UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM N-Q

QUARTERLY SCHEDULE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS OF REGISTERED MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANY

Investment Company Act File number: 811-4786

Ariel Investment Trust

(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)

200 East Randolph Drive

Suite 2900

Chicago, IL 60601

(Address of principal executive offices)

Mareile Cusack

200 East Randolph Drive

Suite 2900

Chicago, IL 60601

(Name and address of agent for service)

with a copy to:

Arthur Don

Greenberg Traurig, LLP

77 West Wacker Drive

Suite 3100

Chicago, IL 60601

(312) 456-8438

Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (312) 726-0140

Date of fiscal year end: September 30, 2011

Date of reporting period:  December 31, 2010

Item 1. Schedule of Investments.

Ariel Fund Schedule of Investments				December 31, 2010 (Unaudited)
Number of Shares	Common Stocks—99.34%		Cost		Market Value
		Consumer discretionary & services—43.47%
5,181,200		CBS Corp., Class B	$26,157,266		$98,701,860
1,609,790		DeVry Inc.	80,455,158		77,237,724
5,972,539		Gannett Co., Inc.	24,246,322		90,125,614
4,210,325		International Game Technology	50,996,259		74,480,649
7,452,372		Interpublic Group of Cos., Inc. (a)	45,830,928		79,144,191
1,246,871		Meredith Corp.	27,824,883		43,204,080
1,337,848		Mohawk Industries, Inc. (a)	66,547,712		75,936,252
2,813,657		Newell Rubbermaid Inc.	40,311,262		51,152,284
1,334,775		Nordstrom, Inc.	18,623,063		56,567,764
1,967,056		Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (a)	17,501,396		92,451,632
582,467		Sotheby's	6,160,122		26,211,015
1,152,695		Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.	31,173,441		77,080,715
1,117,106		Tiffany & Co.	39,374,382		69,562,191
92,900		Washington Post Co., Class B	35,135,724		40,829,550
			510,337,918		952,685,521
		Consumer staples—7.91%
992,838		Constellation Brands, Inc., Class A (a)	11,359,234		21,991,362
563,054		Energizer Holdings, Inc. (a)	11,684,289		41,046,637
1,008,138		J.M. Smucker Co.	37,439,306		66,184,260
950,525		McCormick & Co., Inc.	33,410,623		44,227,928
			93,893,452		173,450,187
		Financial services—23.62%
3,487,657		CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. (a)	13,621,960		71,427,215
682,826		City National Corp.	28,651,314		41,898,203
809,200		Dun & Bradstreet Corp.	62,463,567		66,427,228
1,349,600		Fair Isaac Corp.	29,176,515		31,540,152
1,440,165		HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc.	25,933,414		41,678,375
5,941,078		Janus Capital Group Inc.	50,736,541		77,055,782
936,973		Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.	14,035,300		78,630,774
2,209,200		Lazard Ltd, Class A	74,674,500		87,241,308
1,508,547		PrivateBancorp, Inc.	13,614,383		21,692,906
			312,907,494		517,591,943
		Health care—9.02%
555,700		Beckman Coulter, Inc.	30,742,760		41,805,311
740,534		Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Class A (a)	46,491,053		76,904,456
1,416,801		Hospira, Inc. (a)	53,753,510		78,901,648
			130,987,323		197,611,415
		Materials & processing—2.77%
3,876,438		Interface, Inc., Class A (b)	37,742,293		60,666,255
		Producer durables—10.81%
1,800,403		Brady Corp., Class A	28,930,591		58,711,142
2,258,000		Brink's Co.	54,424,474		60,695,040
2,041,690		Herman Miller, Inc.	35,817,329		51,654,757
1,683,111		IDEX Corp.	27,203,387		65,843,302
			146,375,781		236,904,241
				December 31, 2010 (Unaudited)
Number of Shares	Common Stocks—99.34% (continued)		Cost		Market Value
		Technology—1.74%
638,450		Anixter Intl Inc.	$14,784,341		$38,134,618
		Total common stocks	1,247,028,602		2,177,044,180
Principal Amount	Repurchase Agreement—0.99%		Cost		Market Value
$21,669,861		Fixed Income Clearing Corporation, 0.01%, dated
		12/31/2010, due 1/3/2011, repurchase price $21,669,879,
		(collateralized by Federal National Mortgage Assoc.,
		3.42%, due 11/24/2020)	$21,669,861		$21,669,861
		Total Investments—100.33%	$1,268,698,463		2,198,714,041
		Liabilities less Other Assets—(0.33%)			(7,191,805)
		Net Assets—100.00%			$2,191,522,236

(a) Non-income producing.

