A variety of causal papers have examined how exposure to pollution harms student outcomes. For example, contemporaneous school bus pollution affects students’ test scores and respiratory health (Austin, Heutel and Kreisman 2019; Beatty and Shimshack 2011). High air pollution from sources ranging from highways to Toxic Release Inventory sites increases absences from school (Chung, Liu, and Persico, 2025; Currie et al., 2009; Simon, Heissel, and Persico, 2021) and lowers student achievement (Marcotte, 2017; Simon, Heissel, and Persico, 2021; Venator and Persico, 2021). This talk will survey the literature on the impacts of various health exposures on student outcomes as well as promising evidence on the impacts of school-level interventions to reduce exposure.

In this talk, Dr. Cuartas will introduce a conceptual framework for understanding how climate change, through its effects on physical environments, societies, communities, and families, can influence young children’s development. He will share findings from a systematic review that synthesizes emerging evidence linking climate change and child development, as well as recent studies providing causal evidence that atypically high temperatures can impair young children’s cognitive and socioemotional skills, which are foundational for later learning. Dr. Cuartas will integrate this evidence to highlight key directions for future research and discuss implications for educational and developmental policies and practices aimed at protecting young children and fostering healthy development across the life course.