George Farkas

Professor
Department of Education

email: gfarkas@uci.edu
phone: 949.824.3523
office: Education 2070

Biography

George Farkas received his B.A. in Mathematics from Columbia in 1967, and his Ph.D. in Sociology from Cornell in 1973.  Prior to joining the faculty at UC Irvine he was Professor of Sociology, Demography, and Education at Pennsylvania State University. He was also Director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Sociology and Director of the Statistics Core for the Population Research Institute.

Professor Farkas’ research has made a major contribution to understanding the school achievement gap for low income and ethnic minority students. He has employed a range of statistical approaches and databases to examine the causes and consequences of this gap across varying age groups and educational settings, and was one of the first to show that the gap emerges in early childhood.  His research has also examined students’ learning-related behaviors, and their causes, consequences, and relationship to the achievement gap. He has studied the life cycle earnings consequences of cognitive skill and behavioral differences between individuals, and has done research on gender differences. He has a particular interest in quasi-experimental statistical methodology.

Professor Farkas has authored or co-authored four books.  His articles have appeared in The American Sociological Review, The American Journal of Sociology, Social Forces, Social Science Research, Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, Sociology of Education, Demography, Journal of Marriage and the Family, The American Educational Research Journal, The Harvard Educational Review, Teachers College Record, Brookings Papers on Educational Policy, The Elementary School Journal, The Journal of Learning Disabilities, The Journal of Special Education, The Journal of Early Childhood Research, Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, The Journal of Youth and Adolescence, The Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Economics of Education Review, Econometrica, The Journal of Human Resources, The Journal of Labor Economics, The Journal of Econometrics, Sociological Methods and Research, and Structural Equation Modeling.

Professor Farkas’ research has been supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, The Spencer Foundation, The American Educational Research Association, The Corporation for National Service, The National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development, The National Science Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Labor.

Professor Farkas applied his knowledge and interest in the achievement gap to develop a successful tutoring program that improved reading skills of low-income, minority, and limited English proficient elementary school students.  This tutoring program, Reading One-to-One, was widely implemented throughout the country, and helped invent President Clinton’s “America Reads” initiative.

Professor Farkas was elected to the Sociological Research Association in 1996, and was recently elected to the organization’s executive committee. He will serve as President in 2010. He was the editor of the Rose Monograph Series of the American Sociological Association from 1996 to 1999, and served on the ASA’s publications committee at that time. He has served on the editorial boards of the American Sociological Review, Social Science Research, Evaluation Review, and the American Journal of Education.

Publications

Hibel, Jacob, George Farkas, and Paul Morgan.  “Who is Placed into Special Education?”  To appear in Sociology of Education.

Hammer, Carol, George Farkas, and Steve Maczuga.  “The Language and Literacy Development of Head Start Children: A Study Using the Family and Child Experiences Survey Database.”  To appear in Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools.

Steward, Nicole R. and George Farkas.  “Detailed Educational Pathways after Very Early Sexual Intercourse for Females.”  To appear in Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.

Morgan, Paul, George Farkas, Marianne Hillemeier, and Steve Maczuga.  “Risk Factors for Learning-Related Behavior Problems at 24 Months of Age: Population-Based Estimates.”  To appear in Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.           

Burnett, Kristin and George Farkas. “Poverty and Family Structure Effects on Children’s Mathematics Achievement: Estimates from Random and Fixed Effects Models.”  To appear in The Social Science Journal.

Simon, Richard and George Farkas. “ Sex, Class, and Physical Science Educational  Attainment: Portions Due to Achievement Versus Recruitment.” To appear in Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering.

Hillemeier, Marianne, George Farkas, Paul Morgan, Molly Martin, and Steven Maczuga.  “Disparities in the Prevalence of Cognitive Delay: How Early Do They Appear?” To appear in  Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology.

Hibel, Jacob, Susan Faircloth, and George Farkas. “Unpacking the Placement of American Indian and Alaska Native Students in Special Education Programs and Services in the Early Grades: School Readiness as a Predictive Variable.” To appear in Harvard Education Review 78 no. 3: 498 - 528.

