Labs, resources, and organizations related to education, affiliated with the University of Chicago
Name Description Contact
Labs/Centers/Projects
UChicago Consortium on School Research UChicago Consortium is based at the Urban Education Institute (UEI) at University of Chicago and has a research-practice partnership with CPS. Across 14 different CPS administrations, the UChicago Consortium has been a consistent provider of comprehensive evidence on the district, and has become an institutional memory for the district on many issues. For a more in depth look at their work, visit here. Jessica Tansey, Managing Director of Communications. email: tanseyj@uchicago.edu
Education Lab | Uchicago Urban Labs The Education Lab partners with school districts to design, test, and scale programs to ensure all students have the opportunity for future success. By generating cutting-edge evidence in a real-world setting, our insights are not theoretical; they are designed to be applied in the classroom and to reach students at scale – translating into maximum impact for students nationwide. educationlab@uchicago.edu
Inclusive Economy
Lab | UChicago Urban Labs		 The University of Chicago Inclusive Economy Lab’s work focuses on ending intergenerational poverty and building an inclusive economythis by working with policymakers, organizations, and communities to identify their most urgent and pressing challenges, co-generate evidence about what works, and translate that evidence into real policy changes that expand economic opportunity and financial security to improve lives. urbanlabs@uchicago.edu
Center for Economics of Human Development The Center conducts and synthesizes wide-ranging research that explores the circumstances under which people develop the skills necessary to achieve their fullest potential and thrive in the current economy. This research, guided by Nobel laureate James J. Heckman, brings together teams of the best researchers from throughout the world to explore complex and interrelated aspects of how individuals acquire human capital and how that shapes economic outcomes. https://cehd.uchicago.edu/?page_id=322
Behavioral Insights and Parenting Lab
(BIP)		 The Behavioral Insights and Parenting Lab aims to promote human potential by using cutting-edge research methods to gain new insights into the science of parent decision-making. The lab was cofounded by Harris School Professors Ariel Kalil and Susan E. Mayer in 2014 biplab@uchicago.edu
Becker Friedman Institute The Becker Friedman Institute for Economics serves as a hub for cutting-edge analysis and research across the entire University of Chicago economics community, uniting researchers from the Booth School of Business, the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics, the Harris School of Public Policy, and the Law School in an unparalleled effort to uncover new ways of thinking about economics. bfi@uchicago.edu
TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health The TMW Center, founded by Professors Dana Suskind and John List, is committed to engaging parents and caregivers and working across systems and communities to support and bring best practices and interventions that work to scale. The TMW Center translates brain science into tools and strategies that help parents, organizations, and communities meet the developmental needs of children and set them up for success in school and life. tmwcenter@uchicago.edu
Trauma Responsive Educational Practices
Project		 ​The TREP Project was launched by Dr. Micere Keels in 2016 with a policy brief on the educational consequences of the chronic toxic stress of living in high crime communities. The TREP Project works to develop the individual and organizational capacity of educators and schools serving children growing up in neighborhoods that have high levels of toxic stress, such as violent crime, concentrated poverty, concentrated foster care involvement, and housing instability. info@TREPEducator.org
Chatter Lab The chatter lab is part of the Comparative Human Development department at the University of Chicago and Dr. Marisa Casillas is the Principal Investigator. We explore how communicative needs impact the ways in which language is learned and used by both children and adults. To that end, we employ experimental and observational methods in multiple sites around the world to analyze the production and comprehension of conversational language. chatterlab@uchicago.edu
EArly Social Thinkers Lab (EAST) The EArly Social Thinkers (EAST) Lab is led by Dr. Lin Bian. EAST Lab research focuses on how children reason about the social world and specifically studies how children form stereotypes about social categories and how these stereotypes influence their aspirations. EAST Lab is also interested in understanding how children make sense of intergroup interactions. Graduate students contact: Professor Lin Bian, linbian@uchicago.edu. Undergraduate students contact: Yihan Qian, yihanq@uchicago.edu
Center for the Study of Wealth Inequality and Mobility The James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Center for Research on Wealth Inequality and Mobility at The University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy will pursue cutting-edge research on the nature of socio-economic inequality and barriers to mobility. The Center will be lead by Professor Steven Durlauf Dr. Steven Durlauf, sdurlauf@uchicago.edu
Cognitive Development Lab Cognitive Development Lab studies language and cognitive development in typically developing children and children with pre- or perinatal brain injury. We are particularly interested in how the early experiences of children relate to their developmental trajectories. Their research ranges from naturalistic studies of parent-child and teacher-child interactions to laboratory studies examining how particular kinds of instruction impact children’s learning. Much of Cognitive Development Lab’s research focuses on children’s mathematical and spatial learning, and examines cognitive as well as affective factors relating to achievement in these domains. The team is led by Dr. Susan Levine. cog.dev.uchicago@gmail.com
Goldin-Meadow Lab The Goldin-Meadow Laboratory is a research lab at the University of Chicago in the Department of Psychology headed by Dr. Susan Goldin-Meadow. The lab is composed of graduate students and researchers pursuing independent topics related to cognition, development, education, linguistics, and various other fields, but interrelated by the lab’s main focus – the study of non-verbal communication, specifically gestures.
