Improving the school building may well be the most overlooked means of improving student health, safety, and academic performance. Yet in conversations about factors that lead students to academic success, only rarely does the role of the physical environment come to the fore. By downplaying the importance of the building, policymakers and parents…

The authors describe many current school design responses to mainstreaming as limited in scope, focusing mainly on barrier free environments. This approach, they suggest, is an incomplete one to a wide range of problems in mainstreaming. An analysis of the literature is seen to demonstrate that barrier free design is casually substituted for the…

This digest in Spanish describes the key elements of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED). CPTED is based on the recognition that the physical environment influences human behavior. It is different from conventional security measures, which many times are based on prohibitions, in that it focuses on desired behaviors and attempts…

This digest describes the key elements of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED). CPTED is based on the recognition that the physical environment influences human behavior. It is different from conventional security measures, which many times are based on prohibitions, in that it focuses on desired behaviors and attempts to solve…

The concept of environmental design cybernetics is explained, and its use by special educators and architects in creating learning environments is discussed. A proposed habitability framework is defined, and its applications to buildings and building occupants/users are offered. Research on architectural design applied to special education…

The built environment is architecture in its broadest interpretation: cities, streets, houses, and parks that man builds and the spaces that connect them. The author provides some suggestions for enhancing student awareness of the built environment, its concepts of systems, and the way its parts work together to form wholes. (Author/RK)

Designed to direct the teacher to a variety of teaching and learning resources relating to the man-made environment, this document provides annotated lists of resources in several sections. The section on student reading resources lists literature written for the student and relates to various aspects of the built environment: social, technical,…

This annotated bibliography focuses on the effects of the physical environment on education. Topics covered include school size, architectural design, seating arrangement, environmental stressors, alternative learning environments, enhancing learning through environmental change, and special groups of students within the school. The first section…