PHYSICAL DESIGNS FOR SAFE SCHOOLS Roy H. Dissertation submitted to the faculty of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education In Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Glen I. Earthman, Committee Chair Carol S. Cash, Committee Member Travis W.
Twiford, Committee Member Michael Thornton, Committee Member November 18, 2011 Blacksburg, Virginia Keywords: school safety, school design elements, safety features, school facilities Physical Designs for Safe Schools Roy H. ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate and report the perceptions of principals of high schools built prior to 1999 and high school principals of high schools built in the past five years as well as the perceptions of architects who build and design schools on the physical design elements that support a safe school environment. Qualitative methods of survey research were utilized to collect, analyze and interpret the data regarding the perceptions of principals and architects on the design elements that influence safety in select old and new high schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Data collection consisted of recorded and transcribed interviews from a select group of questions tailored for each group of participants.
The data were analyzed and emergent themes were generated from the results of the transcribed interviews. The analyzed data found consistency in all three groups in their response to the interview questions. Common themes from all three groups focused on wide open spaces that increase visibility and hallways wide enough to support the smooth flow of students. All three groups mentioned controlling access to the building by the use of security vestibules and the use of cameras to record and provide surveillance as design elements that support a safe school environment.
The location of the school office was cited by all three groups as paramount to school safety. The ability of staff to see who enters the school building and the ability to funnel visitors to the main office and not allow access to other parts of the school building was cited as iii crucial to a safe environment. All three groups spoke of doors and windows and the ability to secure the large number of doors as problematic. This study also determined the need for doctoral and principal preparation programs to include specific coursework or training that involves principals in the design phase of constructing schools.
Principals need to be involved in the planning and design process to insure new and renovated school buildings have the needed safety features they believe will help them in their work of educating students and providing for the safety of faculty and students. The principal should know and understand the workings of a school building and how a school organization operates. The result of such training would allow the principal to anticipate the effectiveness and consequences of certain designs in regards to the movement of students, program demands and requirements. iv Table of Contents Page Abstract ………………………………………………………………….
ii Table of Contents …………………………………………………………iv List of Tables ……………………………………………………………. …………………………………………4 Significance of the Study …………….5 Limitations of the Study ………………………………………….5 Organization of Chapters………………………………………….6 Chapter 2 ………………………………………………………………… 7 Literature Review…………………………………………….23 Relationship between Research Questions and Interview Questions…………………………………………………………24 Principal Interview Questions……………………………………24 Architect Interview Questions……………………………………25 Common Questions………………………………………………25 Data Analysis ………………………………………………….26 Conclusion Drawing and Verification………………………….28 Introduction of Findings ……………………………………….28 Group One Pre- 1999 High School Interviews………………….28 Synthesis of Pre-1999 High School Principal Interviews……….29 Emergent Themes from Pre 1999 High School Principals…….36 Group Two Newer High School Principals…………………….37 Synthesis of Newer High School Principals Interview Themes.38 Emergent Themes from Newer High School Principals……….46 Synthesis of Architect Interview Themes……………………….47 Emergent Themes from Architects…………………………….58 Explanation of Data……………………………………………. 60 Description of Data……………………………………………….60 vi Summary of Findings…………………………………………….64 Implications for Practitioners ………………………………….66 Recommendation for Further Research ………………………….67 References ……………………………………………………… ………69 Appendices Appendix A. Principal Interview Protocol ………………………77 Appendix D.
Architect Interview Protocol ……………………. Common Interview Questions ……………………. IRB Approval Letter………………………………. 84 vii List of Tables Table 1 Common Themes…… …………………………………………….
63 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION OVERVIEW A great deal of attention has been directed towards safety in school, especially following the tragic events of school shootings such as The Jonesboro School Shooting on March 24, 1998 in Jonesboro, Arkansas in which four students and one teacher were killed and ten others wounded outside as Westside Middle School emptied during a false fire alarm. Mitchell Johnson, 13 and Andrew Golden, 11, shot at their classmates and teachers from the woods. The worst school shooting in the United States occurred in 1999 at Columbine High School in Colorado. ―Two cloaked in black trench coats and armed with guns and bombs, open fire April 20, 1999 at Columbine High School, killing 15 people and wounding 28 others in the worst school shooting in U.‖ Those incidents became the stark reminder that the school building itself should promote a safe environment.
Following those incidents, educators and architects became accurately aware that the building itself should be a safe place, and attention was given to design elements that promote safety. The Columbine High school event serves as a watershed for paying attention to the physical structure itself in making school buildings safer for the users. School shootings and other acts of violence have forced educational administrators to look differently at schools and how they are designed. Previous school designs made public access to schools inviting and easy.
