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Project BRIDGES
Literature Review on the Relationship Between
Facilities and Achievement
September 17, 1986
Prepared by Mary Joy Pigozzi, IIR
3nstitute PorOtgrnadonal 2cah Jnc.
BRIDGES FACILITIES REVIEW OUTLINE
INTRODUCTION
STRUCTURE OF THE REVIEW
CONCEPTUAL APPROACH Role of Facilties and Equipment in Education Definitions o PhysicalFacilities o Equipment o Achievement Issues That Could Be Addressed from Findings o Access and Equity * Internal Efficiency o ExternalEfficiency o Costs and Financing
FINDINGS FROM THE LITERATURE Facilities as Part of an Education System o School location * Journey to school School Facilities * Building costs and design e Condition of Schcol buildings o Vore efficient use of facilities o Specialized school facilities Within the Classroom o Seating position * Desks and instructional media * Equipment o Density, privacy, and noise Relationship betwkee Third World and Early-Industrialized Country Findings Summary of Finding., from the Research
LIMITATIONS Lack of Data Lack of Control Reliability of Transferring Knowledge
WHY PROCEED?
FRUITFUL RESEARCH INVESTMENTS
REVIEW ON RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN
FACILITIES AND ACHIEVENIENT
Introduction
The primary purpose of this review is to identify the influence that facilities and
equipment have on academic achievement in the Third World schools. This review
summarizes what is currently reported in the literature and ideicifies promising areas
for further investigation. It also identifies which of these areas are more likely to
provide information relevant the goals and objectives of the BRIDGES project. The
review is designed with a long-term objective of providing accurate and practical
information to policymakers and planners making investment decisions in Third World
education systems. It is recognized that these countries often are faced with un
changing or decreasing shares of their sparse national budgets available for education
and that specific investment decisions will have to be based on accurate information
'regarding the relative costs and benefits of availab!, investments.
This review primarily relies on research specific to Third World countries.
Information regarding the influence of facilities and equipment on achievement in early
industrialized countries is included where relevant. Reasons for thL are discussed in
the section entitled "Findings from the Literature".
Inclusion of reports in this review was based ou two major sources, searches of
computerized data bases accessible through the DIALOG system and materials collected
from individuals professionally active in this domain of research. Very little fugitive
(unpublished) literature was obtained because the one month level of effort allocated to
this particular review did not allow sufficient time for this to be included.
As a result, there were veryVery little literature addressed this topic directly.
few summaries of existing literature from early-industrialized nations that could serve as
also limited numbers of empirical studies from a foundation for this review. There were
Worldnations. The general scarcity of Thirdeither industrialized or Third World
educational research in available computerized data bases further limited the scope of
this review.
toThis apparent lack of literature on the topic poses serious problems. Attention
are importantfacilities and equipment and their relationships to academic achievement
proportions of nationalbecause facilities, in particular, often receive significant
budgets. Yet, many decisions regarding school facilities and equipment areeducation
Policies and plans for educationapparently based on intuition rather than evidence.
of an education system.should be developed using information from all components
decisions involve allocation of large"This is particularly impurtant when policies and
amounts of financial resources, which is the case with facilities and equipment.
Structure of the Review
This review begins with a description of the conceptual framework used, definitions
of the scope for the literature search, and a summary of education planning issues that
could be addressed by these findings. The second major scction of the review
summarizes the findings from the literature.
A third section summarizes limitations on synthesis from the available
fourth section gives a rationale for focusing on facilities and theirdocumentation. The
policy that canrelationship to academic achievement. In particular, it sets forth areas
2
be informed by available or new data on the topic. Within the context of all the
information above, the final section provides suggestions for fruitful research
inves;ments related to the topic of this review.
Conceptual Approach
Role of Facilities and Equipment In Education. This review uses the general
,conceptual model of the production of learning as used in the BRIDGES project, which
places facilities in the context of an education system (Figure 1). Facilities in this
model are represented as one component of an education system--a set of interactive
and interdependent components which to together comprise a unified whole. These
interactive components have a shared purpose--to facilitate the development of human
resources through planned learning activities. The question this review addresses is
"What is known about the function of physical facilities in students' academic
achievement?"
