Friday, May 4, 2012
School Design Standards
Education in the State of Texas is governed by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). The TEA adopted school facility design standards in 1994 and then updated and revised the standards in 2004. Essentially the standards set out minimum sizes of classrooms and other spaces for the grade levels. As an example, kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms are sized at a minimum of 800sf for 22 students. TEA has limited the class size of students in K - 4th grade at a 22 to 1 ratio. If you are in a smaller school district and you don't have 22 students per room, you can use the factor of 36sf per student to get to your minimum room size. I usually don't recommend using the square foot factor per student since it limits you to that number of students. If the class size grows you would have to add additional classrooms and teachers, rather than expanding into the rooms you have.
Grade levels 2 - 12 are sized at 700sf per classroom and if smaller size rooms are appropriate, you would use the factor of 32sf in the lower grade levels and 28sf in the secondary level.
TEA felt it was necessary to set the minimum standards and unfortunately this is the size rooms that we see end up being provided. These minimum sizes may meet your needs just fine, but in most cases we find that even these rooms are too small to meet the needs of teachers and the number of students that are squeezed into the space.
It is imperative that you communicate to your design professional how many students are being planned for in the classrooms. Does an 800sf kindergarten room meet your needs in how you teach your curriculum? Only you can answer that question. If it is not discussed, you may end up with the classrooms being too small.
I would be interested to know what other states have set out minimum design standards and how they compare.
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I find it interesting when an older school building has an addition made that has large classrooms with lots of storage (that does not compete with square footage), but the original part of the school has smaller classrooms with little to no storage. What is to be done in these cases to make sure that all of our children are given an equitable classroom environment in regards to size? Can school districts at least create some storage opportunities that are off the ground that will allow for teachers to have as much storage as possible without taking away from the square footage they need to provide a more optimal learning environment?
ReplyDeleteyou bring up a good point regarding storage needs. I have found that the storage space is often the first thing cut when we are experiencing budget concerns. As construction costs steadily increase it is very difficult to justify spending $150 to $175/sf (and sometimes more than that) on space that will be used to store our 'stuff'. Often times 'stuff' is just how some administrators see the materials that are used by teachers. A more clear understanding of what the specific needs are for teaching materials might help in finding the right kind of space to store the material.
DeleteI find this topic interesting because I just finished analyzing my classroom according to the standards. According to the most up to date standards my classroom (a combination science laboratory/classroom) should contain a minimum of 1400 sq ft. I know that my classroom was built before this standard was enacted and therefore it is "grandfathered" in, but I was curious how it would perform according to the new standard. I actually have the biggest classroom available on campus (and I love it!) so I fully expected that my classroom would meet or exceed the expectations. In actuality my classroom is 1064 sq ft., well below the minimum for 24 students...not taking in to account that I usually have 28. The people who designed my room must have done an excellent job to withstand this test of time! I have tons of space for my kiddos and experiments as well as tons of storage and all precautionary safety equipment. I say all of that to say this...I believe there are design methods that will make even small classrooms much more functional. When designing a facility I believe educators should look more deeply at the classroom designs instead of just the square footage.
ReplyDeleteMandi Nelson
Tarleton State University
My perspective(s) of this topic are those of purely an outsider being that I have worked in higher education for 10 years and never in public education. I do understand the importance of establishing standards of class-size but this square footage per child will be a moving target when it comes to anticipating growth, dealing with old buildings, increased class limits. It would be interesting to find out why 36sf/student came from? I am sure it has relevance. How does that impact student learning and creative the appropriate learning environment? Those questions are rhetorical in nature, and I do not have an answer either (merely thoughts).
ReplyDeleteR. Hall
Tarleton State U.
Your questions of how the size of a classroom impacts student learning and creativity are not rhetorical, as there have been multiple studies published on the matter. Here's a link to a review of literature on how the physical design of classrooms influences student learning: http://search.proquest.com/pqrl/docview/758941150/13AD885D2CC658C246D/4?accountid=11789
DeleteMy level of understanding on the subject is non-existent, but the above literature review came from a quick search through a database. If you're interested you should consider looking into the subject more.
From personal experience I can say that a large space with high ceilings can allow my eyes/mind to wander more than a small space with low ceilings. So a teacher in the small space is more likely to draw my attention than a teacher in the large space.
I think significantly different learning styles on top of multiple design factors in a classroom (not just size) all impact a students learning capability, not to mention the teacher. Bottom line, more research and innovative design is needed for classrooms that cater to the majority of students.
A. Lu
Kansas State U.
This topic is interesting. So are your thoughts. I strongly agree that design overrides square footage. One of the greatest challenges facing schools today is moving away from school design of rows of identically sized classrooms separated by a fifteen foot corridor to spaces that can be flexible used by small groups. As schools are transformed into creative learning spaces, we must be ready to rethink tradition designs. Building or remodeling a school on the tradition design format would be a mistake school districts would regret ten to fifteen years from now.
ReplyDeleteA. Agunbiade TSU