(b) Affiliated company (See Note Three).

A category may contain multiple industries as defined by the Global Industry Classification Standards.

See Notes to Schedules of Investments.

Ariel Appreciation Fund Schedule of Investments				December 31, 2010 (Unaudited)
Number of Shares	Common Stocks—99.13%		Cost	Market Value
		Consumer discretionary & services—41.31%
1,041,650		Carnival Corp.	$27,713,373	$48,030,482
3,003,100		CBS Corp., Class B	16,897,573	57,209,055
1,011,800		DeVry Inc.	48,854,666	48,546,164
4,254,600		Gannett Co., Inc.	16,500,107	64,201,914
2,651,390		International Game Technology	35,859,049	46,903,089
4,266,775		Interpublic Group of Cos., Inc. (a)	21,647,031	45,313,151
798,100		Mattel, Inc.	17,944,640	20,295,683
857,775		Mohawk Industries, Inc. (a)	38,791,724	48,687,309
791,800		Nordstrom, Inc.	12,221,831	33,556,484
880,300		Omnicom Group Inc.	24,535,666	40,317,740
480,000		Sotheby's	9,020,487	21,600,000
639,199		Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.	13,456,837	42,743,237
567,900		Tiffany & Co.	17,699,489	35,363,133
1,427,900		Viacom, Inc.	34,352,104	56,559,119
			335,494,577	609,326,560
		Consumer staples—5.20%
189,647		Clorox Co.	6,043,112	12,000,862
274,800		Energizer Holdings, Inc. (a)	11,576,039	20,032,920
416,475		J.M. Smucker Co.	20,128,364	27,341,584
371,525		McCormick & Co., Inc.	12,981,239	17,287,058
			50,728,754	76,662,424
		Financial services—28.85%
754,400		AFLAC Inc.	12,630,713	42,570,792
2,192,750		CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. (a)	7,643,258	44,907,520
454,300		City National Corp.	23,865,075	27,875,848
450,222		Dun & Bradstreet Corp.	22,664,982	36,958,724
352,000		Franklin Resources, Inc.	12,699,049	39,145,920
3,571,075		Janus Capital Group Inc.	26,989,156	46,316,843
545,500		Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.	27,661,202	45,778,360
1,195,400		Lazard Ltd, Class A	42,804,038	47,206,346
1,073,900		Northern Trust Corp.	43,066,948	59,504,799
546,900		T. Rowe Price Group, Inc.	10,931,957	35,296,926
			230,956,378	425,562,078
		Health care—15.03%
903,850		Baxter Intl Inc.	31,327,147	45,752,887
280,525		Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Class A (a)	19,179,773	29,132,521
227,300		Laboratory Corp. of America (a)	14,989,536	19,984,216
982,600		St. Jude Medical, Inc. (a)	36,735,766	42,006,150
769,354		Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (a)	13,146,106	42,591,437
785,600		Zimmer Holdings, Inc. (a)	35,971,756	42,171,008
			151,350,084	221,638,219
		Producer durables—5.16%
1,014,300		Accenture plc, Class A	15,544,907	49,183,407
503,850		Illinois Tool Works Inc.	23,702,738	26,905,590
			39,247,645	76,088,997
				December 31, 2010 (Unaudited)
Number of Shares	Common Stocks—99.13% (continued)		Cost	Market Value
		Technology—3.58%
244,300		Anixter Intl Inc.	$13,077,566	$14,592,039
2,818,300		Dell Inc. (a)	31,869,188	38,187,965
			44,946,754	52,780,004
		Total common stocks	852,724,192	1,462,058,282
Principal Amount		Repurchase Agreement—1.04%	Cost	Market Value
$15,284,668		Fixed Income Clearing Corporation, 0.01%, dated
		12/31/2010, due 1/3/2011, repurchase price $15,284,681,
		(collateralized by Federal National Mortgage Assoc.,
		3.42%, due 11/24/2020)	$15,284,668	$15,284,668
		Total Investments—100.17%	$868,008,860	1,477,342,950
		Liabilities less Other Assets—(0.17%)		(2,415,478)
		Net Assets—100.00%		$1,474,927,472

(a) Non-income producing.

