School-entry Vaccination Laws, Non-Medical Exemptions and Academic Achievement

Hair and Urban will investigate how school vaccination policies affect students’ performance on standardized tests of academic achievement and the white-black achievement gap. Using SEDA data on academic achievement, data on vaccination coverage from the National Immunization Surveys, and a new database of mandatory school immunization laws, they will explore whether reducing vaccination exemptions or adding requirements improves student scores and narrows the racial achievement gap.