Explaining relationships among student outcomes and the school’s physical environment

Abstract

Many people believe that educational facilities are just big boxes in which learning occurs, places to store students until they drop out of school or graduate. Unfortunately, many educational decision-makers, teachers, school board members, parents, and architects feel that the design of these boxes, usually with a long and often dark, center corridor, has little to add to the process of learning. Given the great variance in school structures, it is not surprising that the physical environment of schools in the United States is in peril, as emphasized by the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES; 2000, 2003, 2007). Even a new school building may have problems such as inadequate nat-ural light, circulation and movement patterns, meeting spaces, and instructional places. Older buildings frequently face age-related issues such as poor color schemes and inefficient energy systems that can lead to uncomfortable indoor climate and high utility bills. With issues of this magnitude as supporting evi-dence, this study is based on the hypothesis that the substandard condition of facilities and, in particular, the inappropriateness o