The Physical Environment of the School: A Review of the Research

This paper reviews research on the impact of classroom environments on student behavior, attitudes, and achievement. The first section examines studies of six environmental variables: seating position, classroom design, density, privacy, noise, and the presence or absence of windows. In the second part of the paper, research conducted from an “ecological” perspective is considered. A third section focuses on the effects of open space school designs. Finally, some future directions for research are discussed, and the advantages and limitations of various research designs are summarized.