Call to Action: Our Call to Action is that every participant will come away better informed about, and with research to argue for, increased funding for school modernization in the face of persistently declining investment in school facilities.

Abstract: School districts that spend tax dollars to improve their schools can get much more than a new or renovated building. A new study has demonstrated statistically significant connections between school modernization and occupants’ well-being and satisfaction; and that the modernization process enhances community engagement and connectivity. Evidence also indicated that school modernization has a significant positive impact on key educational indicators, including test scores, graduation rates, and enrollment over time. Conducted by Perkins Eastman in conjunction with the Drexel University School of Education, the “Addressing a Multi-Billion Dollar Challenge” study evaluated more than two dozen schools—both modernized and non-modernized—across the District of Columbia and Baltimore City school districts. With tools to measure indoor environmental quality, assessments of design, layout, and “ambiance” of each building’s interior and exterior, questionnaires for the people who use the schools, and interviews with community members, the research team concluded that modernized schools outperformed non-modernized schools to the significant benefit of students, teachers, and staff in almost every category. The multi-disciplinary research team for this study investigated the differences between 28 modernized and non-modernized elementary, middle, and high schools. Students showed enhanced academic performance in the updated schools. Modernized schools also hold the potential to enhance community health and wellness while helping to anchor their communities through, among other things, providing health clinics, food distribution, and publicly accessible recreational facilities. This study was performed against a backdrop of shocking disinvestment in the US public schools that educate more than 49.4 million children across the country, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. A public school’s average age is 42 years, according to the US Department of Education, and according to a 2021 report called The State of our Schools, the annual shortfall in maintenance and improvements for those buildings is $85 billion. Identifying the potential benefits of school modernization that will help jurisdictions build a stronger case for the importance and funding of school modernization was the goal of this study. The study also provides recommendations for how best to spend modernization dollars, as well as tools and guidance for designers and school districts who might want to replicate the study’s methods.

Learning Objectives:

1. Learn what the research indicates are the most significant features of the modernized schools and how these results can inform your own work.
2. Understand the tools and processes used to conduct the research and how they can be used to replicate the analyses performed on your own projects.
3. Engage the three facets contributing to a more holistic analysis of the learning environment: Indoor Environmental Quality, Educational Adequacy and Community Connectivity.
4. Leverage the findings to advocate for additional funding for school modernization.