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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 261 - 270 of 585 | Export entire research library

Bangkok school indoor air quality: monitoring and intervention by positive pressure fresh air system

Ongwandee, Maneerat

The indoor-to-outdoor concentration ratios indicated that either outdoor sources or indoor+outdoor sources were the predominant contributors to PM in naturally ventilated classrooms. Meanwhile, PM levels in air-conditioned classrooms strongly…

Keywords: School indoor air quality, Positive pressure fresh air system, PM2.5, Indoor environmental quality, Ventilation

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Improving Environmental Health in Schools

Gouge, Dawn H.

This paper provides information about some of the operational school challenges that limit environmental health improvements, and information about some of the current priorities and opportunities for improvement. Child health care providers have…

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Association of greenness surrounding school with aggression among adolescents: A multi-site study in China

Zhang, Yi

Daily concentrations of PM2.5, and NO2 were obtained from the China High Air Pollutants datasets. Per IQR increment of NDVI 100 m and 500 m surrounding school was associated with lower odds of total aggression; odds ratio [OR] with 95% CI was 0.958…

Keywords: School surrounding greenness, Aggression, Adolescents, Multi-site study, China

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Social Inequities in Exposure to Traffic-Related Air and Noise Pollution at Public Schools in Texas

Chakraborty, Jayajit

Results from multivariable generalized estimating equations that control for spatial clustering and other relevant factors revealed that schools with greater NO2 exposure were significantly more likely to serve racial/ethnic minority and younger…

Keywords: children, Environmental justice, Air pollution, road noise, Public schools

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Availability, accessibility, and use of green spaces and cognitive development in primary school children

Fernandes, Amanda

Availability, accessibility, and uses of green spaces showed a social gradient that was unfavorable in more vulnerable socioeconomic groups. NDVI was associated with more playing time in green spaces, but proximity to a major green space was not.…

Keywords: Children, Green spaces, Fluid intelligence, Attention, Working memory

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Systematic Review of Literature on Speech Intelligibility and Classroom Acoustics in Elementary Schools

Murga, Silvia

After identifying the parameters and tests used to quantify the intelligibility of speech, the speech intelligibility scores were analyzed in relation with acoustical parameters found in the articles, particularly signal-to-noise ratio and speech…

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The effects of exposure to road traffic noise at school on central auditory pathway functional connectivity

Martinez-Vilavella, Gerard

Road traffic noise in schools was significantly associated with stronger connectivity between the inferior colliculus and a bilateral thalamic region adjacent to the medial geniculate body, and with stronger connectivity between the medial…

Keywords: Noise, Traffic, Children, Audition, Brain, Neuroimaging

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Evaluation of Children's Thermal Environment in Nursery School: Through the Questionnaire and Measurement of Wearable Sensors Approach

Yuan, Xin

The traditional measurement results showed that 73% of classroom indoor temperatures and humidity do not meet the thermal comfort standard stipulated by the government. The method proposed in this paper indicates that: (1) nursery teachers'…

Keywords: Children, indoor thermal environment, wearable sensor, adaptive comfort behavior

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Influence of eye-related behavior on myopia among junior middle school students under the background of double reduction during the COVID-19 pandemic

Li, Fenqin

A total of 2508 junior middle school students were included. The types of eye-related behavior were categorized into the medium-healthy behavior group, heavy academic burden and near-eye behavior group, insufficient lighting group and high-healthy…

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SARS-CoV-2 aerosol transmission in schools: the effectiveness of different interventions

Villers, Jennifer

In the absence of interventions, the cumulative dose absorbed was 1.5 times higher in winter than in spring/summer, increasing chances of indoor airborne transmission in winter. However, natural ventilation was more effective in winter, leading to…

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