A Secret Weapon for Improving Student Outcomes: Better Air Quality

Moving the needle on student achievement is heartbreakingly difficult. A highly successful educational intervention, one that districts might spend thousands of dollars per student implementing, might yield an effect size the equivalent of weeks of learning. Unfortunately, most interventions fare even worse, often showing little to no measurable impact despite substantial investments.

As education leaders, we cannot afford to limit our search for solutions to what we conventionally think of as “education interventions.” What if one of our most powerful tools for improving student outcomes has been overlooked because it doesn’t fit neatly into our current frameworks?

Research shows that test scores and attendance improve when schools install air filters and upgrade ventilation. Tune in as we talk with David Carel about this topic and his important article in The 74.