Definitions. To ensure a clear understanding of what falls within the purview of
this review, the following general definitions were used for the literature searches.
Attempts were made to be inclusive rather than exclusive in the initial search.
e Physical facilities are those components that are built, installed, or establish
ed to serve an educational purpose within an education system. This would thus include
items such as schools buildings, science laboratories, vocational/technical laboratories,
water, and toilet facilities. Interested readers are directed to appendix 1 for a more
detailed list of the kinds of items that are considered facilities.
3
rGl'RF 1 CONCIEPT1I. DI. 0'1~INC PRODUCTION
PDI)ICATJONAT. SYSITM
tiANACTMFNT AND PLANNING
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IAAAVI 1.1 :F1A111 AlsSO I T
-,SOCT L CONTEXT
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0 Equipment is the set of articles, physical resources, or implements used to
Examoles of educational equipment include support an educational operation or activity.
laboratory equipment, and duplicators.items such as desks, chairs, chalkboards, science
Additional examples are contained in appendix 1.
is to academic success specifically related to the quality0 Achievement limited
There are several ways that achievement can be and quantity of a student's work.
World education. Its primary measure is throughmeasured in the context of Third
standard. It is also recognized, however, that dropout,a
might a!3o reflect achievement and so relationships were
performance against given
repetition, and passage rates
sought between facilities and equipment and these rates.
systems areaddressed from findings. Third World educationIssues that could be
problems of low quality and insufficient educational opportunities'frequently faced with
Information about the relationships between achievement for the school-age population.
could be used to solve problems related to the followingand facilities and equipment
and costsfour issue areas: access and equity, internal efficiency, external efficiency,
are defined immediately below.and financing. These
education program to * External efficiency refers to the relevance of the
a... oipated activities of students when they leave school.
to to which the education system is * Internal efficiency relates the degree
use of resources and operating in a cost-effective manner.making the best
5
* Access and equity refer to two related conicepts. Access is concerned with
the ability to enter school. Equity issues address the distribution of benefits from
education in ilation to characteristics of the students that ,.hey cannot control
themselves.
* Costs and financing issues concern the relative costs of different inputs in
relation to outcomes (costs) and how these costs will be met (jfinancing).
In every economy, but particularly in Third World situations, it is necessary to
optimize the use of available resources while meeting agreed-upon goals and objectives.
Information that assists in increasing efficiency and accesn and equity while reducing
(or maintaining) costs and providing realistic financing opticas, will support rational
planning and decisionmaking which has a key role to play in resource optimization in
the education sector.
Findings From the Literature
It is important to understand how facilities contribute to achievement because
investments in facilities comprise major portions of capital costs of education budgets.
Take for example, two recent education projects for Botswana. In the Fourth Education
Project, which receives financial support from the World Bank S36.2 million of S44.0
million is designated for civil works, furniture, equipment, and vehicles. And, in
USAID's Junior Secondary Education Improvement Project S5.693 million of .a total of
3.2.511 million is designated for construction, vehicles, and commodities.
The dearth of available literature relating achievement to facilities and equipment
has already been mentioned. The findings from the literature search underscore the
6
there war some limited inforproblem. Nevertheless, the wide range of areas for which
the literature.mation has made it necessary to develop a framework for examining
model, we view facilities subsector as one component of Consistent with the BRIDGES
of learning. It is a subsystem which the system which contributes to the production
where separate but interacting components are importantbe regarded as hierarchy
representation of this conceptualization
can
Figure 2 is a diagrammaticat different scales.
consists of three levelssubsector. The hierarchyof the facilities and equipment
national school, and classroom.
