Topic: Issue Trackers: Date Filed:

Where Children LearnTM: The Effect of Facilities on Student Achievement Deborah P. Moore, Elisa Warner December 1998

School districts across the nation are faced with providing for the needs of our children — Needs complicated by shifts in enrollment, developments in technology, changing paradigms, community-use, and the aging of our school buildings. School construction has become a priority, yet while we all support higher standards for education, many in the public sector still ask… do the facilities in which our children learn really matter?

There are many factors clouding this issue — the stories of student success despite the fact that the learning took place in appalling building conditions, the statements that a good teacher can teach anywhere including under a tree — learning can, and does occur virtually anywhere. While these facts may be true, it does not relieve us of our responsibility to provide a safe, secure environment in which all students can learn and all teachers can teach. If students can succeed in spite of the facility, what level of success can be reached if we remove the roadblocks?

CEFPI believes that the facility in which students learn and teachers teach DO affect achievement. WHERE CHILDREN LEARN^TM is CEFPI’s research project investigating the relationship between the condition of school facilities and student achievement and behavior. Since only limited research has been conducted on this subject CEFPI’s research committee has undertaken the task of expanding this research to include a larger population of school districts. The following is a brief sampling of this facilities research along with the current projects underway.

School Building Renovation and Student Performance: One District’s Experience
Dr. Lorraine Maxwell of Cornell University in cooperation with CEFPI and the Northeast Region has recently completed a research study on the effects of school renovation on Syracuse City School students. This study provides a valuable before-and-after case study of facility condition and student achievement. The Syracuse City School District in New York underwent several elementary school renovations beginning in 1984. Student scores were tracked by the Pupil Evaluation Program (PEP) test before, during, and after a number of these school renovation projects. Maxwell analyzed math and reading scores of third and sixth-grade students for an 11-12 year period surrounding each school’s renovation. Her findings revealed a correlation between newer facilities and student performance levels. A statistically significant relationship between upgraded facility condition and higher math scores was found – the relationship strongest among sixth-grade students. Reading scores were not significantly correlated with facility condition. One explanation for this may be the influx of students for who English was a second language (ESL). A more in-depth analysis of the PEP might prove or disprove this hypothesis. In addition, results suggest decreased student performance during the renovation process, raising concerns about the timing of renovation projects.

Maxwell stresses the need for further research to increase our understanding of the facility’s impact on student learning. While the Syracuse study identifies an important correlation between facility condition and academic performance, studies, which can establish causation, are needed. Also, such a relationship should be documented in urban, suburban and rural schools.

Where Children Learn^TM: Milwaukee Public Schools Study Summary
The Council of Educational Facility Planners, International, in cooperation with Milwaukee Public Schools, is embarking on a study to analyze the effect of school building condition and educational adequacy on student achievement in elementary, middle and high school facilities. Under the Where Children Learn^TM umbrella, the Milwaukee study will be an important contribution to the growing body of research on the impact of facilities on learning.

Ed McMilin, Facilities Planner with Milwaukee Public Schools, has worked with CEFPI in organizing the existing data at MPS for study under the Where Children Learn program. Milwaukee School District includes more than 150 schools and over 106,000 students. In 1991, a comprehensive facility assessment was conducted on Milwaukee School District’s 153 schools. The assessment documented not only the physical condition of the buildings, but the educational adequacy as well. The schools’ final scores ranged from excellent to unfit, providing a wide range for comparison. Scores on the Wisconsin State Assessment System Test have been used to measure student achievement. Other factors that will be controlled for will include Age/Developmental Level; Ability; Motivation; Economic, Racial, Home Factors. Data will be analyzed to establish the causal effect of the facility on student achievement scores. Multiple regression analysis will allow us to establish causality, and to assess the independent effect of each of the variables on student achievement. By analyzing student test scores in school buildings of different quality and educational adequacy while controlling for such variables as student motivation, socio-economic status and race/ethnicity, we can draw conclusions on the effect of facility conditions on learning. The study is currently underway and is expected to be completed in 1999.

RESOURCES: Condition of School Buildings

Abramson, Paul. 1998. "1998 School Construction Report." School Planning and Management Magazine 37(2):36-47.

Abramson, Paul. 1998. "An Analysis of School & College Education Construction and its Potential Impact on Your Sales." School Planning & Management, College Planning & Management.

American Association of School Administrators (AASA), Council of Great City Schools, and National School Boards Association (NSBA). 1983. The Maintenance Gap: Deferred Repair and Renovation in the Nation’s Elementary and Secondary Schools. Arlington, VA: AASA.

American Association of State Colleges and Universities. 1997. AASCU Special Report: Deferred Maintenance.

American Association of School Administrators. 1993. Schoolhouse in the Red. Arlington, VA: AASA.

