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Tag: Best Practices

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Address the safety of school buildings by incorporating the principles of crime prevention through environmental design

By G. Victor Hellman Jr., Ed.D.

An effective learning environment is one in which students and staff feel safe and secure. Unsafe or unhealthy facilities can contribute to increased absenteeism among students and staff (Simons et al. 2010), affect learning outcomes, and lead to potential legal actions against the school division. Research indicates a correlation between students’ negative perceptions of safety and negative academic performance (Milam, Furr-Holden, and Leaf 2010). In other words, students do not perform as well in facilities in which they do not feel safe. Other studies link students’ perceptions of safety to inappropriate behavior (Kelling and Wilson 2012). It is reasonable to assume that these correlations extend to perceptions of facility conditions, as students may be more likely to exhibit behavioral issues in facilities that are unkempt. America’s education facilities are in need of improvement. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, the average school facility is over 40 years old (Alexander and Lewis 2014). Although not true in all cases, aging facilities may be inadequate to serve our nation’s student population. For example, research indicates that students who attend school in older buildings that are not wellmaintained score 5–11 percentile points lower on standardized achievement tests than students in modern buildings (CGCS 2014). Furthermore, students don’t perform as well in facilities in which they do not feel safe (Milam, Furr-Holden, and Leaf 2010).

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This article originally appeared in the July/August 2015 School Business Affairs magazine and is reprinted with permission of the Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO). The text herein does not necessarily represent the views or policies of ASBO International, and use of this imprint does not imply any endorsement or recognition by ASBO International and its officers or affiliates

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Dortch, 2013

By some measures, the United States spent over $55.4 billion on new construction, additions, and alterations in public elementary and secondary schools and public and private postsecondary institutions in 2011. Although state and local governments are traditionally responsible for the majority of facilities in public K-12 schools and postsecondary institutions, the federal government also provides some direct and indirect support for school infrastructure. Facilities at private institutions are funded primarily by donations, tuition, private foundations, endowments, and governments. The largest federal contributions are indirect—the forgone revenue attributable to the exemption of interest on state and local governmental bonds used for school construction, modernization, renovation, and repair; and other tax credits.

Federal direct support for school infrastructure is provided through loans and grants to K-12 schools serving certain populations or K-12 schools with specific needs. There are grant programs for schools with a high population of students who are Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, Indians, children of military parents, individuals with disabilities, or deaf. Funding is also available to schools affected by natural disasters or located in rural areas. And there are programs to encourage the development of charter schools. Although the Department of Education administers several of the grant programs funding facilities at elementary and secondary schools, other agencies, such as the Department of the Interior and the Department of Defense, also administer programs.

At the postsecondary level, there are several programs to support institutions of higher education that serve large low-income or minority populations and to support research facilities. The allowable uses of funds in the programs authorized primarily by Titles III and V of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, variously include construction, maintenance, renovation, and improvement of instructional facilities and acquisition of land on which to construct instructional facilities. There are programs administered by the U.S. Department of Education and other agencies, such as the National Endowment for the Humanities and the U.S. Department of Commerce, that support postsecondary research facilities, facility renovations at minority-serving postsecondary institutions, telecommunications, disaster relief at postsecondary institutions, and other uses.

This report provides a short description of federal allowances and programs that provide support for the construction or renovation of educational facilities. The allowances and programs are organized by the agency that administers or regulates the program. Appropriations and budget authorities are included for FY2012 and FY2013. These programs exist in various forms and responsibility for their administration is spread across many agencies; thus, the list of programs presented should not be considered a fully exhaustive list of all federally funded programs that support school facilities and infrastructure at least in part.

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School construction and renovation provide unique opportunities for authentic community engagement and the advancement of community schools. Hear how the Cincinnati Public Schools engaged families and residents to build an entire district of new schools that are the centers of their neighborhoods. Learn about Baltimore’s strategy to leverage their new facilities plan to build schools that provide space for partners and community members to help their schools thrive. And hear about the latest trends in community and partner use for school facilities.

