CURL is performing research and evaluation for HEART Women & Girls’ 2017 initiative. The initiative is composed of a series of trainings for Muslim college students and student leaders on up to five college campuses. The students will come together to understand sexual violence, learn how to support victims, and develop victim-centric approaches, polices, and best practices that address and prevent sexual violence in student organizations.
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The Greater Roseland West Pullman Food Network (GRWP) developed a sustainable model to address food insecurity in the Roseland and West Pullman communities, with the Greater Roseland Sustainability Initiative (GRSI). The GRSI is a collaboration between community, university, and business partners utilizing urban agriculture and social enterprise to increase access to fresh produce, improve STEM skills, and prepare youth for a “green collar” economy.
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Chicago's Fifth House Ensemble (5HE) partners with local non-profits to offer music education residencies to vulnerable populations throughout the city. Recent residencies include Teen Living Programs, a homeless youth services provider; Deborah's Place, homeless women services provider; and Nancy B. Jefferson Alternative High School, an alternative school located within the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. The Center for Urban Research and Learning (CURL) and Brian L. Kelly of Loyola University Chicago, School of Social Work, are working together to evaluate the benefits of these residencies, by measuring their effects on participants' mental health, professional skills, engagement with the community, and other dimensions of social and personal life.
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Chicago Public Schools launched the Global Citizenship Initiative (GCI) in 2012-2013. GCI provides rigorous curriculum aligned with high standards, supports high quality pedagogy that meets the needs of diverse learners and reflects best practices in civic education, and generates multiple external learning opportunities throughout the city of Chicago.
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CURL started an evaluation partnership with Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI) focusing on their recently awarded multi-year grant from the Kellogg Foundation. The process evaluation examined the implementation of COFI’s parent leadership program - Family Focused Organizing - in four Illinois communities that are building collaborations to improve access to and quality of early learning programs. Family Focused Organizing develops parents as leaders in their communities so they may advocate on behalf of themselves, their families, and their communities.
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The purpose of this project was to develop specific strategies for using whole school climate prevention to support the morale of staff when experiencing unexpected change which increases teacher’s stress and may have a negative impact on student’s learning. We performed a mixed method study of an urban middle school that was targeted for downsizing in a large urban district and is now implementing school-wide prevention for behavior problems.
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This project focused on identify formation of students in a Chicago public high school that has a formal partnership with a community organization through the Full Service Community Schools Initiative.
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In 2012, a new interdisciplinary initiative at Loyola – The Healthy Homes Initiative - sought ways in which universities and communities could come together to discover new toxins, understand their effect and work with communities to reduce and eliminate negative impacts.
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Heart Women and Girls, an organization working with women and girls in faith-based communities – especially in Muslim communities – to build “leadership and self-esteem through health and wellness programming” collaborated with CURL to conduct an assessment relating to health. The research was designed to measure attitudes, opinions, and knowledge of young Muslim college students as it relates to a variety of health issues. The outcomes will allow HEART and others in the field to be better equipped at targeting resources by understanding the community need.
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The partnership created new options for child care in Rogers Park (and Edgewater). Such options addressed the needs of the diverse populations (i.e. diverse economic backgrounds and schedules of hours). Partners complimented the work of the Early Childhood Network (ECN) convened by State Representative Carol Ronen.A 3-year project was funded by HUD’s COPC grant.
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