The political impact is increasingly seen in state and local elections, where school board members have faced a historic spate of recall attempts and gubernatorial candidates are familiarizing themselves with the tenets of critical race theory. But new research also suggests that adult disputes can have a measurable effect on how kids learn.

In a study of student test scores, a political scientist reveals damage to math achievement following high-profile controversies around cultural issues in school districts. Fairly modest on average, the effects resulting from debates specifically focused on race and evolution are somewhat larger, and they may result from the strain imposed on educators by enervating fights over competing values.

Study author Vlad Kogan, a professor at Ohio State University, informally referred to the phenomenon as the 鈥淟oudoun County effect鈥� 鈥� a reference that emerged last year in one of Virginia鈥檚 largest districts.

鈥淎lmost by definition, the more attention these [controversies] get, the less attention student learning receives,鈥� said Kogan. 鈥淲e could just be seeing the natural result of that: When adults are focused on other stuff, it’s the student learning that falls through the cracks.”

that Americans are, on balance, satisfied with the performance of their local schools since the beginning of the pandemic. But public discontentment has also repeatedly flared around issues like the inclusion of trans athletes in girls鈥� athletics, while experts have simultaneously documented steep learning loss resulting from COVID-related school closures.

The study, which has not yet undergone peer review, examines the outcomes of specific episodes featured in the , a publicly available inventory of culturally inflected disputes in K-12 schools. The database, maintained by the libertarian Cato Institute, details nearly 3,000 local controversies relating to 鈥渂asic rights, moral values, or individual identities.鈥� Those controversies appear in the Battle Map on the basis of local news coverage, and each case is grouped into one of nine broad categories, including sexuality, religion, race and ethnicity, and freedom of expression. 

To assess the academic impact of those incidents, Kogan relied on math and English test score data provided by the . A widely used research tool, SEDA allows comparisons between student performance in roughly 13,000 school districts around the country by indexing different state standardized test results to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. 

In all, Kogan gathered a sample of approximately 520 local controversies between 2010 and 2018, dropping from the sample any districts that saw more than one controversy over that span and any larger-scale controversies likely to affect all districts within a state. He then compared the trajectory of their academic performance before and after the high-profile battles against a group of control districts that did not experience similar uproars.

The results were mixed: Compared with the control group, school districts that experienced cultural controversies did not see a drop in English scores measured between the third and eighth grades. But math scores among those students did decline in the aftermath of such controversies by an average of .018 standard deviations. (A 鈥渟tandard deviation鈥� is the statistical unit most often used to measure effects in education research; an effect of that size would generally be considered small.)

In the context of the SEDA data 鈥� which finds that student math scores increase by an annual average .39 standard deviations between third and eighth grade 鈥� that relative downward movement accounts for about 5 percent of a full year鈥檚 growth in the subject.

Digging deeper into the results, Kogan also found that the overall math slippage following was driven overwhelmingly by cultural controversies in two of the nine Battle Map categories: race and human origins (including disagreements over the teaching of evolution versus intelligent design), for which the negative impact was three to four times larger. Students of different socioeconomic backgrounds were equally affected, meaning that the scale of local achievement gaps was unaltered by political fights.

Disquietingly, even if political attention dissipates, the apparent academic setbacks don鈥檛 disappear quickly. Math achievement still showed evidence of decline in the affected school districts even four years later. 

Serotkin said it was 鈥渁bsolutely true鈥� that his district had seen markedly higher attrition over the past two years, but argued that its cause couldn鈥檛 be known in an environment as chaotic as the pandemic.

鈥淚 have no idea whether that [turnover] is a result of the national political controversies that Loudoun has become a part of, or whether it’s just because of COVID.”

Dan Domenech, the longtime executive director of the American Association of School Superintendents, said that the most plausible cause for lower scores could simply be that a distracted local education establishment is necessarily a less effective one. Fractured goodwill and divided attention might lead to students getting the short end of the stick in terms of both oversight and learning resources.

