Education

• Mike Hock, University of Kansas (Discussant)
• Mesmin Destin, Northwestern University
• Daphna Oyserman, University of Michigan
• Trina Williams Shanks, University of Michigan

Research on Assets and Post-Secondary Education

• Thomas Shapiro, Brandeis University (Discussant)
• William Elliott III, University of Kansas School of Social Welfare
• Jin Huang, Washington University Center for Social Development
• Vernon Loke, Eastern Washington University
• Min Zhan, University of Illinois
• Greg Cheatham, University of Kansas Dept. of Special Education