ERIC Number: EJ1191762
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Oct
Pages: 31
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0002-8312
EISSN: N/A
Food Instability and Academic Achievement: A Quasi-Experiment Using SNAP Benefit Timing
Gassman-Pines, Anna; Bellows, Laura
American Educational Research Journal, v55 n5 p897-927 Oct 2018
Although social policies aimed at low-income families are thought to promote children's educational success, little research has examined how these policies are related to children's academic achievement. This article focuses on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the United States' largest food assistance program. Using administrative data on over 148,000 SNAP-receiving public school children, we analyze the recency of SNAP benefit transfer and children's end-of-grade math and reading achievement test scores. Results indicate differences in students' math and reading performance based on the recency of SNAP benefit transfer. Although the relationship is stronger for reading than for math, the relationship between students' test scores and SNAP transfer is roughly curvilinear. Test scores peak in the third week following benefit transfer.
Descriptors: Food, Hunger, Low Income Students, Program Effectiveness, Mathematics Achievement, Reading Achievement, Correlation, Scores, Welfare Services, Child Welfare, Public Schools, Family Characteristics, Student Characteristics, Elementary School Students, Secondary School Students
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2814
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF); Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (DHHS); Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (DHHS/PHS)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: North Carolina
Grant or Contract Numbers: DRL1418333; 1H79AE000100