Does Special Education in Elementary and Middle School Mitigate the Effects of Early Childhood Lead Exposure?
Paper Number: 2025-04
Document Date: 10/2025
Author(s): Heather Klemick, Ron Shadbegian, Dennis Guignet, Linda T. Bui, Anh Hoang
JEL Classification: I18, I26, I28, Q53
Keywords: Lead exposure, blood lead level, education, academic achievement, children, learning disabilities
Abstract: We examine the relationship between childhood lead exposure and special education using data on over 800,000 North Carolina 3rd-8th grade students. We use matching and panel data techniques to estimate the effect of lead exposure on the probability of having a learning disability that qualified students for special education and to estimate the effect of special education on lead-exposed students’ academic performance. We find that higher lead exposure significantly increased participation in special education, and special education significantly increased lead-exposed students’ test scores. These results indicate that special education can help mitigate academic deficits for lead-exposed students with learning disabilities.
This paper is part of the Environmental Economics Working Paper Series.