Planning Educational Facilities: A Review

Glen I. Earthman’s Planning Educational Facilities: What Educators Need to Know, Third Edition (Amazon citation) look and reads like a textbook for school administrators who need a crash course on building or a renovating school. With nary a photograph in it, this book is not designed to inspire readers to think about learning space innovation. Rather, its a nuts-and-bolts guide to dealing with everything from the school board to the zoning board, contractors, architects, and planners, federal and state regulators fundraising, and construction. The knowledge in this book needs to be possessed by at least one person in any school considering construction projects, such as a superintendent, building principal, business manager, or buildings project manager.

Earthman has over thirty years of experience in planning schools, and it shows. Few other could offer both the breadth and depth of real-world experience that makes this book standout from others. If I would have a nit to pick, I would say that the book, now in its third edition, includes several chapters towards the end that reflect the changes we’ve all experienced in educational practices over the past three decades:

• technology,
• the future of learning spaces,
• green schools, and
• problem-based learning.