The Impact of the Opioid Crisis on Student Achievement and Growth
Evidence shows that adverse childhood experiences such as parental drug use can negatively affect life outcomes, including academic achievement. In this study, Jessica Boyle, a doctoral student in education policy, will analyze patterns in student achievement and growth in places disproportionately impacted by the opioid epidemic. Boyle will use newly released opioid distribution data to calculate the influx of prescription pills per person in each SEDA-defined geographic school district, and complement this measure with county-level opioid death rates in order to capture illicit opioid use. Finally, she will examine trends in student outcomes over time to investigate any changes in effects as the crisis spread and deepened year by year.