Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University

10/13/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us yesterday for our LAST Monday colloquium in Chambers Hall! 💜

This room has served us well since 2013. It's given us a space for great talks, lively debates, and interdisciplinary exchange. We’ll miss it!

Now, onto the next chapter! We’re taking a short break while we move into our new home at 2001 Sheridan. Our colloquia series will resume on November 9 in Deering Library. We hope to see you there!

See upcoming events: http://spr.ly/6185BHE0wJ

10/12/2026

TODAY: Join us in Chambers Hall at noon for a talk by IPR political scientist Elizabeth Thom on "The Politics of Industrial Decline: Social Programs and Political Behavior in Appalachia.”

IPR Colloq.: E. Thom (IPR/Pol. Sci.) - The Politics of Industrial Decline: Social Programs and Political Behavior in Appalachia

10/06/2026

More than 40 Northwestern undergraduates spent their summer doing real policy research with IPR faculty through our Summer Undergraduate Research Assistant (SURA) program! 🎓

For almost three decades, SURA has given students hands-on research experience. They collect data, learn research methods directly from faculty, and build mentoring relationships that can shape their careers. Along the way, they help move faculty research forward.

Our latest story follows four of this year's students. Brandon Burks and Mercy Nyamao helped IPR political scientist Sally Nuamah archive the history of a Chicago housing cooperative by interviewing residents and coding archival documents. Jeremy Mau and Lilly Kanter worked with IPR political scientist and associate director Laurel Harbridge-Yong to study threats of political violence against elected officials.

Every summer, SURA helps build the next generation of researchers who will drive evidence-based change. We're so proud of this year's students! 💜

Read the story: http://spr.ly/6189BG07mD

10/05/2026

TODAY: Join us in Chambers Hall at noon for a talk by IPR economist and Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy's Jonathan Guryan on “Can Technology Facilitate Scale? Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation of High-Dosage Tutoring.” http://spr.ly/6188BGL3um

10/02/2026

Headline-grabbing events like the derailment of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April by an alleged gunman typically prompt national debates and concerns about the escalation of political violence.

While incidents like this often bring the issue into renewed focus, recently released research shows that at the local and state levels, threats of political violence are pervasive among officials and staff from both political parties and often take place out of public view.

“This is a major problem,” said IPR political scientist and associate director Laurel Harbridge-Yong, who co-authored two reports examining the prevalence of harassment, threats, and violence targeting mayors and state legislative staff. “It is much more widespread than the high-profile incidents people might think about.”

The rapid research reports, co-authored by Alexandra Filindra of the University of Illinois Chicago and John Cluverius of the University of Massachusetts Lowell, also asked mayors and state legislative staffers about what they believe is driving the hostility and ways to enhance their safety and wellbeing.

Read the story: http://spr.ly/6188BGvxGQ

09/30/2026

In a Q&A with Education Week, IPR statistician Elizabeth Tipton explains that reading research needs an "engineering" approach to better translate evidence-based practices into real classrooms.

A paper co-authored by Tipton and Nicole Patton-Terry, director of Florida State University's Florida Center for Reading Research, contends that there is a gap between the science of reading and the development of scalable, practical solutions for schools.

Tipton argues that many scientifically based interventions are designed and tested in narrow contexts, leaving schools to determine whether they will work in different environments. She says an engineering approach would focus on building and testing interventions that hold up across the range of environments found in schools.

Read the Q&A: http://spr.ly/6183BGscwU

Researchers suggest that an "engineering of reading" could better translate evidence into practice.

09/28/2026

One of the best parts of IPR is the interdisciplinary exchange that happens every day. We’re so excited to see what’s possible when even more opportunities for connection and collaboration are right down the hall! 💜

Northwestern begins a new chapter in education, the social sciences and global studies this fall as the renovated building next to Deering Meadow (formerly the Jacobs Center) opens its doors.

09/23/2026

Happy first day of classes! Join us this quarter for one (or all) of our fall events. 🍂📚

See the full schedule: http://spr.ly/6180BG5fgg

09/18/2026

District attorneys are often called the most influential actors in the U.S. criminal justice system, with near-unfettered authority over who gets charged and what crimes they're charged with. New research by IPR economist and legal scholar Chika Okafor shows how political pressures shape those decisions.

Okafor found that prison admissions rose about 3% in years when DAs stood for election during the era of rising mass incarceration—roughly 63,000 additional admissions from the mid-1980s to the early 2000s. The study, published open access in the Journal of Public Economics, looks at a period more than 20 years ago, but Okafor says its lessons still apply, especially with the 2026 midterms approaching.

"There's a lot of weight and gravity associated with the implications of our individual votes, both when it comes to the individuals who ultimately get elected, but also when it comes to the political incentives for those who weren't even on the ballot," Okafor said. "The fact that public perception, public opinion, and voter preferences do matter is particularly relevant and salient given the current political landscape that we find ourselves in."

Read the story:

New research by Chika Okafor shows how district attorney elections drove up prison admissions and sentence lengths during the era of rising mass incarceration.

09/16/2026

One in four childcare seats in Chicago, or 25%, are tied to Head Start funding. In some neighborhoods, it’s more than 80%.

In an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune, Terri Sabol, IPR developmental psychologist and faculty co-director of the Early Childhood Research Alliance of Chicago (EC*REACH), examines proposed federal rules that would loosen Head Start's staffing ratios and wage requirements while cutting family-engagement services.

Sabol writes that the changes are framed as savings and expanded access, but argues they would push out experienced teachers, raise class sizes and strip away the services that make Head Start more than daycare. She points to decades of research, including her own, showing the program's benefits extend to parents' education and household income, not just children's outcomes.

Read the full op-ed here:

In Chicago, half of the city’s Head Start families rely on it so the parents can work.