An analysis of 28 school districts in Pennsylvania shows attendance and test scroes are impacted only slightly by teacher strikes.
The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader reviewed data for school districts in Pennsylvanic where teachers held strikes in the past five years and found no clear relation between strikes and test scores. According to Lehigh University Professor Perry Zirkel, national studies confirm these findings.
The data reviewed by the Times Leader do show that, more often than not, attendance rates sagged the year of the strike and enrollment dropped that year and the next.
The data show that 52 percent of the districts saw average test scores drop the year of the strike. But the changes were usually small. For example, of 13 districts where scores slipped, nine had single-digit drops in the verbal scores and four were in single digits in math.
It all boils down to this: Statistics don’t seem to support the contention that strikes seriously hurt student achievement.
Read the full article here.
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And no doubt there are lessons that students may learn from a teacher strike that will never be reflected in test scores, but they are lessons no less valuable than the more predictable ones taught in schools. Being on the line with striking teachers, reading and hearing about why it is important for workers to expect and be prepared to stand up for their rights are worthy lessons. And so, teacher strikes may also help students.