Achievement

Third-year IGERT trainee Tess Stafford (Economics) continued her studies of the effects of school renovations (to improve indoor air quality) on student performance. Tess has obtained detailed information about renovations and pre- and post-renovation student attendance and test scores in a large number of schools. Her results indicate that performance on standardized tests is responsive to changes in indoor environmental quality, while attendance rates appear unresponsive. Results also suggest that test scores for female students improve more significantly than for male students, and that mold-specific renovations have the greatest impact on improved student performance. Among other policy implications, these results suggest that renovations geared towards improving indoor air may be a cost effective way to improve school wide test scores. Tess has worked closely with IGERT faculty participant Richard Corsi (Environmental Engineering), who also serves on Tess’s Ph.D. committee.