This article explores the way in which different concepts of education are expressed through architecture. It analyses the case of the transformation of the campus of the "Colina de los Chopos" in Madrid after the Spanish Civil War. The victor's vision for education was captured physically in a new space that expressed the opposite…

At thousands of schools and universities, years of economic troubles have led to repeated budget cuts. The reductions typically fall disproportionately on maintenance departments, where cuts are viewed as less critical than those that directly affect classroom instruction. And so nearly every facility manager at an education institution faces a…

Although U.S. higher education has faced numerous crises and dilemmas in its history, the situation in which colleges and universities find themselves at the moment is indeed different. Shrinking public subsidies coupled with historic rises in tuitions come at the same time that colleges and universities have been tasked to dramatically increase…

APPA's Effective & Innovative Practices Award continues to highlight the best of the most creative and practical programs and processes that enhance and transform service delivery, lower costs, increase productivity, improve customer service, generate revenue, or otherwise benefit an educational institution. This article features five 2010…

The central office is both a physical place and a state of mind. In some school systems, the central office is a separate building located away from schools. In other communities, the office is housed in one of the school buildings. When someone mentions "central office," they may not be referring only to the building. They may also mean the tip…

Evidence continues to emerge about the effect indoor air quality has on a student's ability to learn. One study cited by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows moderate changes in room temperature affect children's abilities to perform mental tasks requiring concentration, such as addition, multiplication and sentence comprehension.…

In spring of 2012, the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, the Colorado League of Charter Schools, and the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools worked to collect evidence that would accurately portray both the adequacy of charter school facilities and the average amount of operating funds spent on facilities. Collectively, the…

This report, and the accompanying tables, provide the findings of the 14th annual survey of College Construction prepared for "College Planning & Management" magazine. Representatives of Market Data Retrieval (MDR) sent survey forms and made follow-up telephone calls to every college in the U.S. seeking information on their…

This article describes the Educational Quality Facilities project undertaken by Italy's Campania Region to provide quality facilities to all of its communities basing new spaces on the "Flexible Learning Module". The objectives of the five-year project are to: build and equip new educational spaces; improve the quality of existing…

This case study of school leaders in the Southern Philippines explored principal perspectives on local dynamics that facilitate and impede meaningful educational change. The research indicated that change is a complicated proposition in the region, and that some principals are better or worse equipped to lead depending on a variety of cultural,…

Taking on a primary school that was placed in special measures in 2001 for the author's first headship in 2003 was a risky venture. During the intervening two years, the local authority support had focused on behaviour management and "the basics", but attainment had not improved and termly official inspections noted stubbornly…

As a technologist, the author is interested in how the digital world is changing the educational landscape. As he began to research effective learning spaces, he discovered that the architecture, design, and school facilities communities are making a great deal of progress in creating better classrooms and school buildings. Unfortunately, many in…

The Building Schools for the Future programme has been established to ensure that English secondary schools are designed or redesigned to allow for educational transformation. The programme represents the biggest single UK government investment in school buildings for over 50 years. For this reason, it poses a major challenge to those involved in…

During the early 1920s, the question of who should control the schooling of African American children caused controversy in several Southern states, including Georgia. White educationists and bureaucrats were divided into two groups: the conservatives who called for educational needs to be determined and funded locally, and a growing reformist…

This dissertation captures the 10-year contemporary history of implementing the facilities element of New Jersey's historic "Abbott V" decision. New Jersey's Legislature and Governor took this Supreme Court decision and created legislation responding to multiple constituencies and lobbyists while shaping a school construction program to…