Highlight
IGERT Trainee Shows Strong Link between Student Performance and Elementary School Renovations to Improve Indoor Air Quality
Achievement/Results
Trainee Tess Stafford, a doctoral candidate funded through the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program in Indoor Environmental Science and Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin (UT), is studying the effects of school renovations to improve indoor air quality on standardized test scores in elementary schools. Her efforts are drawing attention since they show a positive association between certain types of renovation activities and performance on standardized tests in public schools.
The Austin Independent School District (AISD) obtained funding through a $50 million bond initiative to improve indoor environmental conditions in public schools through a combination of mold remediation, reductions in water leaks, improved classroom ventilation, and more. Tess worked with AISD to obtain detailed information about the nature of renovations in a large number of schools, timing of renovations, attendance rates prior to and after renovations, and standardized test scores before and after renovations. Tess has shown a positive statistical association between student performance on standardized tests and certain school renovations. Specifically, renovations related to explicit remediation of mold contamination have the greatest positive affect on test scores, while those related to improved ventilation or water leakage are significant, but not as strong as those for mold remediation. Several other types of renovation have no statistical association with test scores. The associations are affected by gender, stronger amongst females than males.
Tess has worked closely on this effort with IGERT faculty participant Richard Corsi, a professor of Environmental Engineering and member of Tess’s Ph.D. committee. Her work related to school renovations is novel, entirely funded through our IGERT program, and has facilitated interdisciplinary research between the Departments of Economics and Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering.
Address Goals
To our knowledge, trainee Tess Stafford is the first to show an association between building-related renovation for indoor air quality and a performance metric (standardized test scores) for students in public schools (discovery). Her efforts have lead to five well received presentations at conferences and student/faculty economic meetings at the University of Texas at Austin. Because Tess is not an engineer, she has worked closely with IGERT faculty participant Richard Corsi to learn about the nuances of building renovations, and Corsi has learned a lot about economic approaches to exploring the effects of renovation activities. In addition, Tess has worked closely with staff members of the Austin Independent School District, including one AISD board member who is a mechanical engineer, to learn more about the nature of school renovation activities, and has learned a great deal from her interactions with practitioners. These collective activities relate to the goal of learning that is fostered by interdisciplinary collaboration, and also to the societal benefits that come from educating school districts on the net values of their activities.
