Three years ago, my family moved to Harvard for the small-town feel and the schools. Since then, our list has grown: Bare Hill Pond, the orchards, our new neighbors and friends. As a school psychologist, I strive to teach the values of community and collaboration to the next generation. This town truly is great and I hate to see it divided by the Hildreth Elementary School vote.
When divisive issues arise, data-based decision-making must be employed. We’ve seen the financial data. My contribution is to examine the impact a school facility has on students. Many have casually commented that “teachers, not the building, make a school great.” I decided to examine educational research to see if this sentiment holds true.
I conducted a literature review in three academic databases using the search terms “School Facility” with “Academic Outcomes” and “Student Performance” to identify relevant studies. Pre-selected criteria were used to exclude studies that were not peer-reviewed, published before 2000, conducted outside the U.S., conducted with secondary schools, or only tangentially related to the research question.
Of the 213 articles identified, 11 remained after applying the exclusion criteria. Ten reported a positive relationship between school facility quality and student outcomes; one failed to find a statistical relationship.
Facility quality was measured by air quality, lighting, and thermal comfort in some studies and by building age, condition, and repairs in others. Results repeatedly discovered a link between the quality of facilities and achievement, particularly in core subjects (citations are available from the author on request).
Study authors advocate for facility reforms that are associated first and foremost with student achievement. Recommended, evidence-based programs target air quality, hazardous material management, bus-engine idling reduction, pest management, and green design for new projects. Furthermore, when research-based solutions to school infrastructure issues were disregarded, inequality in educational outcomes was exacerbated.
The physical environment of schools should be recognized as a critical factor that influences academic outcomes. Building and maintaining high-quality educational facilities has the potential to raise student achievement levels.
Our teachers are great; let’s put them in a great building!
Jennifer Magnuson
Sholan Circle
