The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between selected budgetary expenditures for facilities and debt service and building conditions in the Commonwealth of Virginia. One research question and three sub-questions for selected school divisions were used to investigate this topic. The major data components used in this study were provided by the Virginia Department of Education. Twenty -two school divisions in the Commonwealth of Virginia were selected for the study, based on a previous study conducted by Crook (2006). Crook identified and classified selected school divisions as standard or substandard pursuant to the responses of principals who responded to the Commonwealth Assessment of Physical Environment (CAPE) assessment instrument. The line items of "facilities and debt service" were analyzed over a five year period for fiscal years 2000-2005. An independent t-test drawn from SPSS software was used to determine statistical significance between combined per-pupil expenditures for facilities and debt service. A comparison of the (1) means of total expenditures in the facilities and debt service line items, (2) total per-pupil expenditures, and (3) annual per-pupil expenditures was used to determine statistical significance. Analysis of the VEA measure of fiscal capacity and effort was conducted to ascertain the similarity of the two groups of school divisions. The findings of the study indicate that an analysis of total expenditure and per-pupil spending during the fiscal years of 2000-2005 reveal strong statistical significance in spending between school divisions with buildings classified as satisfactory and unsatisfactory in the line items of facilities and debt service. Analysis of five year total expenditure mean revealed there was strong statistical significance found in the two financial line items. Analysis of yearly per-pupil expenditures revealed that there was no statistical significance in the budget line item of facilities. Statistical significance was found in the financial line item of debt service during the academic year of 2000-2001 with a p value of (.025). / Ph. D.

The No Child Left Behind legislation has served to make educators throughout the country more aware of the need to increase student academic performance on an annual basis. As part of the effort to report on satisfactory performance, the Virginia Department of Education evaluates school organizations based upon the annual student percent pass rate on the Standards of Learning assessment. This evaluation may result in schools being categorized as either low or high performing. The major difference between the two categories is obviously student academic performance, but there may be other differences in the school organizations that would also account for the categorization of schools. This leads to the possibility of other variables that may play a part in the difference between low and high performing schools. Five possible variables that may have such an influence would be the condition of the school building, teacher quality, school enrollment, student attendance and participation in the free and reduced-priced lunch program. These were the five variables that were investigated in this study which sought to ascertain if there is a difference in the teacher quality measure when the school is rated as either high or low performing. If a difference exists, the data may indicate that the quality of the teacher influences the rating of the school. Likewise, data regarding the condition of the building, school enrollment and student attendance rates and participation in the free and reduced-price lunch program may indicate an influence that these variables may have upon the rating of the school performance. All of this could be of importance to local school authorities in making decisions relative to improving student learning. This study found there to be no significant difference between the building conditions, teacher quality, and school enrollment in the high and low performing schools; however, a significant difference did exist between the student attendance rates and in the population of students participating in the free and reduced-price lunch program in the high and low performing schools. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to examine the possible relationships that exist between the overall, structural, and cosmetic school building conditions and student achievement and chronic absenteeism of students who attend urban high schools located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This study utilized the Revised Commonwealth Appraisal of the Physical Environment (CAPE), for principals of high schools in urban school divisions in the Commonwealth of Virginia, to assess the condition of their school buildings. The Revised CAPE survey measured the educational condition of the school building by accessing elements and features of a school building that research has shown to have an influence on the learning environment (Cash and Earthman, 2019). The school's student academic achievement data for English, mathematics, and science, along with chronic absenteeism data from the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) was used to investigate if there was a relationship between school building conditions and student achievement and chronic absenteeism. This study sought to answer the following research questions: 1. What is the relationship between the Achievement of All Students in English reading/writing and progress of English learners towards English language proficiency (English Combined Rate) on the Virginia Standards of Learning assessment and the condition of the school building in urban high schools? 2. What is the relationship between the Achievement of All Students in mathematics on the Virginia Standards of Learning assessments and the condition of the school building in urban high schools? 3. What is the relationship between the Achievement of All Students in Science on the Virginia Standards of Learning assessments and the condition of the school building in urban high schools? 