In this study, we took advantage of the randomized allocation of the US EPA's funding for school bus replacements and retrofits to causally assess the impacts of upgrading buses through the EPA’s national School Bus Rebate Program on attendance, educational performance, and community air quality (PM2.5). Specifically, we used classical intent-to-treat analyses for randomized controlled trials to compare the changes in school district average attendance, test scorers (reading language arts and math), and PM2.5 levels after vs before the 2012 through 2017 lotteries by funding selection status.
We took advantage of the randomized allocation of the US EPA's funding for school bus replacements and retrofits to causally assess the impacts of upgrading buses through the EPA’s national School Bus Rebate Program on various outcomes including attendance, educational performance, and community air quality (PM2.5). Specifically, we used classical intent-to-treat analyses for randomized controlled trials to compare the changes in school district average attendance, test scores (reading language arts and math), and PM2.5 levels after vs before the 2012 through 2017 lotteries by funding selection status. We used overall district attendance rates and average standardized test scores since rates were not available for only school-bus riders.
