The influx of technology has brought significant improvements to school facilities. Many of those advancements can be found in classrooms, but when students head down the hall to use the washrooms, they are likely to find a host of technological innovations that have improved conditions in that part of the building. This article describes modern…

As student enrollment drops, school districts need less learning space and fewer facilities. With cuts in funding, budgets cannot sustain existing building operations and program costs, and buildings must be taken offline or repurposed for financial efficiency. How does a community address this issue? Whether a district is having to shutter…

This article develops a theoretical framework for studying how instructional space, teaching and learning are related in practice. It is argued that a school's physical design can contribute to the quality of the learning environment, but several non-architectural factors also determine how well a given facility serves as a setting for teaching…

The purpose of this study is to investigate student- and school-level factors that help to explain the difference in the nature of science (NOS) views. Overall, the design of this study is correlational. The sample consisted of 3062 students enrolled in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades of elementary schools in Turkey. A hierarchical linear…

As the reconstruction efforts continue in China in the wake of the Great Wenchuan earthquake in May 2008, the China Development Research Foundation, with the support of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Centre for Effective Learning Environments, organised an International Training Programme on the Post-Earthquake…

Today's primary schools are being designed in a totally different way from those of only a few years ago. In Australia, both the Victorian Government and the Catholic education authorities have changed their notion of schooling. The most significant change has been the linking of curriculum, pedagogy and the types of spaces in which children…

Purpose: To gather STEAM school experts' responses on (a) instructional delivery methods of arts education fostering achievement, innovation, and creativity in students; and (b) to examine support and facilities needed for these programs. Research Questions: Nine areas were addressed in the research questions regarding STEAM schools: (a)…

Long-range facility planning is a comprehensive process for preparing education institutions for the future and confirm that facilities meet current needs. A long-range facilities plan (LRFP) evaluates how facilities support programs and the educational needs of students, staff and the community. Each school district or college has unique needs…

Lockers are often begrudging investments, scraped from the bottom of the budget barrel. This is unfortunate for a number of reasons, one of which is that they often serve as the internal face of the school: endless, grim sentries lining mile-long halls. Alternately, they may be entombed, a catacomb of visual obstacles stuffed into independent…

Even if one does not believe--and it is getting increasingly difficult not to--that the "green revolution" on college campuses is akin to the great movements for social change that rocked universities in the 1960s and '70s, there is no denying that it has taken root in such a way that no campus administrator can afford to ignore it. And unlike the…

Using Mikhail Bakhtin's conceptions of dialogue, monologue, and chronotope, the authors ask readers to consider how different values and actions ultimately create the teaching and learning spaces in which children are recognized as literate. Using qualitative data that focus on the relational writing practices of two preschoolers, this…

The benefits of sustainability go way beyond improving the environment. School districts that choose to build facilities using sustainable principles reap the benefits of environmentally friendly, healthy establishments; attractive work spaces (which improve recruiting and retention); and significant operational cost savings. Districts realize…

The experience of observing students actively engaged in the learning process is precious. There is no better way to celebrate "Children's Health and Energy Awareness Month" than assembling in a world class high performance green school with gifted and talented students learning how to take an integrated approach to sustainable school…

Green Bay Packer coach Vince Lombardi is quoted as saying, "Winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is." Whether it's a major university or an urban school district, pulling together and developing a plan and being confident in the financing through performance contracting is the best way to meet student, taxpayer and community…

Safe learning spaces allow children to explore their environment in an open and inquiring way, whereas unsafe spaces constrain, frustrate and disengage children from experiencing the fullness of their learning spaces. This study explores how children make sense of safe and unsafe learning spaces, and how this understanding affects the ways they…