Inaugural Dean's Symposium on Educational Equity set for Dec. 3

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State community is invited to join the College of Education for the inaugural Dean's Symposium on Educational Equity, featuring Francesca López on the topic of "Asset-Based Pedagogy Research-Practice Partnerships to Promote Whole-Student Outcomes." The symposium, which is co-sponsored by the College's Department of Education Policy Studies, will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3, in Foster Auditorium in Paterno Library.

Asset-based pedagogy is essential for leveraging the assets of historically marginalized students, but how do educators and leaders develop the requisite knowledge to promote whole-student outcomes? In this talk, López will detail school district needs that prompted district-focused research alliances concentrated on developing teachers’ and school leaders’ asset-based pedagogies.

López is the Ernest W. McFarland distinguished professor in leadership for education policy and reform; founder and director of the Education Policy Center; and associate dean of the College of Education at the University of Arizona. She began her career in education as a bilingual (Spanish/English) elementary teacher, and later as a high school counselor, in El Paso, Texas. López has collaborated with district leadership and educators to develop practice-based professional development to foster asset-based pedagogy in K-12 settings.

Her research is focused on examining how asset-based pedagogies promote identity and achievement for Latinx youth and has been funded by the American Educational Research Association Grants Program, the Division 15 American Psychological Association Early Career Award, and the National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship.

López is one of the inaugural co-editors of the integrated American Educational Research Journal and an associate editor for the American Journal of Education. She has collaborated with district leadership and educators to develop practice-based professional development to foster asset-based pedagogy in K-12 settings.