The Government Accountability Office's (GAO) High-Risk List identifies government operations with vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, or in need of transformation. GAO added the area "Improving Federal Management of Programs that Serve Tribes and their Members" to its February 2017 biennial update of high-risk…

Data and information are shared about: (1) First Nations educational infrastructure--new schools, repairs and renovations of schools, project planning, teachers' residences, and operational and maintenance funds. (2) The monitoring of primary and secondary education on reserves. (3) Challenges of schools located in remote areas and with fewer than…

In this testimony, Patricia K. Whitefoot talks on behalf of the National Indian Education Association with regard to the President Obama's Fiscal Year 2011 budget request. She notes that Native education still faces enormous challenges, including severe underfunding. Far too many students and schools continue to experience abject failure. Under…

School construction or renovation projects can have a profound affect on students, faculty and administration. The negative impact on the ongoing educational programs is a stressor for many administrators. The possibility that rural school administrators would experience more stress producing problems than would suburban and urban school leaders…

School construction or renovation projects can have a profound affect on students, faculty and administration. The literature revealed that continuous communication is essential for a smooth process. This research identified bureaucratic issues and school climate to be leading factors of concern during construction projects. Analysis of this study…

This study examined strategies that could assist public school administrators and school boards with the passage of bond issues. It specifically looked at such issues as the time of year that an issue was presented to voters, the nexus between community relations and successful passage, and leadership structure of bond campaigns. A survey…

This paper details typical construction errors that occurred during the building of new media laboratories at the University of Missouri at Kansas City. Also defined are the steps and guidelines that need to be taken to protect specialized media facility designs and specifications from compromise or deletion by general project architects,…

A presentation paper examines the planning, coordination, design, and phasing of construction required for a new 340,000 sq.ft. high school (Chantilly High School, Fairfax, Virginia) plus adding 46,000 sq. ft. to the facility while keeping the educational program for 2,100 students active. The project's scope is outlined, followed by the design…

In this testimony, Dr. Willard Sakiestewa Gilbert talks on behalf of the National Indian Education Association with regard to the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) and challenges facing BIE schools in improving student achievement. Founded in 1969, the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) is the largest organization in the nation dedicated…

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…

This document consists of two papers. The first, titled "Good Classroom Acoustics Is a Good Investment," identifies and estimates some of the costs for good acoustics in new school construction. It also identifies and estimates some previously unrecognized economic benefits of good acoustics, as well as some of the hidden costs of…

President Bill Clinton offers his observations on the economic condition of the country and why it is important for the nation to now direct its attention to the condition of its schools and school construction. The President also emphasizes the need to use budgetary surpluses to bolster Social Security and Medicare, and paying down the debt to…

The Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education provides his viewpoints on maintaining strong public support for public education by reaching out to every part of the community. The Secretary urges Congress to act on school modernization. He discusses the emerging focus of architecture that now creates schools as community learning centers and…

The construction of new schools is a complex task requiring a great deal of executive direction that is most successfully attained if the executive function resides permanently in one individual. Data were collected through observation of schools in 6 school districts (photographs and films); document analysis (newspapers and other media, and…

This paper draws on the experience of the Sebastopol Union School District, a small school district in California, which formed a team to manage facilities renovation. The team was comprised of the district superintendent, the architect, a construction manager, and a facility/financial consultant; it allowed the district to succeed at the school…