Curry School of Education | University of Virginia

Formerly Risk and Prevention in Education Sciences

The Educational Psychology and Applied Developmental Science (EP-ADS) doctoral program prepares promising students to conduct research in education that explicitly acknowledges the contribution of school and out-of-school settings on the development of children and youth, and considers the extent to which systematic changes in those contexts can alter developmental pathways.

The EP-ADS program focuses on the prevalence of school failure and its potential solutions. Limited English proficiency, poverty, inadequate access to social supports and health care, and presence of developmental or acquired disabilities pose significant challenges to youth, preventing their academic and social success in preschool, elementary, middle, and secondary schooling. Youth who do not achieve academic and social success at these levels are less likely to make productive contributions to society. School settings, after-school programs, and families hold the potential to promote resilience and reduce school failure.

The EP-ADS program pepares students to study the contributions of such settings on child and youth development. This program has emerged as a consequence of several explicit needs within the field of education science, including the needs for:

• Rigorous, programmatic research that offers scientifically-based evidence for (or against) educational practices.
  
• Research that takes an interdisciplinary approach to solving problems that are evident in the development of children and youth.
  
• An awareness of how research in developmental and educational science has implications for practice and policy.

Graduates will be prepared for careers in the educational sciences in academic, policy, and research organizations.

Please see the following links for information about our other programs:

• Summer Undergraduate Research Program for rising seniors from groups that are underrepresented in the field of education research.
  
• Master's of Education, which prepares students to assist in education research, work in school districts, validate tests, evaluate the effects of instruction and special programming, design educational interventions, and pursue doctoral study.
  
• Virginia Education Science Training (VEST) Program, funded by the US Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences, trains future leaders in education research, including doctoral students from EP-ADS, Education Policy, and other UVA doctoral programs.