Linking Student Performance in Massachusetts Elementary Schools with the “Greenness” of School Surroundings Using Remote Sensing

Abstract

Various studies have reported the physical and mental health benefits from exposure to “green” neighborhoods, such as proximity to neighborhoods with trees and vegetation. However, no studies have explicitly assessed the association between exposure to “green” surroundings and cognitive function in terms of student academic performance. This study investigated the association between the “greenness” of the area surrounding a Massachusetts public elementary school and the academic achievement of the school’s student body based on standardized tests with an ecological setting. Researchers used the composite school-based performance scores generated by the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) to measure the percentage of 3rd-grade students (the first year of standardized testing for 8–9 years-old children in public school), who scored “Above Proficient” (AP) in English and Mathematics tests (Note: Individual student scores are not publically available). The MCAS results are comparable year to year thanks to an equating process. Researchers included test results from 2006 through 2012 in 905 public schools and adjusted for differences between schools in the final analysis according to race, gender, English as a second language (proxy for ethnicity and language facility), parent income, student-teacher ratio, and school attendance. Surrounding greenness of each school was measured using satellite images converted into the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in March, July and October of each year according to a 250-meter, 500-meter, 1,000-meter, and 2000-meter circular buffer around each school. Spatial Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMMs) estimated the impacts of surrounding greenness on school-based performance. Overall the study results supported a relationship between the “greenness” of the school area and the school-wide academic performance. Interestingly, the results showed a consistently positive significant association between the greenness of the school in the Spring (when most Massachusetts students take the MCAS tests) and school-wide performance on both English and Math tests, even after adjustment for socio-economic factors and urban residency.

Nature experience reduces rumination and subgenual prefrontal cortex activation

“…Doing so will require new research on the ways in which these impacts vary with biophysical attributes of natural land-and seascapes, frequency and duration of nature experience, as well as characteristics and personality attributes of the individual. Already, some cities and nations are incorporating these benefits into urban design, treating proximity of buildings (especially schools) and public access to greenspace as important aspects of city planning that may influence stress, mental health, and even cognitive functioning (42)(43)(44)(45)(46). With deeper understanding, mental health benefits of nature can be incorporated into a wide array of initiatives and investments in sustainable cities and conservation (47)(48)(49).…”

Green Infrastructure, Green Stormwater Infrastructure, and Human Health: A Review

“…In children, exposure to GI is linked to cognitive development [38], a reduction in emotional problems [41], and an improvement in school-related performance [37]. Future research should try to replicate these findings in different settings to gain more confidence in them.…”

“…Tree density is positively associated with lower crime rates [43,44,47,48,50], more optimal cortisol patterns [19][20][21]75], lower blood pressure [16,17], lower rates of obesity [62], lower allergy rates [27], higher cognitive development and performance [37,38], lower prescription rates of antidepression medication [40], and better pregnancy outcomes [23][24][25][26].…”

Economic Value of Parks via Human Mental Health: An Analytical Framework

“…The principal types of mental health outcomes reported in previous studies include: improved attention (Tennessen and Cimprich, 1995;Faber and Kuo, 2011); changed attitudes (Weinstein et al, 2009); improved cognition (Berman et al, 2008(Berman et al, , 2012Bratman et al, 2012;Wu et al, 2014;Zedelius and Schooler, 2015); reduced levels of stress, anxiety, and depression (Nutsford et al, 2013;Bratman et al, 2015); reduced use of antidepressants (Hartig et al, 2007;Taylor et al, 2015); improved recovery from stress (Bodin and Hartig, 2001); general improvements in mental health (Nielsen and Hansen, 2007;O'Campo et al, 2009;Bratman et al, 2012;Pearson and Craig, 2014); improved sleep (Grigsby-Toussaint et al, 2015); and improved life satisfaction (García-Mainar et al, 2015). These outcomes are not mutually exclusive: different individuals may experience multiple outcomes simultaneously (Hartig et al, 2011).…”

“…Mental health outcomes are reported for both adults and children (Dadvand et al, 2014Wu et al, 2014;Zhang et al, 2014), and for both men and women (Teas et al, 2007). Improvements derived from recreation and tourism have received particular attention (Kühnel and Sonnentag, 2011;Dolnicar et al, 2012;Chen and Petrick, 2013;Bimonte and Faralla, 2015;Coghlan, 2015;Zuo et al, 2015;Chen et al, 2016;Uysal et al, 2016).…”