The Effect of Providing Breakfast on Student Performance: Evidence from an In-Class Breakfast Program

Scott Imberman and Adriana Kugler

No 17720, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: In response to low take-up, many public schools have experimented with moving breakfast from the cafeteria to the classroom. We examine whether such a program increases performance as measured by standardized test scores, grades and attendance rates. We exploit quasi-random timing of program implementation that allows for a difference-in-differences identification strategy. Our main identification assumption is that schools where the program was introduced earlier would have evolved similarly to those where the program was introduced later. We find that in-class breakfast increases both math and reading achievement by about one-tenth of a standard deviation relative to providing breakfast in the cafeteria. Moreover, we find that these effects are most pronounced for low performing, free-lunch eligible, Hispanic, and low BMI students. We also find some improvements in attendance for high achieving students but no impact on grades.

JEL-codes: I10 I21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-01
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Published as The Effect of Providing Breakfast in Class on Student Performance Scott A. Imberman andAdriana D. Kugler Journal of Policy Analysis and Management Volume 33, Issue 3, pages 669–699, Summer 2014

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