An aging infrastructure, growing student populations, and a focus on learning are reshaping the architecture and design of today's schools.
Interior designer and professor of interior design Stephanie A. Clemons tells a story about the power of the physical environment to shape how learning happens. A summer school teacher wanted to get her session off to a good start, so she told her students they had a half hour to arrange the classroom any way they liked. At the end of the half hour, all the desks and chairs—"anything with a hard surface," Clemons says—were pushed to the walls of the room. Beanbags and cushions went in the middle.
"The kids spent the summer lying on pillows on their stomachs," she says. "They wanted to get the teacher into the middle of the learning, not on the periphery. Learning happens more in that kind of environment."
Building Link to Learning
Study after study confirms that the school environment strongly affects student performance. One found that students in the best-designed schools scored between 5 and 17 points higher on standardized tests than kids who attended class in substandard buildings (Lyons, 2001). Teachers agree that well-designed schools improve learning; in a 2001 survey, 73 percent said a school's design is "very important" for creating an effective learning environment (Beth Shapiro & Associates, 2001).
Experts say the designers and architects who create new school buildings and renovate old ones need an ethic that respects the learning and teaching that takes place within the walls.
"Designers need to bring a well thought out set of values and goals," says Clemons, who teaches in the Department of Design and Merchandising at Colorado State University and is a nationally respected educator on school design issues. "We're not designing for our egos. We're designing for those students and teachers who will use the spaces."
This Old (School) House
The National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities reports that the more than 122,000 public and private school buildings in the United States are, on average, more than 45 years old. More than a quarter were built before 1950, and 73 percent date from before 1970. U.S. school districts spend between $20 billion and $30 billion per year on new school construction. Renovation adds even more to the tab (National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, 2006).
"Districts all over are building new schools because they need the capacity," says Thomas A. Kube, executive director and chief executive officer of the Council of Educational Facility Planners International. "In urban areas where land is at a premium, you'll find lots of rehab and renovation. Districts are trying their best to get old schools up to 21st century standards."
At the National Summit on School Design, convened earlier this year by the American Architectural Foundation (AAF) and the KnowledgeWorks Foundation, leading architects, designers, and educators crafted a set of principles to guide school design and construction. Among them were strong calls for schools that support learning, are healthy and safe, and embrace the ethic of sustainability (American Architectural Foundation & KnowledgeWorks Foundation, 2006).
Supporting Learning, Supporting Teaching
Schools need to respect the full diversity of students' learning needs, summit participants said. Learning spaces in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors help accommodate different kinds of school activities and varying group sizes, from full classes to small student teams. Schools also need to offer small, quiet areas for solo studying and reflection.
Teachers need effective work spaces, too. Clemons says, "Learning environments that are well-designed will increase test results, but they will also raise teacher morale and help districts increase retention of well-qualified faculty. Teachers want to teach in a well-designed space."
Good school design also pays attention to outdoor areas, which offer space for group activities, physical education, and play. Innovative schools use their buildings and grounds as giant science labs—"three-dimensional textbooks" the AAF calls them—that teach lessons in biology and physics.
National summit participants advocated decentralizing central office functions to get administrators out, about, and among students. They also argued for including spaces specifically designed for mentoring, for bringing community members into schools for learning partnerships, and for providing distance learning.
Safe, Secure, and Healthy Schools
Too many schools more closely resemble prisons than places that celebrate learning. Good design builds in security and safety without creating an oppressive, stifling environment. "Preventing crime, vandalism, and break-ins have always been on the radar," says Kube. "But now there's more concern about children's actual safety, in a terrorism or abduction context. You can't just throw up metal detectors at every door and alarms on every window."
The best schools clearly but unobtrusively separate public areas from the "private" space of the classroom. Commonsense measures such as designating different entrances for students and the public make it easier for school staff to track who is entering the school. "In some very good buildings, visitors actually have to pass through the front office to get into the school," notes Clemons. "Good design can also involve using lots of glass so administrators can easily monitor who is coming and going."
When you look at a well-designed school, says Kube, "There are no obstructed views anymore, no angled alcoves or isolated stairwells. It makes it easier for an administrator to see all public areas with an eye toward security and safety."
The concept of universal design—creating an environment that is easy for people to use regardless of age, ability, or physical condition—goes beyond compliance with accessibility laws. It is central to creating healthy schools, Clemons believes. "This is about good design for everyone, not just those in a wheelchair," she says. "If you're a pregnant teacher or a kid with a broken arm, good design makes it easy to use the building. Things like the comfort of chairs, the width of the doorways, positioning of lighting controls, and the height of water fountains are important to everyone, not just those with a special need."
