For example, researchers from the University of South Carolina found that performance on a standardized math exam was correlated with the arrival of students’ families receiving their SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits. Being tested around the time of receiving the aid resulted in higher scores. If students were three or more weeks removed from their family’s receiving benefits, they scored lower. This held true even when testing the same child. In other words, those tests were really measuring student hunger.
