Impact ofWildfireson InstructionalDays inCaliforniaPublic Schools |
"[E]xtended closures caused by wildfires are associated with worse academic performance. Such extended closures are likely to become more common in California in future years, largely driven by more extreme wildfires during the fall semester. We find that closures lasting more than one week from wildfires negatively affect scores, particularly among the youngest students in our dataset (3rd and 4th graders)" (Miller and Hui, 2022)
Project Team Members:
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*Please allow a moment for the chart above to load. Chart is best viewed on desktop.*
The interactive chart above allows you to see the impact of wildfires on instructional days in public schools, county-by-county across the state of California.
- Notice how the number of students impacted compares to the total number of students enrolled in public schools within the county (y-axis scale). Due to the population differences between counties, the scale of the y-axis will change per county.
- In counties with larger student populations, the chart may appear to show no students affected even when there were instructional days lost. In 2015, 11 students were affected by the wildfire-related closures in Butte County, but that number is too small to show up as a yellow bar.
- In some years, nearly every student in a county lost at least one school day to wildfire-related issues.
Comparing Impacts of Five of the Most Notable Wildfires Between 2002-2018
So What?
We believe it’s important to understand the impacts of wildfire-related school closure days on students throughout the state, especially given how many high fire-risk areas exist in California. As climate change continues to escalate, it is possible we will see students lose even more school days to wildfire-related impacts. When thinking about wildfires, we may often focus on the environmental impact and how much land is burned, but it’s also important to consider the ways in which wildfires impact our daily lives and routines, even after they’ve been contained.
A 2022 study by Miller and Hui in the Nature journal Scientific Reports found significant negative effects on California state assessments among the youngest students assessed (3rd and 4th grade). Additionally, the authors noted that "the most significant effects of school closures may appear several years post-disruption," (p. 8) and that there are limitations to their data, as some schools impacted by wildfires petitioned not to take the California state assessments in that academic year.
While the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to increase their ability to continue academic instruction while students and teachers are unable to be physically present in schools, the impacts of school closure due to wildfires reach beyond the day(s) of in-person instruction lost. A 2022 report by the United States Government Accountability Office noted the higher impact of school closures due to natural disasters on "socially vulnerable groups—including children who are low income, minorities, English learners, or living with disabilities" (p.2) in four areas: emotional, academic, financial, and physical.
A 2022 study by Miller and Hui in the Nature journal Scientific Reports found significant negative effects on California state assessments among the youngest students assessed (3rd and 4th grade). Additionally, the authors noted that "the most significant effects of school closures may appear several years post-disruption," (p. 8) and that there are limitations to their data, as some schools impacted by wildfires petitioned not to take the California state assessments in that academic year.
While the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to increase their ability to continue academic instruction while students and teachers are unable to be physically present in schools, the impacts of school closure due to wildfires reach beyond the day(s) of in-person instruction lost. A 2022 report by the United States Government Accountability Office noted the higher impact of school closures due to natural disasters on "socially vulnerable groups—including children who are low income, minorities, English learners, or living with disabilities" (p.2) in four areas: emotional, academic, financial, and physical.
We hope shining light on the educational impacts of wildfires in California may provide greater support for working to find new, innovative, environmentally safe ways to contain and prevent wildfires throughout our state and the world.
Data Sources and Additional Information (click to Expand)
All code and underlying data is publicly available for reproduction at GitHub, with all calculations or modifications viewable in my_app.py.
These data are limited to public schools in the state of California. Enrollment data comes from the California Department of Education. Wildfire-related closure data comes from the CalMatters' California Public School Closure Database.
Relevant/Notable Remarks on Methodology and Data from CalMatters:
These data are limited to public schools in the state of California. Enrollment data comes from the California Department of Education. Wildfire-related closure data comes from the CalMatters' California Public School Closure Database.
Relevant/Notable Remarks on Methodology and Data from CalMatters:
- "The state enacted a lower instructional time requirement for schools during the years of the recession, from 180 to 175 instructional days between the 2009-10 and 2014-15 academic. This temporary change in instructional time requirements may have led to some reduction in the number of emergency school closures reported to the state through the J-13A waiver process for those years, according to state officials.
School districts in California are able to budget “emergency” or “snow” days in their academic calendars, though are not required to under state law. School closures that districts were able to make up using built-in emergency days are likely not included in CalMatters’ database."
* Code for interactive graph generated in collaboration between ChatGPT and project team members
* Banner image and static chart generated in collaboration between ChatGPT and project team members
* Banner image and static chart generated in collaboration between ChatGPT and project team members