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Whenever air pollution comes up, I think about this study: https://www.vox.com/2020/1/8/21051869/indoor-air-pollution-student-achievement https://www.vox.com/2

Whenever air pollution comes up, I think about this study: https://www.vox.com/2020/1/8/21051869/indoor-air-pollution-student-achievement https://www.vox.com/2020/1/8/21051869/indoor-air-pollution-s... Basically, false alarm about a nearby gas leak led to putting air filters in classrooms. And "math scores went up by 0.20 standard deviations and English scores by 0.18 standard deviations, and the results hold up even when you control for 'detailed student demographics, including residential ZIP Code fixed effects that help control for a student’s exposure to pollution at home.'" This is "comparable in scale to some of the most optimistic studies on the potential benefits of smaller class size." This was an area that didn't have high levels of pollution, either. So, 1) in worse areas you'd expect bigger gains, and 2) even if your area isn't "bad" it's still having an impact. Pollution is invisibly doing weird things to our brains, especially children, without us realizing it. Even just taking the TEST in a filtered room raises scores!

novok 6y ago
How about pollen allergies? I estimate being under a minor allergic state that is hard to notice while taking your test doesn’t help anything.
WorldMaker 6y ago
Relatedly I often think about the Lead–Crime Hypothesis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%E2%80%93crime_hypothesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%E2%80%93crime_hypothesis While tough to ever formally prove, the hypothesis posits that the major problems in the 70s/80s with urban crime that trailed off quickly in 90s was as much caused/worsened by leftover lead in urban environments from the mistakes of leaded gasoline as any other factor. Pollution has been a great "unseen" evil in a lot of the 19th and 20th Centuries, and its amazing given how many secondary effects we can point to that there's any debate at all remaining on efforts to fix pollution issues.
ahaucnx 6y ago
One should also not forget high CO2 developments in classrooms and its impact on test scores. We measured these in a school last year and it regularly went above 3000ppm [1]. Studies show cognitive impacts already at relatively low increases. So the atmospheric CO2 build up could also in the long term impact our cognitive performance. [1] https://www.airgradient.com/blog/2020/02/07/we-measured-the-co2-level-in-a-classrooms-this-is-what-we-found-out/ https://www.airgradient.com/blog/2020/02/07/we-measured-the-...

novok 6y ago

How about pollen allergies? I estimate being under a minor allergic state that is hard to notice while taking your test doesn’t help anything.

WorldMaker 6y ago

Relatedly I often think about the Lead–Crime Hypothesis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%E2%80%93crime_hypothesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%E2%80%93crime_hypothesis While tough to ever formally prove, the hypothesis posits that the major problems in the 70s/80s with urban crime that trailed off quickly in 90s was as much caused/worsened by leftover lead in urban environments from the mistakes of leaded gasoline as any other factor. Pollution has been a great "unseen" evil in a lot of the 19th and 20th Centuries, and its amazing given how many secondary effects we can point to that there's any debate at all remaining on efforts to fix pollution issues.

ahaucnx 6y ago

One should also not forget high CO2 developments in classrooms and its impact on test scores. We measured these in a school last year and it regularly went above 3000ppm [1]. Studies show cognitive impacts already at relatively low increases. So the atmospheric CO2 build up could also in the long term impact our cognitive performance. [1] https://www.airgradient.com/blog/2020/02/07/we-measured-the-co2-level-in-a-classrooms-this-is-what-we-found-out/ https://www.airgradient.com/blog/2020/02/07/we-measured-the-...