Schools must adapt to extreme heat in a warming world

New report finds extreme heat in pre-K through 12 schools harms learning and health, offers recommendations to mitigate the damage

Heat waves pose a growing threat to learning, health and well-being in schools as extreme heat becomes more frequent and intense across the United States, finds a report by the American Psychological Association and the Network for Resilient PK-12 Schools.  

The report, Schools, Climate, and Health: Responding to Extreme Heat, synthesizes the research on how extreme heat affects students and educators and offers recommendations for schools, school districts and administrators to strengthen their districts’ heat planning.

“This report is a valuable resource for educators, administrators, parents and the public to understand how schools can protect children's health, safety and learning as extreme heat becomes more common,” said APA CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD. “Psychological science demonstrates that extreme heat exposure can impact students' attention, memory and ability to learn, underscoring why schools need to plan now to safeguard learning and promote student health and academic outcomes.”

Students and educators spend much of their waking hours in school buildings, often during the hottest times of the day and at the hottest times of the year, all while many school buildings lack adequate cooling systems. Students face further heat exposure during outdoor activities and their commutes to school. Extreme heat disproportionately affects people with the fewest resources and greatest vulnerabilities, including young children and low-income families, the report finds.  

Extreme heat is more than an inconvenience. It can cause acute symptoms such as dehydration, dizziness and nausea, and young children are especially at risk. In the longer term, research has found that heat can elevate stress hormones, disrupt sleep, increase inflammation, and impair cardiovascular and immune functioning.  

Heat also harms students’ learning. For example, studies have found lower test scores among students on hot school days. Extreme heat has also been linked to mental health effects such as increases in emergency department visits for mood disorders, self-harm and suicidality among children and adolescents.    

Educators’ health and well-being is also at risk from extreme heat, as prolonged heat stress is associated with physical, cognitive and emotional exhaustion, which over time may contribute to burnout.  

The report offers concrete steps that school districts can take to reduce these potential harms, including:

• Designate district-level heat leadership and accountability structures;
• Develop and implement heat thresholds and monitoring procedures, integrated into emergency and safety planning;
• Prioritize mitigation in the locations where heat causes the greatest harm;
• Ensure automatic protection for students and staff who are more vulnerable to extreme heat;
• Implement heat-specific policies for athletics, extracurriculars, after-school programs and transportation;
• Treat heat like a “snow day for cognition,” for example postponing assessments and adjusting instructional load;
• Coordinate heat response with families and caregivers; and
• Ensure that individual actions – like hydration or light clothing – are treated as the last layer of protection rather than the primary defense against extreme heat. 

“Extreme heat is no longer a distant concern,” said Nicole Barnes, PhD, APA’s executive lead psychologist for education. “It is here, and it is affecting students’ health, well-being and educational outcomes. By recognizing the risks of extreme heat and putting these recommendations into practice, schools have a unique opportunity to reduce that harm and provide a safer, healthier learning environment for all students and educators.”