Dear friends,
This Giving Tuesday, we invite you to join us in partnering with schools and communities to ensure all students have access to supports that set them up for future success.
Public education has never been more critical to advancing economic mobility and tackling our cities’ largest challenges. At the same time, public funds to support students are becoming increasingly scarce while National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores continue declining to dismal levels in the wake of a once-in-a-century pandemic. If we are to continue addressing the barriers students face, we must deliver greater impact for every dollar spent.
For more than a decade, the University of Chicago Education Lab has served as a key R&D partner to Chicago Public Schools (CPS), government agencies, and nonprofits, providing high-value support in resource-constrained environments. Over the years, we’ve learned a great deal about what works:
- High-dosage tutoring. High-dosage tutoring is one of the most effective interventions we’ve studied—boosting learning by the equivalent of months of additional instruction in a single school year. Through our Personalized Learning Initiative, we’re working with school districts around the country to make tutoring more efficient, more targeted, and more scalable so thousands more students can benefit.
- Restorative practices. When schools replace exclusionary discipline with restorative approaches that build trust and repair harm, students feel safer, attendance improves, and conflict declines. Our research is helping schools implement these practices school-wide so more students experience supportive, consistent learning environments.
- Behavioral science interventions. “Deaths of decision-making” are now the leading cause of death for American teens. With almost two decades worth of work behind us, we know that pairing intensive mentorship with behavioral science-informed strategies helps young people pause, reframe, and make safer choices—boosting school engagement and reducing involvement in violence. Working with nonprofit and education partners, we’re reducing barriers to scaling these proven approaches so they can reach young people at the moments they need them most.
We all have a stake in ensuring every student has the opportunity to succeed, and we hope you will join us in advancing these goals.
With gratitude,
Roseanna Ander
Founding Executive Director
University of Chicago Education Lab