“With functional school boards and administration, you can see that they’re providing teachers with the necessary materials 鈥� the technology, the books, the teacher training,鈥� he argued. 鈥淭he parallel to that on the negative side would be that if the board is in turmoil and involved in these culture wars, perhaps they’re not providing teachers with the resources that they need.”

Even so, Domenech pronounced himself skeptical of such a direct connection between controversy in school governance and results in the classroom. 

“From a political point of view, I’d love to be able to say, ‘Stop your fighting 鈥� you’re affecting kids鈥� learning.’ It would be great to be able to say that, but they’re going to ask, ‘Well, how’s that happening?’ And that’s a question I’d have a hard time answering.鈥�

Kogan conceded that the effects measured in the study are comparatively slight, but added that test scores themselves are only the clearest outward manifestation of how political strife affects teaching and learning.

鈥淭here’s probably other dimensions of the school environment that are really important to students but that we can’t measure through test scores. So in some ways, this is just the iceberg tip of the underlying dynamics in the districts. The fact that test scores are dropping in non-trivial amounts suggests that there are changes in how the districts are run that really filter down to the classroom level.鈥�

Chris Riback:聽Eddie, welcome to the studio.

Edward Manuszak: Thank you very much for having me.

Chris Riback:聽I get to talk to you regarding two of your roles. You are Superintendent of Dundee community schools, which is part of Monroe County, Michigan, correct?

Edward Manuszak: That’s correct.

Chris Riback: And you’re also co-chair of the early learning cohort of the School Superintendent’s Association, the AASA. Now a lot of folks might think of those as totally separate roles, but my guess is that you see them as different offshoots of your same personal mission.

Edward Manuszak: You’re absolutely correct. When I am a superintendent of a local school district, I obviously am living and breathing what my colleagues around the nation do. Everything from dealing with personnel issue items and then also being able to take care of balancing the budget, but then the thread that kind of weaves it all together is the fact that I have this passion, it’s really a calling to make differences for kids and for especially early childhood education.

Edward Manuszak: Being a former kindergarten and first grade teacher, I still really see myself as teacher in chief, not just a superintendent. I really appreciate the idea that on a local level I can be there to make an impact for my students in my district. But then my scope and sphere of influence in the role as the co-chair of a national committee of superintendents is much broader because as that co-chair, I am doing work that has influenced over 50 million public school students and the scope of the entire nation. It’s really gratifying.

Chris Riback: And I want to ask you about that because, as you know, 鈥渆arly childhood matters most,鈥� doesn’t it?

Edward Manuszak: Yes, it does. In fact, two years ago we had a work session at our National Superintendent’s Conference, which was actually in Nashville where we are right now. And it took us two hours to come up and wordsmith those four words together. We had a group, a national group of superintendents and other individuals pulled together and it took us two hours to get early childhood matters most down pat.

Chris Riback:聽You know the old joke, right? How many superintendents does it take to come up with a motto? I’m kidding.

Edward Manuszak:聽Yes, a lot. Actually.

Chris Riback:聽A lot. A lot is the punchline. I want to hear about that, but very quickly because I know you’re proud: Tell me about Dundee schools.

Edward Manuszak:聽Absolutely. Dundee community schools, we are located in the Northwest corner of Monroe County. We are a rural community. We’re a growing district so we’ve actually added about 300 students over the last three years since I’ve been there. This is my fourth year in the district and we have just over 1,800 total students. It is just this phenomenal haven for families and children where we really do value every child that comes into our district. I know two weeks ago we had our national conference and the national cohort came and made a visit to our district.

Chris Riback:聽Some 40 superintendents.

Edward Manuszak:聽We did. We had 40 superintendents that were all rural based superintendents came and they spoke to our staff and we held a work session where they came and observed our teachers in action and then gave us feedback on what we’re doing. It was a great experience all the way around.

Chris Riback:聽Are there particular challenges in early childhood education? Let’s focus there, that rural schools and rural districts face?

