Amy Ellen Schwartz, professor at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, will delve into the effects of external educational influences on students’ success, on Tuesday as a part of the Mosbacher Institute’s Education Policy Workshop.

Schwartz’s lecture will be Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics, and Public Policy’s second and final lecture in the Education Policy Workshop. The lecture, entitled, “Instruction Isn’t Enough: How Academic Success is Shaped by What Happens Outside of School and What We Can Do About It,” will focus on how a student’s success depends on what happens outside of the classroom.

Cynthia Gause, program coordinator for Mosbacher Institute, said the workshop is meant to inform the public on educational policy.

“The point of these lectures is to invite noted scholars in to talk about their current research, how it relates to education and how that might affect educational policy,” Gause said.

The Mosbacher Institute, a part of the Bush School of Government and Public Service, began the Education Policy Workshop at the beginning of this year. Director of the Mosbacher Institute and professor Lori Taylor said the workshop was formed in to inform students on research being done in the educational field without wearing them out with copious lectures.

“One of the ways we can most effectively communicate to our students about the cutting edge research in the field is to bring scholars who are making a difference to campus and have them tell us about their work,” Taylor said.

In addition to presenting a lecture and attending the reception, Schwartz will speak during Taylor’s education policy class in the morning to meet A&M students within the education concentration.

Schwartz’s evening lecture will discuss various aspects outside of school that can have an effect on a student’s success and how to handle situations in a cost-effective manner.

“It is well recognized in the scholarly community that schools operate in a context and that it is very important to recognize that context when you are trying to assess the efficacy of educational programs and the like,” Taylor said. “By context I mean are kids too hungry to concentrate, or is there a problem with parental literacy? … Do you focus on services to the child or broaden your focus to serve that child through services to the family as a whole?”
Schwartz’s lecture will be held at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center, with a reception immediately following the event. The lecture is free and open to the public.