Following on the 1990 and 2000 World Conferences on Education for All, African governments increased their focus on access to schooling (but not necessarily on outcomes) by providing more facilities for increased enrolments. The learning outcomes that had been neglected led to a call to focus on more sustainable access--re-examining the quality of…

As in past years, this report draws from a survey of Grantmakers for Education membership that provides a snapshot of giving patterns as well as grantmakers' qualitative impressions of lessons and insights from their work. For the first time, this report has sought out the perspectives of non-members who are active in the field, to help broaden…

Master planning identifies long-term ways to improve and expand a campus. The end product typically is a beautifully rendered campus site plan showing enhancements to green spaces, improvements to vehicular and pedestrian circulation paths and parking, additions to existing buildings, and new buildings. These plans imagine what a campus could…

In all modern societies almost everyone of their citizens have spent many years in school buildings, and the largest professional group in modern societies, teachers, is working every day during the working year in school buildings. In spite of this, we know surprisingly little about the influence of school buildings on the people who use them and…

In the spring of 1999, 12 students and a teacher were killed by two gun-toting teenage boys at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, making school safety and security an overnight priority in communities across the nation. Many schools are starting to borrow security methods and technology from the business world such as video intercoms,…

Green schools have moved into a new era that focuses on building a culture of sustainability in every aspect of learning in schools. In the early stages of sustainability education, the focus was on recycling and turning off the lights. Now, students and adults together are moving into the areas of advocacy and action that are based on a deep…

It is no surprise that many environmental education programs include outdoor experiences as a foundational part of their curriculum; after all, who better to teach ecological lessons than nature itself? In contrast, there are inherent challenges to teaching environmental education while restricted inside a classroom. The average student currently…

"Disrupting Class," published in 2008, is the story of how disruptive innovation, innovation that changes the business model organizations, will fundamentally change the American school system. The book's most startling prediction is that half of all high school classes will be on-line by 2019. In considering these predictions, the author began to…

Our community has faced many challenges since May 4, 2007. The rebuilding of all the town's school facilities was just one of them. However, as we approach the end of the first year in the new building, we are happy with the outcome. The facility already feels like home.

The restroom, and what goes on in there, are subjects that cause many people discomfort or embarrassment. However, washrooms do not always receive the attention they require. Their design may be an afterthought. Cleaning and maintenance schedules may not be sufficient to get rid of grime and unpleasant odors. In schools, where hundreds of students…

Studies on place identity show positive relationships between the evaluation of a place and mechanisms involved in place identification. However, individuals also identify with places of low social prestige (places that bear a negative social image). Few authors investigate the nature of place identity processes in this case. The goal of this…

The main purpose of this study is to determine whether school/student, classroom/student, teacher/student ratio, and the Human Development Index (I.G.E.) rates by province predict a province's total 6th and 7th grade Elementary School Proficiency Exam (SBS) scores. To determine the relationships between the province's total 6th and 7th grade SBS…

This study investigates parameters affecting the likelihood of passing school facility construction bonds by local district election. Using statewide data from Michigan, this study analyzes school bond data for urban (n = 30), suburban (n = 164), small town (n = 70), and rural (n = 241) school districts that held capital improvement bond elections…

Each educational environment exhibits a distinct personality that supports and influences the student body. As educational institutions develop new spaces and buildings for university and college campuses nationwide, the need increasingly arises to provide spaces that both help fulfill each school's educational mission and reinforce the vitality…

Global trends call for new research to investigate multimodal designing mediated by new technologies and the implications for classroom spaces. This article addresses the relationship between new technologies, students' multimodal designing, and the social production of classroom spaces. Multimodal semiotics and sociological principles are applied…