Weekend feeding (“BackPack”) programs and student outcomes

Michael D. Kurtz, Karen Smith Conway and Robert D. Mohr

Economics of Education Review, 2020, vol. 79, issue C

Abstract: Weekend feeding (“BackPack”) programs that provide food to children have grown dramatically in recent years, yet their effects on educational outcomes have been little investigated. Our study combines administrative student data on test scores and absences in Northwest North Carolina elementary schools with primary data on program participation. School and student program eligibility criteria is used to estimate the intent-to-treat effect within a difference-in-difference-in-difference (DDD) framework. Results suggest a sizable 0.09 standard deviation improvement in reading scores, with a similar but weaker effect for math scores. These effects are strongest for the youngest and lowest performing students.

Keywords: Child hunger; Student outcomes; Community organizations; Weekend feeding programs; BackPack programs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775720305264
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:79:y:2020:i:c:s0272775720305264

DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2020.102040

Access Statistics for this article

Economics of Education Review is currently edited by E. Cohn

More articles in Economics of Education Review from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().