as Part of an Education System. An education system is most often Facilities
traditionalviewed from the perspective of individuals concerned with its most
such as primary and secondary education. It is also possible to viev an subsectors,
place.respect to the locations where educational activities take education system with
was examined. Using this latter approach, the liteiature that addresses school location
arise from the available literature: What is the relationshiptwo important questions
the relationshipsof a school, and what arebetween achievement and the existence
access of a school?between achievement and the location and
data bases cited earlier revealed no studies or reviews An extensive search of the
schooland its relationship to school location or specifically addressing -achievement
mapping activities exist. It is a common mapping, although numerous examples of school
to effective educationalhowever, that there is a relationship between accessassumption,
type. For this reason manyto a school building of someopportunities and access
goal of theseout worldwide. The majorschool mapping activities have been carried
and maintain a more rational distribution of schools and has been to establish
School distribution is often considered with
activities
other inputs within an education system.
7
FIGURE 2 FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT HIERARCHY
EDUCATION SYSTEMVE
EDUCATION FACILITIES (Schools, Training Colleges, NATIONAL LEVEL
for example)
SCHIOOL FACILITIES (Classrooms, Laboratories, SCHlOOL LEVEL
for example)
WIThIIN THE CLASSROOM (Chalkboards, desks, CLASSROOM LEVEL
for example)
regard to the locations of present and projected school-age population. As long as
educational opportunities for children are offered through formal schooling, school
closely directly to of indirectly associatedlocation will be and linked issues access and
with achievement-it is generally assumed to be impossible to achieve in school if a
For this reason it is assumed, withouttraditional school structure is not available.
question, that school location is important.
School location is also important because of the journey to school. There is
substantial anecdotal information conceriing the problems associated with journey to
school in the Third World. Evidence on the relationship between the length of journey
is toto school and achievement, however, is sparse. There only marginal evidence
support the hypothesis that students who walk over* an hour a day will perform less
well. Gould (1973) suggests some support for this hypothesis from a study conducted in
Thailand. He also notes that research from El Salvador, Kenya, and Uganda suggests
hat distance from school does not affect learning. There is some evidence to suggest
that extreme distances may be associated with lack of achievement in the Third World
(Heyneman, 1976). Information available on distance to school in the US argues that
long travel time results in fatigue and affects motivation and aspirations (Seager, 1980).
No research studies were found to support this contention. Thus, research both support
and negates the argument that achievement is negatively correlated with distance to
school. One can conclude from this that there is no readily available information to
direct those involved in school location planning with regard to students' journey to
school.
Are school buildings essential to educational achievement? Distance education
proponent have long been concerned with questions of the ability of distance education
9
where distance education is to be equivalent to formal education. In some situations
used there may be no educational facilities whatsoe-ver available for the learners.
Perraton (1982) 3 oncludes that distance teaching can be an appropriate alternative to
equivalentformal schooling at all levels except primary cycle, and that it can provide
education programs included ineducation where appropriate. A number of the distance
is Perraton's study were based in out-of-school activities. His results suggest that it
however,not the school facility itself that contributes to learning. One must recognize,
students havethat equivalency does not necessarily mean that distance education
competed against their formal school counterparts or that the education they have
high esteem as traditional formal education. What is received will be held in as
underscores that a non-traditional approach to educationimportant is that Perraton
effective learning but it is not necessarily less expensive. The questionmight produce
back and again, is whether one should invest in it raises, which we shall come to again
of the learning production model?facilities or in components
occur in location cannot be ignored. It is important toLearning does space so
contribute to achievement.determine which characteristics of the learning environment
In the next part of this review we examine the literature that considers what specific
school contribute to achievement.facilities within a
section literature the relationshipSchool Facilities. This summarizes addressing
an individual school.between the academic achievement of students and facilities within
section is accepted (that schools are The assumption questioned in the preceding
the focus here is on what kinds of school facilities most essential for education) and
the facilities address:deffectively support achievement. Very little of literature on
to Where this relationship was addressed there weretheir relationship achievement.
10
or factors other than facilities that contributed to theoften contradictory findings
research outcomes.
