What We’re Learning

What We’re Learning

We believe that a community of creative problem-solvers, faced with complicated, seemingly intractable challenges, is well-served by thought-provoking, research-based information and analysis. We support the development and dissemination of research in two ways:

Abell Reports

Abell Reports are commissioned reports by subject matter experts, academics, and investigative journalists that provide studies of selected issues on the public agenda.

Abell-Supported Research

These projects – undertaken with grant funding by academics and nonprofit research and advocacy organizations – advance learning on issues key to Baltimore City.

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    Featured Reports

    Abell Report: License to Work

    Thousands of Baltimore jobseekers struggle to secure and retain employment because they do not possess reliable personal transportation. This report examines how barriers, such as driver’s license requirements, vehicle ownership costs, and spatial employment and transit patterns, prevent Baltimore residents from accessing stable employment opportunities.

    Abell Report: Beyond the Headlines

    As the city celebrates historic reductions in gun violence, the media continues to broadcast headlines warning of crime by city youths ages 17 and younger. This report analyzes data available from key entities engaged with crimes charged to young people.

    Photo courtesy of the Goucher Prison Education Partnership.

    2024 Annual Report

    A reflection on the promising new approaches and new resources that have been brought to bear in the last decade.

    Publications Library

    Indicators of Smart Growth in Maryland

    An analysis of land-use indicators and trends to determine the effects of Maryland’s Smart Growth policies established in 1997.

    Adjusting the Lens: A Window into the Needs of Men in Jail

    This report summarizes the results of the self-reported survey of 200 men detained at the Baltimore City Detention Center (BCDC) conducted from May 2009 to July 2009, known as the Window Replication Project.

    Abell Salutes: Allan M. Tibbels

    In appreciation of his remarkable life in Sandtown.

    Why Can’t Johnny Read?

    Baltimore’s school-based vision-screening program may be leaving thousands of children with uncorrected eyesight problems. Six recommendations for strengthening the vision screening system in Baltimore City Public Schools.

    Vitamins & Violence: Can Micronutrients Make Students Behave, Schools Safer and Test Scores Better?

    Vitamins-and-violence theories remain tantalizing; the idea seems like common sense to many.

    Header photo courtesy of Venture for America.