Other healthy school considerations include indoor air quality, "zoned" controls for heating and air conditioning, windows that let in fresh air, and appropriate lighting. (See "Healthy School Report Card Addresses Building Issues" on p. 8 for more information.)
Because schools are noisy places filled with noisy children, school designers spend a lot of time thinking about acoustics. "The more children hear and understand a lesson, the more they will learn. That's critical for teachers, too—think about having to yell all day," says Kube. Designing classrooms that are just slightly trapezoidal in shape is one of many architectural techniques (with assists from good audio electronic tools) that help manage classroom volume.
The Sustainable Solution
Sustainability is emerging as an overriding principle in architecture and design, and it is greatly informing school design and construction. Simply defined, sustainability is about meeting current needs without depleting resources or harming natural cycles for future generations. In school design, that means paying attention to the kinds of materials used in school construction, how the building is positioned on the grounds, how waste gets handled, and even the ease with which a school could be renovated decades down the road.
Although sustainability encompasses many "green" ideals, it's not about environmental idealism. "We've finally turned the corner on sustainability," says Kube. "It encompasses energy efficiency, recyclability, and how we use the land that is available for school construction." All those issues have financial implications. Short term, they tend to cost a little more. Done well, they can save schools districts lots of money in the long term.
"Increasing your up-front design and construction costs by just a few percent can have [a] major payoff down the line," Kube maintains. "A big stumbling block is the perception that it's just so much more expensive to build a green building. And the people who are making these decisions are elected officials who are sensitive to criticism that they are wasting money."
Clemons agrees: "Good design doesn't have to cost a lot of money. Building to the site, knowing where the sun is and where the shade is, are all important. And, ultimately, it is about dollars—and making sense. Designers can make a strong case for sustainable design in schools."
"With the price of oil going up so much, energy costs are a growing problem. Thinking about better ways to conserve energy has great returns," says Kube. "Some districts [using solar and wind technologies] are actually generating extra power that they can sell back to the grid to recoup expenses."
With the median cost to build a new school running $22.5 million, design decisions are looming larger than ever. By paying attention to learning, health and safety, and sustainability, architects and designers can help ensure that those funds are well spent.
ASCD School Building Design, Teaching, and Learning Network
Educators interested in school design and architecture issues can join ASCD's School Building Design, Teaching, and Learning Network.
ASCD networks are member-initiated groups designed to unite people around a common area of interest in the field of education. Networks allow participants to exchange ideas, share information, identify and solve problems, grow professionally, and establish collegial relationships with other educators who share common interests.
Raises awareness regarding the potential of school design to enhance learning and teaching.
Encourages teachers, school administrators, and other education professionals to become more involved in the building design process and its effect on learning and teaching.
Develops and disseminates guidelines that assist in the design of school buildings that facilitate learning and teaching.
Recognizes new schools and renovations reflecting principles of school design that respect the effect on learning and teaching.
Assists education professionals in making wise decisions during replacement and renovation of aging school buildings.
Seeks outside funding for studies of the relationship among school building design, learning, and teaching.
Conducts seminars and presentations and publishes materials related to the relationship between school building design, learning, and teaching.
For more information on ASCD networks, call ASCD's E'lisa Chavous at 1-703-575-5613, send an e-mail to echavous@ascd.org , or visitwww.ascd.org/networks.
Healthy School Report Card Addresses Building Issues
In collaboration with appropriate state and local agencies, a school committee periodically monitors the safety, security, and environmental quality of buildings, grounds, and school-owned vehicles.
Facilities meet and, preferably, exceed all workplace and public facilities fire and safety codes, rules, and regulations.
Environmental quality standards are met (i.e., water, temperature, lighting, sewage, ventilation, indoor air quality, sound, sanitation, pest control, hazardous materials, and blood-borne pathogen and exposure control).
Facilities are structurally sound and free of defects.
Allergens that can trigger asthma and food allergy attacks are minimized to the greatest extent possible.
Facilities and grounds have structural features and plantings that limit sun exposure.
Effective natural surveillance structures (e.g., clear lines of sight, no isolated areas) are present and, as needed, augmented by electronic surveillance devices.
All school entrances are monitored to deny access to intruders.
Smooth traffic flow is facilitated by wide halls and stairs, no bottlenecks, and limited and controlled access.
The action tool offers an assessment process that helps school communities develop health-promoting schools—ones that enable, motivate, support, and reinforce student and staff adoption and practice of healthy behaviors. For more information on the ASCD's healthy schools activities and products, visitwww.ascd.org/healthyschoolcommunities.
