Behind the Headline: Do Snow Days Hurt Student Progress? A Harvard Professor Says No.

On Top of the News
Do Snow Days Hurt Student Progress? A Harvard Professor Says No.
3/26/15 | Washington Post

Behind the Headline
In Defense of Snow Days
Summer 2015 | Education Next

In the Washington Post, Emma Brown describes the findings of a new study by Joshua Goodman on the impact of snow days on student achievement.

He found that the number of canceled school days because of snow in a given year had no impact on children’s math and reading test scores. Instead, it was the number of days that were merely snowy — when schools remained open, but many students were absent — that appeared to hurt achievement, particularly in math.

The Washington Post also published “How snow days don’t hurt student progress, but absences do, in graphs

The study, “In Defense of Snow Days: Students who stay home when school is in session are a much larger problem,” appears in the Summer 2015 issue of Education Next.

-Education Next

Last Updated

NEWSLETTER

Notify Me When Education Next

Posts a Big Story

Business + Editorial Office

Program on Education Policy and Governance
Harvard Kennedy School
79 JFK Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone (617) 496-5488
Fax (617) 496-4428
Email Education_Next@hks.harvard.edu

For subscription service to the printed journal
Phone (617) 496-5488
Email subscriptions@educationnext.org

Copyright © 2024 President & Fellows of Harvard College