Nearly half of the nation's school buildings need to be renovated or replaced. This book provides a knowledge base for administrators to plan and manage construction projects, and addresses specific planning tasks including public opinion polling, enrollment projections, financial planning, selecting architects and other professionals, and managing facilities once they are operational. Theodore Kowalski addresses the administrative procedures associated with planning and managing school facilities. As noted at the outset, practitioner interest in school facilities has been growing rapidly in recent years because decades of neglect, poor planning, and cost cutting have created a situation in which large numbers of America's school buildings are in need of major repair or replacement. At the same time, the realization that costs related to repair and replacement have escalated significantly has fueled a new concern among school facility planning and management. Writing for school administrators, superintendents, and board members as well as graudate students in education, Kowalski discusses planning from the perspective of both individual facility projects and more comprehensive district-wide efforts. The responsibilities associated with administering school buildings are also approached from the individual school and district program perspectives. Part One of the book examines historical and contemporary perspectives of school facility planning. A systems perspective is provided for defining the adequacy of school buildings, and the effects of changing demographics, school reform, technology, and obsolescence are detailed. Various planning paradigms and needs assessment are the foci for Part Two. Part Three examines specific tasks related to completing a facility project. They include public opinion polling, securing professional services, and management responsibilities before, during, and after construction. Part Four includes these focused issues: planning elementary schools, planning secondary schools, doing enrollment projections, working with other agencies, choosing between renovation and new construction, financing capital outlay, and maintaining facilities once they become operational.

This book provides a detailed discussion of all of the processes involved in planning a school building. From a discussion on how to organize the local staff to the final evaluation of the building, the separate processes are described in detail.

This book includes a thorough conceptual framework, with descriptions and "how to" applications of educational planning, architectural design, and research. Serving as both a reference and textbook, each of the 18 chapters includes exercises to expand traditional and computer-assisted facilities planning and design activities. The book is amenable to web-assisted instruction and there are numerous citations from the Internet. Each chapter provides a special "reality-based" contribution to the educational facilities planning and design process. Ideas are conveyed through comprehensive descriptions, illustrations, summaries, and extended activities developed to increase understanding and emphasize the relevance of school planning and design in a regulated, political climate. The reader is guided to visualize a broader context for educational planning and design, where design principles are categorized according to building organization, primary education, shared school and community resources, character of all spaces, and site design and outdoor spaces.

Evidence has accumulated that shows that the quality of indoor environments can affect the health and productivity of adults and children. One consequence is that a movement has emerged to promote the design of schools that have fewer adverse environmental effects. To examine the potential of such design for improving education, several private organizations asked the NRC to review and assess the health and productivity benefits of green schools. This report provides an analysis of the complexity of making such a determination; and an assessment of the potential human health and performance benefits of improvements in the building envelope, indoor air quality, lighting, and acoustical quality. The report also presents an assessment of the overall building condition and student achievement, and offers an analysis of and recommendations for planning and maintaining green schools including research considerations.

Developing and updating school improvement plans is an annual ritual for virtually all school principals and their school improvement committees. Still, large numbers of schools continue to produce disappointing outcomes. The authors believe that part of the problem is the result of plans that focus on the wrong targets and that rely on ineffective strategies for improvement. To help principals and their school improvement committees develop and implement plans with a greater likelihood of success, the authors offer a step-by-step process for school improvement planning. They go on to pinpoint specific school improvement goals, including raising reading and mathematics achievement, building robust school cultures, addressing the needs of English language learners, improving instruction, and reducing absenteeism and dropouts. For each goal, a variety of objectives and proven strategies is presented along with sample school improvement plans. The book addresses the differences in planning to turn around a low-performing school, planning to sustain improvements over time, and planning to move a good school to a great school.