Low Test Scores? According To Research, Blame The Heat
There are many excuses you are bound to hear as a teacher. “Oh I forgot” is a common one. “The dog ate my homework” is a favorite. But in areas that aren’t acclimated to high temperatures, “a heat wave affected my intelligence” could be plausable.
According to research, hot temperatures – especially in areas not acclimated to them – can affect student test scores and overall learning. The study was done by researchers from Stanford, UCLA and Boston University. It studied standardized testing from over 140 million high school aged students across 58 countries. They then linked that data up with weather information and the school calendar.
The study found the higher the number of hot school days, the larger the decrease in the rate of learning. Hey, maybe we have an alibi for Nevada’s low ratings in education!
This isn’t an outlier. Former research showed a similar link between high temps and low test scores in the United States. That study also found that if you’re in a low-income area with a school that doesn’t have air conditioning, you’re in a particularly bad situation.
Avoid the heat for better test scores? We moving to Canada?
The overarching worry is that lower test scores will result in slower economic growth as a country. The study’s advice is “improving physical learning environments.” In other words, make sure the schools, and the student’s home, is well air conditioned.
Moving north is typically an option, but with temperatures rising above 100 in Portland, Oregon this year, it seems like there is little escape from brutal temperatures.
According to the most recent Grade 8 data from NationsReportCard.gov, northern states tend to fare better in both reading, math and writing. Whether that has to do with weather or funding is not certain… but what is certain is the temperatures are rising. July marked the hottest global temperature since records were taken in 1880.
