Harpel Initiative
Increasing Human Capital in a Generation: Using Technology to Improve Instruction and Expectations
The Center for Human Potential and Public Policy is the home for an exciting new initiative to improve the cognitive and non-cognitive skills of primary school children in Sao Paulo, Brazil by improving educational instruction. This project was inspired, and is supported, by Dean's International Council member, James W. Harpel. The research team for the project is cross-disciplinary and is comprised of a number of the Center's faculty affiliates. In order to improve educational instruction, the research team will implement a large-scale, random assignment computer-aided instruction intervention in public schools in which children will receive two hours of math and two hours of literacy instruction per week. The initiative will also provide teacher training. Because Sao Paulo is representative of large urban school systems in middle-development nations, a program that improves educational outcomes here will not only benefit the children of Sao Paulo, but will also likely be useful to many other countries. Consequently, this project has the possibility of benefiting millions of children worldwide.
Harpel Initiative Team
Principal Investigator
Susan E. Mayer
Professor, The Harris School of Public Policy Studies
Research Team
Flavio Cunha
Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania
Robert W. Fairlie
Professor, Department of Economics, University of California, Santa Cruz
Ariel Kalil
Associate Professor, The Harris School of Public Policy Studies
Jens Ludwig
Professor, School of Social Service Administration, The Harris School of Public Policy Studies, and The Law School
Alicia Menendez
Research Associate, The Harris School of Public Policy Studies
Marcos Rangel
Assistant Professor, The Harris School of Public Policy Studies
Project Coordinators
Laurel Spindel
Associate Director, Center for Human Potential and Public Policy
Contact Information
General Inquiries
Email: chppp@uchicago.edu
Phone: 773-702-3402
Fax: 773-702-5559
Director
Ariel Kalil, Ph.D.
Email: akalil@uchicago.edu
Phone: 773-834-2090
Web: Ariel Kalil - Faculty Webpage
Associate Director
Laurel Joy Spindel, M.A., M.A.P.P.
Email: ljspinde@uchicago.edu
Phone: 773-702-3402
