A Better Vision for Development: Eyeglasses and Academic Performance in Rural Primary Schools in China

Glewwe, Paul; Park, Albert; Zhao, Meng

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2797542

Cited by 19 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…In another study conducted in urban Guangdong, He et al (2004) demonstrated that nearly half of children between the ages of five and 15 had refractive error. In 2004 Glewee, Park, andZhao (2011) conducted a study in one of the poorest areas of Chinatwo ethnically Tibetan populated counties in Gansu Province-and found that 13% of fourth to sixth grade children had poor vision.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In another study in rural Guangdong, Li et al (2010) found that two thirds of children who were informed of their need to wear glasses on the basis of a high quality screening examination failed to obtain them. Glewee et al (2011) showed that for every 100 children that were myopic, less than three of them were wearing glasses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The study of Li et al (2010) was also located in a relatively developed area of China. The work by Glewee et al (2011), while looking at one of China's poorest areas, is somewhat dated, using data from 2004. China's economy has more than doubled in size since that time and incomes-even in poor rural areas-have risen by nearly 100%, on average (China National Bureau of Statistics, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…China's economy has more than doubled in size since that time and incomes-even in poor rural areas-have risen by nearly 100%, on average (China National Bureau of Statistics, 2012). The exact refraction protocol used in the Glewee et al (2011) study is also not made clear. The most recent work focused on China's poor western region, Pi et al (2012), only relies on the data collected from one district of Chongqing municipality.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, a study of three to 16 year old children in the UK shows that visual impairment has negative effects on quality of life (Chadha & Subramanian, 2011). Glewee et al (2011) document that the grades of students suffer when they need glasses but do not have them.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Poor Vision Among China's Rural Primary School Students: Prevalence, Correlates and Consequences

Zhang

et al. 2017

SSRN Journal

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Using a survey of 19,977 children in two provinces, this paper explores the prevalence, correlates and potential consequences of poor vision among children in China's vast but understudied rural areas. We find that 24% of sample students suffer from reduced uncorrected visual acuity in either eye and 16% in both eyes. Poor vision is significantly correlated with individual, parental and family characteristics, with modest magnitudes for all correlates but home province and grade level. The results also suggest a possible adverse impact of poor vision on academic performance and mental health, particularly among students with severe poor vision.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Poor Vision Among China's Rural Primary School Students: Prevalence, Correlates and Consequences

Zhang

et al. 2017

SSRN Journal

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Do only children have poor vision? Evidence from China's One‐Child Policy

Zhao

Zhou

2018

Health Economics

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This paper examines whether only children have poor vision by exploiting the quasinatural experiment generated by the Chinese One‐Child Policy. The results suggest that being an only child increases the incidence of myopia by 9.1 percentage points. We further investigate the mechanisms through which being an only child affects the myopia and find that only children, as the only hope in a household, receive higher expectations in terms of academic performance and future educational attainment and pressure to succeed in life from parents, which contribute to the increased myopia. We also find that the school quality of only children is significantly higher than that of non‐only children. This study provides new insights into an important health consequence of One‐Child Policy in China.

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The Impact of Providing Vision Screening and Free Eyeglasses on Academic Outcomes: Evidence from a Randomized Trial in Title I Elementary Schools in Florida

Glewwe¹,

West²,

Lee³

2017

J Policy Anal Manage

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More than 20 percent of all school-aged children in the United States have vision problems, and low-income and minority children are disproportionately likely to have unmet vision care needs. Vision screening is common in U.S. schools, but it remains an open question whether screening alone is sufficient to improve student outcomes. We implemented a multi-armed randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of vision screening, and of vision screening accompanied by eye exams and eyeglasses, provided by a non-profit organization to Title I elementary schools in three large central Florida school districts. We find that providing additional/enhanced screening alone is generally insufficient to improve student achievement in math and reading. In contrast, providing screening along with free eye exams and free eyeglasses to students with vision problems improved student achievement as measured by standardized test scores. We find, averaging over all students (including those without vision problems), that this more comprehensive intervention increased the probability of passing the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Tests (FCAT) in reading and math by approximately 2.0 percentage points. We also present evidence that indicates that this impact fades out over time, indicating that follow-up actions after the intervention may be necessary to sustain these estimated achievement gains.

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A Better Vision for Development: Eyeglasses and Academic Performance in Rural Primary Schools in China

Cited by 19 publications

References 19 publications

Poor Vision Among China's Rural Primary School Students: Prevalence, Correlates and Consequences

Poor Vision Among China's Rural Primary School Students: Prevalence, Correlates and Consequences

Do only children have poor vision? Evidence from China's One‐Child Policy

The Impact of Providing Vision Screening and Free Eyeglasses on Academic Outcomes: Evidence from a Randomized Trial in Title I Elementary Schools in Florida

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