Education | Still Separate and Unequal? A Race and Power Conversation

By some measures schools are more racially segregated today than they were in the 70s. How do we account for the continuation of this educational divide, what are its consequences, and what, if anything, can we do about it? On Feb 1 at 6:15pm, Professor Brian Lowery talks with The President of the University of California system, Michael Drake, and Stanford’s resident expert on educational equity, Sean Reardon. They talk about the causes, patterns, and consequences of social and educational inequality, and discuss what can be done to reduce these inequalities.

Dr. Michael V. Drake, MD was appointed the 21st president of the University of California in August 2020. He oversees UC’s world-renowned system of 10 campuses, five medical centers, three nationally affiliated labs, more than 280,000 students and 230,000 faculty and staff.

Dr. Drake previously served as president of The Ohio State University from 2014 through June 2020. Prior to OSU, he served in several roles at the University of California including nine years as chancellor of UC Irvine and five years as the systemwide vice president for health affairs.

An ophthalmologist by training, Drake received his A.B. from Stanford University, his M.D. and residency from UCSF, and his fellowship training in ophthalmology at UCSF and the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.

Prof. Sean Reardon is the endowed Professor of Poverty and Inequality in Education and is Professor (by courtesy) of Sociology at Stanford University. His research focuses on the causes, patterns, trends, and consequences of social and educational inequality, the effects of educational policy on educational and social inequality, and in applied statistical methods for educational research. Reardon is the developer of the Stanford Education Data Archive (SEDA). Based on 300 million standardized test scores, SEDA provides measures of educational opportunity, average test score performance, academic achievement gaps, and other information for every public school district in the US.

Professor Reardon received his doctorate in education in 1997 from Harvard University. He is a member of the National Academy of Education and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also a recipient of the William T. Grant Foundation Scholar Award, the National Academy of Education Postdoctoral Fellowship, and an Andrew Carnegie Fellow.