Biography

Deborah Lowe Vandell is Professor and Dean of Education at the University of California, Irvine where she also holds an appointment as Professor of Psychology and Social Behavior. The author of more than 150 articles and three books, Vandell studies the short-term and long-term effects of developmental contexts (early child care, out-of-school settings, families, schools) on children’s social, behavioral, and academic functioning. Her out-of-school work includes studies of afterschool and summer programs, extracurricular activities, and unsupervised settings, with a particular focus on the effects of these contexts on low-income children of color. Vandell has been elected to the National Academy of Education and to SRCD’s Governing Council. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, and the American Educational Research Association.

1-004 - Afterschool Programs: Expanding Learning Opportunities, Reducing Achievement Gaps

Session Type: Invited Address

Integrative Statement

Over a 25-year period, key ingredients of impactful afterschool programs have been identified. In this presentation, I’ll consider robust short-term effects of quality, intensity, and duration of afterschool programs on social and academic development as well as evidence of meaningful long-term effects in these domains. Findings that low-income children may benefit the most from afterschool programs are presented along with emerging evidence that early child care and afterschool programs play unique and complementary roles. Collectively, these findings underscore the importance of out-of-school time as a developmental context that warrants further attention by researchers, educators, and policy makers.

Sub Unit

• SRCD Biennial Meeting

Chair

• Nancy Peter, University of Pennsylvania

Speaker

• Deborah L Vandell, University of CA, Irvine