How Wintry Weather Can Affect Students’ Scores

Desks empty on days with snow? Their math scores may take a hit.

Some think snow days can hurt a child’s education. As it turns out, days with snow but no cancellation may be more harmful.

According to the Washington Post, research found that the number of canceled school days because of snow had no impact on children’s math and reading test scores. However, when school remained open on snowy days and students were absent, that appeared to hurt achievement.

The researcher, Joshua Goodman, an assistant professor of public policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government  hypothesized that when children miss class due to weather, their teachers are faced with a dilemma when they return: Take time to help students catch up and therefore slow down the rest of the class, or continue on and risk that some students will be lost?

While in many parts of Arizona we don’t have to face snow days, heavy rainfalls or scorching hot weather can cause students to miss school. So what do you do if a handful of children are missing from your classroom? Tell us below if and how you adjust your lesson plan.