Not much research has been done relating achievement to building costs a:
(1985), among others, have noted the need -rdesign. Psacharopoulos and Woodhall
better design and analysis of building costs. Observation by many educators supports
with regard to costs. For example, this author has seen twotheir contention, especially
materialsschool buildings in the same African village where the one built out of local
a few hundred dollars, and the one built with Worldand in traditional style cost only
Bank funds cost over a thousand dollars. Other than the building materials, there' were
buildings.no apparent differences in the functional utility of the two
Some of the literature on open space schools in the U.S. might provide useful
Although there is still some debateinformation for the design of Third World schools.
agreement that they"bout the effectiveness of open space schools, there seems to be
positively affect teacher attitudes and behavior (Weinstein, 1979) and do not appear to
than traditional schools but do allow greateraffect achievement any differently
opportunity for alternative learning goals (George, 1975).
whenIssues of open space versus traditional school design are important
often great differences in given
considering factors such as fluctuating school age populations and when being realistic
about likely differences in class size. For example, increased mobility is a key
characteristic of significant portions of current Third World populations and there are
class size within a school between early primary classes
classes(where there might be 70-100 pupils per teacher) and the more advanced primary
as 15-20 pupils per teacher).(which might be as small
II
There is considerable conjecture about the effect of the condition of school
buildings academic achievement in the Third World. Much of the literature from the
early industrialized world suggests that facilities contribute very little to academic
achievement (Summers and Wolf, 1985; Weinstein, 1979; West, 1983).
Other writers suggest that even though facilities may not have had a major impact
in the Third World is very different and on the early-industrialized world, the situation
facilities do, in fact, influence achievement (Heyneman, 1976; Heyneman and Jamison,
these arguments are intuitively1980a; and Heyneman and Loxley, 1982). Although
school facilities conditions in theattractive to anyone familiar with the wide range of
Third World, it is important to bear in mind that school quality as defined in these
studies included teacher variables and availability of textbooks as well as condition of
facilities.
In an extensive synthesis of the literature on school quality in the Third World,
contribute little to achievement. ThisFuller (1985) concludes that facilities in generally
is also taken in a study of school quality in Brazil (Armitage, et al., 1985), and*position
are consistent with those of Alexander and Simmons (1975).
identified measurable differences between primary schools withinHeyneman (1977)
performance.Uganda and investigated whether these variation were related to academic
associated with achievement (e.g., textbooks, boardingSome facilities were positively
machine). There was less variation amongfacilities, a school farm, and a duplicating
and it was not clear from this researchschools in his sample than expected, however,
whether it was the actual presence of the facilities that made a difference to factors
12
Heyneman attrib" .-,d to school motivation. Fuller's review (1985) did conclude that
building quality was positively associated with achievement.
Evidence from the U.S. indicates that a more efficient use of facilities, such as
measures to save electricity or use of educational facilities after school hours, does not
hamper achievement (e.g., Stuckman, 1981; Wallace, 1981). The extent to which such
measures are reproducible in the Third World are not yet demonstrated. There have
been numerous calls for the more efficient use of school facilities in the Third World
(e.g., Psacharopoulos and Woodhall, 1985). The possibility of using double shifts is
frequently mentioned as a possible efficiency measure. It should be recognized,
however, that this is only feasible in densely populated areas and even though this
might produce facilities-related savings there are other costs to he covered such as
additional teacher salaries.
Much of facilities investment in the Third World is for specialized school facilities.
This includes facilities such as science laboratories and media resource centers. Several
studies suggest a positive relationship between presence of facilities and achievement.
The following have been identified a contributing to achievement. school farms and
boarding facilities (Heyneman, 1977); library size (Fuller, 1985); laboratory, library,
dining hall, piped water, and electricity (National Curriculum Development Center, 1985);
library use and laboratories (Alexander and Simmons, 1975); library media programs
(Short, 1984); and audio-tutorials (Rowsey, 1974).
