Audio Slideshow 400-Word Story

 Do Snow Days Help Students?

     A recent Harvard study has found that snow days actually help students learn. 

     Public  Policy Assistant Professor, Joshua Goodman has found that snow days do not hurt student achievement. Instead, the study finds that when schools are kept open during snow storms that some students suffer.

     Dr. Goodman collected data from grades three through tenth from 2003 to 2010. The study focused on seeing how annual variations in absence rates and closures are related to student learning and achievement. This data was then compared to variations in snowfall across time and space.

     So what did all of that data and testing conclude? Closures have no impact on student learning but absences do.

     This is all because moderately bad weather prevents some students from getting to school while others will still attend anyway. On days when many students are absent, teachers often spend the following days playing catch up so that everyone is on the same page.

     When teachers have to play “catch-up,  it makes it harder for the them to keep the students that did attend during the storm engaged.  Not only did some students miss school during a snow storm, but teacher absences and tardiness also increased resulting in valuable class time being lost.

     On the flip side, when school is cancelled teachers can rearrange their schedule and cut out any down time that was previously planned.  This would result in no lost learning for the students.

      According to state laws there are a certain number of school days that are required to be held each year.   If the number of snow days exceeds that specific number, then they must be made up.

     The study concluded that schools in general are very well prepared for major disruptions that cause school cancellations but they are far less prepared for moderate disruption. The lack of preparedness for moderate disruptions leads to increased absences as some students are unable to attend school these days.

     Schools are looking for ways to get students transported safely, but sometimes the conditions are so bad that just cant happen.  The other option is to cancel school all together and make it up on a day when the weather will not be impacting student attendance.

      This doesn't sound like a bad idea considering not only will it benefit the students but it is also safer and more cost efficient.

     In conclusion, the study is causing schools to think of alternative ways to benefit students on snow days, even though the students would rather see their school name scrolling on the closing list news feed.

*Joshua Goodman*







Photos: Stephen Decatur  & Holly Cannon
Photo editing: Stephen Decatur & Holly Cannon
Audio: Stephen Decatur
Audio Editing: Holly Cannon
Sound slide editing: Stephen Decatur & Holly Cannon
Text: Stephen Decatur
Text editing: Holly Cannon
Music: Free offline from a free music source (freeSFX), and the soundbite is "Winter Storm"