M.Ed. (Educational Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Cities and schools are traditionally planned in separate silos by local governments and school boards. Collaborative school facility planning (CSP) unites these two silos and integrates decision-making by city and school entities. This research addresses the relationship between urban planning and school facility planning in New Orleans, Louisiana, where CSP is particularly important in light of rebuilding efforts since Hurricane Katrina. The researcher examines the extent, challenges, and opportunities for CSP in New Orleans. Based on interviews and recent planning texts, little collaboration existed in the past; but the decommissioning of 52 New Orleans public school facilities presents an unmistakable opportunity for improved CSP in the near future. The broader implications of this thesis suggest that an alternative model for CSP is needed for low-growth, urban communities whose primary concern is not new school construction but old facility closure and reuse.

This document is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree: Master of Architecture [Professional] at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, in the year 2013. / In South Africa there are approximately three million people between the ages of 18 and 24 who are unemployed or not part of an education or training institute. There are residing issues concerning education in post-apartheid South Africa, such as poor quality education in areas where the socio-economic climates still prove challenging and an increasing absence of educational institutions and training facilities. As a result, South Africa is suffering from a lack of skilled labour across all sectors of trade. In the Green Paper for Post-School Education and Training, published in 2012, the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) addresses the current issues around education in South Africa and indicates that part of the resolution is to form a “nexus between the formal education system and the workplace.” Both private and public sectors need to adopt new infrastructure to ensure a higher success rate for empowering South Africans through the provision of skills-based education. This thesis is about creating a ‘new’ school idea - The Incubation Hub - for artisans, where architectural technological innovation meets education in South Africa, opens up vocational opportunities and subsequently allows for economic growth. The ‘new’ school will not only create a stronger and a more advanced workforce for South Africa but aims to bridge the gap between the corporate sector and the education and political sectors. The Incubation Hub tackles the proposed matter by recognising the opportunity for an architectural intervention, whereby a literal and physical symbiotic relationship is formed between two buildings – each with a separate function and role in society and the economy - that unites their individual responsibilities to create a new identity. In doing so, the Incubation Hub aims to improve the social and economic status of South Africa on a local and global level.

Thesis. 1975. M.Arch.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. / Bibliography: leaf 26. / by Dennis J. Fogarty. / M.Arch.

The purpose of this descriptive qualitative study was to establish guidelines for planning future public school facilities based upon identified global, societal, and educational trends that would most likely highly impact upon the types of public school facilities that will be built in the future. Based upon an extensive literature review, interviews with educational practitioners and facility specialists, and on-site visits to 15 schools in four states, 66 guideline elements were developed. These elements were submitted in a questionnaire/rating sheet format to a researcher-selected jury of 13 national educational facility planning specialists (100% Response Rate) for their evaluations. The five sections for which the final set of guidelines were established were: (1) Planning, Design, and Site Selection; (2) Environmental Enhancement Factors; (3) Space Utilization; (4) Technology; and (5) School and Community Service Areas. The findings were that all 66 guidelines were rated as essential, highly desirable, or significant by the jurors. The major conclusions reached from the study were several: (1) Educational practitioners advocated systematic, proactive, long- and short-range facility planning. This planning should be broad-based and pluralistic with flexibility, mobility, and adaptability as the cornerstones of the school design process. All planning should be based on both "hard" and "soft" data. Planning should also be both bottom-up and top-down with maximum information shared with the stakeholders. (2) Aesthetic, psychological, and behavioral environmental enhancement factors were key areas in future school designs. Facilities should be student-centered and "user-friendly" with an external welcoming appearance. The selection of the school site was extremely important, also. (3) Schools should be designed to offer optimal comfort to all inhabitants with flexible spaces where teachers and students can learn, relate, and explore. Schools and communities should share resources if possible.

