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Tag: School Design

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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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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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Fisher, Godwin, and Seltman, 2014

A large body of evidence supports the importance of focused attention for encoding and task performance. Yet young children with immature regulation of focused attention are often placed in elementary-school classrooms containing many displays that are not relevant to ongoing instruction. We investigated whether such displays can affect children’s ability to maintain focused attention during instruction and to learn the lesson content. We placed kindergarten children in a laboratory classroom for six introductory science lessons, and we experimentally manipulated the visual environment in the classroom. Children were more distracted by the visual environment, spent more time off task, and demonstrated smaller learning gains when the walls were highly decorated than when the decorations were removed.

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Klatte, Bergström, and Lachmann, 2013

The present paper provides an overview of research concerning both acute and chronic effects of exposure to noise on children's cognitive performance. Experimental studies addressing the impact of acute exposure showed negative effects on speech perception and listening comprehension. These effects are more pronounced in children as compared to adults. Children with language or attention disorders and second-language learners are still more impaired than age-matched controls. Noise-induced disruption was also found for non-auditory tasks, i.e., serial recall of visually presented lists and reading. The impact of chronic exposure to noise was examined in quasi-experimental studies. Indoor noise and reverberation in classroom settings were found to be associated with poorer performance of the children in verbal tasks. Regarding chronic exposure to aircraft noise, studies consistently found that high exposure is associated with lower reading performance. Even though the reported effects are usually small in magnitude, and confounding variables were not always sufficiently controlled, policy makers responsible for noise abatement should be aware of the potential impact of environmental noise on children's development.

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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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Rose and Porgio, 2015

Education in the broadest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual. No one has yet realized the wealth of sympathy, the kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure. The concept of achievement involves the interaction of the factors namely aptitude for learning, readiness for learning, and opportunity for learning. It is the accomplishment or acquired proficiency in the performance of an individual in a given skill or body of knowledge. It is the criterion for selection, promotion or recognition in various walks of life. The central job of high schools is to maximize the capacity of each student. If the school climate is not positive, students will underperform, student attendance and student discipline are not likely to improve and school safety coned be compromised. If the school climate is not positive, students will underperform, student attendance and student discipline are not likely to improve and school safety coned be compromised. The physical environment should be welcoming and conducive to learning. In the present study the investigators have adopted stratified random sampling method for data collection. The sample for the present study consists of 1000 high school students from 27 schools of Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, and Tuticorin districts. The tools constructed by the researchers were teacher effectiveness scale and academic achievement scale. For data analysis statistical techniques such as Percentage analysis, Mean, Standard Deviation and‘t’ test were employed. The physical climate of the self- financed high schools is greater than the government and aided high school students. Government and the Management may set up a part of reasoned sum of money for improving the physical climate of their schools. Government may come forward to provide additional grants to improve the physical climate of the schools such as classroom, furniture and equipment.

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Martin and Murtagh, 2015

Background: Recent evidence demonstrates that children are not engaging in the recommended 60 min of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day. Physical activity (PA) interventions have been acknowledged by the WHO (2010) as a key strategy to increase the PA levels of children. School has been recognised as a primary location for reaching the majority of children and providing PA opportunities for them. However, the sedentary nature of lessons carried out in the classroom has been identified as a contributing factor to physical inactivity among this age group. Purpose: The aim of this study is to develop and evaluate a classroom-based intervention which integrates PA and academic content, and evaluate its effects on the PA levels of children aged 8–11 in Ireland.

Methods: Active Classrooms is an 8-week classroom based intervention guided by the behaviour change wheel (BCW) framework (Michie et al. 2011) that will be evaluated using a cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT). Study measures will be taken at baseline, during the final week of the intervention and at follow-up after 4 months. The primary outcome is minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity during school time objectively assessed using accelerometers (Actigraph). Teachers' perceptions on the effectiveness and use of the intervention and students' enjoyment of the programme will be evaluated post intervention. Conclusions: Changing teacher behaviour towards using physically active teaching methods may increase the moderate to vigorous physical activity levels of their students. Therefore, the results of this study may have important implications for the health of children both now and into the future. Trial Registration: ISRCTN14265493

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School Planning and Management, 2015

“In 2013, Wyoming legislators asked us to conduct a thorough physical security assessment to ensure that we maintain a world-class condition relative to school security,” begins William T. Panos, director of Cheyenne-based Wyoming School Facilities Department (WSFD), which is dedicated to finance, design and construction. “We have 48 school districts, 1,300 facilities and 25 million square feet, so it was no small undertaking.

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School Planning and Management, 2015

Learning should be enriched by the places where it occurs. Studies indicate that a well-designed and properly equipped space significantly affects student performance – affecting their ability to work, communicate, interact and learn. Join us for this webinar where we take an in-depth look at how proper furnishing and interior design can transform the educational experience. Topics covered will include:

  • The latest trends in space planning and interior design
  • How layout, flexibility and furniture choice affect teaching and learning
  • The power of color, light, acoustics and IAQ
  • Maximizing your investment in the learning environment

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School Planning and Management, 2015

In a sense, flooring grounds school building designs — pun intended.

Put another way, “flooring is used as a design element. And it’s an important design element.” That’s the view of Mt. Lebanon (Pa.) School District’s Cissy Bowman, the district’s communications director. Bowman and Rick Marciniak, the district project manager, recently led School Planning & Management on a tour of the renovated and expanded Mt. Lebanon High School complex. A $109-million project, slated for completion in December 2015, is unifying and rejuvenating this building, which has had various sections added since it opened in 1928. The LEED equivalent result will provide an efficient, technologically advanced learning environment, district officials point out.

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