The effect of classroom environment

Staff development network

Dr Mark Dowley November 26th, 2024 · 2min read

The reading this week is a summary of a 2023 research paper, published in Nature, on the effect of open and closed classrooms on literacy development. Genuine experiments in education are difficult to create but this study has performed quite well in this regard.

Key points
• The study investigated the effect of classroom settings on academic progress in 7–10 year old students comparing reading development in open-plan (multiple class groups located within one physical space) and enclosed-plan (one class group per space) environments.

• All learning conditions (class group, teaching personnel, etc.) were held constant throughout, while the physical environment was alternated term by term using a portable, sound-treated dividing wall.

• The study measured the impact on 146 students over three school terms, allowing individual student changes across an academic year to be calculated.

• Reading fluency development (change in words read-per-minute) was greater for the enclosed classroom phases.

• The children who showed the greatest condition difference (i.e. slower rate of development in the open plan) were those with the worst speech perception in noise and/or poorest attention skills.

What (I think) this means
• Open plan classrooms can be detrimental to student learning.
• In open plan and loud classrooms, lower-performing students suffer the most.
• Architects should listen to teachers (and the research) when designing classrooms.

Read the full article

 

Happy coaching,
Mark

 

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