American Society of Civil Engineers. 1998. 1998 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. Washington D.C.: ASCE.

U.S. General Accounting Office. 1996. School Facilities. Washington D.C.: Series Number GAO/HEHE-96-148.

RESOURCES: The Effect of Facilities on Learning

Berner, Maureen M. 1993. "Building Conditions, Parental Involvement, and Student Achievement in the District of Columbia Public School System." Urban Education 28(1):6-29. Research conducted on Washington D.C. schools, revealing correlation between facility condition and academic achievement.

Black, Susan. 1997. "Creating Community." The American School Board Journal. June:32-35. Discussion of relationship between school climate and student achievement.

Bowers, J. Harold and Charles W. Burkett. 1989. "Effects of Physical and School Environment on Students and Faculty." The Educational Facility Planner 26(1):28-29. Found test scores of 5th and 7th graders to be higher in modern school buildings. Also found decreased disciplinary action and increased self-concepts.

Cash, Carol. 1993. "A Study of the Relationship Between School Building Achievement and Behavior." Blacksburg, VA: Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, pp. 1-124. In a sample of small rural Virginia high schools, test scores were found to be lower for students of low quality school buildings. Cosmetic factors seemed to have more of an effect on achievement that structural factors.

Chan, Tak Cheung. 1979. The Impact of School Building Age on Public Achievement. Unpublished doctoral dissertation (abstracted version appears in The Educational Facility Planner). Found significant relationship between school building age and achievement in 8th graders.

Christopher, Gaylaird. 1988. "Does the Quality of the School Environment Affect the Quality of Our Children’s Education?" The Educational Facility Planner 26(4): 21-23. Discusses AIA study in preliminary stages, attempting to document impact of facilities on quality of education.

Corcoran, Thomas B., et al. 1988. Working in Urban Schools. Study of teacher working conditions found physical conditions to affect teacher morale and classroom effectiveness.

Earthman, Glen I. and Linda Lemasters. 1996. "Review of Research on the Relationship Between School Buildings, Student Achievement, and Student Behavior." Presentation at CEFPI’s International Conference, October 8, 1996, Tampa, Florida. Comprehensive review of research on facility impact on education, and synthesis of findings.

Earthman, Glen I., Cash, Carol S., and Denny Van Berkum. 1995. "A Statewide Study of Student Achievement and Behavior and School Building Condition. Found positive relationship between facility condition and student achievement and behavior in North Dakota high schools.

Hansen, Shirley J. 1992. "The School Facilities Children are Forced to Attend." The Journal of School Business Management 5(4):30-36. Reviews research on effect of deferred maintenance on students.

Harner, David P. 1974. "Effects of Thermal Environment on Learning Skills." The Educational Facility Planner 12(2):4-6. Reports that reading and math performance declines at temperatures above 74 degrees.

Hathaway, Warren E. 1994. "Non-Visual Effects of Classroom Lighting on Children." The Educational Facility Planner 32(3):12-16. Pilot study assesses non-visual effects of lighting on students, including dental, growth, developmental, achievement and attendance.

Hathaway, Warren E. 1988. "Educational Facilities: Neutral with Respect to Learning and Human Performance?" The Educational Facility Planner 26(4): 8-12. Presents a model of building factors that may affect people.

Hawkins, Harold L. and Betty Lightfoot Overbaugh. 1988. "The Interface Between Facilities and Learning." The Educational Facility Planner 26(4):4-7. Describes interdisciplinary study at Texas A&M University. Observations of six schools provide qualitative information on the facility’s role in the education process.

Hines, Eric. 1996. "Building Condition and Student Achievement and Behavior." Blacksburg, VA: Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, pp. 1-213. Found student achievement scores to be up to 11 percentile points lower in substandard facilities.

Lackney, Jeffrey. 1994. "Educational Facilities: The Impact and Role of the Physical Environment of the School on Teaching, Learning and Educational Outcomes." Center for Architecture and Urban Planning Research, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Multi-disciplinary model for assessing impact of infrastructure on education and student achievement using applied research.

McGuffey, Carroll. 1982. "Facilities." Improving Educational Standards and Productivity. Herbert J. Walbert (ed.). Berkeley, CA: McCutchan Publishing Corporation, pp. 237-288. Found connection between building maintenance, HVAC systems, color, and special instructional facilities and student achievement.

Taylor, Anne and Gene Gousie. 1988. "The Ecology of Learning Environments for Children." The Educational Facility Planner 26(4):23-28. Presents literature review on impact of facilities on learning and draws implications to architectural design elements. Comprehensive reference list.

Valiant, Bob. August 1996. "The Brain and Learning: Turn on the Lights! Using What We Know About the Brain and Learning to Design Learning Environments" CEFPI Issue Trak. Discusses how to use our knowledge of brain based learning to design better educational facilities, thereby facilitating the natural learning process.

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