METRICS WORKGROUP

January 8, 2013Washington, DC

Working Group Charge1. Explore common metrics and indicators and existing

research, as well as new research opportunities, linking environmental health conditions in schools to children’s health and academic performance

2. Identify research questions, existing data sets, and what data are needed regarding pediatric environmental health and exposures in schools

3. Develop a white paper summarizing the state of the art in metrics and surveillance and identifying gaps for future action and research by federal agencies and other organizations

Children’s Health Policy Recommendations

Develop a coordinated federal strategy for the states to help their schools rapidly improve facility design, construction, and maintenance

Set up programs to test and remediate for hazards and to phase in safer products

Develop a systematic means for collecting information about exposures in the school setting

Children’s Health Policy Recommendations

Build the capacity of agencies such as EPA, CDC and state authorities to respond to and evaluate risks to children’s health that occur in school settings.

Implement an environmental public health tracking system in sentinel school systems

Childrens Health Policy Recommendations

Adequately fund research so that standards for indoor environmental quality for vulnerable children in school settings can be promulgated

Encourage the development of enforceable state regulations regarding indoor environmental quality

Childrens Health Policy Recommendations

Identify an appropriate state level agency for oversight and enforcement

Engage private sector organizations like PEHSUs to facilitate on site inspections of child care centers and schools

Review and publish school closures that have occurred for health and safety reasons

Childrens Health Policy Recommendations

Determine if current laws and regulations are sufficient for protection of public health and make recommendations for improvement

Adapt guidelines for states to use to allow access to federal, state and local laws and regulations and pest practices related to schools

Childrens Health Policy Recommendations

Create mechanisms for cooperation between DHHS, DOE, DOJ, legal experts and child health advocates to discuss research and data collection in and about schools and school children.

Review barriers that FERPA represents

Metrics and MeasuresNext Steps “Ground truth” these measures to see if data

are available Determine if anyone is using facilities

measures to track children’s health in schools Continue to flesh out possible health in

schools measures

What gets measured gets done

Learning

Children’s Health

Metrics

Facilities

• Average public school is over 40 years old

• 40% are in bad to poor condition

• $271B to bring to decent standard

• Disparity of funding• One way forward is to

go green

Popular Press

www.parade.com/news/2012/08/12-rebuilding-americas-schools.html?index=1

Courtesy of National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities

www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11756

Green Schools: Attributes for Health and Learning

Source: Stanton, Hedge et al. (2004) Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics, CRC Press

Why is Indoor Environmental Quality Important?

Metrics/Measures ElementsOutcomes Student Learning Student Health Indirect– Teacher and Staff Health– Teacher/Staff Effectiveness/Productivity– Teacher Retention

Metrics/Measures ElementsLevel Region State County or City Community or Neighbor District School Building Classroom

Metrics/Measure ElementsUses: Policy Practitioners Surveillance

Facility/Building Characteristics

Current generation of green building and high performance schools began in 1999

The first studies of the actual performance of these projects began to emerge in 2009

Gaps and LimitationsAcoustics

• Standards for background noise and reverberation time are well established, but adoption and compliance are low. Verification protocols need to be standardized and utilized• The role of amplified sound to ensure

maintaining sign to noise ratio is contentious• Frequency - metrics for high frequency impact

sounds and low frequency are problematic

Gaps and LimitationsIndoor Air Quality• National standards do not exist for particulates

Gaps and Limitations

Lighting How natural daylight affects learning Glare is qualitative

Gaps and LimitationsFacility Condition Assessments No coordinated review of how states are using the

assessments and/or assessing the facilities themselves

We need mechanisms to validate the actual performance of high performance schools beyond the use of energy

Gaps and LimitationsChildren’s Health and Safety Models for capturing child health data that

reference school attendance are needed More measures relating environmental

conditions in schools to health are needed Health levels of many individual chemicals do not

exist Synergistic and cumulative effects of chemicals

are not well defined