Positive Learning Climates KnowledgeBase

This KnowledgeBase archive includes content and external links that were accurate and relevant as of September 30, 2019.

The Positive Learning Climates KnowledgeBase is an online resource to aid educators in nurturing school climates conducive to learning. It is organized around five elements aimed at developing a positive learning climate.

Task 4: Examine the School's Physical Environment

Guideline: A school's physical facilities play a role in assuring a safe learning environment for students. When assessing the physical environment, attention should be given to how the building systems and security issues impact the school and students.

resources

Checklists

Environment Checklist

Partnership by Design, a resource from Education Northwest, the former Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, offers a useful checklist to assess a school's physical environment.

Guidelines

Ensuring Quality School Facilities and Security Technologies

This resource is part of Education Northwest's series of safe schools guidebooks. Ensuring Quality School Facilities and Security Technologies helps educators and other members of the community understand the relationship between school safety and school facilities, including technology.

References

Linking School Facility Conditions to Teacher Satisfaction and Success

This link is to an article summarizing a survey of Chicago and Washington, D.C., teachers showing the links among the condition of school facilities, educational outcomes and teacher attrition. Though the study reports on Chicago and Washington, D.C., schools, all urban school systems might use the findings with their improvement efforts.

The contents of this website were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education and are intended for general reference purposes only. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education or the Center, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Some resources on this site require Adobe Acrobat Reader. This website archive includes content and external links that were accurate and relevant as of September 30, 2019.