A category may contain multiple industries as defined by the Global Industry Classification Standards.

See Notes to Schedules of Investments.

Ariel Focus Fund Schedule of Investments				December 31, 2010 (Unaudited)
Number of Shares	Common Stocks—98.48%		Cost		Market Value
		Consumer discretionary & services—21.74%
41,100		Apollo Group, Inc. (a)	$2,562,266		$1,623,039
53,700		Carnival Corp.	2,016,433		2,476,107
43,300		DeVry Inc.	1,804,540		2,077,534
150,700		Interpublic Group of Cos., Inc. (a)	988,825		1,600,434
54,600		Omnicom Group Inc.	2,071,646		2,500,680
21,200		Toyota Motor Corp., ADR	1,739,293		1,666,956
			11,183,003		11,944,750
		Consumer staples—5.77%
81,400		Walgreen Co.	2,348,101		3,171,344
		Energy—5.68%
42,700		Exxon Mobil Corp.	2,975,540		3,122,224
		Financial services—25.33%
38,900		AFLAC Inc.	1,528,243		2,195,127
86,400		Bank of New York Mellon Corp.	2,411,169		2,609,280
408,500		Citigroup Inc. (a)	1,575,979		1,932,205
14,400		Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.	2,090,081		2,421,504
54,500		JPMorgan Chase & Co.	2,260,721		2,311,890
89,850		Morgan Stanley	2,609,605		2,444,819
			12,475,798		13,914,825
		Health care—14.48%
47,600		Baxter Intl Inc.	2,273,324		2,409,512
45,500		Johnson & Johnson	2,798,292		2,814,175
50,900		Zimmer Holdings, Inc. (a)	2,615,859		2,732,312
			7,687,475		7,955,999
		Producer durables—11.92%
45,200		Accenture plc, Class A	1,150,290		2,191,748
23,600		Lockheed Martin Corp.	1,793,451		1,649,876
65,275		Tyco Intl Ltd.	2,385,476		2,704,996
			5,329,217		6,546,620
		Technology—13.56%
163,200		Dell Inc. (a)	2,952,358		2,211,360
20,000		International Business Machines Corp.	2,081,750		2,935,200
82,600		Microsoft Corp.	1,996,020		2,306,192
			7,030,128		7,452,752
		Total common stocks	49,029,262		54,108,514
Principal Amount	Repurchase Agreement—1.46%		Cost		Market Value
$802,686		Fixed Income Clearing Corporation, 0.01%, dated
		12/31/2010, due 1/3/2011, repurchase price $802,687,
		(collateralized by Federal Home Loan Mortgage Assoc.,
		3.31%, due 11/10/2020)	$802,686		$802,686
		Total Investments—99.94%	$49,831,948		54,911,200
		Other Assets less Liabilities—0.06%			34,660
		Net Assets—100.00%			$54,945,860

(a) Non-income producing.

ADR stands for American Depositary Receipt.

A category may contain multiple industries as defined by the Global Industry Classification Standards.

See Notes to Schedules of Investments.

Notes to Schedules of Investments  December 31, 2010 (Unaudited)

Note One | Organization

Ariel Investment Trust (the “Trust”) is a Massachusetts business trust registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), as an open-end management investment company.  Ariel Fund, Ariel Appreciation Fund and Ariel Focus Fund (the “Funds”) are series of the Trust.  Ariel Fund and Ariel Appreciation Fund are diversified portfolios and Ariel Focus Fund is a non-diversified portfolio of the Trust.