4. What is the relationship between chronic absenteeism and the condition of the school building in urban high schools? Research has shown that students who attend school in school buildings that are rated above standard, or standard outperform students in school buildings rated in poor condition (Earthman, 2018) and relationships have been found between poor school building condition and greater school absenteeism (Simon et al., 2010). An ANOVA statistical test was conducted to compare the percent of Schools' Academic Achievement of All Students on the SOL assessments for English, mathematics, and science and chronic absenteeism percentage rates in the schools identified as standard to schools identified as substandard. Findings from this study indicated that the condition of school buildings had a significant relationship with student achievement and chronic absenteeism. Associated implications for practitioners included a need to conduct facility and safety audits, train principals on the impact school building conditions have on student achievement and chronic absenteeism and ensure school buildings are equipped with sufficient safeguards to provide safe learning environments. / Doctor of Education / The purpose of this study was to examine the possible relationships that exist between the overall, structural, and cosmetic school building conditions and student achievement and chronic absenteeism of students who attend urban high schools located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Eighteen principals across the Commonwealth completed the Revised CAPE survey to assess the condition of their school buildings. The Revised CAPE survey measured the educational condition of the school building by accessing elements and features of a school building that research has shown to have an influence on the learning environment, (Cash and Earthman, 2019). The school's student academic achievement data for English, mathematics, and science, along with chronic absenteeism data from the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) was used to examine if there was a relationship between school building conditions and student achievement and chronic absenteeism. This study sought to answer the following research questions: 1. What is the relationship between the Academic Achievement of All Students in English reading/writing and progress of English learners towards English language proficiency (English Combined Rate) on the Virginia Standards of Learning assessment and the condition of the school building in urban high schools? 2. What is the relationship between the Academic Achievement of All Students in mathematics on the Virginia Standards of Learning assessments and the condition of the school building in urban high schools? 3. What is the relationship between the Academic Achievement of All Students in Science on the Virginia Standards of Learning assessments and the condition of the school building in urban high schools? 4. What is the relationship between chronic absenteeism and the condition of the school building in urban high schools? Research has shown that students who attend school in school buildings that are rated above standard, or standard outperform students in school buildings rated in poor condition (Earthman, 2018) and relationships have been found between poor school building condition and greater school absenteeism (Simon et al., 2010). Findings from this study showed a significant relationship between the conditions of school buildings and student achievement and chronic absenteeism.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between school leadership and the quality, condition, maintenance, improvements, and renovations of public school buildings. The first question examined the relationship between building conditions and perceptions of school board members, superintendent and central office staff, board of supervisors, and principals. The second question examined the relationship between building conditions and the financial support of leadership positions. The third question examined the relationship between the behavioral effort of leadership and the condition of school buildings. This study had three major data components. These components are (a) perceptions of school board members, superintendent and central office staff, board of supervisors, and principals concerning the condition of school buildings; (b) findings of an independent contractor on condition of school buildings; and (c) the cyclical budgetary process of building maintenance and improvement requests from leadership within the school division over the past five years and subsequent budgetary approvals. Survey responses were used to compile descriptive statistics and correlations. Actual observation data by an independent contractor were analyzed by percentage of scaled scores in each category and compared to the perceptions of the leadership surveys on school building conditions and subsequently categorized into ratings of above standard, standard, or below standard. Descriptive comparisons of budget requests for building maintenance and improvements were used in determining the extent of responsiveness by school board members, superintendent and central office staff, board of supervisors, and principals to the future of the quality and condition of school buildings. The findings in this study indicate there is a positive relationship between building conditions and leadership and financial support. The perceptions of the corporate leadership of the school division that maintaining school facilities was a high priority were related to their subsequent requests and allocations of funds. / Ed. D.

This study investigated the relationship between school building conditions and student academic achievement in Pennsylvania's high schools. Research questions analyzed by step-wise multiple regression were: (a) Is there a relationship between overall school building conditions and student academic achievement in Pennsylvania's high schools when socio-economic status (SES) is held constant?; (b) Is there a relationship between the cosmetic conditions of school facilities and student academic achievement in Pennsylvania's high schools when socio-economic status (SES) is held constant?; and (c) Is there a relationship between the structural conditions of school facilities and student academic achievement in Pennsylvania's high schools when socio-economic status (SES) is held constant? Two hundred and five randomly selected high schools in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania were identified as the population for this study. Selected high school principals or principal designees were sent an on-line version of a modified Commonwealth Assessment of Physical Environment (CAPE) survey to ascertain information regarding the building conditions of their respective high schools. Student academic achievement data was measured by a three year scale score average of students' performance on the writing, reading and mathematics sections of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) exams. Socio-economic status (SES) was identified as the percentage of students eligible for free or reduced lunch. This factor was used as a covariant to control academic achievement variance related to SES. A step-wise regression analysis identified that a relationship exists between high school building conditions and student academic achievement in Pennsylvania's high schools. As the building conditions in the participant high schools surveyed improved, a corresponding increase in the academic achievement of its students was noted. It did not appear to matter if the improvement in a school buildings condition was cosmetic or structural; any improvement in a school buildings condition was associated with an increase in student academic achievement. This would seem to indicate that a relationship exists between student academic achievement and school building conditions in Pennsylvania high schools. / Ed. D.

