A visit from Michelle Obama seems to improve test scores

July 7, 2016 11:58 AM

Simon Burgess, an economist at the University of Bristol, "analysed the school’s exam results in the years after Mrs Obama’s visits. The 15- or 16-year-olds sitting their GCSEs did much better than girls in the previous year. ... [The] improvements were much bigger than the average increases in performance across London state schools."
posted by clawsoon (13 comments total)

Yeah, in one British school, post hoc etc. etc.

Not really the kind of robust social science that can get my Army of Michelle Clones project funded.
posted by klangklangston at 12:17 PM on July 7, 2016 [12 favorites]

But can she cure scrofula by laying on of hands?
posted by strangely stunted trees at 12:31 PM on July 7, 2016 [6 favorites]

I suggest a test program. Install 30 monitors in 30 class rooms and The First Lady can pop in weekly. A few hours a week a most.

Also, a card board fascimile of the First Lady in each room to help foster a positive learning environment.
posted by clavdivs at 1:01 PM on July 7, 2016

I'm waiting for some research on the effect Trump has on students.
posted by clawsoon at 1:04 PM on July 7, 2016

This sort of thing is not without precedent.

In her later years, Eleanor Roosevelt was employed as a 'cooler' by Caesars Palace casino in Vegas, due to the well-known fact that her body naturally generated a small but highly-potent improbability field that could wreak havoc with the odds at slot machines, craps tables, and high-dollar roulette wheels.
posted by Atom Eyes at 1:17 PM on July 7, 2016 [9 favorites]

More proof that #BlackGirlMagic is both literal and real.
posted by tobascodagama at 1:21 PM on July 7, 2016

Also, a card board fascimile of the First Lady in each room to help foster a positive learning environment.

I suggest we run a controlled experiment with a wire FLOTUS and a cloth FLOTUS to see which one the children gravitate to.
posted by Strange Interlude at 1:29 PM on July 7, 2016 [14 favorites]

Other studies have been done on this:

Just the simple image of a woman in power has been proven to have a profound effect. A Swiss study in 2013 found that female students spoke for longer – a sign of dominance – when asked to give a speech in a room with a poster of Hillary Clinton or Angela Merkel on the wall, compared with students who had a poster of Bill Clinton or none at all. And in another study from India, parents living in areas with long-serving female leaders were 25% more likely to report having ambitious educational goals for their daughters. “Seeing women in charge persuaded parents and teens that women can run things, and increased their ambitions,” said economist Esther Duflo, who led the research.
posted by triggerfinger at 2:16 PM on July 7, 2016 [12 favorites]

Trump's effect has not been positive on students of color.
posted by radicalawyer at 2:30 PM on July 7, 2016 [2 favorites]

FLOTUS is Magic!
posted by The Legit Republic of Blanketsburg at 2:42 PM on July 7, 2016 [2 favorites]

Of course she has that effect!
Off topic but imagine the poor woman in the distant future who's going to be the first lady trying to live up to Michelle Obama. Barack Obama's tenure and politics are of course open for reasonable debate but anyone finding a flaw in the FLOTUS is an idiot. This is one couple where 'the better half' isn't some nonsense social nicety that women are condescendingly called but the actual truth.
posted by savitarka at 3:31 PM on July 7, 2016 [1 favorite]

Small sample size, confounders, etc.

But frankly, I'm a white middle aged physician and I'm pretty sure that, even at this point in my life, if Michelle Obama told me that she believed in my potential I'd find a way to up my game.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 4:00 PM on July 7, 2016 [20 favorites]

Surprised to see the Economist publish it without even mentioning where the paper was published. We have more comments (and better quality comments) about it than the Economist.
That's sad a bit.
posted by skepticallypleased at 9:24 PM on July 7, 2016 [1 favorite]