This study was a joint undertaking of interior environmental designers and a child developmentalist. The goal of the study was to increase peer interation between children in two classes held in one classroom. Children were observed for 7 weeks, in three periods: weeks 2 and 3 (time 1); weeks 4 and 5 (time 2); and weeks 6 and 7 (time 3). Observers…

A picture-essay describing the effectiveness of a "structured" open plan child care center which contains a variety of kinds and sizes of spaces interconnected by various controllable surfaces. (Author/ED)

A recent reevaluation of physical teaching arrangements at New Mexico State University has produced a new program attuned to the "new" home economics and has altered some faculty teaching styles. (Author)

Educational spaces should change with the program and include differentiation of scale, a sense of turf, a focal point, differentiation of mood, directionality, furnishings, and equipment. (Author/DW)

A literate classroom environment immerses a student in a rich, stimulating, interactive, and purposeful print and language environment which is designed to provide for success in reading, writing, listening, and speaking and the needs of individuals responsible for their own learning in a natural, non-competitive, non-threatening, risk-taking…

This teacher's guide from the New York City public schools is designed to help teachers implement an all-day kindergarten program. Planning for the all-day kindergarten is developed and demonstrated through a thematic approach which integrates all curriculum areas. Six themes are presented, each of which includes both direct instruction activities…

All 100 general assignment classrooms at a major university were evaluated by faculty and students, using faculty and student questionnaires. Respondents rated the classrooms they were currently occupying on a number of specific features and indicated what they liked the most and the least about the classroom. Thirty percent of the faculty found…

Attractive, informal, multipurpose areas invite students to learn while they are sitting or sprawling in comfort. (Author)

The data discussed in this speech are taken from a large, three-year study that investigated the whole process of open-plan schooling. The study included a national survey of schools in Britain and a series of onsite observations. The analyses reported here derived from the observation of 552 pupils in grades 2 and 4 using the Pupil Behavior…

California state facility and program requirements for educationally handicapped pupils in California are detailed. Contained is a step by step outline of procedures to be followed for establishing such facilities as well as some background information for relating classroom size standards to three general categories of educationally handicapped.…

Procedures are described in which economies can be effected through careful planning of school buildings and particularly through the consolidation of spaces that are used intermittently throughout the school day. The paper introduces a "use-factor" as a measure, not of the amount of usable space but of the time for which usable space is…

Classroom areas organized into centers for specific study purposes are discussed. These centers are used for individual or small group work. The physical arrangement of the area used for a study center is described, including the organization of furniture, materials, and preferred locations. Suggestions are made for the management and stocking of…

This booklet is one in a series designed to bridge the gap between theory and practice by suggesting specific classroom activities based on current educational theory and research. Designed for elementary school teachers, it is divided into two sections. The first section discusses such topics as providing a healthy classroom environment for free…

This bulletin reviews the last ten years of research on open space schools in an attempt to provide information for future decision making. The first section defines and presents the historical development of open space schools. The second section reviews the research concerning effects of open space schools on teachers, and section three…

The basic problem in designing change efforts and in assessing them is determining which processes or consequences count and by how much. Whether it is teaching or learning that needs to be changed has to be determined. So it is with class size. What is to be changed as well as how that change is to be measured needs to be determined. The key…