Mary Quiroga

1. Here's the link: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ciekt...
2. Thanks for the feedback on this. The age effect is highly non-linear and I decided on this parameterization of age relying on the medical literature and also to be as parsimonious as possible. I think people want to see more age bins, though!

Heat maps of estimated increase in days above 95 degree F across North Carolina. Source: https://ncics.org/programs/nccsr/.

5/5 Bottom line: extreme heat is undermining teacher productivity and reshaping learning in ways we’ve totally missed. As heat waves become more common, schools with older workforces or weak cooling systems will be especially vulnerable. Climate change is already affecting American teachers.

4/5 One reason why: teacher absences. Older teachers are nearly twice as likely to miss work during very hot months. At the same time, older teachers usually raise achievement because of experience, but that advantage evaporates as extreme heat increases.

This figure plots average normalized test scores against the number of yearly extreme heat days by teacher age bin--ages below 54 or 54 and above.

3/5 Using matched student–teacher data from North Carolina plus high-resolution weather data, I find each additional extreme heat day lowers test scores in classrooms taught by the teachers aged 54 and over. For younger teachers, I do not find an effect.

2/5 Teachers of different ages face similar students, classrooms, and heat, but respond differently. That allows me to isolate the teacher mechanism.

1/5 We know that extreme heat affects student learning, but it’s not clear how much of this comes from impacts on teachers. Do older (& more experienced) teachers help their students weather heat shocks? Or, does increased age mean these teachers’ productivity suffers more in extreme heat?

Hi! I’m Mary and I’m on the #EconJobMarket this year.

Extreme heat doesn’t just affect students, it affects the people teaching them.

JMP 🧵: