The Office of the State Superintendent of Education commissioned this study in late 2006, with original impetus from a federal directive for the city to study how quality public school options can retain and attract families to live in the District of Columbia. Three DC-based organizations — 21st Century School Fund, the Brookings Institution, and the Urban Institute — collaborated to conduct the research, bringing their distinct perspectives and expertise on education, housing, and neighborhood development in the District. This policy report draws on extensive quantitative analysis of student, school, and neighborhood-level data, focus groups with parents and high school dropouts, and meetings with city stakeholders and officials in both the education and housing sectors. A two volume companion study, with analysis, data tables, and detailed appendices on school supply, student enrollment patterns, and neighborhood characteristics, is being released concurrently with this policy report. Both reports are available on www. dc.gov and on the websites of the study team: www.21csf.org; www.brookings.edu; and www.urban.org.

The Office of the State Superintendent of Education commissioned this study in late 2006, with original impetus from a federal directive for the city to study how quality public school options can retain and attract families to live in the District of Columbia. Three DC-based organizations — 21st Century School Fund, the Brookings Institution, and the Urban Institute — collaborated to conduct the research, bringing their distinct perspectives and expertise on education, housing, and neighborhood development in the District. Three key factors differentiate this study from past research. First, it looks at all public schools and public school students — District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) and public charters — as part of different education sectors, but one public education system. Second, the analysis was done using a common set of indicators, reported for all schools and students that allows for rigorous comparisons across sectors and geography. Finally, this study assesses school conditions and results in the context of housing market and neighborhood trends to better understand the interplay between the two policy domains. The analysis in this report informs a companion policy report, “Quality Schools, Healthy Neighborhoods, and the Future of DC.”

"This article examines various aspects of school physical characteristics relating  to  problem  behavior  among  students.  We  hypothesize  that  an  attractive physical environment will be associated with less truancy, cigarette, alcohol, and  marijuana  use, whereas  a  negative  physical  environment  will  be  associated with higher levels of these behaviors. "

The Institute for Public Administration (IPA) links the resources of the University of Delaware to creat this Report on Delaware public schools.

21CSF wrote a report for the Economic Policy Institute addressing how federal spending on public school infrastructure can provide a short-term economic stimulus and build the foundation for long-term economic grow. Investment in public school buildings pays three times: once for skilled jobs, a second time in the healthy, safe, and educationally appropriate environment a quality school building creates for students and teachers, and finally in the benefits that quality education will reap for generations to come.

Authors Jeff Vincent of the Center for Cities & Schools and Mary Filardo of the 21st Century School Fund prepared a paper which Jeff Vincent presented at the Florida State University Spring 2008 Critical Issues Symposium on School Siting and Healthy Communities. Tallahassee, FL.

In conjunction with the 21st Century School Fund, DC Voice presents its school facilities special report of the Ready Schools Project. The facilities report analyzes DCPS principals' assessments of the 2007 summer repair program, what was done and how it was managed.

"This study examines the role of school attendance as a mediator in the relationship between facilities in disrepair and student grades in city and state tests. Data on building condition and results from English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics (Math) standardized tests were analyzed using a sample of 95 elementary schools in New York City. "

An 2006 report on the conditions of school facilities in Texas by the state's Comptroller's Office shows that 40% of school facilities were rated fair, poor or needs replacing. 34.5 years was the average age of these facilities. This report researched three questions: (a) the relationship between the building condition of public high schools in Texas and student achievement scores in science, mathematics, and English language arts as measured by the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS); (b) the relationship between the building age of public high schools in Texas and student achievement scores in science, mathematics, and English language arts as measured by TAKS; and (c) the relationship between building age and condition of public high schools in Texas and graduation rate? 

"This report is based on a survey of school principals conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.  It presents current information on the extent of the match between the enrollment and the capacity of the school buildings, environmental factors that can affect the use of classrooms and school buildings, the extent and ways in which schools use portable buildings and the reasons for using them, the availability of dedicated rooms for particular subject areas (such as science labs or music rooms), and the cleanliness and maintenance of student restrooms."

"The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between school building condition and student achievement as measured by their performance on the Standards of Learning (SOL) examinations at the middle school level in the Commonwealth of Virginia."

The rebuilding of schools so they support high quality education is difficult in normal district circumstances. This proposal addresses challenges associated with the reopening of public schools in New Orleans. It recommends a public/private partnership to plan, design, construct, manage and finance the redevelopment of high quality public schools. To illustrate how a public/private partnership can work, we have applied the model to the reopening of the Edward Hynes Elementary School located in the Lakeview neighborhood in New Orleans.

Update of the Alfred Kiger Savoy Elementary School Modernization and Co-Location Project.

"The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship existed between school facility design variables and student achievement as determined by the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills."