The short-term effect of the daylight saving time clock change on high school standardized test performance

This study analyses the effect of acute sleep disruptions on the high-stakes standardized test performance of high school students. I leverage a natural experiment arising from a 2007 policy change in the United States which moved the spring clock change into daylight saving time (DST) immediately prior to statewide graduation exams in Ohio. Using a difference-in-difference estimation with a panel of nearly 900 school districts, I find the clock change lowered graduation exam passage rates between 1.9 and 2.5 percentage points. Results suggest DST is not costless for adolescent students and contribute to a growing body of evidence on the negative cognitive effects of sleep disruption.