More recent literature has questioned the utility of investments in such specialized
facilities. Psacharopoulos and Woodhall (1985) argue that there is considerable evidence
that school buildings are underutilized and that there is often excess space which
13
notes that sciencewastage. Similarly, Mundangepfupfu (1986)represents resource
that laboratoriesin African schools. She also arguesratories are often underutilized
found are not essential for science instruction. In his literature review, Fuller (1985)
aboutnot related to achievement. These conclusionsthat laboratories were consistently
derive collectedbecause they from data the role. of laboratories merit special attention
remote intuition the Third World and are not merely generalizations based on data or
in
drawn from experience in the early-industrialized countries.
being directed to the wisdom of investments in In the same vein, more attention is
education within formal schools. For support of specialized vocational and technical
secondary education in example, Psacharopoulos and Loxlcy (1986) examined diversified
of this kind of Colombia and Tanzania and concluacd that even though the graduates
schools. withbetter cognitive skills than those attendingeducational experience have
moreit more and the graduates neither find jobsconventional curricula is expensive
easily or earn more than students attending conventional schools. Given the lack of
and these inputs there should be serious data on the relationships between achievement
questions about the utility of these investmcnts and the wisdom of burdening Third
World capital and recurrent education budgets with them.
research. indicates that a combination of facilitiesIt is important to note that some
other inputs can assist in predicting achievement. The research conducted byand
et aL (1985) and the National Curriculum Development Center in Lesotho Armitage
that specialized(1985) both point to this conclusion. Also, data from the U.S. suggest
(Summers and facilities may be contributing factors in attracting and retaining teachers
in the Third World.Wolfe, 1975). This could also be the case
14
A, least two factors confound the already contradictory finding regarding the
facilities and achievement. The first has already beenrelationships between specialized
variables are often confounded with thementioned--the effect teacher and other
the relative effects of the variablesit impossible to separatefacilities variables, making
been able to distinguish
studies. Second, there is some evidence that it is not merely the presence of facilities
that makes a difference but that factors such as the ability to make good use of the
facilities and motivation of teachers or school administrators actually enables the
facilities to contribute to achievement. So far, it appears that the research has not
the true nature of the relationships between school facilities'
and achievement.
there factors related to facilities within the classroomWithin the Classroom. Are
this section we consider theto student achievement? Inthat contribute positively
status of the students. Unfortunately,'lassroom, classroom equipment, and the physical
the lack of existing reviews and especially by a lack we are once again constrained by
of research on Third World school facilities and equipment.
relating class size., to achievement in the ThirdThere is ao definitive evidence
World (Haddad, 1978). Literature from the early-industrialized world suggests that what
intensive (West, 1983) and that theis important to recognize is that teaching is labor
factor than class size (Chang and Ogletree, 1979).quality of teaching is more significant
The latter researchers suggest that many of the investigations of class size were done
when the pupil population was greater, and that contemporary research in this area
might produce different results now.
15
Given the limited information regarding optimum class size, it seems reasonable
that classrooms be design to accommodate different size classes. Furthermore, data
from Brazil indicating that a nongraded classroom does not reduce achievement provide
further evidence that classroom design should allow for flexibility in class size
(Armitage, et al., 1985).
With regard :o classroom arrangement, there is evidence from the U that seating
location is associated with achievement (Weinstein, 1979). Her review of the research
on the physical environment of the school suggests that classroom arrangement per se is
not closely related to achievement, which is more closely related to the teaching- style.
What is not clear is the extent to which seating location is, in fact, a function of
student behavior rather than a factor affecting student achievement.
