Join a growing movement to provide better acoustical environments in school classrooms. This subject has recently received attention following the publication of a Petition for Rulemaking in the Federal Register in June 1998. This document addresses guidelines for acoustical conditions in classrooms that are being considered by the Access Board for regulation under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. This web-site is a resource for those concerned with meeting proposed new standards for classroom acoustics. It will be updated frequently with current events and information of interest to parents, educators, school planners, architects, school boards and others.
Childhood is a time of intensive, continuous learning.
Both inside and outside the classroom, children practice and develop their social, intellectual and communication skills in a variety of situations. The classroom experience is an opportunity to focus on these critical skills in a controlled environment and provide the stimuli needed to help a child realize his or her full potential. One of the corner stones of a child's early education is the development of language skills. An instinctive grasp of phonetic structure and grammatical rules comes about only through repeated exposure to clear, unambiguous auditory interaction with parents, teachers and peers. Too often such interaction is corrupted or inhibited by the acoustical environment in which it takes place.