For Generations to Come: A Leadership Guide to Renewing Public School Buildings
21^st Century School Fund
http://www.21csf.org/csf-home/Documents/Organizing_Manual.pdf
This resource provides a guide to community members for becoming involved in the process of modernizing or building new schools. The authors explain how the condition and design of schools affect the quality of learning that takes place within them and how community involvement results in better education. They then break down the process of school redesign and construction into five steps: Assessment, Envisioning, Planning, Development, and Implementation. For each step, they give a detailed, practical description of the process and highlight stories from actual schools.

Healthy School Environment Assessment Tool
Environmental Protection Agency
http://www.epa.gov/schools/healthyseat/basicinformation.htm
Healthy SEAT is a self-assessment tool, which districts can customize and use to monitor the environmental conditions of their schools.

Initial School Self-Evaluation Instrument
North Central Regional Educational Laboratory
http://www.ncrel.org/csri/respub/initial.pdf
This self-evaluation instrument is designed for use by teachers, administrators, school board members, students, and community representatives. It allows users to evaluate their schools in four areas:  learning and teaching, governance and management, school improvement and professional development, and parent and community involvement. The teaching and learning section includes questions on resources and materials and technology integration.

Healthy Learning Environments
ASCD Information Brief, August 2004
http://snipurl.com/fpls
This brief discusses the importance of comprehensive school health programs that support the physical, emotional, and social health of students. The authors address the state policy context and the role of NCLB in student health, in addition to describing agencies who can assist in the process and specific components of coordinated school health programs, including community and parental involvement.

Healthy School Environment Web Pages
United States Environmental Protection Agency
http://cfpub.epa.gov/schools/index.cfm
The Healthy School Environments Web pages are intended to serve as a gateway to online resources to help facility managers, school administrators, architects, design engineers, school nurses, parents, teachers and staff address environmental health issues in schools.  Major categories with resources in the directory include: Chemical Use & Management; Design, Construction and Renovation; Energy Efficiency; Ventilation; Environmental Education; Facility Operations and Maintenance; Indoor Environmental Quality; Legislation and Regulation; Outdoor Air Pollution; Portable Classrooms; Safety/Preparedness; Waste; Waste Reduction; and Water.

Regional Contacts for Healthy Schools
United States Environmental Protection Agency
http://cfpub.epa.gov/schools/top_sub.cfm?r_id=4
The site is a clearinghouse of resources primarily intended to help improve the environment of school facilities in the Southeast. It includes state-level information for Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.

 

What Parents Can Do
George Lucas Educational Foundation
http://www.glef.org/php/article.php?id=Art_683&key=020      
This article recognizes that parents have a dual role to play in nurturing emotional development at home and at schools.  This tool provides strategies for modeling "emotionally intelligent" behavior at home as a first step, but also provides five action steps for working with members of your school community to create a climate that supports social and emotional learning.

What Business Can Do
George Lucas Educational Foundation
http://www.glef.org/php/article.php?id=Art_708&key=020
This article recognizes a few opportunities for businesses to promote emotional intelligence and social development of students by examining their own business practices and talking with schools about opportunities to support social and emotional learning.

Case Studies for Joint Use Facilities
New Schools for Better Neighborhoods
http://www.nsbn.org/case/jointuse/index.php
The site uses research and existing examples of real schools to show that new school facilities must be better integrated with the community year round.  The site argues that schools should serve a variety of community needs in partnership with a wide array of public, civic, and private organizations. Smarter designs for new or renovated school facilities can accommodate direct community access to spaces like libraries, gymnasiums, auditoriums, health clinics, athletic and recreational fields, and performing arts space.

Getting to Know You
George Lucas Educational Foundation
http://www.glef.org/php/article.php?id=Art_1062&key=020
This case study describes the effort to break down the 2,100 student James Madison Memorial High School in  Madison, Wisconsin through an innovative concept of neighborhood learning communities.

The Edible Schoolyard
The George Lucas Educational Foundation
http://www.glef.org/php/article.php?id=Art_1131&key=189
The students of the Martin Luther King Junior Middle School in Berkeley, California have the unique opportunity to grow and prepare their own organic foods through the school’s innovative “Edible Schoolyard” program.  Each week, students spend 90 minutes either working in the school’s gardens or kitchens.  This interactive article complete with audio and video clips outlines the program and the role that community volunteers play in making it possible.

