This is a critical time for the American community college. I've seen what can happen when an industry ignores the need for innovation and reform from within, and it's certain that higher education is headed down the same path if we do not respond. Now is
- By Thomas J. Snyder
- 01/01/12
Zero tolerance originally addressed illegal activities like selling drugs. Over time, however, the policy has broadened in scope to include behaviors that pose no threat to others such as truancy and even dress code violations. Student protestors call zer
- By Michael Fickes
- 01/01/12
What I've learned is that there are some changes that I happily embrace and there are others that I simply need to force myself to accept as part of doing business or living life. Either way, I now know that, no matter what, change is going to happen
- By Michael G. Steger
- 01/01/12
There are numerous criteria to consider in the design of a K-12 kitchen and cafeteria. There is a lot of planning that should and must be done. It's a lot easier to plan for and provide the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, space, adjacencies and dur
In far too many places, Title I money is filling budget gaps rather than being used to close achievement gaps. In a plan for this year's reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, the Obama administration proposes closing the loopholes in the current compar
- By Michael Fickes
- 12/01/11
Retrofitting 
with window film is also a more cost-
effective option than installing new windows. In fact, the U.S. Department of Energy's laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), says that &&a
No matter what your memories are of school days gone by, there can be little debate about today's need for improved building security. Meeting the need to protect students, staff and visitors requires the effective implementation of access control me
Today commercial grade windows for K-12 classroooms often include internal features that contribute to students' thermal comfort. One such feature is between-the-glass venetian blinds (sometimes called interstitial, internal or integral blinds).
- By David H. Martin
- 12/01/11
Modern K-12 school designs can take advantage of three different technologies that give schools forward-looking capabilities: administrative technologies, educational technologies and smart building technologies.
- By Michael Fickes
- 12/01/11
The EPA's first-ever federal guidelines for locating school facilities encourage high-performance schools, stress the importance of locating schools near populations and infrastructure and promote schools as diverse centers of communities. They urge commu
- By Sarat Pratapchandran
- 12/01/11
Risk and vulnerability for today's school environment is of great concern to not just school boards, administrators and teachers, but also to parents and other students. The technology behind IT security and vulnerability is often too much for a scho
school district has printers, copiers and multi-functional printers (MFPs) of varying ages and capabilities and contracts spread throughout the district. There's no real control over who uses them or how much they're used, and no one's keep
Can you build a new school today for the cost of a 1987 school plus inflation? Yes, you can but it's not likely to support a 21st century education. School districts could save money on initial costs by being "penny-wise and pound foolish." Judg
As energy prices continue to increase, K-12 schools look for ways to conserve energy and minimize their energy expenditures. A growing number of school districts have turned to engineers who use software-based energy modeling as a predictive and analytica
Some school districts have tapped the creativity of board members, architects and/or planners to restore, renovate or rebuild some their local structures to serve as educational spaces. Not only has this concept served them in the "green" sense
- By Peter Gisolfi, Bill Harris, Kevin Havens, Amy Jones, Andy Joseph, Adele Willson
- 11/01/11
Some school districts transforming their open spaces have looked up to their roofs. There's been plenty of activity up there, with districts transforming what can be a functional afterthought into a new asset in order to advance strategic goal
The K-12 school restroom, however mundane it may be in discussion, is an integral part of that school's community and total environment. Their design and construction rely on good but affordable materials, and planners and designers need to consider fixtu
Are your schools safe? Here's one district that's working to create a safe learning environment for its students, and how you can follow its lead.
It's no surprise that purchasers are demanding to know the complete story of a product and its impacts on the environment: What is the product's carbon footprint? To what extent did the product's raw materials extraction affect the ecosystem? Does the pro
From the reauthorization of the ESEA to the Super Committee's debt negotiations and appropriations bills, Fritz Edelstein gives School Planning & Management an update on what's going on in Washington.
- By Fritz Edelstein
- 11/01/11
Technology is coming for you. Resistance is futile. That probably describes the bias in the K-12 world toward classroom technologies. These technologies, like interactive whiteboards, do indeed hold great promise for teachers that embrace, study an
- By Michael Fickes
- 11/01/11