The Importance of
Lighting in Schools: A study of five schools conducted in Canada by the Alberta
Department of Education documented health benefits in children exposed to
daylight.
Students who
attended daylit schools outperformed students who were attending non-daylit
schools by 5%-14%, depending on whether short- or long-term impacts were
assessed.
Duro-Test Vita-Lite
full spectrum lighting simulates natural day light! Vita-Lite and Vita-Lite Plus
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A primary concern
for teachers is how to improve the learning environment. Something as simple as
climate control can mean the difference between a classroom that is conducive to
learning and one that is not. A growing body of research links student
achievement and behavior to the physical building conditions: good facilities
appear to be an important precondition for student learning.
The largely daylit Durant Middle School in Raleigh, North Carolina, achieved the
highest attendance rating of more than 100 schools in Wake County. Credit: UPVG
In particular, daylight appears to have a measurable effect on performance. A
study of five schools conducted in Canada by the Alberta Department of Education
documented health benefits in children exposed to daylight. The study compared
the health of elementary school children in rooms with natural, full-spectrum
light to those in rooms with conventional lighting. The conclusion? Far from
being neutral with respect to affecting children, light has significant
non-visual effects.
The Canadian study
revealed that exposure to full-spectrum light resulted in students with better
attendance (3.5 fewer days of absence per year) and more positive moods,
resulting in better scholastic performance. Other surprising results indicated
physical benefits from the exposure to vitamin D in natural lighting: better
dental records (nine times less tooth decay), and increased growth (more than
3/4 inch in two years).
Intrigued by the results of this study, the partners of the architectural firm
Innovative Design in Raleigh, North Carolina, undertook a study of their own
daylighting designs. They tracked groups of students in daylit and nondaylit
schools through 6th, 7th, and 8th grade, using scores on California Achievement
Tests on reading, language, and math that are given to every student in the
county school system. They compared the relative percentage improvement of
students in daylit schools to all the county's middle grades.
The results of this study demonstrated that although many variables can
influence student performance, it appears that students clearly benefit from the
learning environment provided in daylit schools. Students who attended daylit
schools outperformed students who were attending non-daylit schools by 5%-14%,
depending on whether short- or long-term impacts were assessed. The impact
increases as students are exposed over time: the older students in 8th grade
improved by 21% between 1992 and 1995, compared to a county average of 10%.
