Bad Classroom Acoustics Can Inhibit Learning - Brief Article

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), April, 2000

Researchers at Ohio State University, Columbus, have found that the acoustics of many classrooms are poor enough to make listening and learning difficult for children. The study of 32 classrooms in central Ohio primary schools found that only two met the standards recommended by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

The findings held across economic boundaries. In rural, urban, and suburban classrooms--old school buildings and new--background noise and echoes were prominent enough to hamper the learning of children with even mild hearing disorders. "One of the worst classrooms was in a school district that had some of the better classrooms," notes Gail Whitelaw, adjunct associate professor of speech and hearing science. "So you can't just say the acoustics in a district are good or bad. It varies by the room. It's like real estate--what matters is location, location, location."

Lawrence Feth, professor of speech and hearing science, explains that sound bounces off hard surfaces, and classrooms normally have hard floors and walls. "When sound bounces around, it creates its own masking noise and interferes with understanding speech. It only takes a small change in speech-to-noise ratio for a child to go from understanding almost everything to understanding very little."

He says the biggest single source of background noise in classrooms is the heating and cooling system, because many schools have opted for individual units instead of quieter central air. Carpeting helps buffer sound, but may be hazardous to children with allergies or asthma. For $1,000 per classroom, a commercially available assistive listening system could do the trick, but that might be too costly for some schools. Less-expensive alternatives include draperies, wall hangings, or sound-absorbing panels.