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Monday, May 7, 2007
Academic Achievement: The Facility Effect
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
AJC education reporter Kristina Torres had an interesting story this weekend about how the DeKalb School of the Arts still is searching for a permanent home decades after the magnet school first formed.
The story about a high-achieving group of educators and students who’ve cobbled together performance spaces on a shared campus lends credence to the argument that it’s not what the school looks like, but what goes on inside that matters.
Sure, it’s nice to have the latest technology and pristine classrooms. But, at least in this case, students’ academic achievement evidently isn’t hampered by the lack of a proper theater.
As Kristina pointed out in her story, DeKalb School of the Arts boasts one of the state’s highest average SAT scores.
Schools these days seem to be getting more elaborate. Think: high-tech security systems, multiple computer labs, classrooms equipped with digital blackboards and million-dollar theaters. But are kids really learning more? I mean, how much does a facility affect a student’s education anyway?