Fuller (1985) found that presence of desks and instructional media were positively
'associated with student achievement. This is consistent with the results of Heyneman
(1977), although it is important to remember Heyneman's own reservations about his
findings regarding the presence of duplicators. That iv, is it the presence of equipment
itself that makes a difference or does equipment merely signal the presence of a third
as school motivation, which is positively related to achievement?factor, such
There is a discor.-erting lack of research on the contributions to achievement of
equipment such as caalkboards, mimeomachines, paper, and pencils. It is possible that
these are taken for granted as part and parcel of every school. Yet, those familiar
very scarcewith Third World schools know that these items are often 'absent or very
and that policymakers may have to make decisions between different types of so-called
-essential" equipment because of budget constraint Where US research exists on the
16
effects of items such as use of mimeograph (Leigh, 1984; Torop, 1968) or chalkboards
and Odom, 1972) it is compared to an alternate approach(Gilmore, 1976; Trueman, 1981;
with no equipment(such as audiotutorial). There is generally no control group
level of contribution attributable towhatsoever so one is unable to assess the absolute
a specific type.
Weinstein (1979) also summarized findings related to density, privacy, and noise in
high student density in a classroom has athe classroom. Some evidence suggests that
density may be important, they may a very significance *and effect
negative effect on complex task achievement. This is important because many lower
primary classrooms are extremely crowded. It is important to recognize, however, that
concepts such as 'personal space" are culturally defined. Even though the results about
have different in a
Third World setting. The concept of privacy is related to the idea of personal space.
Weinstein found no research on the topic but believes it is important for such research
bn be done. She further adds that there is speculation that the open space schools
offer students greater opportunity for privacy.
Some research has been conducted on the relationships between noise level and
although not much research addresses theachievement. Weinstein concludes that
term noise has little effect on achievement, but that longsubject, it seems that short
term noise might be problematic. She hastens to add that any additional research
should consider the extent to which noise actually affects achievement directly rather
than interfering with communication.
a major issue in the U.S., but has receivedStudent nutritional status is seldom
considerable attention in the Third World. Fuller's review (1985) and the work of
17
Moock, Leslie and Jamison (1985) demonstrate that low nutritional status adversely
affects achievement. In particular, chronic malnutrition has the greatest negative
socioeconomiceffects. This emphasizes that the education sector is part of a larger
system, and because of this, it is critical to recognize that optimal use of the best
be enough to ensure optimal use of resourceseducational inputs on their own may not
for education.
Industrialized Country Findings.Relationships between Third World aud Early
Some evidence indicates that facilities do not necessarily have similar effects on
achievement in Third World and early-industrialized countries. Heyneman and Loxley
(1982), Heyneman (1982, 1980a) investigated whether findings from the early
contexts andindustrialized countries could be considered valid for Third World
concluded that they could not. More recent literature (e.g., Fuller, 1985 and the
1985) tend to support this hypothesis. At aNational Curriculum Development Center,
two"ery different level, simple observation identifies significant differences between the
contexts that could affect generalizations about factors affecting achievement. For
example, the review by Weinstein (1979) concludes that absence of windows does not
however, that one would arrive at the"affect achievement in the US. It is unlikely,
build in a tropical location with no electricity to providesame conclusion for a school
either light or air movement.
seems to be little similarity betweenAn example of another topic where there
Third World and early-industrialized countries is with respect to school location.
made level. Currently,Decision regarding school location in the US are at the local
made at the national level. most school location decisions in the Third World are
Though one might argue that the only difference is one of scale, it seems that such a
18
great extent within position disregards national diversity which seldom occurs to such a
a region or school district in the US.
in the Third Worldfacilitiesvariation in It has been argued that there is more
have a stronger effectta.is is why facilitiesworld andthe early industrializedthan in
This may well be true. Most of the first category.in countries within on achievement
in most US school districts and "schools" that would be acceptable
us have seen schools even within the
in the same country, sometimes that are barely recognizable as such
have worked in schools in poor areas of Third World
same town. And, those of us who
In the Sahel, it is essential to do matter.level facilitiesknow that at somecountries
Malaysia will be the sun off students and schooling. in Haiti and
roof keephave a to
building that is unable to withstand heavy rainstorms. disrupted frequently if held in a
has severalof the literatureThis searchfrom the Research.of FindingsSummary available on
little appears to be readily the First, surprisingly'Important results.
