Although access to nutrition is a critical determinant of academic success, participation in subsidized school meal programs varies considerably among eligible schools. The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a federal policy that allows schools and districts serving high-poverty populations to provide meals to all students at no cost. We estimate the effect of CEP on academic outcomes for 3rd through 8th grade students in North Carolina (2011–2019). Using staggered difference-in-differences estimators that correct for biases inherent in two-way fixed effects, we find a modest but significant average treatment effect of ~0.03 standard deviations on End-of-Grade math and reading scores. Effects are largest in low-income districts with below-average prior academic performance, while math scores increase between ~0.03 to~ 0.09 standard deviations over four years. Schools with the highest poverty concentrations show attenuated returns, consistent with diminishing marginal gains in schools where subsidized meal access was already widespread. Our findings advance the study of the CEP by combining administrative data with causal methods suited to evaluating staggered policy adoption.
Mentor: Andrea Lane
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