A preliminary study on the association between ventilation rates in classrooms and student performance
Open accessAbstract
Poor conditions leading to substandard indoor air quality (IAQ) in classrooms have been frequently cited in the literature over the past two decades. However, there is limited data linking poor IAQ in the classrooms to student performance. Whereas, it is assumed that poor IAQ results in reduced attendance and learning potential, and subsequent poor student performance, validating this hypothesis presents a challenge in today's school environment. This study explores the association between student performance on standardized aptitude tests that are administered to students on a yearly basis, to classroom carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations, which provide a surrogate of ventilation being provided to each room. Data on classroom CO2 concentrations (over a 4-5 h time span within a typical school day) were recorded in fifth grade classrooms in 54 elementary schools within a school district in the USA. Results from this preliminary study yield a significant (P < 0.10) association between classroom-level ventilation rate and test results in math. They also indicate that non-linear effects may need to be considered for better representation of the association. A larger sample size is required in order to draw more definitive conclusions. Practical Implications Future studies could focus on (1) gathering more evidence on the possible association between classroom ventilation rates and students' academic performance; (2) the linear/non-linear nature of the association; and (3) whether it is possible to detect 'no observed adverse effect level' for adequate ventilation with respect to academic performance in schools. All of this information could be used to improve guidance and take regulatory actions to ensure adequate ventilation in schools. The high prevalence of low ventilation rates, combined with the growing evidence of the positive impact that sufficient ventilation has on human performance, suggests an opportunity for improving design and management of school facilities.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Poor indoor air quality caused by excessive CO2 and VOC concentrations has a negative impact on students' attendance and learning potential and leads to poor academic performance.
“Shauhnessy et al. [19] claimed that poor indoor air quality caused by excessive CO 2 and VOC concentrations have a negative impact on students' attendance and learning potential, and lead to poor academic performance.”
From Investigation of Indoor Air Quality and the Identification of Influential Factors at Primary Schools in the North of China (2017) · cites this paper as [19]
The Abstract reports an association between classroom ventilation rate and math test results, but describes reduced attendance and learning potential as an assumption, not an established finding. The Methods use CO₂ as a surrogate for ventilation; the paper does not identify excessive CO₂ or VOC concentrations as proven causes of poor academic performance. No page numbers are available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.90)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredFailure to prevent or respond promptly to indoor air quality problems can impact teacher and student attendance, comfort and performance.
“Failure to prevent or respond promptly to indoor air quality (IAQ) problems can increase short-and long-term health outcomes (Norbäck et al., 2000;Simoni et al., 2006;Tillet, 2010;Simoni et al., 2010), impact both teacher and student's attendance, comfort and performance (Gilliland et al., 2001;Shaughnessy et al., 2006;Mohai et al., 2011), and accelerate the deterioration of school buildings and”
From Comfort Parameters and Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5) in School Classrooms and Outdoor Air (2013) · cites this paper as Shaughnessy et al., 2006
The Abstract reports a preliminary association between classroom ventilation and fifth-grade students’ math test results; the Introduction also describes suggestive evidence linking low ventilation with reduced attendance. The paper does not address teachers’ attendance or performance, anyone’s comfort, or whether prompt responses to IAQ problems change these outcomes. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality
Falih, M. (2019) · Cited by 1,995 · see citing works
Mendell, M. J., & Heath, G. A. (2005) · Indoor Air · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0668.2004.00320.x · Cited by 1,034 · see citing works
Associations between classroom CO2 concentrations and student attendance in Washington and Idaho
Shendell, D. G., Prill, R., Fisk, W. J., Apte, M. G., Blake, D., & Faulkner, D. (2004) · Indoor Air · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0668.2004.00251.x · Cited by 462 · see citing works
Ventilation and performance in office work
Seppanen, O., Fisk, W. J., & Lei, Q. H. (2006) · Indoor Air · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0668.2005.00394.x · Cited by 303 · see citing works
Indoor Air Quality and HVAC Systems
Bearg, D. W. (2019) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.1201/9780203751152 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Wargocki, P. L., Wyon, D. P., Matysiak, B., et al. (2005) · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab., E. A. E. D., Daisey, J., USDOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, W., et al. (1998) · doi:10.2172/291031 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [7]7. Shaughnessy, R., Haverinen-Shaughnessy, U., Nevalainen, A. and Moschandreas, D. (2005) Carbon dioxide concentrations in classrooms and association with stu- dent performance: a preliminary study. In: Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on IAQ and Climate, Beijing, China.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Association between substandard classroom ventilation rates and students’ academic achievement
Haverinen-Shaughnessy, U., Moschandreas, D. J., & Shaughnessy, R. J. (2011) · Indoor Air · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0668.2010.00686.x · Cited by 311 · see citing works
Self-citationIndoor air quality investigation according to age of the school buildings in Korea
Yang, W., Sohn, J., Kim, J., Son, B., & Park, J. (2009) · Journal of Environmental Management · doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2007.10.003 · Cited by 235 · see citing works
Irga, P. J., Torpy, F. R., & Burchett, M. D. (2013) · Atmospheric Environment · doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.04.078 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Peng, Z., Deng, W., & Tenorio, R. (2017) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su9071180 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
“[19] claimed that poor indoor air quality caused by excessive CO2 and VOC concentrations have a negative impact on students’ attendance and learning potential, and lead to poor academic performance.”
BackgroundComfort Parameters and Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5) in School Classrooms and Outdoor Air
Alves, C., Nunes, T., Silva, J., & Duarte, M. (2013) · Aerosol and Air Quality Research · doi:10.4209/aaqr.2012.11.0321 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
“…, 2000; Simoni et al. , 2006; Tillet, 2010; Simoni et al. , 2010), impact both teacher and student’s attendance, comfort and performance (Gilliland et al. , 2001; Shaughnessy et al. , 2006; Mohai et al. , 2011), and accelerate the deterioration of school buildings and equipments (Lohbeck, 2008).”
- Authors
- Shaughnessy, R. J., Haverinen-Shaughnessy, U., Nevalainen, A., & Moschandreas, D.
- Affiliations
- University of Tulsa (US)
- Illinois Institute of Technology (US)
- Corresponding author
- Shaughnessy, R. J.
- Venue
- Indoor Air
- Publisher
- Hindawi Limited
- Published
- 2006-12
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 465-468
- ISSN
- 0905-6947 (ISSN-L)
- 1600-0668
- OpenAlex
- W2158971171
- Cited by
- 230
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 21 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 14
- FWCI
- 6.60
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Indoor Air (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- STM:n Hallinnonalan avoin julkaisuarkisto (Julkari) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- 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
- Social Sciences › Education › Educational Environments and Student Outcomes
- Keywords
- classroom ventilation, CO2 concentration, indoor air quality, academic performance, standardized test scores, elementary school, fifth-grade classroom, nonlinear dose-response relationship, no-observed-adverse-effect level, school architecture
- MeSH terms
- Carbon Dioxide, Child, Educational Measurement, Female, Humans, Male, Mathematics, Schools, Students, Ventilation, Air Pollution, Indoor
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
