Student Opinion Scale
Category: Student Learning
Abstract: We demonstrate that heat inhibits learning and that school air-conditioning may mitigate this effect. Student fixed effects models using 10 million PSAT-retakers show hotter school days in years before the test reduce scores, with extreme heat being particularly damaging. Weekend and summer temperature has little impact, suggesting heat directly disrupts learning time. New nationwide, school-level measures of air-conditioning penetration suggest patterns consistent with such infrastructure largely offsetting heat’s effects. Without air-conditioning, a 1°F hotter school year reduces that year’s learning by one percent. Hot school days disproportionately impact minority students, accounting for roughly five percent of the racial achievement gap.
Research Categories
Keywords
Heat, temperature, school air conditioning, achievement gap
Education level
Topics
Citation
Document Object Identifier (DOI)
10.26300/wdad-dq59
EdWorkingPaper suggested citation:
Goodman, Joshua, Michael Hurwitz, Jisung Park, and Jonathan Smith. (). Heat and Learning. (EdWorkingPaper: -30). Retrieved from
Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/wdad-dq59
