The revised Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA, 2004) has offered a change of practice regarding the identification of students with a learning disability. Under IDEA (2004) educators are encouraged to use Response to Intervention (RTI) as a method to determine eligibility for special education services. In an RTI…

Systems approach as used in this paper refers to the process of a building coming into being. The systems approach attempts to relate the processes of factory production and school construction in that the problems of the spacing and fitting of construction components are considered at the beginning of the design stage of construction. For the…

Describes the design of Baruch College in New York, including the educational context and design goals, such as community-building in a vertical space. Includes building plans and photographs. (EV)

Summarizes a study exploring the extent to which five Virginia school systems took advantage of building a new secondary school to address the need for fundamental educational change. Franklin County took greatest advantage of new construction, designing a technology and career-exploration center. Manassas Park designed a fairly innovative…

The Commonwealth government provides fee exemption for any Australian who undertakes a PhD. This policy is presumably based on the "clever country" assumption that an educated population will develop and contribute to social and economic capital. Enrolment numbers therefore continue to increase, and a PhD is no longer an elite…

One hundred different topics related to the technical aspects of building design and construction are discussed. The major areas of discussion are--(1) the effects of climate on building materials, (2) site and soil analysis, (3) acoustical and thermal design considerations, (4) fire and building design, (5) structural analysis and design, and (6)…

This exploratory study addresses the call for an increased presence of key stakeholders' perspectives in educational research involving students with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs) (Duquette, Stodel, Fullarton, & Hagglund, 2006a). Specifically, greater understandings are necessary to support the educational success of students with…

Despite the key role that principals play in leading schoolwide change, districts' efforts to support principals are often limited, particularly in rural settings. In this article, we report the preliminary findings of a cross-district mentoring program for nine midcareer rural school principals. The collaboratively developed human resource…

Locally controlled public schools are one of the cornerstones of our nation's democracy, yet many schools are not preparing students for success. Far too many students are not graduating, and many of those who do graduate are woefully unprepared for college or a meaningful career. Successfully initiating and sustaining meaningful improvements in…

This study examined behavior modification programs in schools designed to focus on discipline and that aim to reform disruptive behavior in students, usually over a limited period of time. This was a comparative case study of two type II alternative schools in the Upstate of South Carolina. The findings contributed to the research base regarding…

This paper discusses a variety of school safety and security measures that may be implemented at little or no cost and without the use of complex technology. Measures are presented according to these categories: (1) General; (2) Outside the Building; and (3) Inside the Building.

This study proposes an innovative solution to the problem of multiobjective engineering design optimization by integrating desktop VR with genetic computing. Although, this study considers the case of construction design as an example to illustrate the framework, this method can very much be extended to other engineering design problems as well.…

When one considers the enormous cost of science laboratory buildings, it is no surprise that the stream of environmental consciousness that has swept through campuses has had a profound effect on the design and engineering of these complex buildings. Advancing technologies, government regulations and rising energy costs all are driving the push to…

The Australian Capital Territory's Human Rights Act 2004 and the establishment of an ACT Human Rights Commission have begun to create a human rights culture in the ACT. This paper highlights the influence of this culture on the design and build of the ACT's new youth justice centre. (Contains 2 figures.)

Open concept schools were a popular architectural design in the 70s. They were built to provide large areas of flexible space for team teaching with small enclosed areas for restrooms, science labs, and special needs classrooms. Because there are no barriers and no closed doors, an attitude of inclusiveness is created merely by the building's…