For more than a decade, educators and designers have been moving tentatively into uncharted waters. This article reports that administrators, faculty, and planners now recognize that learning spaces should be developed for reasons beyond utilization numbers. With declining retention and graduation rates, education institutions are acknowledging…

For 25 years, "American School & University" has been publishing a special issue dedicated to the best in education design. Although design has changed dramatically over the years, one will find that the jury criteria for award-winning projects has remained consistent. The first jury was looking for technical innovation, and 1986's…

The year in architecture offered grand facades, creative collaborations, and calamities overcome and viewed as opportunities. This article features 168 public building projects and 21 academic facilities completed between July 1, 2006, and June 30, 2007 that provide a glimpse of the future. Many libraries reported here achieved Leadership in…

This paper discusses the results of a study of the requirements for developing a remote RF laboratory. This study draws on the perspectives of educators in university electrical engineering departments and in technical colleges, on the teaching of the radio frequency (RF) domain. The study investigates how these educators would like the technical…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to argue that taking the educational purposes of schools into account is central to understanding the place and importance of facilities to learning outcomes. The paper begins by observing that the research literature connecting facility conditions to student outcomes is mixed. A closer examination of this…

A DESCRIPTION OF THE HOLLAND HIGH SCHOOL IN MICHIGAN IS GIVEN. INDIVIDUAL STUDENT NEEDS, TECHNOLOGICAL EQUIPMENT, AND COLLEGE PREPARATORY CURRICULUM WERE EMPHASIZED BY THE CONSULTANT AND THE ARCHITECT WHO DESIGNED THE BUILDING. THE CAMPUS WAS OF A DECENTRALIZED PLAN WITH FOUR SMALL SCHOOLS ADJOINING A COMMON UNIT FOR SCIENCE AND BUSINESS…

AN INVESTIGATION WAS MADE INTO THE EFFECTS OF AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL-FALLOUT SHELTER UPON THE EDUCATIONAL CLIMATE WITHIN THAT SCHOOL AS COMPARED TO THE CLIMATES OF WINDOWLESS OR CONVENTIONAL SCHOOLS. THE ABO SCHOOL IN ARTESIA, NEW MEXICO, WAS BUILT WITHOUT WINDOWS AND ENTIRELY BELOW GROUND EXCEPT FOR THE ENTRY. INITIAL CONSTRUCTION COSTS WERE ABOUT…

The newly completed facility represents the smallest of the three prototype vocational schools. (Author/MLF)

The Center represents the medium size prototype design for the state. (MLF)

Learning stations common to many programs are shared in this vocational school that serves 12 suburbs of Boston. (MLF)

A vocational school built on a rural site at the edge of Cape Cod serves four towns. (Author/MLF)

Two identical schools employ the four major subsystems approach established by the SCSD program: structure, ceiling/lighting, environmental, and partitions. (Author/MLF)

In its first issue, American School and University reported on the construction of Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey. Fifty years later, a report on how well the building has stood the test of time. (Author/MLF)