Results

The results are in… They are impressive, and yet troublesome…For with the evidence that students in High Performance Classroom Environments are outperforming their peers, comes the realization that thousands of students are disadvantaged by their academic environments.

Teachers report being able to assist students at multiple learning levels and with varying learning strategies as they employ the flexible technology tools of integrated white boards, large scale video projection, full-scale live media integration, sound reinforcement, and numerous other available tools. They also report extended attention spans, higher mental alertness, and higher levels of learning enthusiasm in environments where heating, ventilation, cooling, lighting, sound, and acoustic systems are designed to exacting tolerances. These environments were first discovered when researchers began studying top performing students and their classrooms throughout the country; comparing performance and documenting the physical environments where positive results were being produced. Although there are many faults in the use of standardized test scores for purposes of determining achievement, their advent has been one of the key ingredients in being able to measure the value of well designed educational environments; as school districts who place students and teachers in High Performance Learning Environments are able to provide indisputable evidence of their documented improvement.

As specialists in the design of educational facilities, our goal has always been to integrate any tool or resource that shows potential for improving teaching and learning. We have a special role in this process, in that our own projects essentially become laboratories for investigating the implementation of better design practices and their impact on teaching and learning. The results have inspired and motivated us… and have made us believers in the power of High Performance Learning Environments and their impact on future generations of students and teachers. They were our motivation for CASE 21, and will continue to motivate us each and every day as we seek to use advanced research and analysis to guide us to a better place, where students and teachers are able to reach their utmost potential as a result of the classroom space that we can provide for them.