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Category: Reports

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Healthy Schools Network, 2005

Students who attend schools with environmental hazards that impact indoor air quality are more likely to miss class, and therefore lose learning opportunities.

Yet school environmental health and safety remains largely unregulated and there is no state or federal agency in charge of protecting children’s environmental health in schools. This report, School Facilities and Student Health, Achievement, and Attendance: A Data Analysis, looks at information compiled from all public schools in two New York counties, and from a select group of schools from around the state that have reported environmental health and safety problems.

The findings show that, despite the lack of an up-to-date system for collecting data on environmental hazards in schools, it is still possible to correlate existing information with state funding to repair hazards and to show that unhealthy schools rob students of valuable classroom learning time.

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Office of Program Policy Analysis & Government Accountability, Florida, 2006

The state’s current processes to select and fund higher education facility construction projects include multiple levels of review and ensure that institutional requests for new construction are coordinated with the state’s higher education goals, local strategic plans, and community development plans.

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Florida Department of Education, Office of Educational Facilities

As of July 1, 2002, the Department of Education replaced all bulk communications with the Paperless Communications System. In order to be notified of changes in the State Requirements for Educational Facilities and other communications from the Department of Education, interested parties are now required to subscribe to the Department’s Paperless Communications System.

The Department developed this electronic means to notify interested parties when official correspondence is posted on its website to communicate with Florida’s educational community in a timely and cost-efficient manner. By signing up at the address below, and indicating topics of interest, subscribers will receive email notices containing links to messages, reports, legislative updates, technical assistance papers, newsletters, the State Requirements for Educational Facilities, and official memorandums issued by the Department of Education. All messages will link to PDF files that may be viewed, downloaded and printed.

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Florida Department of Education, 2015

The use of laboratory investigations has played a vital role in distinguishing science from most other disciplines encountered in the classroom. Just as scientists acquire knowledge through a process of experimentation, students learn to appreciate how this wealth of knowledge was accumulated by simulating this same investigative process.

Without the laboratory experience as an integral part of the scientific process, only facts can be memorized. A true feeling for the process is lost. It is of vital importance that a laboratory component be incorporated into the science curriculum.

Once the laboratory component has been added to a curriculum, it becomes necessary for a teacher to understand that additional safety requirements and procedures must be implemented. These additions will provide for a more safe and meaningful experience for students

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Guardino and Fullerton, 2010

What impact does the classroom environment have on overall class behavior and learning?  Many teachers face disruptive behavior in their classrooms.  How can they target and change problem areas in the classroom environment?  By collecting data on students' engagement during instruction, disruptive behavior, and teacher observations, teachers can identify which physical aspects of their classroom need to be improved.  Changing the classroom environment can increase academic engagement and decrease disruptive behavior.

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National Center for Women & Information Technology, PROMISING PRACTICES, 2011

Hank Levy, Chair of the University of Washington’s Department of Computer Science & Engineering, described the design of a new building that applied principles supported by research on stereotypes and the environment. The new building is one of many actions the department takes for promoting diversity.

The Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington opened in 2003. Among its major goals, the building was intended to be warm, welcoming, and “nontechy” in appearance. All spaces are carpeted to give it a soft feel, and the extensive use of cherry wood trim adds warmth. Unlike most academic buildings, there are no conference or technical posters lining the hallways. Instead, occupants and visitors see a collection of original paintings, prints, and photographs from 22 university-affiliated artists whenever they enter or leave a floor in the building. This artwork is the only wall covering in the building. Computer labs in the basement have colorful walls adorned with large nature photographs. Overall, the goal was to make the Allen Center a people-oriented building that surrounds users with softness, warmth, and a celebration of aesthetics.

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Jeffrey Vincent and Liz Jain, 2015

Analysis of spending on K-12 public school facilities in California finds that, compared to industry standards, there is an ongoing, structural pattern of inadequate and inequitable spending in many school districts. This trend signals costly long-term consequences as accumulated facility needs risk becoming health and safety crises.

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School Planning and Management, 2016

Once the budget has been established for your school construction project, staying within it does not have to be a constant process of sacrifice and compromise. Clearly identifying and documenting the scope of work for each aspect of the project in the early stages is vital. This will have a significant impact on keeping your design and construction professionals on the trajectory of being on time and under budget. Follow these 10 steps throughout the project process to ensure that your project soars — but its costs don’t!

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School Planning and Management, 2014

When evaluating responses to bid requests, facility managers often select the lowest qualified bid. It makes perfect sense. Why would anyone pay more — in taxpayer dollars — than necessary?

In fact, some school facility managers are discovering the utterly anti-intuitive concept that paying more to build a school can reduce its overall total cost of ownership (TCO).

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