Norfolk, Va., has approved a $5 million agreement with a developer for the design of five new schools.
http://asumag.com/new-construction/norfolk-va-plans-spend-125-million-school-construction
Author: campus
FirstSchool Learning Environment – Supporting Relationship. Issues in PreK-3rd Education (#3)
Ritchie, S., Crawford, G. M., & Clifford, R. M. (2009).
The physical environment of a school community provides more than shelter and work space. It conveys values and messages about who is welcome, what is important, and how children learn. School is a place where children, staff and families spend much of their time, where routines needs are met, relationships are developed, skills are learned, abilities are enhanced, and attitudes towards learning, society and our environment are formed.
http://fcd-us.org/sites/default/files/FINALLearningEnvironments.pdf
Research on the Impact of School Facilities on Students and Teachers – A Summary of Studies Published since 2000
21st Century School Fund (2009).
This review is designed as an updated to the 2002 review "Do School Facilities Affect Academic Outcomes?" by Mark Schneider, originally commissioned by the 21st Century School Fund's Building Educational Success Together collaborative then expanded by Dr. Schneider and published by a project funded by the United States Department of Education.
http://www.21csf.org/csf-home/Documents/ResearchImpactSchoolFacilitiesFeb2010.pdf
Appendix A – Guidelines for traffic control for school areas
Texas Department of Transportation, Texas Transportation Institute (2009). (0-5470-1)
Appendix A: Guidelines for traffic control for school areas is a companion piece to the Speeds in School Zones study. School speed zones are frequently requested traffic controls for school areas, based on the common belief that if the transportation agency would only install a reduced speed limit, then drivers would no longer speed through the area. This research project was tasked with reviewing existing practices and developing guidelines regarding the establishment of school zones. Researchers documented existing knowledge on traffic control devices in school zones using a review of previous research that examined effectiveness of devices, a survey of practitioners on signing and marking, a review of state and city school zone guidelines and warrants, and a telephone survey of law enforcement officers. Researchers also collected field data at 24 school zones across Texas and analyzed the data for findings on speed-distance relationships, speed time relationships, influences of various site characteristics on speeds, and special characteristics of school zones with buffer zones. The findings from these analyses were used in developing suggested guidelines for traffic control devices, including school speed zones, near schools in Texas. The Guidelines are designed to serve as a supplement to the Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices and the manual on Procedures for Establishing Speed Zones. They are included in this report as Appendix A. Major topics in the Guidelines include: definitions, school location, school speed zone characteristics, pavement markings, crosswalks, school entrances, and conditions for removing a school speed zone.
Children’s Physical Environments Rating Scale
Moore, G.T., Sugiyama, T., & O'Donnell, L. (2009).
It is well known that early childhood development is related to the quality of the physical environment, and that the quality of childcare, preschool, kindergarten, and other early childhood education is related to the quality of the physical designed environment.The purpose of this scale is to provide a scientifically reliable and valid assessment instrument that can be used easily by early childhood educators, architects, landscape architects, other designers, policy makers, and regulators to assess the quality of the physical environment of childcare, preschool, kindergarten, and other early childhood education facilities.The Children’s Physical Environments Rating Scale (CPERS) can be used for quality assessment, post-occupancy evaluation, fundamental research, and comparative cross-country research on the environmental quality of early childhood education facilities.
http://sydney.edu.au/architecture/documents/staff/garymoore/112.pdf
Teacher Tradeoffs – Disentangling Teachers’ Preferences for Working Conditions and Student Demographics.
Horng, E.L. (2009). 46 (3)
One of the greatest differences in resources across schools in California comes from an inequitable distribution of teachers. This study identifies reasons for this sorting of teacher by surveying 531 teachers in a California Elementary school district. The survey ask the teachers to make choices between various workplace characteristics. With this information, the study disentangles student demographics from other characteristics of teaching jobs that are amenable to policy influences. It finds the teachers identify working conditions-particularly, school facilities, administrative support, adn class sizes-and salaries as significantly more important that student characteristics when selecting a school in which to work.
School Indoor Air Quality – State Policy Strategies for Maintaining Healthy Learning Environments
Environmental Law Institute (2009).
This report highlights the important role that can be played by state policy in ensuring that all schools address basic IAQ issues as part of their ongoing operations and maintenance activities. Numerous school districts around the country are already doing so, and some have pioneered new programs and approaches to addressing indoor environmental quality in their facilities. In many communities, school staff, employee unions and parents have advocated effectively for, and worked with school officials to establish, school IAQ programs. Yet carefully designed and implemented policies at the state level can provide flexibility while helping to ensure that minimum IAQ management practices will be implemented throughout a state.
Even the school bonds are bigger in Texas
Voters soundly approved Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District's $1.2 billion school bond, which was the largest of slate of proposals throughout the state.
http://asumag.com/bond-issues/even-school-bonds-are-bigger-texas
School Playground Surfacing and Arm Fractures in Children – A Cluster Randomized Trial Comparing Sand to Wood Chip Surfaces
Howard, A. W., Macarthur, R., Rothman, L., Willian, A., & Macpherson, A. K. (2009). 6 (12)
The risk of playground injuries, especially fractures, is prevalent in children, and can result in emergency room treatment and hospital admissions. Fall height and surface area are major determinants of playground fall injury risk. The primary objective was to determine if there was a difference in playground upper extremity fracture rates in school playgrounds with wood fibre surfacing versus granite sand surfacing. Secondary objectives were to determine if there were differences in overall playground injury rates or in head injury rates in school playgrounds with wood fibre surfacing compared to school playgrounds with granite sand surfacing. Creative Commons Attribution License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/
http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000195
Public School Facilities, Maintenance, Repair, and Renovation Manual
State of Arkansas (2009).
This document includes introduction, purpose, definitions, academic facilities maintenance, repair and renovation activities, and inspection reports for the State of Arkansas, Division of Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation
