Today, many kids are attending schools that are on average 40 years old, with deteriorating classrooms, poor temperature control, and harsh lighting, inspiring the American Society of Civil Engineers to assign them a grade of "F" in its 1998 infrastructure report. Research has long shown that poor building conditions affect student performance and are not designed for 21st century learning needs. A growing body of research is now revealing the facts:

1. school facilities can and do affect student learning and achievement
   
2. school facilities can be designed to support learning.

Across the nation, communities are rebuilding and renovating their school facilities, investing an average of $25 - $30 billion per year. In Ohio alone, school districts have been handed a $10.2 billion opportunity to transform their school facilities with the possibility of $23 billion total in local matching funds. The promise is that communities can now design a space that not only inspires creative learning, but reflects the very values and needs of the community it serves.

The answer is "yes." Ohio's community members do care about participating in their schools. In fact, 90% of Ohioans say they want the opportunity to advise their public schools on major decisions, according to our Foundation's 2004 Ohio's Education Matters poll. Moreover, tax payers are more likely to support a school that serves them, as well as students.

Learn more about community involvement in schools.

To begin the redesign of our school facilities, we must first look at what types of classrooms, locations, and other arrangements aren't working and why. Poor school design not only hinders students' ability to learn, it can also hinder a community's financial support and ultimately limit a community's potential for economic development.

Inflexible spaces must be renovated:

• Rooms are built for outmoded "stand and deliver" lecture style. Educators now know that students learn better when engaged in active, concrete activities. The project-based, interdisciplinary, cooperative learning that is characteristic of the business world, and academic success, is difficult to achieve in a lecture hall.
  
• Rooms are not built for the technology to engage tech-savvy students and to succeed in the information age.

Unhealthy materials inhibit student learning:
Air quality, comfort, lighting, and classroom acoustics all influence learning -- and even teacher retention rates, research indicates. For instance, both high temperatures and poor indoor air quality can cause "sick building syndrome" -- irritated eyes, nose, and throat, upper respiratory infections, nausea, dizziness, headaches, and fatigue.

Large schools are too prevalent:
Research documents the value of smaller schools -- small schools create conditions for personalized instruction and supportive relationships. Results, especially for disadvantaged students, include improved achievement, increased attendance rates, and higher graduation and college entrance rates.

See how our Foundation is transforming large, low-performing schools into smaller, successful schools in the Ohio High School Transformation Initiative.

Schools are disconnected from the community:

• Some schools are built on the fringes of town, away from the businesses and cultural experiences that could enrich student learning.
  
• School entrances are not as welcoming as they could be to community members.
  
• Communities aren't welcome to regularly use schools for non-school needs.
  
• Communities are more likely to support tax increases for school facilities if the school serves community needs, and not just student needs.

Learn more about the community's opinion.

To improve community involvement and generate long-term community support for Ohio's public schools, the Foundation is funding community engagement in the planning and designing of new school facilities in Cincinnati and Dayton.