This developmental study explores the process and outcomes of creating an active learning classroom within a higher education setting. To support student success, institutions have increasingly redesigned their learning spaces to promote active learning. Early initiatives often aimed to facilitate collaborative learning and reduce reliance on…

Recent ethnographic research of physical academic library spaces demonstrates that students often utilise these spaces quite differently than the library's staff may have originally intended. Student feedback in library remodelling efforts improves design outcomes and helps to foster a sense of student engagement with the larger academic…

National reports have raised concerns about the physical accessibility of public school facilities for people with disabilities. These facilities serve important roles as schools, voting locations, and emergency shelters, among other things. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to examine the physical accessibility of public school…

This paper identifies approaches, challenges, and best practices related to planning and designing today's academic library learning spaces. As part of the Project Information Literacy (PIL) Practitioner Series, qualitative data is presented from 49 interviews conducted with a sample of academic librarians, architects, and library consultants.…

This report provides nationally representative data on the condition of public school facilities. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) previously collected data on this topic in 1999 (Lewis et al. 2000). The study presented in this report collected information about the condition of public school facilities in the 2012-13 school…

Proper planning of school facilities is critical for all school districts no matter how large or small, whether major construction is in the works or the district is managing enrollment declines. When school districts properly plan for their school facilities they have better schools, more public use and higher value for public spending. This…

In 2008 the Group of Eight (Go8) released a first report on the state of its buildings and infrastructure, based on a survey undertaken in 2007. A further survey was undertaken in 2009, updating some information about the assessed quality, value and condition of buildings and use of space. It also collated data related to aspects of the estate not…

This manual, written in response to requirements of the Washington State legislature, focuses on practices which can be undertaken during the siting, design, construction, or renovation of a school, recommends practices to help ensure good indoor air quality during building occupancy, and suggests protocols and useful reference documents for…

This nationwide study surveyed facilities in local Head Start programs in fall, 1990. A total of 602 of the 1,857 programs, or 32 percent, responded to the voluntary survey. The survey included questions on the type of program, enrollment, and budget; lease or rental arrangements and rental costs; numbers and conditions of centers and classrooms;…

School safety is a human concern, one that every school and community must take seriously and strive continually to achieve. It is also a legal concern; schools can be held liable if they do not make good-faith efforts to provide a safe and secure school environment. How schools are built and maintained is an integral part of school safety and…

This report includes both a collection of 16 papers presented at a national conference on learning resource centers (LRC's) in nursing schools and the results of a survey of participants conducted to evaluate the impact of the conference. Designed to increase the participants' knowledge and awareness of how they might better utilize an LRC to…

This publication presents case studies of school buildings to demonstrate the application of a post occupancy evaluation (POE) during various stages of the design and planning process. It explains that because POE is a process for gathering information about a building in use, it can be applied effectively both to renovation and expansion projects…

This report is based on the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Educational Reform Strategy Project No. 5 which found that a Teachers Resource Center (TRC) can be a vehicle to provide essential equipment and materials to schools organized in clusters and to serve as meeting places for officials, principles, and teachers. Approximately…

Presents guidelines relative to audiovisual specifications for school classrooms, lecture halls, and auditoriums, to serve as a checklist for preliminary planning for facilities' construction or remodeling. Specifications are included for lights and lighting; electrical wiring; conduit; projection screens, booth, and stations; display boards; and…

Findings from a study that examined state mechanisms for ensuring the maintenance of public school buildings are presented in this report. Methodology involved: (1) a 50-state survey of state school facility programs, which elicited a 43 percent response rate; and (2) a review of New Jersey state programs, for which interviews were conducted with…