Welcome to the homepage of the Academy for Educational Studies at Missouri State University.  The Academy was founded in 2005 with a particular mission in mind:  to create a community of people interested in having thoughtful conversations about important educational questions and issues.  The Academy accomplishes this by hosting an annual education conference (as well as other activities) and by creating publishing opportunities connected with Academy events.

Membership in the Academy is open to all who want to share in and contribute to these important conversations--university professors, practicing teachers, school administrators, teacher education students, and anyone else who cares about schools and teaching.  Membership information, and a list of member benefits, is available on this web-site. 

Our annual conferences invite dialogue oriented around a theme question.  Our theme question for the 2008 conference, taking place October 20-21 at the Chateau on the Lake in Branson, Missouri, takes up the issue of “change” that has dominated public discussion in this presidential election year.  Our theme question:  Rethinking education:  Is it time for radical change in the public schools?  The Academy invites proposals on all aspects of change in the public schools.  Please see the Call for Papers at the link provided.  There you will also find information about our new conference feature this year—our “Academy Dialogue sessions” on the theme of Education and Modern Culture.  Alongside the conference sessions dedicated to the theme question, Academy Dialogue sessions will provide an innovative (and on-going) forum for discussion of what in our modern culture both encourages and discourages teaching and learning.

Past conferences have taken up other important educational questions.  The theme question for the 2007 conference was “What should the role of religion be in 21st century public schools?”  The featured theme question from the 2006 conference was "Why do kids hate school?"  Keynote speakers at the 2007 conference were Nel Noddings, Jeremy Gunn (ACLU), and Jordan Lorence (Alliance Defense Fund).  The 2006 conference featured addresses by Philip Cusick, Susan Ohanian, and David Owen.  Video clips of all these keynote speakers are available at the provided link.

In keeping with our mission to create publishing opportunities connected with Academy events, the Academy is proud to announce that the book Why Kids Hate School, drawn from presentations made at the 2006 conference, is now available through Kendall/Hunt Publishers.  Excerpts from the book are available on this web-site.  Work on a book drawn from presentations made at the 2007 conference on religion and the public schools is underway.

We want to share the Academy for Educational Studies with you--on this web-site, at our conferences, through our publications, and through an offer of membership.  Please contact us at AcademyEdStudies@missouristate.edu or 417-836-5982.

Steven P. Jones, Director of the Academy

Eric C. Sheffield, Assistant Director

Jeff Lettington, Graduate Assistant, Webmaster