The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about an increased focus on public health, particularly in school settings. From social distancing to testing regimes, education leaders are making serious changes to ensure that schools are safe for students, staff, and teachers. As the school experience continues to be reinvented, research points to an overlooked but potentially critical factor when thinking about reopening: air quality. While we have known for some time about the negative effects of air pollution on child health, recent evidence indicates that pollution also has detrimental effects on student learning. In turn, these relationships suggest the potential for some highly cost-effective interventions to raise student performance—and keep kids safer during the pandemic.
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THE FUTURE OF CLEAN AIR IN CLASSROOMS
We now have compelling evidence that air quality affects student learning. Low-cost interventions such as air filters may be able to deliver the promised health and academic benefits of cleaner air in classrooms, although more research is needed. More evidence will doubtless follow: For example, the Clean Air, Sharp Minds Act introduced by Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) aims to provide $20 million in grants for schools to purchase, install, and maintain commercial air filters and for their impact on learning to be assessed.
While we wait for further evidence, common-sense actions can be taken to reduce the impact of pollution on students. For starters, school officials should avoid locating new schools near highways: California, for instance, banned the construction of schools within 500 feet of freeways in 2003. For the nearly 8,000 existing schools within 500 feet of heavily trafficked roads, officials should test classrooms’ air quality and provide air filters in cases where air quality is poor. Such actions can improve student health and academic performance and, given that economically disadvantaged students disproportionately attend schools in highly polluted regions, help reduce pervasive test-score gaps in public education.
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Original story here.