When it comes to education, the wheels on the bus gotta go round and round. Vanderbilt analysts have found that students whose school bus had a driver performed significantly higher on standardized tests than children whose bus lacked anyone at the wheel. Using a “gold-standard” randomized-control trial, the study estimates that the magnitude of the “bus-driver effect” is up to nine additional months of learning per year. Researchers looked at 1,000 elementary-school students in Ohio who were slated to attend public schools just beyond walking distance from their homes; half were assigned to a bus driver and half were not. At the end of the school year, the analysts found that students with a bus driver outperformed their peers on the Iowa Test of Way-Too Basic Skills by about 0.8 standard deviation.They also found that those with a bus driver had vastly higher attendance rates, higher levels of “engagement” in their education, and a stronger opinion about that weird smell in the cafeteria. When the researchers conducted home visits to the families of children without a bus driver, they discovered that those kids spent their days playing Flappy Bird, Facebooking, and “being bored.” The analysts conclude that bus drivers generate a substantial amount of educational “value add.” The study’s lead researcher remarked, “Increasing pupil access to effective bus drivers—actually, any bus drivers—holds promise as a mechanism for boosting student achievement.” There is little doubt: getting there is half the battle.
SOURCE: Jeffrey M. Busser III, PhD, EdD, MD, etc., “Do School-Bus Drivers Add Value?” The Journal of Common Sense Confirmed 22(1): pp. 255–98.