Scaling Up, Scaling Down
Education Week (June 2004)
http://www.edweek.org/ew/collections/scaling-up-scaling-down/
This two-part series features a number of articles on efforts to create smaller schools, which research indicates increases student learning. The articles primarily focus on the creation of smaller schools in New York City and the Gates Foundation grants to create smaller schools throughout the country.

The Exponential Results of Linking School Improvement and Community Development:  Collaborative Strategies for Revitalizing Rural Schools and Communities
Southwest Educational Development Laboratory
http://www.sedl.org/prep/benefits2/issue5/
This issue of the Benefits newsletter outlines 8 basic steps for establishing collaborative groups that benefit both schools and the community. The authors explain the rationale for each step and suggest actions that school leaders can take to ensure success.  While intended primarily for rural schools, the suggestions and examples are of value to anyone interested in taking practical steps to strengthen school-community partnerships.

Build “Smart”
McCann, B., & Beaumont, C. (2003). American School Board Journal
http://www.smartgrowthamerica.com/SGA%20School%20Sprawl.pdf
This article contrasts “sprawl schools,” which are often located on the edge of town and are unsafe for children to walk to, with “smart growth” schools. Smart growth schools are smaller in size, located in established neighborhoods, integrate the community, and allow students to increase physical activity through walking or bilking to school. The author gives solutions to common problems with building such schools and lists states that are taking positive steps to allow for more smart growth construction.

Connection Collection
Southwest Educational Development Laboratory
http://www.sedl.org/connections/resources/bibsearch.html
This searchable database of over 240 articles provides school leaders and community members with a range of resources supporting family and community involvement in education.

Schools as Centers of Community: A Citizen’s Guide to Planning and Design
Bingler, S., Quinn, L., and Sullivan, K. (2003).
http://www.21csf.org/csf-home/publications/Schools_Centers_Community_Nov2003.pdf
The authors examine the challenges and opportunities related to building and renovating schools for the growing number of children in America. They advocate the idea of schools serving as centers of community interaction and emphasize that the process of designing and planning schools should involve the community. The paper enumerates design principles, shows those principles in action thirteen different schools, and explains how to develop and implement a plan to improve school facilities and how to involve different members of the community in that process.

An Ounce of Prevention
George Lucas Educational Foundation
http://www.glef.org/php/article.php?id=Art_667
At Brooklyn's P.S. 15, also known as Patrick Daly Elementary School, educators make a comprehensive effort to give kids the tools they need to become emotionally intelligent individuals able to move away from feelings and responses that prevent them from getting along with others, solving disputes peacefully, and concentrating on schoolwork.  This article describes the school’s experience using the curriculum of the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program (RCCP), an initiative of Educators for Social Responsibility.

Resolving Conflict Creatively Program
http://www.esrnational.org/about-rccp.html
The Resolving Conflict Creatively Program is a research-based school program that aims to prevent violence and create caring learning communities by developing students' social and emotion learning. This site describes the aims of the program, its specific components, such as professional development for teachers and peer mediation, and results of program evaluations.

Report from the National Summit on School Design
American Architectural Foundation and Knowledge Works Foundation
http://www.edfacilities.org/pubs/nationalsummit.pdf
In October 2005, the National Summit on School Design brought together a variety of education stakeholders, including teachers, parents, administrators, and architects. Together they developed eight recommendations for school design excellence, including making healthy comfortable flexible learning spaces. For each recommendation, the authors of the report include examples of model schools and a list of relevant online resources.

Efforts to Support Social and Emotional Learning
http://www.glef.org/php/article.php?id=Art_685
Even if a school does not have a formal program to support social and emotional learning for students, this resource provides tips for teachers to create emotionally intelligent classrooms and student-centered resources and activities to support classroom efforts.