Farkas, George. “Human Capital.”  To appear in Deborah Carr (ed.) Encyclopedia of the Sociology of the Life Course.  Macmillan Reference.

Farkas, George.  “Closing Achievement Gaps.” Pp. 661 – 670 in D. Plank, B. Schneider, and G. Sykes (eds.) Handbook of Education Policy Research.  American Educational Research Association.

Morgan, P.L., M. Frisco, G. Farkas, and J. Hibel.  “Effects of Special Education Services on Children’s Learning and Behavior: A Propensity Score Matching Analysis.” To appear in Journal of Special Education.

Morgan, P.L., G. Farkas, Q. Wu.  “Early Risk Factors for Later Psychopathology.” To appear in Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders.

Morgan, P.L., G. Farkas, and J. Hibel.  “Matthew Effects for Whom?”  To appear in Learning Disabilities Quarterly.

Morgan, P.L., G. Farkas, P. A. Tufis, and R. A. Sperling. “Are Reading and Behavior Problems Risk Factors For Each Other?”  To appear in J. Learning Disabilities 41 (no. 5): 417 – 436..

Farkas, George. 2008. “How Educational Inequality Develops.” Chapter 4 in David Harris and Ann Lin (eds.) The Colors of Poverty: Why Racial and Ethnic Disparities Persist. New York: Russell Sage Foundation Press.

Hall, Matthew and George Farkas. 2008. “Does Human Capital Raise Earnings for Immigrants in the Low Skill Labor Market?”  Demography 45-Number 3 (August): 619 – 639.

Bodovski, Katerina and George Farkas. 2008. “‘Concerted Cultivation’ and Unequal Achievement in Elementary School.” Social Science Research 37 (3): 903 – 919.

Farkas, George. 2008. “Quantitative Studies of Oppositional Culture: Arguments and Evidence.” Pp. 312 - 347 in John Ogbu (ed.), Minority Status, Oppositional Culture, and Schooling. New York: Routledge.

Farkas, George and Jacob Hibel. 2008.  “Being Unready for School: Factors Affecting Risk and Resilience.” Pp.3-30 in Alan Booth and Ann Crouter (eds.), Disparities in School Readiness: How Families Contribute to Transitions into School. New York: Erlbaum.

Durham, Rachel, George Farkas, Carol Scheffner Hammer, J. Bruce Tomblin, and Hugh W. Catts.  2007. “Kindergarten Oral Language Skill: A Key Variable in the Intergenerational Transmission of Socioeconomic Status.” Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 25: 294 – 305.

Farkas, George and Rachel Durham. 2007. “The Role of Tutoring in Standards-Based Reform.”  Pp. 201 – 228 in Adam Gamoran (ed.), Standards-Based Reform and the Poverty Gap: Lessons for “No Child Left Behind.”  Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.

Bodovski, Katerina, and George Farkas. 2007. “Mathematics Growth in Early Elementary School: The Roles of Beginning Knowledge, Student Engagement, and Instruction.” The Elementary School Journal 108 (2): 115 – 130.

Bodovski, Katerina and George Farkas. 2007. “Do Instructional Practices Contribute to Inequality in Achievement? The Case of Mathematics Instruction in Kindergarten.” The Journal of Early Childhood Research 5 (3): 301 – 322.

Catherine Riegle-Crumb, George Farkas, and Chandra Muller. 2006. “The Role of Gender and Friendship in Advanced Course-Taking.”  Sociology of Education 79 (July): 206 – 228.

Farkas, George. 2006. Entry on “Literacy/Illiteracy” for the section on Education in George Ritzer (ed.) Encyclopedia of Sociology. Oxford, UK:Blackwell.

Tach, Laura and George Farkas. 2006. “Learning-Related Behaviors, Cognitive Skills, and Ability Grouping When Schooling Begins.”  Social Science Research 35 (4) (December): 1048 – 1079.

Curriculum Vitae

Curriculum Vitae (PDF)