Critical Factors for Creating and Sustaining Safe and Healthy Learning Environments:: Implications for Digital Teaching and Learning

This mixed methods study will use a bounded case study and quantitative data to explore the relationships between health disparities in schools and factors that affect the quality of healthy learning environments. The research will address this problem from three dimensions 1) teacher quality, 2) school performance data and 3) health related data for a selected school district. The purpose of this proposed research is to explore the relationship between critical environmental school building conditions and health related factors on student academic achievement and teacher effectiveness to understanding factors that could contribute to creating and maintaining safe and healthy learning environments in schools.Presuming that certain school facility conditions reveal evidence suggesting a strong influential effect on student academic performance, the studies an be used as a foundation for future study. The literature review, combined with future investigations, exhibit evidence for school officials and administration to prompt building renovation and construction programs.A literature review on the effects of ecological conditions have on schools shows there are significant health risk is some urban, rural and suburban schools. The argument is that such conditions present thought-provoking implications for transforming learning environments into healthy and safe places for teachers and learners to be active and productive. Recent data suggests that poor IAQ may directly reduce an individual’s ability to perform specific mental tasks requiring concentration, calculation or memory (p. 1). Such mental tasks are required in all core subjects and especially the advanced Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics curriculum (STEM). In addition, this research shows indoor temperature and relative humidity can also affect health and performance directly, and can affect human performance indirectly by influencing the airborne level of hazardous environmental elements such as mold and bacteria. This research will raise awareness about environmental conditions that could affect learning and teaching environments and presents a synthesis of evidence on the potential adverse effects of dampness and mold on individuals in school and similar settings. A recent study, Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and Student Performance (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2003) [7] found evidence that continues to emerge showing how poor indoor air quality can cause illness requiring absence from school and can cause severe health symptoms that decrease performance while at school. In addition, school leaders may miss critical opportunities to attract and retain the best teachers and students, which could result in lost revenue to schools and other federal penalties. Such an adverse impact could result in further damage or loss of community schools due to unhealthy learning environments. The author, Dr. Joyce Read more