Messages, Identity and Inclusion in Education lab
(MiiE)		 The MiiE (Messages, Identity, and Inclusion in Education) Lab (pronounced “me” lab) harnesses the power of artificial intelligence tools to address critical questions in the social sciences, with a focus on issues related to education and society. By bringing together experts from diverse fields such as computer science and the social sciences, they aim to catalyze new research and develop innovative approaches to understanding complex social phenomena. Their interdisciplinary approach draws on cutting-edge techniques from fields such as computer vision and natural language processing to analyze high-dimensional data and generate insights into the factors that shape beliefs, attitudes, and decision-making. They strive to catalyze new research in the computational social sciences, drawing on insights from psychology, sociology, economics, and the humanities, and ultimately understanding how to help ensure that all children have equal opportunities to fully develop their potential. The Principal Investigator of the MiiE Lab is Dr. Anjali Adukia team@miielab.com
Beyond Schools The Beyond Schools Lab is a small research group focused on understanding the how seemingly non-educational structures of social inequality—issues such as affordable housing, transit access, gender inequality, immigration policies, and policing—shape the everyday lives of young people and their experiences with school. Dr. Eve Ewing is the director of the Beyond Schools Lab https://www.beyondschoolslab.org/contact
Center
for Youth Violence Prevention		 The Chicago Center for Youth Violence Prevention (CCYVP) is devoted to studying the causes and consequences of youth violence to inform the development and testing of prevention interventions to support children, youth and families living in high burden urban communities. The Principal Investigator and Director of CCYVP is Dr. Deborah Gorman-Smith mfrancis@uchicago.edu
To&Through Project The To&Through Project strives to create equitable education outcomes for Chicago Public Schools students by helping educators use data for inquiry and action. toandthrough@uchicago.edu
Colloquia and Convenings
Weekly Education Workshop (hosted by the Committee on Education) The Committee on Education Workshop is a combination of detailed presentations, discussions and critical evaluations of new findings. Presentations are given by UChicago faculty and students, as well as experts from other universities and lunch is served. Any member of the University of Chicago community who is interested in education is welcome to attend. Contact Megan Swartz (swartzm@uchicago.edu) to be added to the workshop listserv and visit https://voices.uchicago.edu/coed/coe-workshop-series/ for the current quarter’s schedule
Colloquium on Race, Education, and Social Transformation (CREST) This free, public colloquium series invites researchers, practitioners and community members to come together to engage in critical dialogue about identity, education and liberation. The goal is to create an accessible, interdisciplinary space for learners from varied experiences and backgrounds to inspire transformational work at the intersection of teaching, learning, and social justice. https://www.beyondschoolslab.org/colloquium
Student Groups
Education Policy Student Association (EPSA) The Education Policy Student Association (EPSA) brings together, students, faculty and practitioners interested in education policy and improving outcomes for students across the country and around the world. Our goal is to foster dialogues about education related topics, and push our community members to think of innovative solutions to educational problems facing the world today.
Careers, Advocacy, and Research in Education (CARE), RSO Careers, Advocacy, and Research in Education (CARE) is an organization focused on supporting undergraduates’ interests in education. CARE welcomes students of all years to join their list host (carestudents@lists.uchicago.edu) where they will be sending out information about our events and new job opportunities. Amma Bromley-Perry, ammabp@uchicago.edu. Listserv: carestudents@lists.uchicago.edu
Career Advancement
Careers in Education Professions program, Ed Pros Careers in Education Professions program, Ed Pros, which prepares 2nd – 4th year students for careers in the diverse and fast-changing education sector. Launched in 2012, the program seeks to continue the University’s legacy as a “teacher of teachers” and support students who are considering careers in education. Each spring, the program invites and selects a cohort of students to engage in specialized preparation to pursue one of many pathways. They include: careers in education policy, research, teaching, and various roles in education technology, non-profit management, and corporate settings. Scott Summers, sesummers@uchicago.edu
Volunteering
Neighborhood Schools Program The Neighborhood Schools Program (NSP) is an outreach program of the Office of Civic Engagement, and one of the University of Chicago’s longest-standing community outreach programs. https://nsp.uchicago.edu/contact
Committee on Education Resources
Education and Society Newsletter The Education and Society newsletter goes out every Tuesday during the academic year. It is intended for undergraduate or graduate students and includes education events, classes and opportunities, available across campus Sign up here.
Committee on Education Faculty list The Committee on Education faculty is comprised of individuals from across the University whose work probes questions of fundamental significance to education.
Undergraduate Student Funding
Jeff Metcalf Internship Program The Jeff Metcalf Internship Program is the premier internship program at the University of Chicago. A national model for university internship programs for more than a quarter-century, the Metcalf Program provides paid, substantive internships for students in the College. Students receive more than 4,400 Metcalf internships each year across a highly diverse range of industries and geographic locations.
College Center for Research and Fellowships The College Center for Research and Fellowships (CCRF) promotes academic excellence by empowering undergraduates to pursue two transformative educational experiences: undergraduate research and nationally competitive fellowships. CCRF promotes meaningful connections between faculty and students, encourages faculty mentorship, provides high-impact, developmental advising and educates the UChicago community about these opportunities for all undergraduates and recent alumni. https://ccrf.uchicago.edu/
Graduate Student Funding
Committee on Education MA Research Awards The Committee on Education has a limited number of research awards for the 2023-2024 academic year. These awards are for students who are pursuing the MA Certificate in Education and Society. Contact Megan Swartz (swartzm@uchicago.edu) for more information
Academic
Education Resource Librarian Rebecca Starkey is the subject librarian for the fields of Education and Library Science Rebecca Starkey: rstarkey@uchicago.edu