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ACCESS The objectives of Annex 36 are:
International Facility Management Association http://www.ifma.org Although not specific to educational facilities, this site is a useful resource for facility management information. The IFMA site contains general information on facility management professions, definitions, and even the meaning of field acronyms. Summaries of IFMA research reports are posted (you can order the full report for a charge). The site contains useful links to other facility management sites. Coming soon: Information on facility codes, regulations and standards. Milken Exchange on Education Technology http://www.mff.org/edtech/ This accessible site contains a wealth of information and research on integrating technology in schools. Articles, research reports and interviews on various related topics can be accessed with the click of a button. The site contains information on the e-rate, along with regular updates. The site also contains many interactive features, such as online discussions of featured topics, and teacher-researcher forums. Coming soon: Information on state technology master plans. National School Board Association (NSBA) http://www.nsba.org Packed with information and resources, the NSBA site contains everything from cutting-edge education news to in-depth articles and special reports on education topics. Check out the legislation section for up-to-date status reports on education legislation. This site has a lot to offer both the educator and the school facility practitioner. National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities http://www.ncef.org This comprehensive website on planning, designing, funding, building, improving, and maintaining safe, healthy, high performance schools was created by the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities (NCEF). The website provides over 140 information-packed, frequently updated resource lists, a news section, a calendar of events, more than 40 full-text NCEF publications, monthly construction data from McGraw Hill, a Safe School Facilities section, and Ask-A-Question capability. The clearinghouse was developed by the U.S. Department of Education in 1997 and is funded by a grant from ED with oversight by the Office of Safe and Drug-Free schools. The NCEF website contains the largest and most widely used database of school facilities information in the world, hosting thousands of users a day and linking to over thirteen thousand online information resources. National Education Association http://www.nea.org The National Education Association website contains a wealth of information for schools, teachers, parents and students. A special section of their site is devoted to "Modern Schools", containing research reports and legislative updates on the issue. The National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) http://www.pta.org The PTA webpage has full-text resources on several education program areas. Check out the Building Successful Partnerships section to view the national standards for parent/family involvement programs. The site provides detailed legislative updates on education legislation as well. National School Safety Center http://www.nssc1.org/ Created through Presidential Directive in 1984, the National School Safety Center is "an internationally recognized resource for school safety information, training and violence prevention." Their website contains valuable summaries of school safety research, including contact information for locating the studies. There are extensive lists of school safety resources for educators, parents, and reporters as well. Phi Delta Kappa International http://www.pdkintl.org Phi Delta Kappa, an international education association, posts many valuable resources on their website, including numerous full-text articles from Kappan Magazine on topics such as technology, education reform, school safety and more! Programme on Educational Building (PEB) http://www.oecd.org PEB is an international organization that encourages and promotes educational facilities information and research. Their members consist of individual governments and research agencies throughout the world. The PEB website contains a number of interesting documents related to educational facility planning and design, standards, maintenance, assessment, management, libraries, technology and more! Certain back issues of their journal PEB Exchange are available for download as well. Prototype School Design Clearinghouse http://www.schoolclearinghouse.org/ This informative website was created by the North Carolina State Board of Education to offer prototype school design information to local boards of education. Along with project data, photos and floorplans of various school projects, the site contains full-text publications on school planning and design topics for download. Some of the publications include the Safe Schools Facilities Planner, the School Site Facility Planner, the Early Childhood Facility Planner, and the Handbook for Public Playground Safety. The site also lists construction data for the state of North Carolina, and sample planning forms and worksheets. Safe and Drug Free Schools Program http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osdfs/index.html Part of the federal government, the Safe and Drug Free Schools Program was created to reduce drug use, crime and violence in U.S. schools. Their website contains many full-text publications on school safety and violence-prevention. School Construction News Online http://www.schoolconstructionnews.com/ School Construction News' website is a great resource for up-to-date information on the school construction industry. The site includes planning and building information by region, state and district, updated monthly. Full-text feature articles on school facility-related topics are also available online. Check out the "facility of the month" page for a photo and narrative description of an exemplary school building. School Design and Planning Laboratory http://www.coe.uga.edu/sdpl/sdpl.html Part of the University of Georgia, the School Design and Planning Laboratory's mission is "to advance the design and planning of safe, comfortable, developmentally appropriate learning environments for primary, elementary, middle and high schools." Their website includes abstracts and some full-text documents on related research topics. Some of the documents are only accessible by University students (and require a password), but much of the information is available to the general public. School Planning and Management Magazine http://www.spmmag.com School Planning and Management Magazine's website features online access to featured articles, including their annual School Construction Report. SPM also provides a very comprehensive list of links to other educational facility planning, design, and construction sites. Smart Schools, Smart Growth Initiative http://www.smart-schools.org/ The Smart Schools, Smart Growth Initiative is a new multi-partner, national effort designed to bridge the movements for education equity and for smart growth. It aims to build healthier, more sustainable communities, especially for our most vulnerable children. Our founding partners include the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Public Education Network, and Smart Growth America. Society for College and University Planning http://www.scup.org The Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) website includes a variety of features and links. Click on "RFPs" to view or post current RFPs and RFQs for various projects. Listen to a streaming audio presentation from a recent SCUP Conference. Read the preface and introduction to SCUP's new publication Technology-Driven Planning. Some of the features are available to members-only, but many can be accessed by non-members as well. Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC) http://www.sbicouncil.org/ SBIC is a non-profit organization organized to "advance the design, affordability, energy performance, and environmental soundness of residential, institutional, and commercial buildings nationwide." Their website contains important information for architects and builders on designing high-performance facilities. Check out their High Performance School Buildings Workshops for 2002! Techlearning.com http://techlearning.com Produced by Technology & Learning Magazine and others, Techlearning.com provides valuable information on integrating technology into K-12 schools. The site includes a grant database where schools, educators or students can search for available technology grants and funding. Under the "What's Working" section, browse through over 100 full-text articles on educational technology-related topics. The site also provides reviews of various educational software packages. THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet http://thomas.loc.gov Maintained by the U.S. Congress, the THOMAS site provides you with up to the minute information on congressional legislation. You can conduct searches by bill number, title or subject, and receive status information, history, and bill text, along with other information. THOMAS is an excellent resource for tracking the status of the school construction bills currently under consideration. U.S. Access Board http://www.access-board.gov Visit the U.S. Access Board's website to keep informed on accessibility issues. The site contains federal accessibility guidelines and answers to frequently asked questions about building accessibility. Be sure to check out the "Response to Petition for Rulemaking on Classroom Acoustics" for information on classroom acoustics standards. U.S. Department of Education School Construction and Design Website http://www.ed.gov/inits/construction/ This site by the U.S. Department of Education tracks school modernization initiatives and legislation, and provides valuable links to school construction resources. The site gives a comprehensive overview of Qualified Zone Academy Bonds (QZABs), available funding for each state, and eligibility requirements. An overview of federal funding opportunities for charter school facilities is provided, as well as information on school renovation, IDEA and technology grants. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) http://www.epa.gov The EPA website contains valuable information and research on a host of environmental and energy issues effecting school buildings. Whether you are interesting in indoor air quality, energy conservation or recycling, check out what the EPA has to offer. Educators will be especially interested in the "Educational Resources" page for teachers, where the EPA provides curriculum resources and activities for teaching basic environmental concepts to students. U.S. Green Building Council http://www.usgbc.org Founded in 1993, the US Green Building Council's mission is to "accelerate the adoption of green building practices, technologies, policies, and standards." On this site, you can download the Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building rating system to help you determine whether your building is "green." The guide includes information on sustainable sites, energy, water, and indoor environmental quality. |