The purpose of this case study was to explore the perceptions of school district administrators and members of the community about the influence of school-based activities had on voter behavior. The case study focused on a school district in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Interviews were held with the school district administrators and taxpayers in the community. The surveyed taxpayers were prominent, influential and well informed about the school district and the community. Three questions were addressed to both the school administrators and taxpayers. (1.) What are the perceptions of the interviewee on the influence of school site activities on voter behavior? (2.) What activities would the interviewee perceive to be most effective in gaining/keeping community support? (3.) Does the interviewee perceive anything unusual about the community in its participation in school site activities and/or non-school activities? It was found that attracting the people to the school site can be a positive influence, provided that the schoolsite is in good order. The activities most effective in gaining/keeping community support were those activities that pulled the widest range of community members to the school site. The administrators perceived the large attendance at school activities as support for the school system rather than the family members supporting the children. Administrators were also aware of a large segment of the community without school-age children, yet no active budgeted plans to reach them had been made. Furthermore, community members felt that the district should live within their budget even though there was large community support for school based activities. The change in demographic characteristics, increased enrollment, and increased property evaluations have caused the community's perception of the school district to become more fiscally conservative. Due to the lack of trust by the taxpayers, the school district needs to be sensitive to the community by furnishing timely information about the how and why public monies are being spent. / Graduation date: 1994

The purpose of the study was to identify perceptions of the contributions made by superintendents and architects respectively when programming a new school. Areas of collaboration were determined by a qualitative analysis of the responses of superintendents and architects to questions regarding their perceptions of areas to discuss when collaborating in the designing of a new school. Ninety-four Texas superintendents and forty-six architects participated in the survey. Major research findings from this study addressed the areas of knowledge needed to enhance the collaboration process. Budget is the driving force within the collaboration between superintendents and architects when designing a school. The superintendent is the key communicator in the design process. Architects are the individuals most concerned with using the instructional delivery methods used by teachers to guide the design process. Three main areas to address when designing a school to support student safety are accessibility, surveillance and visibility. Instructional specialists, specifically at the district-level, are often not included as a part of the facilities committee. Superintendents obtain knowledge and the skill to collaborate with architects on a school design process through on-the-job experience. Recommendations are made to further enhance the collaboration. Superintendents and architects need to view budgets as a way to prioritize needs rather than to limit possibilities when designing a school. Superintendents must continue to be aware that they are the lead communicator in the school design process and must continue to work to effectively communicate their district�s and community�s needs, expectations, and vision. Superintendents must be prepared to communicate instructional delivery methods and expectations to architects when designing a school. Superintendents and architects need to consider accessibility, camera surveillance, and visibility when designing a school to support student safety. Facilities committees should include district level curriculum experts as part of the school design process, as these individuals are knowledgeable of the district�s instructional vision. It is important for superintendents who are designing a school project to have prior experience in participating in the design process, or to collaborate with other superintendents with experience to guide and assist them in the process.

Research shows the environment affects the user both psychologically and physiologically. Teachers often alter their classrooms in order to effect these changes, for instance, by adding elements for warmth, offsetting harsh lighting, or using found objects to mark and divide space. Research and observed use communicate a need for a planned variety of spaces in function and in character. The project is a redesign of Therrell High School in southwest Atlanta seeking to complement the new movement to small learning communities, which embeds programmatic variety in the public school system. Therrell is divided into three small thematically described academies, which effectively function as three separate high schools: the School of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math; the School of Health Sciences and Research; the School of Law, Government, and Public Policy. The design focuses on the necessary variability of spaces inherent in small learning communities. These spaces seek to address the varied instructional strategies that accompany the thematic endeavors of each school and introduce variety in architectural character, thus accommodating variable needs and desires of students. The focus of the project is on the student and the nature of space that fosters positive experiences as well as positive learning outcomes.

No description available.

The purposes of the study were: (1) to identify schools and/or school districts in which extended school year or year-round school programs were currently in operation in each of the fifty states of the United States of America; (2) to identify schools and/or school districts in the United States of America where year-round or extended school year programs had been implemented and abandoned since 1956; (3) to identify schools and/or school districts in the United States of America in which year-round or extended school year programs were to be implemented in the near future; (4) to determine the type of extended school year or year-round programs and variations of programs conducted or to be conducted in each school district identified as part of the study population; (5) to determine the extent to which each year-round or extended school year design or variation of a design had or had not permitted district officials to achieve a common set of year-round school objectives found in the literature and presented in Chapters I, II, and III of the study.The investigation was conducted in two phases. Both phases were conducted by survey questionnaire instruments.