Hot Temperature and High-Stakes Performance

By R. Park, Lawrence Katz, A. Shleifer, R. Stavins, Joseph E. Aldy, Geoffrey M. Heal, Raj Chetty, Claudia Goldin, Edward L. Glaeser, Melissa Dell and 4 more. The Journal of human resources, 2020

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Despite the prevalence of high-stakes assessments—and the growing likelihood of heat exposure during such assessments—the effect of temperature on performance has not yet been studied in such settings. Using student-level administrative data for the largest public school district in the United States, I provide the first estimates of temperature’s impact on highstakes exam performance and subsequent educational attainment. Hot temperature reduces performance by up to 13 percent of a standard deviation and leads to persistent impacts on high school graduation status, despite compensatory responses by teachers, who selectively upward manipulate grades after hotter exams.

Subfields: Education

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