Policy and Research Centers Update

Following is an updated activity summary from four of the research centers affiliated with the Harris School.

Center for Human Potential and Public Policy (CHPPP)

• The Center for Human Potential and Public Policy (CHPPP) launched a Conversation Series in January 2000, which featured Aletha Huston, a child development expert at the University of Texas at Austin, who addressed the issue of "Television Viewing and the Informational and Educational Needs of Children." The second presentation in this series was held in March, when Columbia University professor Larry Aber spoke on the influence of education on early childhood outcomes. The series, which is open to the public, brings prominent researchers and policy makers in the field to the Harris School for discussions of their work.

• In February CHPPP received a $1 million, three-year grant from the McCormick Tribune Foundation to help fund research projects and train students in child policy. The funding will support affiliated scholars on four new research projects and will subsidize training for 12 public policy masters and doctoral students during the next two years.

• In April Economist Robert LaLonde discussed job and skill training for low income individuals and presented his recent paper "Job Change and Job Stability Among Less-Skilled Young Workers" at a Harris School Research Briefing that was sponsored by CHPPP.

Center for Urban Research and Policy Studies (CURPS)

• The Center for Urban Research and Policy Studies (CURPS) co-sponsored a January policy forum with the Illinois Learning Partnership that examined standards-based education reform. Panelists from the Illinois State Board of Education, the Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Teachers Union Quest Center and the Consortium on Chicago School Research discussed statewide and district-level learning standards, "high-stakes" testing to monitor student achievement, and efforts to enhance accountability for educational outcomes.

• In April the Joyce Foundation awarded CURPS a three-year $169,515 grant, which will be used to support a project entitled, "Monitoring Welfare Reform in Illinois." This CURPS project is comprised of an annual Illinois Welfare Reform Symposium, a series of welfare research briefing sessions, and a welfare policy research web site.

Cultural Policy Program (CPP)

• In February the Cultural Policy Program (CPP) sponsored the second annual Arts and Humanities in Public Life conference, "Taking Funds, Giving Offense, Making Money: The Brooklyn Museum of Art Controversy and the Dilemmas of Arts Policy." The conference examined some of the issues raised by the recent "Sensation" art exhibit controversy and provided a forum for discussions regarding the arts and public funding, culture, and the public trust. Panelists included faculty from the University of Chicago's Law School and Humanities Division. A roundtable discussion, "Coping With Arts Controversies: What Works? What Doesn't?" was moderated by former Chicago Tonight host John Callaway.

• During the spring quarter, the Cultural Policy Program held four workshops around the theme "Measuring Tastes and Values" at the University's Quad Club. The workshops are designed to provide a forum to discuss work in progress, and to explore the possibilities of interdisciplinary research partnerships.

Joint Center for Poverty Research (JCPR)

• In January Senators Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-Del.) and Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) and the Joint Center for Poverty Research (JCPR) co-sponsored a congressional research briefing to examine the causes and consequences of juvenile crime. In May the JCPR co-sponsored a research briefing on early childhood intervention programs that was co-sponsored by Chairman Nancy Johnson (R-CT) and Ranking Minority Member Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) of the Subcommittee on Human Resources of the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means.

• In May the JCPR named University of California, Davis Economist Marianne Page and Columbia University Professor of social work James Kunz as its 2000-01 Visiting Scholars. The competitive award, which includes full salary, benefits and up to $10,000 in research funding, allows scholars to take a year's leave from their academic duties to concentrate on research and scholarship. Also in May, the JCPR awarded Graduate Fellowships to 14 prominent pre and post doctorate researchers at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago.

• In May the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the JCPR and the Rural Policy Research Institute sponsored a conference in Washington, D.C. where researchers explored the rural dimensions of poverty and welfare reform and the effects of policy reforms on people living in rural areas