Marquette University to host conference on social-emotional learning in K-12 education

November 16, 2017

MILWAUKEE — Andre Perry of the Brookings Institution and Chester E. Finn, Jr., of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute will be among the featured guests at a conference, "What K-12 Students Need: Striking a Balance Between Social-Emotional and Academic Learning," on Wednesday, Nov. 29, at 8:15 a.m. in the Lubar Center at Marquette University's Eckstein Hall.

The need to address students' social-emotional needs is receiving increased attention at schools across the nation, especially for students whose lives involve significant challenges. What are the best ways to address these needs? How should schools strike a balance between social-emotional learning and academic learning? And what are educators in the Milwaukee area doing on this front? The conference will focus on these and related issues.

Perry is the David M. Rubinstein Fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program of the Brookings Institution in Washington. Perry's academic work focuses on race, structural inequality and urban schools. He was an important figure in New Orleans education during the years following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and he writes a monthly column for the Hechinger Report on education issues. He endorses the importance of meeting students' social-emotional needs.

Finn is a distinguished senior fellow and president emeritus of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute in Washington, D.C. He is also a senior fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution. Finn has been a major figure in education-policy debates about school reform for four decades. He was an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Education during the Reagan administration and has held numerous academic and political positions. He is skeptical about the impact of social-emotional programs.

The conference also will include a panel discussion among people shaping social-emotional learning efforts in Milwaukee area schools. The conference is sponsored by Marquette Law School's Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education and the Marquette University College of Education.

Seating for members of the general public is at capacity; registration for a waiting list is available online. Members of the media who are interested in attending should contact Chris Jenkins in the Office of Marketing and Communication.