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Publications

The Effects of School Facility Quality on Teacher Retention
in Urban School Districts

The attrition of both new and experienced teachers is a great challenge for schools and school administrators throughout the United States, particularly in large urban districts. Because of the importance of this issue, there is a large empirical literature that investigates why teachers quit and how they might be better induced to stay. Here we build upon thisliterature by suggesting another important factor: the quality of school facilities. We investigate the importance of facility quality using data from a survey of K-12 teachers in Washington, D.C. We find in our sample that facility quality is an important predictor of the decision of teachers to leave their current position.

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For Generations To Come: A Leadership Guide to Renewing Public School Buildings

This "how-to" manual is designed for individuals interested in modernizing or building new public school facilities in their neighborhoods. Modeled after an innovative public-private development partnership, this tool details the importance of school facilities and community involvement, then explains the five basic steps to planning a new school or renovating an existing building:assessment, envisioning, planning, development and implementation.

Organizing Manual (961 KB)
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Thurgood Marshall Academy Charter School

New Concept Plan (3.39 MB)
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Vouchers in the District of Columbia

District of Columbia Education Advocates Response to the Federal Imposition of School Vouchers in the District of Columbia
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PRESS RELEASE: District Education Advocacy Community Rejects Vouchers as Option for Improving Public Schools
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Analysis of private and parochial school capacity
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Citizens Oversight of Public School Construction Programs

In search of promising practices

This paper provides information on the advantages associated with having a Citizen Oversight Committee as well as lessons and promising practices on how to develop and establish a committee. We interviewed ten districts with citizen oversight committees in place to determine some promising practices that are most effective in fulfilling the responsibilities and achieving the potential advantages of an oversight committee.

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BEST Initiative

Linking School Working Conditions to Teacher Satisfaction and Success

Improving education performance ranks high on the national agenda

Conspicuously absent has been an examination of how school conditions affect teaching and learning...

This study documents how a large sample of teachers in Chicago and Washington, DC rate the working conditions in their schools and how they perceive these conditions affecting their job performance and teaching effectiveness.

School facilities have a direct affect on teaching and learning. Poor school conditions make it more difficult for teachers to deliver an adequate education to their students, adversely affect teachers' health, and increase the likelihood that teachers will leave their school and the teaching profession. Our nation's school facilities are a critical part of the educational process. Their condition and upkeep must be addressed in the ongoing discourse about student achievement, teacher effectiveness, and accountability.

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BEST Initiative

Public School Facilities and Teaching

As part of the BEST initiative, 21CSF commissioned a survey of 1950 public school teachers in Chicago and Washington, DC to assess the effect of school facilities on teaching. This survey was used to identify what factors teachers believe are important to their ability to teach; assess the adequacy of school conditions and school design as experienced by teachers; examine the distribution of quality school facilities; and analyze the impact of facilities on learning outcomes.

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BEST Initiative

Do School Facilities Affect Academic Outcomes?

In November 2002, the National Clearinghouse for Education Facilities published a review of current school facilities research commissioned by the 21st Century School Fund. This review concluded that spatial configurations, noise, temperature, daylight, and air quality have an affect on students’ and teachers’ ability to perform in the classroom. However, it pointed out the need for more empirical research and for standardized data so individual schools can make use of the existing body of research on best practices.
Published by the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities (NCEF)

To download the full report (from NCEF), click here (600 Kb, approx)
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To order paper copies of this report (from NIBS), click here

Newsletter: Better Buildings - Better Schools
(formerly D.C. Schools Email Updates)

Launched in the fall of 2002, the 21st Century School Fund sends out regular monthly email alerts to over 3,000 concerned parents, community members and decision makers in Washington, DC. These emails include short updates about the state of the DC Public Schools and current efforts of the DC education advocacy community to improve the public schools in our nation’s capital. To subscribe to the Better Schools Email Updates, please email info@21csf.org

Building Outside the Box

This brochure outlines the process behind the public-private partnership that created the new Oyster Bilingual Elementary School in Washington, DC. The brochure follows the nine-year journey that began in 1992 through the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Oyster in 2001. Oyster was the first new school built in the city in over 20 years and it serves as a model of community involvement in school planning and creative financing for school construction.

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Myth and Reality: A Study of Excess Space in the District of Columbia Public High Schools

In conjunction with the Senior High Alliance of Parents, Principals, and Educators, 21CSF surveyed available space at two District high schools and compared this data with official records of usable space. The study found that DCPS estimates of square footage were off by almost 20% and that the DCPS education specifications and design standards are too general and have not been adapted to modernization projects. The report suggests that each high school undergo a careful individualized space before planning begins.

Myth and Reality: Executive Summary

To download executive summary, click here (105 Kb)
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Myth and Reality: A Study of Excess Space in the District of Columbia Public High Schools

To download the main report, click here (585 Kb)
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To download Appendix A, click here (6.2 Mb)
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To download Appendices B, C, click here (228 Kb)
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Replace or Modernize?: The Future of the District of Columbia's Endangered Old and Historic Public Schools

This publication addresses the community concern with the decision making process associated with the replacement or modernization of the District's public schools. It reviews past examples of the city’s treatment of historic schools, considers the various factors involved in historic school renovation decisions, provides a narrative history of the school system through 1945 and a profile of every operating DC public school built before 1945.

Dedication, Preface, Introduction, and
Section One – Planning, Policy and Design Issues

To download these sections, click here (2,402 Kb)
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Section Two – History of DC Public Schools from 1862-1945

To download these sections, click here (78 Kb)
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Section Three – Historical and Architectural Surveys of the District's Operating Schools Built Between 1862 and 1945

To download these sections, click here (2,966 Kb)
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The Modernization of HD Cooke: Questions, Concerns, and Recommendations

In a series of questions and answers, this paper looks at the biggest problems with the current design of HD Cooke Elementary School, making recommendations on how to improve the plans and best make use of the space. With an in-depth analysis of the schematic plans and education specifications, the paper examines issues ranging from student enrollment projections, parking, and environmental concerns. It will serve as a model for other communities to evaluate designs being prepared for their local schools and as a blueprint for action for the HD Cooke community.

To download, click here (1.58 Mb)
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