true for research fromThis is asachievement.and equipment onfacilitiesinfluence of several assumptions
for the Third World. Second,world as it is
the early-industrialized been tested. Wherehave never
the role of facilities and equipment apparentlyregarding
careful attention towithout thebeen done
have been tested, this hasassumptions
separate the effects of facilities variables from other school variables.
facilities do effect achievement from the Third World suggests that
Third, research in earlyfacilitiesfrom thatdifferent
and that their role might be quite of
the relationshipsis whetheris not clear, however,Whatcountries.industrialized incausal or correlational
in the Third World are and achievementbetween facilities
nature.
19
The literature does suggest that facilities do have a stronger influence on
achievement in the Third World than in the early-industrialized world. There is a
there is some minimum level of facilities that contributes togeneral belief that
achievement. Third World school facilities vary greatly--a continuum ranging from
schools built on Western models to huts with grass roofs. The researchsophisticated
has not identified the minimum level on this continuum.
There is a strong intuitive case for accepting the assertion that facilities do
contribute to achievement in Third World schools, at least at this point in time. What
needed is to move from this case to a more systematic way of addressing the issue.is
This will involve a better understanding and definition of what facilities are and how
tothey can be miazure. Currently, economists use a simple monetary approach
footage perfacilities. One approach to measuring facilities might be to consider square
cannot for how of librarystudent, but this alone account well that measure space, for
example, is used. It is also important to conduct research under conditions where there
is definable variation between facilities.
Limitations
There is a need for additional research on the relationship between facilities and
this. Three of these are describedachievement, but several constraints can hamper
below.
is a serious problem. We lack information fromLack of DaI2. The lack of data
both the early-industrialized and the Third World. Where data do exist there is a lack
of clarity concerning what they really represent and what was actually measured. This
20
means that future research cannot rely on existing data but will probably have to
with data availability may beinclude initial data collection. Some of the problems
literature--the one month allottedlessened by an extensive search through the fugitive
to this review did not allow for that.
onLack of Control. One of the major problems that has plagued research
fagilities has been difficulties with controlling the variables. For example, water and
associated with achievement. As noted byelectricity have been found to be positively
for something else--a measure ofWindham I , however, these measures might be a proxy
to iistinguish betweenurbanity, for example. And, as mentioned earlier, it is critical
the facility or the way it is being used to contribute to student achievement.
someReliability of Transferring Knowledge. Existing research does reveal
in the Third World.about facilities and their relationship with achievementinformation
Combined with what we know from the early-industrialized world, this will assist with
to be guided ratherthe formulation of research hypotheses. It is important, however,
than driven by earlier findings as there is evidence .to suggest that there may be
Third World countries as well as betweendifferences in the role of facilities within
Third World and early-industrialized countries.
Why Proceed?
relationship
Considering the contradictory finding of research and the difficulties researchers
face isolating the effects of variables that represent facilities and equipment
specifically, why invest time and other resources to pursuing information on the
between facilities and equipment? There are three important reasons to do
1 Personal Communication, 5 June, 1986
21
so. The first two regard facilities as a part of the costs of education and in relation
to other factors that affect achievement. The third reason is because facilities often
constrain the choices of learning technology. Informatiop on these general areas can
assist in policy decisions.
Achievement gains have costs attached to them. An important goal in the Third
World is to obtain the greatest gains at the lowest possible costs. Facilities such as
school buildings are often costly to construct and maintain and they can use up large
proportions of education capital budgets. (It is also important to recognize that they
may also account for minimal amounts of the monetary value of inputs if they are
constructed of materials such as grass and poles). Regardless, they are a part of the
costs of inputs and the more sophisticated their design and purposes the more likely
they are to require greater proportions of national education budgets.
Facilities and equipment do not stand alone in an education system, however.
Facilities requirements are partially determined by the other components of the
education system (See Figure 1). For example, curriculum content and required
instructional materials might require particular kinds of laboratories or a media resource
center. Or particular kinds of approacher to learning, such as radio instruction, will
require space of managing the technology.