The relationships between building condition and student achievement, student behavior, and student attitude were investigated by reviewing research. A synthesis of research studies from 1998 through 2008 was completed. A matrix was replicated from Lemasters’ 1997 study that identified the researchers used in each study. The matrix presented each author and the areas each author researched. The first task was to determine if a substantial amount of research was available from the time period between 1998 through 2008. Current research through journals, research reports, briefs, and theses and dissertations supported this. The main research question examined if current relationships existed between building conditions and student achievement, student behavior, and student attitude by synthesizing several studies from 1998 through 2008. The results of the studies within this time period presented many new phenomena and also either substantiated or refuted findings in the previous syntheses conducted by Weinstein (1979), McGuffey (1982), and Lemasters (1997). Over one hundred pieces of literature were reviewed that supported a preponderance of evidence, which broadened the field of focus to include certain variables that affect student achievement, student behavior, and student attitude. There were 54 studies to be synthesized and included some independent variables presented in Lemasters’ study, as well as the variables of lighting, acoustics, school age, density, climate conditions, design features, teachers, attendance, attitudes, miscellaneous studies, and building conditions. There were 35 dissertations reviewed that involved the dependent and independent variables mentioned above. Student academics, student perceptions and attitudes, and behavioral statistics were analyzed within each study. Each analysis of studies included the author of the study, the title of the document, the purpose of the study, the sample population used in the study, the statistical methodology used, the independent and dependent variables identified, and the findings and conclusions. The studies were formatted in a matrix and identified the number of studies in which the dependent variables of student achievement, student attitude, and student behavior. The majority of all 54 studies involving building conditions and independent variables, from 1998 through 2008, had a direct influence on student achievement, student behavior, and student attitude. Newer, well maintained, schools had a positive influence on the dependent variables, while older, less cared for, and non-modernized schools had an adverse relationship to student achievement, student behavior, and student attitude. The results of the previous three syntheses in 1979, 1982, and 1997, along with the results of the findings in this study supported and indicated that building condition was directly related to student achievement, student behavior, and student attitude. / Ph. D.

Buildings are responsible for a significant portion of energy consumption worldwide. Intelligent buildings have been devised as a potential solution, where energy consumption and building use are harmonised. At the heart of the intelligent building is the building energy management system (BEMS), the central platform which manages and coordinates all the building monitoring and control subsystems, such as heating and lighting loads. There is often a disconnect between the BEMS and the building it is installed in, leading to inefficient operation, due to incongruous commissioning of sensors and control systems. In these cases, the BEMS has a lack of knowledge of the building form and function, requiring further complex optimisation, to facilitate efficient all year round operation. Flawed BEMS configurations can then lead to ‘sick buildings’. Recently, building energy performance simulation (BEPS) has been viewed as a conceptual solution to assist in efficient building control. Building energy simulation models offer a virtual environment to test many scenarios of BEMS operation strategies and the ability to quickly evaluate their effects on energy consumption and occupant comfort. Challenges include having an accurate building model, but recent advances in building information modelling (BIM) offer the chance to leverage existing building data, which can be translated into a form understood by the building simulator. This study will address these challenges, by developing and integrating a BEMS, with a BIM for BEPS assisted predictive control, and assessing the outcome and potential of the integration.

This dissertation investigated and examined disparities among selected variables between high- performing and low-performing high schools in Virginia. Overall, student academic performance is the major difference between the two categories of schools, but there may be other differences within the school dynamic that can rationalize the categorization of schools. These potential differences demonstrate the need to examine other variables and the disparities within these certain variables. Seven possible variables that may have such an influence are: the student achievement scores, teacher quality, racial composition, socioeconomic status, student attendance, financial commitment, and condition of the building. Understanding these differences can provide valuable insight into the various factors that contribute to the academic success or failure of a school. Data from the study indicated that for the most part, the variables selected for comparison did indicate a significant difference in the variables. The only exception was in Teacher Quality. Since Student Achievement, Student Attendance, and Teacher Quality pertained directly to the student, and Racial Composition and Socioeconomic Status, pertained to the student body, meaning the enrollment of these three variables were demographically controlled, this indicated to this researcher that financial commitment data and building conditions data were the most important variables to this study. The basis for this is that Racial Composition, SES, Student Attendance, and Teacher Quality influenced one variable and that is Student Achievement. This reduced the importance of Teacher Quality because not all low and high-performing schools will have the same quality of teachers in the classroom. If this was the case, every student would perform equally. This, of course, was not true. Therefore, other variables played an especially important part in the disparities between the two categories of schools. This rationale would give credence to the importance of Financial Commitment and School Building Conditions. These latter two variables then influenced the educational process of students and are things the School Board can control or at least have control over. / Doctor of Education / This dissertation investigated and examined disparities in selected variables between high- performing and low-performing high schools in Virginia. Overall, student academic performance is the major difference between the two categories of schools, but there may be other differences within the school dynamic that can rationalize the categorization of schools. These potential differences demonstrate the need to examine other variables and the disparities within these certain variables. Seven possible variables that may have such an influence are: student achievement scores, teacher quality, racial composition, socioeconomic status, student attendance, financial commitment, and condition of the building. Understanding these differences can provide valuable insight into the various factors that contribute to the academic success or failure of a school. Data from the study indicated that for the most part the variables selected for comparison did indicate a significant difference in the variables. The only exception was in Teacher Quality. Since Student Achievement, Student Attendance, and Teacher Quality pertained directly to the student, and Racial Composition and Socioeconomic Status, pertained to the student body, meaning the enrollment of these three variables were demographically controlled, this indicated to this researcher that financial commitment data and building conditions data were the most important variables to this study. The basis for this is that Racial Composition, SES, Student Attendance, and Teacher Quality influenced one variable and that is Student Achievement. This reduced the importance of Teacher Quality because not all low and high-performing schools will have the same quality of teachers in the classroom. If this was the case, every student would perform equally. This, of course, was not true. Therefore, other variables played an especially important part in the disparities between the two categories of schools. This rationale would give credence to the importance of Financial Commitment and School Building Conditions. These latter two variables then influenced the educational process of students and are things the School Board can control or at least have control over.

