Do School Closings Knock Students Off Course?

Michael Hansen and Umut Ozek

As published in The Washington Post, November 30, 2012

AIR Experts Michael Hansen and Umut OzekIn this opinion piece, researchers Umut Özek and Michael Hansen caution against overreacting to school closings, and contend that kids bounce back after a change in schools.

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.

Read the full commentary on the Washington Post site: