Too much noise linked to poor test scores
(From American Teacher, Oct. 1998)

Is your school in a "noisy neighborhood"--near railroad tracks, an airport, heavy traffic or constant construction? If so, all that unwanted noise may be more than just an annoyance; it may be contributing to lower academic performance.

In a 1997 article in Hearing Rehabilitation Quarterly, Dr. Arline L. Bronzaft, professor emeritus at Lehman College-CUNY, writes that excessive noise both at home and near school could have an impact on children's learning. In a 1975 study she conducted with D. B. McCarthy in a New York City elementary school located next to train tracks, she compared the reading scores of students in classrooms on the noisy side of the school with students in classrooms on the quiet side of the school. Students in the second, fourth and sixth grade on the noisy side performed poorer than their counterparts on the quiet side of the building.

The results led to complaints by parents and local officials both to the city's transit authority and to the board of education. The transit authority consequently installed rubber pads on the tracks, and acoustic ceilings were installed in the noisy classrooms. These modifications led to a drop in the decibel level in the classrooms, and in 1981, Bronzaft conducted a similar study and found that children on both sides of the school were reading at the same level.

Although the negative effects that a noisy environment may have on students' academic performance have not been proven conclusively, evidence such as this test and several more recent studies is strong. A study by Gary Evans published this year in Psychological Science compared reading scores of students attending a school located near a major New York airport and also below its flight path with the scores of students attending a school in a quiet neighborhood. The students in the school near the airport also lived near the airport--environments in which there was chronic aircraft noise. The reading results for the students in the environment with chronic aircraft noise indicated "significant deficits in reading as indexed by a standardized reading test administered under quiet conditions." Other studies conducted at schools near airports in New York City and Los Angeles by K.B. Green (1982) and Sheldon Cohen (1980), respectively, show similar findings.

Supporting these correlations are the proven physical effects of excessive noise. In a 1986 article in the Harvard Medical School Health Letter, Bronzaft writes that excessive sound has been shown to damage hair cells within the inner ear, which affect the brain's ability to decode the sound. Physiological effects are also correlated with excessive noise, including a rise in blood pressure, a change of heart rate or rhythm, a temporary rise in blood cholesterol or excessive secretion of certain hormones. Knowing that the noise cannot be prevented or avoided can increase the severity of these reactions.

Bronzaft has several recommendations to combat the effects of noise. Good discipline and smaller classes are a start, she says. Furthermore, "teachers need to be cognizant of the noise in the interior of their classroom...and bring it to the attention of authority--such as the principal or the union," says Bronzaft. Proper planning and use of technology can prevent many future noise problems, but often these possibilities and resulting problems are overlooked. Activism is essential to correct such neglect, she says. "Teachers and students are entitled to an atmosphere in their class that is conducive to learning."

For more information, visit the Web sites of the Council on the Environment of New York City, www.cenyc.org or the League for the Hard of Hearing, www.lhh.org/noise.