Healthy School Environment Web Pages
United States Environmental Protection Agency
http://cfpub.epa.gov/schools/index.cfm
The Healthy School Environments Web pages are intended to serve as a gateway to online resources to help facility managers, school administrators, architects, design engineers, school nurses, parents, teachers and staff address environmental health issues in schools.  Major categories with resources in the directory include: Chemical Use & Management; Design, Construction and Renovation; Energy Efficiency; Ventilation; Environmental Education; Facility Operations and Maintenance; Indoor Environmental Quality; Legislation and Regulation; Outdoor Air Pollution; Portable Classrooms; Safety/Preparedness; Waste; Waste Reduction; and Water.

NASBE Checklist for Ensuring Healthy Schools
National Association of School Boards of Education
http://nasbe.org/HealthySchools/Health_Policies.html
This site provides a sample of five general health related school policies that can effectively promote a fit, healthy school environment where students are ready to learn.  The resource speaks to the role that districts and schools, school leadership, teachers, local policymakers, community members and parents can all play in helping ensure healthy school environments.

Healthy School Environment Assessment Tool
Environmental Protection Agency
http://www.epa.gov/schools/healthyseat/basicinformation.htm
Healthy SEAT is a self-assessment tool, which districts can customize and use to monitor the environmental conditions of their schools.

Initial School Self-Evaluation Instrument
North Central Regional Educational Laboratory
http://www.ncrel.org/csri/respub/initial.pdf
This self-evaluation instrument is designed for use by teachers, administrators, school board members, students, and community representatives. It allows users to evaluate their schools in four areas:  learning and teaching, governance and management, school improvement and professional development, and parent and community involvement. The teaching and learning section includes questions on resources and materials and technology integration.

Healthy School Environment Web Pages
United States Environmental Protection Agency
http://cfpub.epa.gov/schools/index.cfm
The Healthy School Environments Web pages are intended to serve as a gateway to online resources to help facility managers, school administrators, architects, design engineers, school nurses, parents, teachers and staff address environmental health issues in schools.  Major categories with resources in the directory include: Chemical Use & Management; Design, Construction and Renovation; Energy Efficiency; Ventilation; Environmental Education; Facility Operations and Maintenance; Indoor Environmental Quality; Legislation and Regulation; Outdoor Air Pollution; Portable Classrooms; Safety/Preparedness; Waste; Waste Reduction; and Water.

Building Healthy, High Performance Schools: A Review of Selected State and Local Initiatives.
Environmental Law Institute, Washington,  DC,  2003
http://www.elistore.org/reports_detail.asp?ID=10925
This report illustrates the policies, programs, and practices that have been adopted by selected states and school districts in order to incorporate a high performance approach in school planning, design, and construction. The report describes in detail the high performance school building initiatives of the states of California, Massachusetts and New Jersey, along with the districts of Los Angeles, Wake County, North Carolina, Elk River Area, Minnesota, and Edmonds, Washington. Various strategies for establishing regulatory requirements, building community support, developing partnerships and evaluating the results are discussed.

Healthy Schools Environment Assessment Tool
Environmental Protection Agency
http://www.epa.gov/schools/healthyseat/basicinformation.htm
Healthy SEAT is a self-assessment tool, which districts can customize and use to monitor the environmental conditions of their schools.

Healthy Learning Environments
ASCD Information Brief, August 2004
http://snipurl.com/fpls
This brief discusses the importance of comprehensive school health programs that support the physical, emotional, and social health of students. The authors address the state policy context and the role of NCLB in student health, in addition to describing agencies who can assist in the process and specific components of coordinated school health programs, including community and parental involvement.

Healthy School Environment Web Pages
United States Environmental Protection Agency
http://cfpub.epa.gov/schools/index.cfm
The Healthy School Environments Web pages are intended to serve as a gateway to online resources to help facility managers, school administrators, architects, design engineers, school nurses, parents, teachers and staff address environmental health issues in schools.  Major categories with resources in the directory include: Chemical Use & Management; Design, Construction and Renovation; Energy Efficiency; Ventilation; Environmental Education; Facility Operations and Maintenance; Indoor Environmental Quality; Legislation and Regulation; Outdoor Air Pollution; Portable Classrooms; Safety/Preparedness; Waste; Waste Reduction; and Water.

