"The Disengaged Teen" by Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop

Our annual "One Lab One Read" book club featured a discussion with Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop, authors of "The Disengaged Teen." The authors shared insights from their book on modern education reform and their framework of four learning mindsets: Resister, Passenger, Achiever, and Explorer.

It was a great conversation that brought practical frameworks for understanding student engagement directly to our team.

"Head Start allies wait, worry about possible funding cuts"

~ EdSource

"Trump Wants to Gut Head Start. He’s Already Begun"

~ EducationWeek

EdSource and EdWeek both published comprehensive coverage on the potential elimination of Head Start funding following leaked White House budget documents, featuring expert analysis from our co-founder Ariel Kalil.

The articles examine the broader implications of cutting the program that serves the nation's most vulnerable families. Ariel provided key insight on the dual impact these cuts would create: "If Head Start disappears, working parents with few alternatives will lose child care options that enable them to earn a living. Children who need extra support to thrive in school and into adulthood will instead fall even further behind."

Her commentary was featured alongside responses from leadership at the National Head Start Association and ACLU, positioning the BIP Lab's research perspective within the broader policy debate. 

The lab wrapped up an exciting collaboration this quarter with The University of Chicago Booth School's Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation Impact Studio. Three talented MBA students—Minh Tran, Erica Choi, and Agustín Eyzaguirre—led our team through a comprehensive market scoping and branding analysis for Chat2Learn, our research-product venture.

With fresh insights from the Booth team's analysis, the BIP Lab is now ready to move forward and apply these learnings to advance Chat2Learn's development and market approach.

We're expanding the team! The BIP Lab has two research coordinator positions open—both Research Coordinator I and Research Coordinator II roles. These positions offer great opportunities to join our research on behavioral insights and parenting interventions.

If you know talented researchers looking to contribute to impactful work in child development and family policy, encourage them to apply. Both positions are based in Chicago and offer the chance to work directly with our growing portfolio of research projects.

Check out the full job descriptions and apply through the University of Chicago careers portal.

The BIP Lab has received an award of $50,000 from the Susan and Richard Kiphart Center for Global Health and Social Development at the University of Chicago Crown Family School to launch an evaluation of Chat2Learn in Peru in partnership with the University of Chicago Development Innovation Lab and the Peruvian Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion.