Educational Trends Shaping School Planning, Design, Construction, Funding and Operation

N

16

Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (ED)

Educational Facilities; School Size; Educational Change; Public Education; Futures (of Society); School Buildings; Educational Resources; Check Lists; Guidelines; Federal Programs; Educational Facilities Planning; Structural Elements (Construction); Educational Facilities Design; Classroom Design; Costs; Educational Finance; Student Diversity; Population Trends; Older Adults; Early Childhood Education; Teacher Student Ratio; School Choice; School Schedules; Educational Technology; Asynchronous Communication; Virtual Classrooms; Technology Planning; Public School Teachers; Sustainable Development; Educational Policy; School Organization; Instructional Program Divisions

What does the future hold for educators and facilities professionals when it comes to planning, building, funding, and operating school facilities? No one can absolutely know beforehand. However, there are many, many indicators of where public education in the United States may well be destined. These indicators take the form of already occurring trends that will change education dramatically in the next forty years. While that seems like a long way off, school facilities built today will likely still be in existence in 2050. This raises a critical question. What are the emerging major trends educators and facilities specialists need to be aware of to better insure that future school structures complement the coming evolution, and possibly revolution, in public education? This question serves as the framework for what is presented in this paper. Presented are fifteen trends that are redefining education in the United States--and how each relates to the field of school facilities. Some trends are broader, such as those dealing with general population changes impacting on education. Others are specific to education, including trend information on changes in the teaching corps, school size, and organizational structure of schools. In the concluding section, the cumulative effects of the trends on the brick and mortar place called school are discussed, as well as ways educators and facilities professionals can work in concert to prepare for and to address the trends as they emerge and become full-blown.

ERIC

59

2013

ED539457