Do School Closings Knock Students Off Course? A Washington Post Commentary by Umet Özek and Michael Hansen
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Michael Hansen and Umut ÖzekIn this Washington Post opinion piece, researchers Umet Özek and Michael Hansen caution against overreacting to school closings, and contend that kids bounce back after school closings.
The authors say a 2009 joint study by the 21st Century Schools Fund, Brookings, and the Urban Institute, which came to the troubling conclusion that an exodus of thousands of students from the DCPS system followed the closures, needs further analysis.
They cite a more recent CALDER study, where both are researchers, which shows students' test scores rebound quickly after an initial drop due to closures.