The education system does not just have facilities requirements. Facilities also
play a major role in constraining decisions regarding the educational process. For
example, lack of electricity can restrict the introduction of low cost computers or
absence of a library can make independent discovery learning much more difficult to
achieve.
22
Thus, facilities represent part of the interactive system that produces learning.
Figure 3 is a diagrammatiq representation of the relationship between facilities and the
costs associated with achievement. As the diagram shows, facilities have both direct
and indirect impacts on costs, and they also influence and are influenced by other parts
of the production of learning system. An understanding of the role of facilities in
achievement and its relationships with other inputs will make it possible to make
informed policy and planning decisions.
Fruitful Research Investments
Given the lack of research study on facilities and achievement there are many
areas where it would be useful to have information. Several of these are identified as
having priority because of what is already known or what is needed. Figure 4
summarizes these research areas and identifies issue areas to which various, kinds of
reformation would contribute. As shown by the figure, research on facilities could make
significant contributions to questions concerning the internal efficiency and costs and
financing of Third World education systems.
Access and equity issues could be addressed through information on school location.
Research on investments in special educational facilities could contribute to questions
concerning a system's external* efficiency. This is a sensitive area, however, for it is
important to consider if the goal is academic achievement or school graduates who are
able to find employment with little difficulty.
An identification of the minimum level of facilities to support achievement would
seem to be the most fruitful research area at this time. This research would identify
23
FIGURE 3 FAC!LITIES RELATIONSHIP TO ACHIEVEMENT COSTS
COSTS AL +l ACHIEVEMENT
Learning Technology]
".. - - - Instructional..- .... Management
-- Instructional Materials
4- + Content
Facilities and Equipment
direct impact on costs
----- indirect impact on costs
FIGURE 4 RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN FACILITIES RESEARCH AND ISSUE AREAS
Issue Area External Internal Access & Costs & Research Area Efficiency Efficiency Equity Financing
Invcstmncnts'in special educational facilitics--Science and ,Voc/Tcch Laboratories, etc.
Ln School Design
Exicnt and condition of facilities I'quipmcnt contributions to achievement Furniturc contributions to achievement School location ' Investment in facilities improvements-watri, cec., etc. Relationships of facilities to other inputs More efficient use of facilities New approaches to school financing
where on the previously-mentioned "facilities continuum" policymakers and planners
should focus their attention. Once the question of a threshold level of facilities is
more clear it will.)be possible to develop and test hypotheses regarding the different
contexts.
This initial research question might pose some methodological problems but
implementation of the research should not be too difficult. For example, the USAID
Mission in Haiti is preparing to initiate the Incentives to Improve Basic Education (IIBE)
project. This project is designed to measure differences resulting from providing
specified inputs to schools in impoverished rural and urban areas. This context might
provide an excellent opportunity for research that would support both the BRIDGES and
IIBE projects.
Some areas are not recommended for research: out-of-school formal distance
' ducation as an alternative to formal education provided in school facilities, for
example. This is not to suggest that it is not a viable research area. Rather, it is not
recommended because it is not likely to provide useful policy information for the
realities of political decisions regarding education in the Third World.
Finally, it is emphasized that research. on facilities must be conducted within the
context of research on other components of the model of the production of learning.
For example, there will be a p',i, in many countries when it will not be efficient or
even feasible to provide school places for every student--some alternatives will have to
be considered for children from isolated areas or from nomadic populations.
26
I APPENDIX
School size
School location
School design open space schools
School facilities dining hall/kitchens library/library media program laboratory science laboratory class size (classroom size) windows w/ glass workshops
School buildings - presence quality
Sports facilities football field hockey field
,School farm
Staff room
Boarding facilities
Class size
Water
Electricity
Glass in windows - presence/absence
Telephone
Classroom chalk boards desks (desk tops) duplicating machine density seating position privacy noise
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6