Edward Manuszak:聽Yes. Staffing is a big priority. It’s hard sometimes…

Chris Riback:聽Finding or quality or experience or both?

Edward Manuszak:聽Retention. Retention of staff, finding staff, it is a major challenge for rural districts around the nation. And then of course the idea that because you’re rural doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re out of step. We are trying to do everything we can from a cutting edge standpoint. I think there is misinformation about how good rural schools really are because in the country, the majority of superintendents are superintendents of districts, almost three quarters are 2,500 students or less in the nation. There’s a lot more of those types of different districts out there than what we think.

Chris Riback:聽What is the Great Start Readiness Program?

Edward Manuszak:聽It is a state funded four-year-old pre-K program that Michigan has now had for I think almost 10 years. And so we’ve been very fortunate as a state to offer this. In my district, we have that program. We also have Head Start. We also offer young fives and full day every day kindergarten. We really try and to make differences for our students and their families by offering such a wide array of services.

Chris Riback: You recently created and released an early learning district self-assessment tool.

Edward Manuszak: That’s correct.

Chris Riback: First of all, wow. I looked it, that’s intense. Second, take me through the process. What drove the need? How did you develop it and perhaps most importantly for superintendents, districts out there, how can superintendents use it?

Edward Manuszak: The tool was designed because I am a little bit of a unique superintendent that has a strong background in early childhood ed. A lot of my colleagues around the nation do not have a background in early childhood ed. They may have the ability to make decisions based on budget or based on information that someone else gives them, but they don’t have that finite detail of, okay, what’s going to make a difference for early learning and early childhood ed? This tool quantifies all of that on a systemic level and it gives them the resources because all of the resources are embedded within the tool. It measures from birth through age eight the readiness of your district and the idea of how am I going to have my organization ready to meet the needs of those children? Because it is no longer a case of schools, K-12 schools should not be referred to as K-12 schools. Really it’s P-20 meaning that from prenatal all the way through, when a student is 20. We are redefining schools as a hub.

Edward Manuszak:聽And so by doing that work and using this national platform of being a co-chair on a national superintendent committee, we just thought this is the way that we can move the needle internally. And so we really worked hard and I got feedback from that group. But actually the idea of then being able to use like the NAYC, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, they’re going to help me publish this. AASA is going to co-brand it. I know that there’s going to be a book that’s coming that will tie it all together so there can be a true narrative about why it matters most.

Chris Riback:聽That is terrific. And it’s an impressive piece of work. When most of us were 18, we were struggling to figure out kind of how do we make sure to get out of bed in the morning and get to wherever we want to go and in time. It turns out at 18 you found your calling.

Edward Manuszak: It is. It is very unique. I have a unique circumstance where I actually went to school thinking, and if you would have asked me as a 17 year old as myself, what did you want to do with your life? Pro football player. How’d that work out for me? Not very well. I went to college as an international business major, and I was a first generation college student in my family and so I had no idea. And so my mother-in-law is a big influence and she asked me to volunteer in her preschool. Within 15 minutes of having that opportunity I realized this was it. This is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. And to have that luxury to say that I found what I wanted to do so early on in my life, I owe a debt of gratitude to her.

Edward Manuszak:聽And then of course, I stand on the shoulders of many other people. Dr. Ena聽Shelley, retired Dean of the College of Ed, also was a huge mentor to me and is really a big influence in who I am today. I owe a lot to people that have done this before I have been here.

Chris Riback:聽Terrific. And I know that you added as well before we spoke, your wife, who introduced you to your mother-in-law. Just want to make sure that you’re covered here, because you know…

Edward Manuszak:聽No, my wife is in the field of education herself. She’s a speech language pathologist and just an amazing person, but yes, it’s been a good journey thus far.

Chris Riback:聽Well, it’s pro football’s loss, but Dundee’s gain. Eddie, thank you.

Edward Manuszak: I appreciate it. Thank you very much, Chris.