Historically, classrooms have utilized stationary furniture, facing front toward a centralized instructor position, and limiting student-to-student interactions. Such classrooms often stem from design processes that tend to focus on building codes and feedback from investors, architects, and planners, which leaves little input from instructors and…

This article describes seven methods of calculating a school's capacity (the number of students that can be instructed without curtailing the educational program), including one devised by the author. (MCG)

THE REPORT CAN BE USED AS A GUIDE IN THE PREPARATION OF EDUCATIONAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS. NEW CURRICULA, METHODS OF INSTRUCTION, AND TEACHING AIDS ADD TO THE SOPHISTICATION OF EDUCATION. PROGRAMS ENCOMPASS MANY AREAS OF EDUCATION, EACH REQUIRING PROFESSIONAL DECISIONS. THESE DECISIONS MUST BE ORGANIZED INTO WRITTEN SPECIFICATIONS…

In multigrade instruction, children of at least a 2-year grade span and diverse ability levels are grouped in a single classroom and share experiences involving intellectual, academic, and social skills. "The Multigrade Classroom" is a seven-book series that provides an overview of current research on multigrade instruction, identifies key issues…

The traditional division of the school into discrete classrooms does not fill today's diverse student and faculty needs. The alternative might be a school divided into 40 individual carrels, 15 project rooms, 5 offices, 2 seminar rooms, and 1 multipurpose room. (Author/JM)

Provides specific guidance to teachers planning activity areas and storage spaces to create an environment that supports children and how they learn. Areas of consideration include order, independence, comfort, materials, and boundaries. Hints for discovering unused space, including small and large storage projects, are provided. (SD)

Open classrooms, embodying an educational policy and a setting departing from the traditional is said to provide especially good opportunities for environmental studies. An approach that summarizes a wide range of information on specific classes is a beginning to gathering environmental information useful to the deisgn process. This information…

Further explains the theory of "experiential time," which argues that children can process more information and have more time for complex play when the size of the learning environment is decreased, which increases a child's command of space. (SD)

Construction costs, building form, design, and space planning are compared with regard to teaching and the learning needs within educational facilities. Photographs and diagrams emphasize the importance of functional and flexible facilities to quality education and environments for learning. Building types presently popular and successful are…