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.

Stay Updated!

Sign up to get notified as new publications become available.

    Featured Reports

    Abell Report: Later School Start Times for Adolescents in Baltimore City Public Schools

    Everyone agrees that teens need more sleep. So why does school start so early? This report examines the research on school start times and the implications for students in Baltimore City.

    2023 Annual Report

    Our 2023 Annual Report highlights the work of organizations across the city that are dedicated to addressing the complex challenges many of our neighbors face and of the great potential they hold.

    Abell Reports: Police-Community Relations in Baltimore

    In 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a consent decree for the Baltimore Police Department, mandating wide-ranging reforms. In a pair of companion reports, researchers from the University of Maryland examine the current state of community-police relations and how certain initiatives could help to improve them.

    Publications Library

    Abell Salutes: Biotechnical Institute of Maryland

    Training the unskilled workers for the skilled biotech jobs.

    To Improve Poor Children’s Test Scores, Move Poor Families

    It takes a school, a neighborhood, and a family to raise and educate a child successfully. When families are weak, neighborhoods and schools must be stronger to compensate.

    Abell Salutes: Greenspring Middle School’s “Uniformity of Character” Program

    School uniforms are making a difference.

    Baltimore’s Poor Children Learn as Much as Middle-Class Children During the School Year, But Fall Behind During the Summer, Hopkins Researchers Document

    If disadvantaged students stayed in school 12 months, would they progress academically at the same rate as middle-income students? New research shows that the likely answer is “Yes.”

    Abell Salutes: The Debating Society at City High School

    Restoring and enriching the school’s 125-year-old debating tradition.

    Header photo courtesy of Venture for America.