This book can be used as a graduate school text for courses in school buildings and facilities. It is probably more suitable as a guide for practitioners especially school district superintendents in small to medium sized school districts. Such districts make up the majority of school districts in this country. Lunenburg and Ornstein (1996) reported that 38% of the 15,000+ school districts in America enroll fewer than 1,000 students; and another 37% enroll from 1,000 to 5,000 students. America is a country of relatively small school districts. The book opens with a brief overview of the history of twentieth century school buildings and moves from there into a brief discussion of the requirements of today’s school buildings as integral parts of the communities they serve. Citizens need to understand problems and issues involving their school buildings. Understandings are reached through practice of positive relations between school and community. Good public relations facilitates mobilization of the public to assure that school buildings ultimately serve the publics’ interests.

'The Impact of School Infrastructure on Learning: A Synthesis of the Evidence provides an excellent literature review of the resources that explore the areas of focus for improved student learning, particularly the aspiration for “accessible, well-built, child-centered, synergetic and fully realized learning environments.†? Written in a style which is both clear and accessible, it is a practical reference for senior government officials and professionals involved in the planning and design of educational facilities, as well as for educators and school leaders. --Yuri Belfali, Head of Division, Early Childhood and Schools, OECD Directorate for Education and Skills This is an important and welcome addition to the surprisingly small, evidence base on the impacts of school infrastructure given the capital investment involved. It will provide policy makers, practitioners, and those who are about to commission a new build with an important and comprehensive point of reference. The emphasis on safe and healthy spaces for teaching and learning is particularly welcome. --Harry Daniels, Professor of Education, Department of Education, Oxford University, UK This report offers a useful library of recent research to support the, connection between facility quality and student outcomes. At the same time, it also points to the unmet need for research to provide verifiable and reliable information on this connection. With such evidence, decisionmakers will be better positioned to accurately balance the allocation of limited resources among the multiple competing dimensions of school policy, including the construction and maintenance of the school facility. --David Lever, K-12 Facility Planner, Former Executive Director of the Interagency Committee on School Construction, Maryland Many planners and designers are seeking a succinct body of research defining both the issues surrounding the global planning of facilities as well as the educational outcomes based on the quality of the space provided. The authors have finally brought that body of evidence together in this well-structured report. The case for better educational facilities is clearly defined and resources are succinctly identified to stimulate the dialogue to come. We should all join this conversation to further the process of globally enhancing learning-environment quality! --David Schrader, AIA, Educational Facility Planner and Designer, Former Chairman of the Board of Directors, Association for Learning Environments (A4LE)

A new approach to help kids with ADHD and LD succeed in and outside the classroom This groundbreaking book addresses the consequences of the unabated stress associated with Learning disabilities and ADHD and the toxic, deleterious impact of this stress on kids' academic learning, social skills, behavior, and efficient brain functioning. Schultz draws upon three decades of work as a neuropsychologist, teacher educator, and school consultant to address this gap. This book can help change the way parents and teachers think about why kids with LD and ADHD find school and homework so toxic. It will also offer an abundant supply of practical, understandable strategies that have been shown to reduce stress at school and at home. Offers a new way to look at why kids with ADHD/LD struggle at school Provides effective strategies to reduce stress in kids with ADHD and LD Includes helpful rating scales, checklists, and printable charts to use at school and home This important resource is written by a faculty member of Harvard Medical School in the Department of Psychiatry and former classroom teacher.