New Study Shows Quality Afterschool Programs Bring Academic Gains

"The new Study of Promising Afterschool Programs is making waves in the education community and getting attention from opinion leaders nationwide. Afterschool Advocate editors interviewed the study's lead author, Deborah Lowe Vandell, who chairs the education department at the University of California, Irvine, about the findings and what they mean."

Says Vandell, "This study showed that, for disadvantaged elementary and middle school students, regular participation in high quality afterschool programs is linked to significant gains in standardized test scores and work habits. These gains help offset the negative impact of lack of supervision after school." Further, she noted that "They were not just doing homework, not programs where there was a lot of drilling... The reason we get these gains, I think, is that they were offering children a chance to learn in a different way.