Discusses how Brigham Young University used the team approach to successfully control its student-card access system. Examines the components of the card identification system used, the development of user control, and the creation of building-occupant involvement in the system's management in order to improve security. (GR)

Betsy Rogers, 2003 National Teacher of the Year, chose to go back into the trenches instead of staying on the lecture circuit. Rogers chose Brighton School, a K-8 campus of about 395 students, for her first year back on the job. She wants to show other good teachers an example of how they can make a difference for needy children in hard-to-staff…

In this article, the author relates how he and his class get involved in doing project designs within their school district every year. The author relates how they have done design projects for local townships and boroughs, non-profit organizations, Eagle Scout projects, and much more. The author relates how these activities have been such…

A methodology to develop an easy-to-use toolkit for the preliminary design of high performance schools in hot and humid climates was presented. The toolkit proposed in this research will allow decision makers without simulation knowledge easily to evaluate accurately energy efficient measures for K-5 schools, which would contribute to the…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 challenged educational leadership across the nation to ensure that every student either met or exceeded standards by the year 2014. The call to realize world class standards was inspiring on one hand and daunting on the other, especially for urban school leaders who were under prepared for the challenges they…

The impact of the superintendent in the design decision-making process of sustainable school buildings was examined in this study to determine whether superintendents who have more knowledge and commitment to sustainability have a greater influence on green building practices within their school districts than those who do not. Utilizing a…

In the United States, 21% of all energy is used in residential buildings (40% of which is for heating and cooling homes). Promising improvements in residential building energy efficiency are underway such as the Building America Program and the Passive House Concept. The ability of improving energy efficiency in buildings is enhanced by building…

The numbers of workers in the residential construction industry are on the rise. Falls have continually been the largest contributor to residential construction worker deaths and injuries. These workers are largely self-employed or working for small companies. These individuals are difficult to reach through traditional methods. This research…

Technical assistance (TA) has long been a standard, overarching strategy for assisting, states, agencies, family members, and practitioners with building capacity for service and system change initiatives. But, what is meant by the term "technical assistance"? What is known about the technical assistance strategies that are likely to…

This is an internship experience designed to help professors of educational leadership better prepare students for diversity leadership and to help colleges of education comply with the spirit and letter of NCATE Standard 4. In particular, this internship experience will offer diverse experiences for candidates. It is particularly beneficial for…

In an effort to quantify what constitutes an "environmentally correct" building, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) created the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. LEED has become the North American standard for what constitutes sustainable design. The LEED guidelines are the best way to differentiate genuinely…

The Case of Top Beginnings and the Missing Child Outcomes is a fictionalized case study of a set of evaluation challenges faced in evaluating comprehensive initiatives that are seeking to build systems. In this case, the issue is a multistate foundation-funded early learning system building initiative that has to date primarily employed a case…

This test item bank is intended to help instructors construct criterion-referenced tests for secondary-level courses in building trades. The bank is keyed to the Missouri Building Trades Competency Profile, which was developed by industry and education professionals in Missouri, and is designed to be used in conjunction with the Vocational…

This report deals with a preliminary investigation of the problems associated with the determination of the total life costs of buildings, including cyclical renewal. It discusses also the benefits to be derived from this information, using life costs of a selected building as an example. The first portion of the publication considers problems in…

The ancient Athenian "agora" functioned as a marketplace for ideas and commerce and offered an ideal place for teaching and learning. This digest suggests adapting such a model to modern needs and describes successful small schools that have done so while reducing costs. Research shows that small schools offer many advantages for…