Note Two | Significant accounting policies

The following is a summary of significant policies related to investments of the Funds held at December 31, 2010.

Fair value measurements – Accounting Standards Codification TM (ASC) 820-10 establishes a three-tier framework for measuring fair value based on a hierarchy of inputs.  The hierarchy distinguishes between market data obtained from independent sources (observable inputs) and the Funds’ own market assumptions (unobservable inputs). These inputs are used in determining the value of the Funds’ investments and are summarized below:

Level 1 – quoted prices in active markets for identical securities

Level 2 – other significant observable inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities)

Level 3 – significant unobservable inputs (including the Funds’ own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments)

The inputs or methodology used for valuing securities are not necessarily an indication of the risk associated with investing in those securities.

The following is a summary of the inputs used as of December 31, 2010 in valuing the Funds’ investments carried at market value:

	Ariel Fund		Ariel Appreciation Fund		Ariel Focus Fund
Level 1	$	2,177,044,180	$	1,462,058,282	$	54,108,514
Level 2		21,669,861		15,284,668		802,686
Level 3		-		-		-
Market Value at 12/31/10	$	2,198,714,041	$	1,477,342,950	$	54,911,200

There were no significant transfers into or out of Level 1 and Level 2 fair value measurements during the reporting period, as compared to their classification from the most recent annual report.

As of December 31, 2010 all Level 2 securities held are repurchase agreements, see Schedule of Investments.

Investment valuation– Securities for which market quotations are readily available are valued at the last sale price on the national securities exchange on which such securities are primarily traded and, in the case of securities reported on the Nasdaq system, are valued based on the Nasdaq Official Closing Price. If a closing price is not reported, equity securities for which reliable bid and ask quotations are available are valued at the mean between bid and ask price.

Debt obligations having a maturity of 60 days or less are valued at amortized cost which approximates market value. Debt securities with maturities over 60 days are valued at the yield equivalent as obtained from a pricing service or one or more market makers for such securities.  Securities and assets for which market quotations are not readily available are valued at fair value as determined in good faith by or under the direction of the Board of Trustees.

Repurchase agreements– The Funds may enter into repurchase agreements with recognized financial institutions and in all instances hold underlying securities as collateral with a value at least equal to the total repurchase price such financial institutions have agreed to pay.

Securities transactions– Securities transactions are accounted for on a trade date basis.

Note Three | Transactions with affiliated companies

If a Fund’s holding represents ownership of 5% or more of the voting securities of a company, the company is deemed to be an affiliate as defined in the 1940 Act.  Ariel Fund had the following transactions during the three months ended December 31, 2010, with affiliated companies:

	Share Activity				Three Months Ended December 31, 2010
Security Name	Balance September 30, 2010	Purchases	Sales	Balance December 31, 2010	Market Value	Dividends Credited to Income	Amount of Gain (Loss) Realized on Sale of Shares
Interface, Inc.	4,082,338	-	205,900	3,876,438	$60,666,255	$77,529	$464,210

Item 2. Controls and Procedures.

(a)   The registrant’s certifying officers have concluded that the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 30a-3(c) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”)) are effective based on their evaluation of these controls and procedures as of a date within 90 days prior to the filing date of this document.

(b)   There were no significant changes in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 30a-3(d) under the 1940 Act), or in other factors that could significantly affect this control, that occurred during the registrant's last fiscal quarter, including any corrective actions with regard to significant deficiencies and material weaknesses.

Item 3. Exhibits.

(a) Exhibit 99.Cert. – Certification for each principal executive and principal financial officer of the registrant as required by Rule 30a-2(a) under the 1940 Act (17 CFR 270.30a-2(a)).

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Ariel Investment Trust

By:  /s/ Mellody Hobson                                              

Mellody Hobson

President and Principal Executive Officer

Date:  February 3, 2011                                                  

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

By:  /s/ Mellody Hobson                                              

Mellody Hobson

President and Principal Executive Officer

Date:  February 3, 2011                                                  

By:  /s/ Anita Zagrodnik                                               

        Anita Zagrodnik 

Treasurer and Principal Financial Officer

Date:  February 3, 2011