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Each day, schools and school districts are responsible for providing a safe and healthy learning environment for students. Understanding how to design and maintain school buildings is an important part of supporting that environment. Mitigation, or the capabilities necessary to eliminate or reduce the loss of life and property damage by lessening the impact of an emergency, is just one way schools can work to maintain a safe and healthy learning environment, as outlined in Presidential Policy Directive 8, our nation’s approach to preparedness. Through planning and research, schools and school districts can work to understand how the safety of the school building directly impacts the health, safety, and educational experience of students and staff.

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Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS), Center Office of Safe and Healthy Students (OSHS), Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), and U.S. Department of Education (ED), 2013

  • Overview of “Now Is The Time” and the GSA State and Local Programs
  • Overview of the General Services Administration’ s (GSA’s) Cooperative Purchasing Program
  • GSA Resources

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Tanner, 2009

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to compare student achievement with three school design classifications: movement and circulation, day lighting, and views.

Design/methodology/approach – From a sample of 71 schools, measures of these three school designs, taken with a ten-point Likert scale, are compared to students’ outcomes defined by six parts of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS): Reading comprehension, Reading vocabulary, Language arts, Mathematics, Social studies, and Science. Data are tested through reduced regression analysis, where the difference between R 2 of the reduced regression is compared to the R 2 of the full regression. This result, in each case, is defined as the effect of the school’s physical environment on students’ outcomes represented by achievement scores on the ITBS.

Findings – Significant effects are found for Reading vocabulary, Reading comprehension, Language arts, Mathematics, and Science.

Practical implications – The study’s findings regarding movement and circulation patterns, natural light, and classrooms with views have implications for designing new schools or modifying existing structures. They are especially important to school leaders, educational planners, and architects who engage in programming for educational facilities.

Originality/value – This study is part of original research efforts at the University of Georgia, USA. Since 1997, the focus of research in the University of Georgia’s School Design and Planning Laboratory (SDPL) has been the measurement of the impact of the school’s physical environment on aspects of affective, behavioral, and cognitive learning. All SDPL research has been quantitative in nature, where measures of the physical environment were compared to measures of student outcomes. There are two immediate values to these studies: educational leaders may use the findings to assess their existing school facilities and determine where improvements will have the greatest impact, or planners may use the findings to guide architects in the design and construction of new educational facilities

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National Science Teachers Association

Note to science teachers and supervisors/ administrators: The following safety acknowledgment form is for your use in the classroom and should be given to students at the beginning of the school year to help them understand their role in ensuring a safer and productive science experience.

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NSTA Safety Advisory Board, 2014

Better professional practices and academic research support hands-on, process and inquiry-based laboratory and field investigations as well as hands-on activities to promote deep conceptual understanding of science by students. To ensure a safer and effective science teaching/learning environment, the following recommendations are derived from recognized reliable sources, legal safety standards, and best professional safety practices. The recommendations represent the best professional standards and practices on safety as it relates to overcrowding. However, it cannot be assumed that all hazards in science classrooms are ameliorated by simply reducing overcrowding. Other factors affecting safety, may include facilities design, engineering controls, appropriate personal protective equipment, standard operating procedures, and/or safety training of students and teachers. These additional factors, which can be linked with science accidents, must also be attended to as well as meeting the requirements of any legal safety code or regulation or law of any state, municipality or other jurisdiction.

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NSTA Position Statement

A hallmark of science is that it generates theories and laws that must be consistent with observations. Much of the evidence from these observations is collected during laboratory investigations. A school laboratory investigation (also referred to as a lab) is defined as an experience in the laboratory, classroom, or the field that provides students with opportunities to interact directly with natural phenomena or with data collected by others using tools, materials, data collection techniques, and models (NRC 2006, p. 3). Throughout the process, students should have opportunities to design investigations, engage in scientific reasoning, manipulate equipment, record data, analyze results, and discuss their findings. These skills and knowledge, fostered by laboratory investigations, are an important part of inquiry—the process of asking questions and conducting experiments as a way to understand the natural world (NSTA 2004). While reading about science, using computer simulations, and observing teacher demonstrations may be valuable, they are not a substitute for laboratory investigations by students (NRC 2006, p. 3).

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NSTA Position Statement

Science educators face many challenges—including national standards, state standards, district goals, and public demands—as they attempt to provide safe and effective science learning. Science students and educators require adequate working conditions to meet these challenges.

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