Poster #43 - The Hungry Mind of US Youth: How Universal Free Meals Narrow Student Achievement Gaps

• In Event: Friday Poster Reception

Abstract

Following the school closures caused by the global Covid-19 pandemic, academic performance suffered throughout the United States (US). Not surprisingly, the learning losses were largest among disadvantage students. This threatens to broaden the previously observed student achievement gaps in the US. Determining mechanisms to effectively promote class-level academic growth can narrow differential group outcomes, but disentangling what drives academic success is challenging. One thing is certain–a hungry, food insecure student is at a clear disadvantage. During the pandemic, the federal government temporarily expanded school funding to allow free meal distribution to all students. As in-person instruction reconvened throughout the nation, and the temporary federal funding expired, some states chose to preserve their universal free meal (UFM) programs. State-wide UFM policies promote both educational equity and child well-being by ensuring that all students have access to nutritious meals at school. With eight states having implemented UFMs in either 2022 or 2023, I employ a state-level staggered difference-in-differences design, using the doubly robust estimation method detailed by Callaway and Sant'Anna (2021), to recover the effect of UFMs on mean test scores for students in grades 3–8 over pre- and post-pandemic years. The outcome data used for this project was accessed from the Stanford Education Data Archive (SEDA), a national database that measures academic performance of students in the US; in particular, this investigation uses the Education Recovery Project data, which has harmonized test scores with NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) ranking standards, so that there is a common scale between states. I find that standardized test scores increased by 0.028 standard deviations (s.d.), on average, in states that implement UFMs. Mean math scores increased by 0.035 s.d. and reading language arts (RLA) raised by 0.020 s.d.. Most notably, economically disadvantaged students saw a 0.062 s.d. increase in overall test performance, with a 0.064 s.d. and 0.062 s.d. raise to math and RLA, respectively. The effects are driven by non-white males from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Estimates disaggregated by race show that Hispanic and Black students pooled mean test scores increases of 0.050 and 0.053 s.d., respectively. Math performance saw a positive increase of 0.065 s.d. for Black students and a 0.056 s.d. increase for Hispanic students. Mean RLA test performance strengthened by 0.040 for Black students and 0.047 s.d. for Hispanic students. Although the performance of white students also had a positive effect, none were found to be statistically significant. Findings suggest that all students can benefit academically from UFMs. However, this does not mean that students benefit equally across subgroups. In states that chose to offer UFMs, the largest benefits were observed in marginalized groups like Black, Hispanic, and those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. UFMs prove to be a promising policy lever to reduce inequality and improve educational outcomes through increasing meal participation by reducing stigma, eliminating price barriers, and promoting administrative simplicity in meal distribution.

Author

• Michael Garcia, University of California, Berkeley
  Presenting Author