Associations between classroom CO2 concentrations and student attendance in Washington and Idaho
Abstract
Unlabelled Student attendance in American public schools is a critical factor in securing limited operational funding. Student and teacher attendance influence academic performance. Limited data exist on indoor air and environmental quality (IEQ) in schools, and how IEQ affects attendance, health, or performance. This study explored the association of student absence with measures of indoor minus outdoor carbon dioxide concentration (dCO(2)). Absence and dCO(2) data were collected from 409 traditional and 25 portable classrooms from 22 schools located in six school districts in the states of Washington and Idaho. Study classrooms had individual heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, except two classrooms without mechanical ventilation. Classroom attributes, student attendance and school-level ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status (SES) were included in multivariate modeling. Forty-five percent of classrooms studied had short-term indoor CO(2) concentrations above 1000 p.p.m. A 1000 p.p.m. increase in dCO(2) was associated (P Practical implications This study provides motivation for larger school studies to investigate associations of student attendance, and occupant health and student performance, with longer term indoor minus outdoor CO(2) concentrations and more accurately measured ventilation rates. If our findings are confirmed, improving classroom ventilation should be considered a practical means of reducing student absence. Adequate or enhance…
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“Corsi et al. (2002) reported CO 2 concentrations > 1,000 ppm in 66% of 120 classrooms in Texas, and Shendell et al. (2004) measured CO 2 concentrations > 1,000 ppm in 45% of 435 classrooms in Washington and Idaho and reported that elevated CO 2 concentrations were associated with increases in…”
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Self-citationAssociation between substandard classroom ventilation rates and students’ academic achievement
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“Researchers have been looking for links between elevated CO 2 concentrations and reduced attendance, productivity or achievement (Shendell et al. , 2004; Wargocki and Wyon, 2006).”
- Authors
- Shendell, D. G., Prill, R., Fisk, W. J., Apte, M. G., Blake, D., & Faulkner, D.
- Affiliations
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US)
- Washington State University Spokane (US)
- Corresponding author
- Fisk, W. J.
- Venue
- Indoor Air
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2004-10
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 333-341
- ISSN
- 0905-6947 (ISSN-L)
- 1600-0668
- OpenAlex
- W2094324783
- Cited by
- 462
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
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- FWCI
- 3.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Indoor Air (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of North Texas Digital Library (University of North Texas) (submittedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Funders
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- National Institute of Standards and Technology
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Indoor Air Quality and Microbial Exposure
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Building Energy and Comfort Optimization
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Infection Control and Ventilation
- Keywords
- student attendance, school absenteeism, indoor air quality, school ventilation, portable classrooms, traditional classroom, HVAC systems, ventilation rate, school health, Washington, Idaho
- MeSH terms
- Absenteeism, Air Pollutants, Analysis of Variance, Carbon Dioxide, Child, Child, Preschool, Female, Humans, Idaho, Male, Schools, Students, Ventilation, Washington, Air Pollution, Indoor
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