Can School Design Improve Learning?

U.S. cities spend billions annually to renovate and build schools. But does that money improve learning?

1 minute read

April 9, 2002, 5:00 AM PDT

"The truth of the matter is that school buildings have been and continue to be places to warehouse children. New schools just do it in more comfortable settings. If we look at the way most government agencies handle the "business" of school design and construction, we find that the system seems literally designed to weed out any potential for a completely creative solution. There are many arguments for why this is sowhy so many new schools look so much alike. But none is sillier, to my mind, than the one about equity. I have heard a superintendent, for example, argue against building an innovative school in his district because he was afraid it would make his other schools look bad. Rather than use the new school as an opportunity to pilot a new way of teaching and learning, this school leader preferred to pretend that the world had not changed."

Thanks to ArchNewsNow.com

FULL STORY: But Are They Learning?

Wednesday, April 3, 2002 in Education Week

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