The study examined the relationship between building conditions and overall student behavior as well as the relationship between building conditions and the behaviors of student subgroups that include Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, and Students with Disabilities (SWD). The study controlled for over-crowdedness, socioeconomic status, and attendance. The study included 10 school facilities in a medium-sized school division in Virginia. Building conditions were determined through facility engineering and educational condition. Facility Condition Indexes (FCIs) described facility engineering conditions. The Revised Commonwealth Assessment of Physical Environment (CAPE) instrument initially developed by Cash (1993) and revised by Cash and Earthman (2019) assessed facility educational conditions. The CAPE instrument provided overall, structural and cosmetic facility condition scores and was administered to principals. Student behavior was determined by student overall behavior indexes as well as subgroup-based behavior indexes representing the ratio of discipline incidents divided by student population. School-specific over-crowdedness indexes were utilized. Free and reduced lunch percentages were used as a measure of socioeconomic status. For attendance, the study used attendance indexes described by the percentage of students who were absent for at least 10% of the academic year. To establish the potential relationships between building conditions and student behavior in each student subgroup, the study used quantitative analysis utilizing hierarchical multiple-variable regression and analysis of variance (ANOVA) through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The researcher conducted individual single-predictor and multiple-variable hierarchical regression models. ANOVA was utilized to explain the total variance in the regression model, and the variance due to each predictor. The researcher identified regression relationships, their statistical significance, and interpreted results to reach a conclusion addressing each research question. Potential relationships between building conditions and student behavior were highlighted. The study identified that higher numbers of disciplinary incidences were related to higher absenteeism rates within all student groups. Further, lower numbers of Hispanic student disciplinary incidences were associated with poorer student populations. In terms of facility conditions, lower numbers of Hispanic student and SWD disciplinary incidences were associated with improved cosmetic facility conditions and lower numbers of SWD disciplinary incidences were associated with improved overall facility conditions. / Doctor of Education / The study examined the relationship between building conditions and overall student behavior as well as the relationship between building conditions and the behaviors of student subgroups that include Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, and Students with Disabilities (SWD). Over-crowdedness, socioeconomic status, and attendance were mediating factors. The study included 10 school facilities in a medium-sized school division in Virginia. Building conditions were determined through facility engineering and educational condition. Facility Condition Indexes (FCIs) described facility engineering conditions. The Revised Commonwealth Assessment of Physical Environment (CAPE) instrument initially developed by Cash (1993) and revised by Cash and Earthman (2019) assessed facility educational conditions. The CAPE instrument provided overall, structural and cosmetic facility condition scores and was administered to principals. Student behavior was represented by the ratio of discipline incidents divided by student population for overall students and student subgroups. School-specific over-crowdedness measures were utilized. Free and reduced lunch percentages were used as a measure of socioeconomic status. For attendance, the study used the percentages of students who were chronically absent. To establish the potential relationships between building conditions and student behavior in each student subgroup, the study used quantitative analysis utilizing hierarchical multiple-variable regression and analysis of variance (ANOVA) through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The researcher assessed the impact of each facility condition individually as well as collectively on student behavior. ANOVA was utilized to explain the total contribution attributed to each predictor. The researcher identified relationships, their statistical significance, and interpreted results to reach a conclusion addressing each research question. Potential relationships between building conditions and student behavior were highlighted. The study identified that higher numbers of disciplinary incidences were related to higher absenteeism rates within all student groups. Further, lower numbers of Hispanic student disciplinary incidences were associated with poorer student populations. In terms of facility conditions, lower numbers of Hispanic student and SWD disciplinary incidences were associated with improved cosmetic facility conditions and lower numbers of SWD disciplinary incidences were associated with improved overall facility conditions.