Quality Facilities Improve Student Achievement, Strengthen Communities, and Keep Qualified Teachers

As reported in a recent Education Week article, spending on the construction of new education facilities has reached new peaks in recent years. As new school construction thrives, research is being conducted on the essential elements of quality school facilities. Recent reports have focused on essential principles necessary for creating quality learning environments and how these conditions may help school districts retain qualified educators. This movement to create appropriate learning environments for public school students comes at an opportune moment as the average age of school facilities across the nation has reached 50 years old.

The National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, KnowledgeWorks Foundation, Council of Educational Facility Planners, Building Educational Success Together (BEST), and Coalition for Community Schools have released a report which highlights the six essential design principles needed to create an effective learning environment. "Schools as Centers of Community: A Citizen's Guide for Planning and Design" claims that school facilities should:

enhance teaching and learning and accommodate the needs of all learners;
serve as a center of the community;
results from a planning and design process that involves all community interests;
provide for health, safety, and security;
make effective use of available resources; and
be flexible and adaptable.

This collaborative report also provides case studies of schools across the nation that exemplify these principles. Furthermore, the authors suggest effective steps for those participating in the school planning process, such as how to approach funding issues, appoint a facilitator, involve students and members of the community, and develop a master plan for the facility.

Another recent example of a facilities analysis that prioritized the elements affecting teaching and learning is "Prioritizations of 31 Criteria for School Building Adequacy," by Dr. Glen Earthman. Released by the ACLU of Maryland, the report analyzes and ranks the 31 criteria for adequate school facilities created by the Maryland Task Force to Study Public School Facilities. The report presents research that links the condition of school facilities and the level of student achievement. The author concludes that districts and the state must first work to ensure safe and healthy public schools and to ensure conditions that most directly affect student achievement.

Quality Facilities Keep Qualified Teachers

Released in February 2004, "The Effects of School Facility Quality on Teacher Retention in Urban School Districts" analyzes how the quality of school facilities may affect the retention of qualified teachers in urban school districts. Previous studies have identified certain conditions of school facilities that effect student achievement, such as temperature, classroom lighting, and noise levels. The authors of this study explore the notion that these conditions additionally affect the teacher's decision to remain at a particular school.

The results of a survey of teachers in Washington, D.C., shows that school facility quality has a "substantively significant" effect on teacher retention. Although a teacher's age and time of service, salary, and level of community and parent involvement are all factors, the authors argue that improving school facilities may be the most cost-effective way to positively influence a teacher's decision to remain at a school.

Facilities Litigation

While many school funding lawsuits across the country include claims that school buildings are inadequate, cases focused specifically on school facilities have been brought in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho and, recently, Louisiana. Almost six years after a new facilities funding system was adopted in Arizona, the results are quite good, but plaintiffs are now back in court due to under funding of a crucial aspect of the system, the Building Renewal Fund.

In New Jersey, plaintiffs won a broad-based adequacy case that led to many improvements, including the Abbott School Construction Program, for the state's 30 high-need school districts. A recent implementation status report says "More New Schools in Design Stage, But Some Districts Lag Behind."

Prepared March 26, 2004