This study highlights how 20 Swedish principals, school managers and architects involved in planning, construction and reconstruction of primary and secondary school buildings at regional, municipal and local levels represent good learning environments. Drawing on semi-structured interviews, the analysis focuses on how the stakeholders understand…

Research in the field of Education has produced a corpus of studies dealing with the specific relationship between school building condition and student achievement reporting positive results. Yet, studies have been completed reporting no significant difference in achievement scores from students in buildings in poor and good condition. The…

During the Portuguese dictatorship (1926-1974), the former president Oliveira Salazar started to slowly open the regime to European policies after World War II. In 1960, the Minister of Education, Leite Pinto, integrated Portugal in the OECD Mediterranean Regional Project, which was created to improve the educational system in developing…

School leaders across the United States face the challenge of creating safe and secure environments across their campuses in a way that helps promote the achievement of schools' educational objectives. To help them meet this challenge, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency asked the Homeland…

Improving the school building may well be the most overlooked means of improving student health, safety, and academic performance. Yet in conversations about factors that lead students to academic success, only rarely does the role of the physical environment come to the fore. By downplaying the importance of the building, policymakers and parents…

The idea that the New Zealand education system will cater to all students, regardless of ability, and support them in developing their full potential to the best of their abilities, is enshrined in the famous 1939 Beeby/Fraser statement. Equality of access policy discourse has shifted to emphasise equitable outcomes, focussed increasingly on…

Dozens of schools throughout North America already are putting solar equipment to limited uses, scores are conducting or contemplating solar feasibility studies, and at least one school now in operation is applying solar power to every phase of its energy program. (Author)

Presents drawings of three buildings to show ways of designing for energy conservation, accommodation of the handicapped, and the conversion of surplus schools to other uses. (IRT)

The most common delivery systems for school construction projects are general contracting and the more proactive construction-management and program-management approaches. The most beneficial aspect of construction management, with simultaneously selected construction managers and architects, is its system of checks and balances. Program…

Using an outline format accompanied by numerous photographs and sketches, this brochure explores the relationship of "school" to people's conceptions, actions, and physical surroundings, highlighting changes over the past 20 years in Scandinavian school design. Two major conceptual changes are decentralized administration and teaching…

Describes the unusual design and construction of Magdalena Municipal School (K-12) in rural New Mexico. Designed to complement the physical setting and suit diverse age groups, the school features a unifying stepped facade motif, rough-textured surfaces, high desert colors, and trees used as a windbreak. (MLH)

The article describes considerations in modifying school buildings for maximum accessibility for severely handicapped students. A field tested survey designed for use by school administrators is also included in its entirety. (Author)

This supplement presents three articles on modular construction that look at: "Fast Track Expansion for a New Jersey School" (involving a modular addition); "Precast Construction Helps Schools Meet Attendance Boom" (precast concrete components are quick, durable, and flexible); and "Airing HVAC Concerns" (poor indoor air quality in prefabricated…

Describes the design and construction of a permanent 220-foot by 140-foot field house utilizing sloping concrete walls and an air-supported polyester fabric roof. (JG)