NASBE Checklist for Ensuring Healthy Schools
National Association of School Boards of Education
http://nasbe.org/HealthySchools/Health_Policies.html
This site provides a sample of five general health related school policies that can effectively promote a fit, healthy school environment where students are ready to learn.  The resource speaks to the role that districts and schools, school leadership, teachers, local policymakers, community members and parents can all play in helping ensure healthy school environments.

Regional Contacts for Healthy Schools
United States Environmental Protection Agency
http://cfpub.epa.gov/schools/top_sub.cfm?r_id=4
The site is a clearinghouse of resources primarily intended to help improve the environment of school facilities in the Southeast. It includes state-level information for Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.
 

Do School Facilities Affect Academic Outcomes
BEST Initiative
http://www.edfacilities.org/pubs/outcomes.pdf
This review of current school facilities research concludes that spatial configurations, noise, temperature, daylight, and air quality have an effect on students’ and teachers’ ability to perform in the classroom. However, it points out the need for more empirical research and for standardized data so individual schools can make use of the existing body of research on best practices.

Public School Facilities and Teaching
BEST Initiatives
http://www.21csf.org/csf-home/Documents/Teacher_Survey/
SCHOOL_FACS_AND_TEACHING.pdf         
As part of the BEST initiative, the 21st Century School Fund commissioned a survey of 1,950 public school teachers in Chicago and  Washington, DC to assess the effect of school facilities on teaching. This survey was used to identify what factors teachers believe are important to their ability to teach; assess the adequacy of school conditions and school design as experienced by teachers; examine the distribution of quality school facilities; and analyze the impact of facilities on learning outcomes.

Six Strategies for Improving School Health Programs by Strengthening Professional Development
United States Center for Disease Control
http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/publications/pdf/six_strategies.pdf
This resource from the Center for Disease control is aimed at improving school health and the overall health of students through effective professional development.  The authors present six strategies for strengthening professional development and give a series of action steps for implementing each one.

A Summary of Scientific Findings on Adverse Effects of Indoor Environments on Students’ Health, Academic Performance, and Attendance
U.S. Department of Education. (2004).
http://www.iehinc.com/PDF/effects%20on%20students.pdf
This literature review by the Department of Education summarizes the current state of scientific knowledge about the effect of school environments on student health and highlights areas in need of more research. Overall, researchers found that poor indoor environments in schools can adversely affect students’ health, attendance, and overall performance in school.

Building Healthy, High Performance Schools: A Review of Selected State and Local Initiatives.
Environmental Law Institute, Washington,  DC,  2003
http://www.elistore.org/reports_detail.asp?ID=10925
This report illustrates the policies, programs, and practices that have been adopted by selected states and school districts in order to incorporate a high performance approach in school planning, design, and construction. The report describes in detail the high performance school building initiatives of the states of California, Massachusetts and New Jersey, along with the districts of Los Angeles, Wake County, North Carolina, Elk River Area, Minnesota, and Edmonds, Washington. Various strategies for establishing regulatory requirements, building community support, developing partnerships and evaluating the results are discussed.

(Re)Designing Learning Environments
The George Lucas Educational Foundation
http://www.glef.org/redesigning/html/case.html
This site includes a set of case studies from the George Lucas Educational Foundation highlighting a diverse group of schools across the country which have designed innovative learning communities that help kids learn.  Interactive case studies provide background, timelines and strategies for creating or renovating school communities and facilities that work for multiple partners.

Healthy School Environment Assessment Tool
Environmental Protection Agency
http://www.epa.gov/schools/healthyseat/basicinformation.htm
Healthy SEAT is a self-assessment tool, which districts can customize and use to monitor the environmental conditions of their schools.

Healthy Learning Environments
ASCD Information Brief, August 2004
http://snipurl.com/fpls
This brief discusses the importance of comprehensive school health programs that support the physical, emotional, and social health of students. The authors address the state policy context and the role of NCLB in student health, in addition to describing agencies who can assist in the process and specific components of coordinated school health programs, including community and parental involvement.

