Middle School Facilities for the Twenty-First Century: An Identification of Critical Design Elements by Selected Architects, Administrators and Teachers.

This study determined the perceptions of selected architects, administrators, and teachers concerning essential design elements for new middle schools. Professionals from 14 south and southeastern states ranked statements from not applicable to essential in the following 5 categories: planning, design, site selections; environmental factors; space utilization; technology; and school and community service. Proactive planning, user-friendly facilities, exploratory spaces, and safe environments were confirmed as essential elements. Architects perceived significantly fewer essential criteria than administrators or teachers indicating that those who use schools are either not providing significant design input, are being ignored in the process, or the data are being filtered. Appendices include the survey instrument, copies of several correspondences, and the quantified survey responses from a subset of five states. (Contains 121 references.) (GR)