Modern day concerns resulting from armed intruders and other violent acts committed at schools now make it desirable to restrict access of the public. In investigating physical designs for safe schools, the researcher‘s perspective was that limited research had been conducted or published on physical designs for safe schools. In contrast, research was available regarding the substandard physical environments of schools and its effect 2 on student achievement. Research done by Cash (1993), looking at small rural high schools in Virginia, determined there were significant differences in achievement test scores of students who attended school in above- standard buildings compared to those students who attended school in sub-standard school buildings.
According to the United States Department of Education‘s National Center for Educational Statistics, in 1998, the average age of schools in the United States was 42 years old. The mean average ranged from 46 years in the Northeast and Central States to 37 years in the Southeast. The aging of America‘s schools increases the need to address the issues of design safety in order to make the designs of school buildings compatible with current safety concerns. These design issues alone affects 28% of American schools that were constructed between 1950 and 1969 as well as the 17% of schools that were built from 1970 to 1984 (Lewis, Snow, & Farris, 1999).
According to the Report from the National Summit on School Design (NSSD) (2005), poorly designed school buildings or buildings that are poorly maintained provide an undesirable environment for student learning and achievement. In addition poorly maintained buildings provide for an unsafe environment as well. Based on information from the National Center for Educational Statistics about one –fourth of all schools that were in existence in the United States at the end of the twentieth century were constructed prior to 1950, and 45% of all schools were built between 1950 and 1969 (1999). In examining these facts, it is not difficult to determine that most of the school buildings in the United States are aging facilities with design features that do not support modern day issues of school safety that impact today‘s schools.
A building design will not solve all the problems associated with safety, but by addressing safety and security in the design process, a design team can assist in resolving some of the 3 concerns expressed by the users of the building. Issues that can impact safety and security should be an important component of the design process. Some administrative measures can assist with helping to keep schools safe. Measures such as zero-tolerance policies, dress codes, and school resource officers are examples of what is known as passive security systems.
While these are important components to a safe school, they typically do not have an influence on design issues. Active security systems such as closed circuit television, alarm systems, motion detectors, and access control systems increase security even more but can be cost prohibitive. ―Due to the fact that most school districts can‘t afford expensive security systems, school designs must allow complete surveillance by staff with as little effort as possible.‖The ability to control access doors, especially the main entrance is vital in maintaining a safe learning environment‖ says police officer Charles Virgil, formerly of the Denver County Sheriff‘s Department. The use of technology to support safe schools is an important part of the research on designing safe schools.
Schools that have architectural barriers because of age and design can utilize modern technology to assist in creating a safer environment for all stakeholders. Cameras, communication systems, lighting, sensors, and weapon screening devices can contribute to the overall safety and security of a school but not in all instances. School staff members are able to address security with equipment such as video cameras or metal detectors, but for an architect, the best way to ensure that a school building is a secure environment is to design it that way. Some of the designs could include wider hallways, curves instead of corners and designs for smaller school environments.
The authors of Planning Safer Schools (Carter & Carter, 2001) contend that the threat of crime in schools can be reduced through wise environmental design. Crime Prevention Through 4 Environmental Design (CPTED) is an organization that provides for an evolving body of knowledge and public safety initiatives. CPTED promotes principles and strategies that can result in safe, orderly and comfortable schools. CPTED makes the assertion that the physical environment can affect feelings, behaviors, and the way we view others.
It also can affect the safety or perceived safety of those who use the environment. Meticulous design, appropriate use of the environment and good maintenance of the environment can promote positive interactions, orderly behavior and increased perceptions of safety among the occupants. Research Questions The main research question for this study is: What are the design elements that principals and architects believe promote a safe high school? The following sub-questions guided the development of this study: 1. What design elements would an architect think influence school safety? 2.
What design elements would a high school principal think influence school safety? Significance of the Study Physical designs for safe schools are important and significant to the users of schools, those persons who manage schools, and to those persons who design schools. The potential benefit of this research is that the results may provide information that educators and architects think are important design features that promote school safety. The research also has the potential to assist in the modification of older school buildings that can be renovated to address modern day issues of school safety. Educational and architectural researchers will benefit from this study.
Its methods and findings should be used to further investigate physical designs that support safer schools. 5 The final impact of the study will be for students who will benefit from facilities that have been designed with safety in mind. Definitions For the purpose of this study, the following definitions were used: School Safety – An environment in which all users of a building feel safe and comfortable. School Facilities – Buildings and grounds, parking lots, playing fields and fixed equipment that are used for educational purposes.
Safety Feature – Feature of a building that is added to ensure a user‘s safety (www. New School Building – School facility constructed within the past 5 years. Old School Building – School facility constructed 20 or more years ago. Renovated School Facility – School building that has been renovated within the past five years.
School Design Elements – Individual structural elements that can be separately added to or deleted from the design of a school building.