Healthy School Environment Web Pages
United States Environmental Protection Agency
http://cfpub.epa.gov/schools/index.cfm
The Healthy School Environments Web pages are intended to serve as a gateway to online resources to help facility managers, school administrators, architects, design engineers, school nurses, parents, teachers and staff address environmental health issues in schools.  Major categories with resources in the directory include: Chemical Use & Management; Design, Construction and Renovation; Energy Efficiency; Ventilation; Environmental Education; Facility Operations and Maintenance; Indoor Environmental Quality; Legislation and Regulation; Outdoor Air Pollution; Portable Classrooms; Safety/Preparedness; Waste; Waste Reduction; and Water.

NASBE Checklist for Ensuring Healthy Schools
National Association of School Boards of Education
http://nasbe.org/HealthySchools/Health_Policies.html
Site provides a sample of five general health related school policies that can effectively promote a fit, healthy school environment where students are ready to learn.  The resource speaks to the role that districts and schools, school leadership, teachers, local policymakers, community members and parents can all play in helping ensure healthy school environments.

National School Boards Association School Health Programs
http://www.nsba.org/site/page_schoolhealth_search.asp?TRACKID=&CID=1116&DID=12022#
To assist policymakers and others in the school community to make informed decisions, NSBA has developed the School Health Resource Database, an ever-expanding source of up-to-date information and materials, including sample school district policies, journal articles, research summaries, fact sheets, and more.

Regional Contacts for Healthy Schools
United States Environmental Protection Agency
http://cfpub.epa.gov/schools/top_sub.cfm?r_id=4
The site is a clearinghouse of resources primarily intended to help improve the environment of school facilities in the Southeast. It includes state-level information for Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.
 

Case Studies for Joint Use Facilities
New Schools for Better Neighborhoods
http://www.nsbn.org/case/jointuse/index.php
The site uses research and existing examples of real schools to show that new school facilities must be better integrated with the community year round.  The site argues that schools should serve a variety of community needs in partnership with a wide array of public, civic, and private organizations. Smarter designs for new or renovated school facilities can accommodate direct community access to spaces like libraries, gymnasiums, auditoriums, health clinics, athletic and recreational fields, and performing arts space.

The Edible Schoolyard
The George Lucas Educational Foundation
http://www.glef.org/php/article.php?id=Art_1131&key=189
The students of the Martin Luther King Junior Middle School in Berkeley, California have the unique opportunity to grow and prepare their own organic foods through the school’s innovative “Edible Schoolyard” program.  Each week, students spend 90 minutes either working in the school’s gardens or kitchens.  This interactive article complete with audio and video clips outlines the program and the role that community volunteers play in making it possible.

Getting to Know You
George Lucas Educational Foundation
http://www.glef.org/php/article.php?id=Art_1062&key=020
This case study describes the effort to break down the 2,100 student James Madison Memorial High School in  Madison, Wisconsin through an innovative concept of neighborhood learning communities.

John A. Johnson Achievement Plus Elementary
Great Schools by Design
http://www.archfoundation.org/aaf/documents/JAJ.DiscussionGuide.pdf
This document highlights how renovations at John A. Johnson Achievement Plus Elementary in St. Paul, Minnesota lead to increased student achievement and transformed the school into a center of community. The discussion guide, together with a video describing the innovations at this school, is intended to engage education stakeholders and community members in conversations about creating schools that are centers of communities. It includes a discussion outline and extensive advice on how to effectively facilitate and follow up on these community conversations.

(Re)Designing Learning Environments
The George Lucas Educational Foundation
http://www.glef.org/redesigning/html/case.html
This site includes a set of case studies from the George Lucas Educational Foundation highlighting a diverse group of schools across the country which have designed innovative learning communities that help kids learn.  Interactive case studies provide background, timelines and strategies for creating or renovating school communities and facilities that work for multiple partners.

Scaling Up, Scaling Down
Education Week (June 2004)
http://www.edweek.org/ew/collections/scaling-up-scaling-down/
This two-part series features a number of articles on efforts to create smaller schools, which research indicates increases student learning. The articles primarily focus on the creation of smaller schools in New York City and the Gates Foundation grants to create smaller schools throughout the country.

