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Tag: Academic Achievement

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Olga Khazan  (June 16, 2015). When I lived in L.A., I reported on a school near Long Beach in which nearly a fifth of the students had asthma. One culprit seemed to be the school’s unfortunate geography: About 500 trucks passed by its grounds every hour, and according to a study released at the time, at least 9 percent of childhood-asthma cases in the area were attributable to road traffic. The air near the school, which sometimes smelled rotten or rubbery, contained nearly twice the normal level of elemental carbon, a marker of diesel particles.

Asthma is just one of the health problems linked to air pollution exposure. Sniffing exhaust all day also contributes to everything from stroke to premature death.

Conversely, spending time in nature is correlated with better mental health, attention, and mood in both children and adults. A new study out Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that green spaces can actually boost cognitive outcomes in children—in part by protecting their brains from air pollutants.

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Tom Jacobs (June 16, 2015). Parents, as a rule, want to give their children every possible academic advantage. While this usually takes the form of tutors or computers, a new study suggests a surprising factor they may want to consider when checking out a new school, home, or neighborhood: Whether it provides adequate access to the natural world. New research from Spain finds that, among second-, third-, and-fourth graders, quality time spent climbing trees and playing games on grass helps mental abilities blossom.

“Our study showed a beneficial association between exposure to green space and cognitive development among schoolchildren,” writes a research team led by Payam Dadvand of Barcelona’s Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology. This is partly, but not entirely, explained by the fact that kids who get to play in nature are exposed to less air pollution than those who hang out on city streets.

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By Carolyn Gregoire (2015) Children today spend less time outdoors than ever before -- and it may be detrimental not only to their physical health, but also to their cognitive development. A yearlong study, recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that elementary school children who were exposed to more green spaces within or directly outside their school showed improved learning and memory. The findings reinforce that of a recent six-year study on 905 Massachusetts public elementary schools, which found that students in schools that had more "greenness" in their surroundings reported higher scores on standardized testing in English and math.

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Knapp, Noschis, and Pasalar, 2007

The XII Architecture & Behaviour Colloquium took place in Monte Verita (Ascona, Switzerland) from March 29 to April 1, 2006 and was a very productive meeting. Its theme was Architectural Quality in School Buildings: School Building Design and its Relevance to Students’ Learning Performance – With a Specific Focus on the Planning and Design of Schools in Developing Countries.

The Colloquium was the twelfth in a series of meetings of which several have been devoted to architectural issues related to cultural contexts outside Europe. This Colloquium brought together academic researchers and architects from Europe and America, furthermore representatives from the Ministries of Education and School construction from Middle East countries (in this case Yemen, Jordan, Egypt and the Palestine territories) as well as experts from organisations subsidising the construction of schools in developing countries (World Bank, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), European Investment Bank, Swiss Development and Cooperation). The group of about 30 persons discussed intensively and passionately during three days in the magnificent surroundings of the Ticino Canton overlooking Lake Maggiore.

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Stankovi, Milojkovi, and Tani, 2006

The problem researched in this paper refers to the promotion of the evaluation system in the designing of the pre-school facilities, and the issue is approached from the pshychological aspect, in order to investigate the potential for improvement of this kind of structures.

In the paper, the systematization of the physical environment factors and their influence on the cognitive processes and the social behavior of children in the pre-school facilities. The conclusion is that the quality of architectonic design, that is, the quality of organization and materialization of the designed physical environment of the pre-school premises correlates with the positive developmental results of the children.

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Cassidy, Hestenes, Hedge, Hestenes, and Mims, 2005

The purpose of the current study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R) with a large sample (1313 classrooms). We explored both the seven subscales and the possibility of fewer distinct aspects of quality being measured by the scale. The large sample size allowed both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to be performed. The results showed two distinct factors, Activities/Materials (nine items) and Language/Interaction (seven items), which accounted for 69% of the variance. High internal consistency scores, a moderate correlation between the factor- based scales, and a strong correlation between the combined factor-based scales and the overall ECERS-R score suggested these were distinct factors that could serve as a proxy for the larger scale. Structural aspects of quality and teacher education were examined in relation to the new factor-based scales and the overall score. Implications for practitioners and future research suggestions are provided.

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Nature 523,286–289 

As government education experts call for toddler literacy, and baby apps proliferate, are we losing sight of materials-based learning? Infant scientists and young explorers thrive in the open air and through free play, eager to grasp the world — literally.

Carbon-copy playgrounds. Cramped classrooms. 'Car park' school grounds. Across the industrialized world, these are the environments in which most young children are expected to play and learn; zoo enclosures can look more enriched. Studies are emerging that reveal poor design as a hindrance to learning in the very young, as damaging as militaristic drills. Meanwhile, frogspawn and starry skies — once the recruiting agents of science — are beyond many children's experience. Here, two leading practitioners in developing learning environments for the young set out what needs to happen.

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Schneider, 2002

On any given school day, about twenty percent of American's spend time in a school building.  The average age of our schools is close to fifty years, and studies by the U.S. General Accounting Office have documented widespread physical deficiencies in many of them.  Faces with an aging building stock and growing, shifting student enrollments, states and communities are working hard to build and modernize K-12 facilities.

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Mohai, Kweon, Lee, and Ard, 2011

Exposing children to environmental pollutants during important times of physiological development can lead to long-lasting health problems, dysfunction, and disease. The location of children’s schools can increase their exposure. We examined the extent of air pollution from industrial sources around public schools in Michigan to find out whether air pollution jeopardizes children’s health and academic success. We found that schools located in areas with the highest air pollution levels had the lowest attendance rates—a potential indicator of poor health—and the highest proportions of students who failed to meet state educational testing standards. Michigan and many other states currently do not require officials considering a site for a new school to analyze its environmental quality. Our results show that such requirements are needed. For schools already in existence, we recommend that their environmental quality should be investigated and improved if necessary.

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United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2014.

What you will learn:

  • An exploration of the most compelling and motivating evidence for indoor air quality (IAQ) management in schools.
  • Demonstrations of the return on investment school districts are achieving, such as increased cost savings and improved student performance.
  • How to take action to implement IAQ management plans that address health, academic performance and facility efficiency.

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