Grantee Research Project Results
2018 Progress Report: Evidence-Based Interactions between Indoor Environmental Factors andTheir Effects on K-12 Student Achievement
EPA Grant Number: R835633Title: Evidence-Based Interactions between Indoor Environmental Factors andTheir Effects on K-12 Student Achievement
Investigators: Wang, Lily , Waters, Clarence , Bovaird, James , Lau, Josephine
Current Investigators: Wang, Lily , Bovaird, James , Lau, Josephine , Waters, Clarence
Institution: University of Nebraska at Lincoln
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: November 1, 2014 through October 31, 2018 (Extended to October 31, 2019)
Project Period Covered by this Report: November 1, 2017 through October 31,2018
Project Amount: $998,433
RFA: Healthy Schools: Environmental Factors, Children’s Health and Performance, and Sustainable Building Practices (2013) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Children's Health , Human Health
Objective:
Objective of Research:
The proposed research aims to establish how indoor environmental conditions in K-12 school buildings impact student scholastic achievement. The objectives are: (1) to study comprehensively the impacts of a wide set of indoor environmental factors (including indoor air quality, thermal, lighting, and acoustic conditions) on student achievement; (2) to investigate how these conditions interact with each other to impact student achievement; (3) to rank order the environmental variables in terms of their relative impact on student achievement; and (4) to determine how these effects vary with different demographic (e.g. socio-economic) groups.
Progress Summary:
Progress Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
After completing all data collection in 220 classrooms through Years 2 and 3, many conclusions could be drawn about the environmental conditions found in classrooms in the midwestern United States.
- Only 5% of the measured 220 classrooms exhibited acceptable background noise levels less than 35 dBA, as suggested in ANSI S12.60.
- About 85% of the measured 220 classrooms exhibited acceptable reverberation times less than 0.6 sec max, as suggested in ANSI S12.60. Typically, as long as classrooms have a ceiling height of 11' of less and acoustical ceiling tiles, they meet the suggested guidelines for reverberation times.
- All of the measured 220 classrooms exhibited lighting levels above the recommended minimum illuminance level for reading and writing for persons under 25 years of age, as suggested by the Illuminating Engineering Society.
- About 20-25% of the measured 220 classrooms exhibited acceptable ventilation rates, above the minimum suggested by ASHRAE 62.1-2010.
The final batch of student achievement data from the 110 classrooms measured in Year 3 became available in late fall 2017. Compilation of all student achievement data and environmental data for the 220 classrooms measured in Years 2 and 3 permitted the team to begin conducting comprehensive statistical analyses. Structural equation models for each technical discipline (acoustics, lighting, thermal, and indoor air quality) were constructed and tested. Initial results and issues with the structural equation models resulted in refinement of certain environmental metrics and retesting of models. The final acoustics structural equation model showed that math achievement scores were statistically significantly related to the levels of speech levels in classrooms; louder speech levels corresponded to lower math achievement scores, after controlling for other classroom-aggregated student demographics (i.e. percent free and reduced lunch). Issues were identified with the thermal and indoor air quality models that required more in-depth exploration as to whether the seasonal differences had to be accounted for. Statistical analyses of the comprehensive data set are ongoing and are expected to be completed by the end of Year 5.
Also in this time period, additional measurements were made in 55 classrooms. The original goal of this expected Year 4 task was to explore potential causal relationships between environmental conditions and student achievement. However, many of our partnering school districts were unable to make the degree of changes we recommended to the environmental systems in their classrooms. Only 21 of the 55 classrooms measured in this year may be analyzed to directly compare results before and after a change was made. Data from the other 34 classrooms will still be used for cross-validation of the model developed from data gathered in Years 2 and 3.
For the Year 4 measurements, we decided to extend each classroom measurement to last four days instead of two days, and we only measured once in heating season and once in cooling season, rather than in the three seasons (fall, winter, spring). These changes were in response to what we learned from analyzing the Years 2 and 3 data.
Future Activities:
Future Activities: In year 5 (2018-19), we are finalizing the statistical analyses of the 220 classroom sample, gathered in Years 2 and 3, to be able to investigate how these environmental conditions interact with each other to impact student achievement and to rank order the environmental variables in terms of their relative impact on student achievement. Additionally we are processing the environmental data measured in Year 4 and obtaining student achievement data for the 55 additional classrooms measured in Year 4. Then causal relationships will be studied for the 21 classrooms in which a change was made, while data from the other 34 additional classrooms will be used to cross-validate the model developed from the 220-classroom sample. Finally, we intend to submit at least three manuscripts for peer-reviewed publication, based on the data and analyses from this work.
Journal Articles on this Report : 3 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
| Other project views: | All 24 publications | 9 publications in selected types | All 9 journal articles |
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Paine JA, Wang M. Investigation of sound level variations in occupied K-12 classrooms. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2017;142:2543 |
R835633 (2018) |
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Smith KH, Wang LM. Exploring relationships between measured acoustic, lighting, and indoor air quality metrics logged in K-12 classroomsThe Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2018;143:1894 |
R835633 (2018) |
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Smith KH, Arthur A, Bovaird J, Wang LM. Effects of measured acoustic and other indoor environment factors on student achievement in K-12 classrooms. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2018;144:1894 |
R835633 (2018) |
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Supplemental Keywords:
Supplemental Keywords: student achievement, indoor environmental quality, indoor air quality, thermal conditions, lighting conditions, acoustic conditions, green buildings, high performance buildings, cost-benefit, architectural engineering, mixed linear models, midwest, Nebraska (NE), Iowa (IA)Relevant Websites:
School Environmental Effects on Student Achievement (SEESA) Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.