In this age of education innovation and reform, schools must evolve and react to current policy trends. This accessible book offers research-based insights into six key educational trends and issues that are impacting K-12 learning today: year-round schooling, assessments, educating minorities, anti-intellectualism, issues of social promotion and…

Every day in America more than 50 million children go to neighborhood public schools. Parents send them off with every hope they will be safe while there. And yet, as has been the case in too many cities, violence shatters that hope. The Council of Educational Facilities Planners International (CEFPI) seeks to lead in the effort to bolster schools…

In this paper, the 21st Century School Fund and the Center for Cities and Schools at the University of California Berkeley provide a conceptual frame for the joint use of PK-12 public school buildings. There is a growing conversation about and demand for joint use as a way to provide services to children and families in convenient locations,…

Results of two value engineering studies have shown that a review early in the design process can help save costs in school construction, maintenance, operation, and replacement. The value engineering concepts and technical manual are being presented throughout the state of Washington. (MLF)

This reference document for public school facility designers includes code items, principles that experience has shown to be desirable and practical, and best practices from a variety of professional sources. Organized into the four major engineering categories of electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and structural, these guidelines represent the…

The "Environment Yard" project is a 10-year effort to transform an ordinary asphalt schoolyard into a lush, naturalized environment. This book describes the project from which a natural extension of the classroom was created, reducing student boredom and antisocial behavior as they became engaged in the landscape. It instructs on how to…

An Illinois high school provided an innovative, low-cost solution to decorating the hallways of the school. It set up a committee of students and staff who decided on designs, then used supervised students to do mural paintings in the halls. (MD)

This document discusses five principles thought essential to breaking with the past and establishing a new standard for school facilities design. These principles demand that schools be exemplary examples to students in pursuing new frontiers; that they direct students by encouraging proper behaviors; and that they evoke a spirit of place,…

This reference document for public school facility designers addresses arts education programs and the facilities that support them. Some sections focus on concepts and features common to most or all arts education subject areas, such as sound management, acoustical design, teacher workstations, and performance facilities. Other sections describe…

This publication provides essays on the acoustical design of music education facilities and reproductions of posters describing 50 projects presented at the 117th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of American held in Syracuse, New York in May 1989. Essays are as follows: "Introduction to the Design Process" (Richard Talaske); "The…

The Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) concept suggests that natural surveillance, natural access control, and territoriality can be effectively applied to schools and surrounding environments to provide safety for students and teachers. This document presents the essential concepts of the CPTED and examines how the main office…

A school building project in Spokane, Washington, will replace 12 inner-city elementary schools, expand a thirteenth, and construct a new high school. Substantial cost savings in both materials and design are expected to result from adapting a prototype design to existing sites. (Author/MLF)

This booklet presents key areas that educational and physical facilities planners need to know to effectively interface with architects and building designers so students can have the best learning environments possible within the available resources. The booklet maps out how current trends may affect the future of educational facilities planning.…

This planning guide, reflecting recent changes in the educational system in Ireland, offers guidelines for designing primary schools that need to provide additional space for the growing range of teaching and support services. It addresses increased sizes of general purpose rooms, extra floor area provision for classroom storage, administration,…

The U.S. Secretary of Education addresses the problem of school building deterioration in the United States, as reported by the General Accounting Office; and governmental responses to funding modernization efforts. The report lists three conditions necessary for designing new schools: school design should support an economy in which learning is a…