KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Education will feature Eugene E. Garcia, Ph.D. as its keynote speaker for its 2011 Urban Education and Community Forum at 5 p.m. on Monday, April 25 in Pierson Auditorium, University Center, 5000 Holmes. The event is free and open to the public. A RSVP is requested by calling or (816) 235-6222.
Garcia’s speech – “What It Takes in Urban Education; Connecting Cultures: Helping Our Growing Latino and Immigrant Populations Succeed in PK-12 and Post-Secondary Schools” – will provide details about the cultures of the growing Latino and other immigrant populations. It also will provide perspectives regarding education, as well as the students’ lingering achievement gap in diverse, urban schools. Garcia will share how PK-12 and higher education institutions can connect with the immigrant work of diverse communities to better prepare students for post-secondary education success.
“We are pleased to sponsor such a well-respected speaker, who is an expert in better preparing non-native speaking immigrant populations for success in PK-12 and post-secondary education settings,” said Wanda J. Blanchett, Dean and Ewing Marion Kauffman/Missouri Endowed Chair for Teacher Education in the UMKC School of Education.
Garcia is vice president for education partnerships at Arizona State University and has published extensively in the area of language teaching and bilingual development as author or co-author of more than 14 books and monographs and more than 200 articles and book chapters. He also chaired the National Task Force on Early Education for Hispanics, which was funded by the Foundation for Child Development.
Garcia has an extensive academic and higher education background, having received a B.A. from the University of Utah in Psychology and a Ph.D. in Human Development from the University of Kansas. He has served as Professor and Dean of the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley from 1995-2001, as well as a faculty member at the University of Utah, the University of California, Santa Barbara, Arizona State University and the University of California, Santa Cruz. He also served as a national research center director, an academic department chair on two occasions and as dean of the Social Sciences Division at University of California, Santa Cruz.
The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), one of four University of Missouri campuses, is a public university serving more than 15,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students. UMKC engages with the community and economy based on a four-part mission: life and health sciences; visual and performing arts; urban issues and education; and a vibrant learning and campus life experience. For more information about UMKC, visit www.umkc.edu. You also can find us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and watch us on YouTube.