Schools as Centers of Community: A Citizen’s Guide to Planning and Design
Bingler, S., Quinn, L., and Sullivan, K. (2003).
http://www.21csf.org/csf-home/publications/Schools_Centers_Community_Nov2003.pdf
The authors examine the challenges and opportunities related to building and renovating schools for the growing number of children in America. They advocate the idea of schools serving as centers of community interaction and emphasize that the process of designing and planning schools should involve the community. The paper enumerates design principles, shows those principles in action thirteen different schools, and explains how to develop and implement a plan to improve school facilities and how to involve different members of the community in that process.

Build “Smart”
McCann, B., & Beaumont, C. (2003). American School Board Journal
http://www.smartgrowthamerica.com/SGA%20School%20Sprawl.pdf
This article contrasts “sprawl schools,” which are often located on the edge of town and are unsafe for children to walk to, with “smart growth” schools. Smart growth schools are smaller in size, located in established neighborhoods, integrate the community, and allow students to increase physical activity through walking or bilking to school. The author gives solutions to common problems with building such schools and lists states that are taking positive steps to allow for more smart growth construction.

School Facilities: A Team Approach to Building a New School
Bell, Don. (April, 2003). The School Administrator.
http://www.aasa.org/publications/sa/2003_04/focus_bell.htm
A column from the AASA helps administrators consider important steps to take and questions to consider in beginning a team approach to renovating an existing facility or building a new school facility. The author focuses on building schools that respond to the needs of the people within them.

Building Healthy, High Performance Schools: A Review of Selected State and Local Initiatives.
Environmental Law Institute, Washington,  DC,  2003
http://www.elistore.org/reports_detail.asp?ID=10925
This report illustrates the policies, programs, and practices that have been adopted by selected states and school districts in order to incorporate a high performance approach in school planning, design, and construction. The report describes in detail the high performance school building initiatives of the states of California, Massachusetts and New Jersey, along with the districts of Los Angeles, Wake County, North Carolina, Elk River Area, Minnesota, and Edmonds, Washington. Various strategies for establishing regulatory requirements, building community support, developing partnerships and evaluating the results are discussed.

Prototype School Design Clearinghouse
Department of Public Instruction, NC – School Clearinghouse
http://www.schoolclearinghouse.org/clearinghouse.asp
The site includes many examples of  North Carolina schools that have successfully used facilities and resources to improve teacher working and student learning conditions. 

(Re)Designing Learning Environments
The George Lucas Educational Foundation
http://www.glef.org/redesigning/html/case.html
This site includes a set of case studies from the George Lucas Educational Foundation highlighting a diverse group of schools across the country which have designed innovative learning communities that help kids learn.  Interactive case studies provide background, timelines and strategies for creating or renovating school communities and facilities that work for multiple partners.

Building Better Schools
Madsen, J. (2005). Buildings.
http://www.buildings.com/Articles/detailBuildings.asp?articleID=2609
This article describes high performance school designs, which focus on indoor air quality, thermal comfort, light, and acoustics. The authors discuss the benefits of such schools on students, faculty, owners and operators, the community and the environment and consider the costs of creating such school facilities.

A Summary of Scientific Findings on Adverse Effects of Indoor Environments on Students’ Health, Academic Performance, and Attendance
U.S. Department of Education. (2004).
http://www.iehinc.com/PDF/effects%20on%20students.pdf
This literature review by the Department of Education summarizes the current state of scientific knowledge about the effect of school environments on student health and highlights areas in need of more research. Overall, researchers found that poor indoor environments in schools can adversely affect students’ health, attendance, and overall performance in school.

What Policymakers Can Do
George Lucas Education Foundation
http://www.glef.org/php/article.php?id=Art_684&key=020
This article considers how various policymakers can support the social and emotional development of students by recognizing and evaluating the significance of various character development efforts within school districts.

National School Boards Association School Health Programs
http://www.nsba.org/site/page_schoolhealth_search.asp?TRACKID=&CID=1116&DID=12022#
To assist policymakers and others in the school community to make informed decisions, NSBA has developed the School Health Resource Database, an ever-expanding source of up-to-date information and materials, including sample school district policies, journal articles, research summaries, fact sheets, and more.

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