William H. Farquhar Middle School, Olney, MD. Photo credit: Patrick Ross
School Health Research Library
We have curated a library of peer-reviewed scientific studies from around the world published since 2016, focusing on the school built environment and occupant health and performance. This research builds on the 2017 Schools for Health: Foundations for Student Success report released by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health that synthesizes foundational research about school indoor environmental quality impacts on students and staff.
To help translate this research into action in schools, we have compiled School Health Research Highlights to help school staff and leaders access key findings and actionable strategies on priority topics.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 355 | Export entire research library
The role of weather conditions on time spent outdoors and in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity among Norwegian preschoolers
Ylvisaker, Einar
Associations for MVPA depended on whether the analyses were adjusted for outdoor time or not. In unadjusted analyses, rainfall, wind, and wet, icy, and mixed playground conditions were negatively associated with MVPA, while temperature, snowfall,…
Keywords: Weather, accelerometry, Kindergarten, outdoors, playground, preschoolers
Measures implemented in the school setting to contain the COVID-19 pandemic
Littlecott, Hannah
The 15 main studies consisted of measures to reduce contacts (4 studies), make contacts safer (7 studies), surveillance and response measures (6 studies; 1 assessed transmission outcomes, 5 assessed performance of surveillance measures), and…
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Implementation and effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions, including mask mandates and ventilation, on SARS-CoV-2 transmission (alpha variant) in primary schools in the Netherlands
Gorgels, Koen M.F.
Most implemented NPIs were aimed at students, except for masking mandates, which preferentially targeted teachers over students (63% versus 22%). We observed lower crude secondary attack rates in schools with a ventilation system compared to schools…
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A multi-layered strategy for COVID-19 infection prophylaxis in schools: A review of the evidence for masks, distancing, and ventilation
McLeod, Robert S.
This review provides a comprehensive synthesis of current scientific evidence and emerging standards in relation to the use of layered prevention strategies (involving masks, distancing, and ventilation), setting out the basis for their…
Keywords: Air purification, infection prophylaxis in school classrooms, Masking and physical distancing, Mechanical ventilation, natural ventilation.
Assessing the impact of SARS-CoV-2 prevention measures in Austrian schools using agent-based simulations and cluster tracing data
Lasser, J.
In the data we find that 40% of all clusters involved no more than two cases, and 3% of the clusters only had more than 20 cases. The model shows that combinations of NPIs together with vaccinations are necessary to allow for a controlled opening of…
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Ventilation during COVID-19 in a school for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD)
Zand, Martin S.
97% of rooms had an estimated ACH ?4.0, with 7% having CO2 levels ?2,000 ppm for up to 3 hours per school day. A statistically significant correlation was found between the time that a room had CO2 levels ?1,000 ppm and SARS-CoV-2 PCR tests…
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Model-Estimated Association Between Simulated US Elementary School-Related SARS-CoV-2 Transmission, Mitigation Interventions, and Vaccine Coverage Across Local Incidence Levels
Giardina, John
With student vaccination coverage of 70% or less and moderate assumptions about mitigation effectiveness (eg, masking), mitigation could only be reduced when local case incidence was 14 or fewer cases per 100?000 residents per day to keep the mean…
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Heat-Resilient Schoolyards: Relations Between Temperature, Shade, and Physical Activity of Children During Recess
Lanza, Kevin
Temperature ranged 11 C to 35 C. Each 1 C higher temperature was associated with a 0.7 percentage point lower time spent in MVPA, until 33 C (91 F) when the association changed to a 1.5 lower time (P < .01). Each 1 C higher temperature was…
Keywords: Latino, Climate change adaptation, green schoolyards, Low-income, shade sail structures, urban tree canopy.
Indoor soundscape in primary school classrooms
Visentin, Chiara
The results of the study indicate that the most frequent sounds in classrooms are generated by the students themselves (voices, movements) followed by the traffic. The urban context of the school modulates the children's perception when windows…
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