A newly published review article co-authored by Misti Levy Zamora, along with first author Hannah Cooke and Jess Hollenbach of Connecticut Children’s Medical Center (CCMC), examines an important but often overlooked component of healthy school environments: the relationship between indoor air quality, student achievement, and educator well-being.
Research on school indoor air quality (IAQ) has historically focused on its effects on children and student health. While these impacts remain critical, educators spend much of their working lives in the same environments and can also experience the consequences of poor IAQ. The new review draws attention to this gap, emphasizing the importance of considering educator health alongside student outcomes when evaluating the quality of school environments.
The authors highlight that educator well-being has implications that extend throughout the school community. Teacher health and well-being can influence educator retention, classroom experiences, student outcomes, and overall academic success. Understanding how the physical school environment affects educators is therefore an important part of creating healthier and more effective learning environments.
The review also reinforces existing evidence that poor IAQ can directly affect students. Exposure to inadequate classroom air quality has been associated with measurable declines in task accuracy, complex cognitive functioning, and daily attendance—all factors that can influence students’ ability to learn and succeed academically.
Together, these findings demonstrate that improving IAQ in schools is about more than maintaining buildings. Creating healthy indoor environments is an important public health strategy that supports the people who teach and learn in them every day.
By bringing student achievement and educator well-being into the same conversation, the review underscores the need to view school indoor air quality as a fundamental component of effective teaching, learning, and healthy school communities.
Read the full review article to learn more about the relationship between school IAQ, student outcomes, and educator well-being.