For the past 35 years, the prevailing narrative about America's public education system is that it is "broken." Reform efforts have failed to find a fix because they fundamentally misunderstand this reality: the system is not broken. It is doing exactly what it was designed to do--educate the masses in a standardized fashion that…

The Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) Data Book is a compilation of reports on the Utah System of Higher Education and its eight component institutions. Some form of this book has been published each year since the creation of the Utah State Board of Regents and the Utah System of Higher Education in 1969. The book is intended to allow the…

Building on work in how spaces of learning can contribute to the broader policy agenda of achieving pedagogic change, this article takes as its context the Building the Education Revolution infrastructure programme in Australia. Deploying a sociomaterial approach to researching learning spaces and pedagogic change and drawing on data from…

The advancement of deaf education and services in numerous developing countries can be traced to the pioneering efforts of many Gallaudet University alumni. In Africa, for instance, the work of one such great alumnus, Dr. Andrew Foster, stands out. Foster is credited with efforts that resulted in the establishment of over 30 educational…

It seems that everyone is talking about improving education. Indeed, over the past decade, governments have invested more in education in an effort to improve the quality of primary and secondary schools. Has this investment paid off? In every PISA cycle since 2000, students and school principals were asked a series of questions relating to their…

Joint use of public school facilities is a complex but manageable approach to efficiently enhancing the services and programs available to students and supporting the community use of public schools. Building upon on our 2010 paper titled "Joint Use of Public Schools: A Framework for a New Social Contract," this paper identifies the…

In this study, the 21st Century School Fund (21CSF), with support from the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, examined the state capital outlay funding for elementary and secondary public education facility construction and modernization. The authors examined how much capital outlay has been expended by states from 2005-2008 as…

Facilities stewardship means high-level and pervasive commitment to optimize capital investments, in order to achieve a high-functioning and attractive campus. It includes a major commitment to capital asset preservation and quality. Stewardship is about the long view of an institution's past and future. It ultimately forms the backdrop for…

At the original Hubble Middle School, neither the views (a congested Roosevelt Road and glimpses of downtown Wheaton) nor the century-old facility that offered them was very inspiring. Built at the start of the 20th century, the 250,000-square-foot building was converted from Wheaton Central High School to Hubble Middle School in the early 1980s.…

In recent years, green design has evolved from a cutting-edge idea embraced by ecology-obsessed activists to an idea embraced as a badge of honor by schools and universities across the nation. A consensus has formed among architects, school facility managers and educators that sustainably designed projects are desirable and make sense for the…

Today's educational facilities managers face many challenges. As stewards of their campus' physical assets, these professionals are charged with improving students' learning environments, saving money, and maintaining the historical and aesthetic integrity of their buildings. For schools and universities that have not replaced their windows in…

Even though students are not using the print collection, they still choose to go to the library for academic pursuits. The continuing preferences of students for library space can be examined in the light of a hierarchy of needs made up of layers of access and linkages, of uses and activities, of sociability, and of comfort and image. A space…

A green and healthy indoor environment should be a fundamental concern in the place where kids learn and grow. Good indoor air quality (IAQ) has been shown to have positive effects on student and staff productivity, performance, comfort and attendance. Conversely, poor IAQ in classrooms--caused by mold and moisture issues, problems with HVAC…

Reducing school district energy expenditures has become a universal goal, and new technologies have brought greater energy efficiencies to the school environment. In Part 1 of this two-part series, the author discussed the steps required to establish an energy conservation and management program with an emphasis on lighting. In this article, he…

Even though the economy has not bounced back, many education institutions have to provide additional space to accommodate increased enrollment or new programs, and even at schools and universities where the student population is stagnant or declining, some facilities are aging and outdated--as the cost of renovating or replacing them grows every…