Abstract
Objectives. We estimate the impact of a variety of health conditions on test scores for children and adolescents.
Methods. Our estimates are obtained using ordinary least squares and quantile regression together with data from the Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. This estimation approach helps us understand whether student health conditions matter on average, and also for whom they matter most.
Results. Several health conditions, which are observable by school health officials, are highly negatively correlated with math and reading test scores. The findings control for detailed information on students’ home environments.
Conclusions. Given the current education policy environment where schools are shifting resources to conform to state and federal requirements on test scores and other outcomes, these results suggest caution in cutting resources from the traditional role of schools in monitoring a wide set of health outcomes.
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Introduction
Children who experience poor health have significantly poorer adult outcomes, such as lower educational attainment, adverse health conditions, and lower social status
(Case et al., 2002; Case et al., 2005). A particularly potent conduit through which childhood health is linked to adult outcomes is education. Poor health impedes educational progress because a student with health problems is not prepared to fully engage in or take advantage of learning opportunities at school or at home (Hanson et al.,
2004).
Schools have long recognized the relation between student health and educational progress, and have played a role in diagnosing and treating student health conditions such as vision, hearing, and speech impairments, as well as asthma, mental disorders, and more recently obesity (Council of Chief State School Officers, 1998). Research from the
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