Classroom
AcousticsClassroom
Acoustics
An Interview With
Melanie Doyle
Mother of a hearing
impaired student in the San Diego Unified School District.
Melanie Doyle is an exception to the rule. The mother of a profoundly-deaf child, she has worked diligently and successfully to mainstream her son Crosby into a regular elementary school while ensuring that he is provided a learning environment suited to his condition. Much of her efforts have been devoted toward good acoustics in Crosby's classroom. Using the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Melanie has worked closely with school district personnel to define acceptable acoustical parameters and have necessary modifications performed.
In an interview with Medlin &
Associates, she describes her experience.
What should parents do before
approaching their school district to request acoustic modifications
for their child's classroom?
First and foremost, parents need to become educated about acoustics. You don't need to be the expert, but I found that when I had more working knowledge on the subject than district staff I had greater influence. For example, do you know what reverberation time and ambient noise are and how they can be measured? What is the proposed standard and when is it likely to become part of the ADA Accessibility Guidelines? There are many web sites, publications and listservs that can help parents get a working base of knowledge.
Second, parents need to learn how the system works in their school district. Who are the power players and who are potential staff you'll be working with on the project? You need to know reporting relationships and have contact information for everyone involved (it became a side joke when I asked for business cards from anyone who showed up at our meetings). Having e-mail addresses came in handy.
Finally, I researched the laws
and program guidelines that applied to acoustics. Knowing my son's
rights was critical to the success of this project. Again, you
don't need to be an expert, but having the knowledge to refute
statements of "fact" by the district is essential.
How did you approach the school and convince them to make the modifications?
The process began by having informal discussions with district personnel to see what their general understanding of acoustics was and get a feel for what their issues might be. I met or had discussions with my son's educational audiologist, low incidence program manager, D/HH resource teacher, and facility maintenance staff. This was very helpful since I could then use the information to prepare for meetings and be a step ahead. Concerns that surfaced included:
Who will pay for the accommodations (school site, Section 504, or special education)? Who will do the measurements and analysis? Who will do the actual modifications? Do district staff have the necessary equipment, training, and/or certifications to carry out any of these functions?
Through networking, I was also fortunate to get the support of Owens Corning who agreed to contribute services and material towards the project. I then approached the district with this resource and suggested that Curie Elementary be used as a pilot project for developing acoustic modifications. I made sure to distribute articles and information regarding the Access Board's Response to Petition for Rulemaking on Classroom Acoustics to let them know that this was in fact going to become law.
The bottom line of course, was
writing ambient noise and reverberation times into Crosby's IEP.
What acoustical information was included in your son's IEP?
First of all, I don't want to make it sound like it was a piece of cake to put these noise and reverberation criteria into my son's IEP. Early on, the school district stated they weren't required to make acoustic changes since the proposed standard was not yet legally binding. I was prepared for this and responded by saying, "Yes, you're right that classroom acoustic standard is not yet law, but we are here to discuss my son's Individualized Education Plan. Based on his needs, Crosby requires acoustic modifications to his learning environments. The ADA classroom acoustic standard is secondary to this issue."
I requested that the acoustic recommendations from ASHA's position paper be written into Crosby's IEP. The district staff wanted the ASHA publication attached to the IEP, but I was firm that it needed to be written into the team notes. This seems to carry more weight than an attachment, since a parent can request to have anything attached to the IEP notes. Specific wording is very important, and although the levels on my son's IEP are more stringent than the proposed standard (which wasn't available at the time), I was able to get the district to agree to them.
Crosby's IEP states:
Acoustic modifications will be made as necessary to Crosby's learning environments:
1) Unoccupied classroom noise levels should not exceed 30dBA or Noise Criteria NC-20 curve, and
2) Reverberation times should not exceed 0.4 seconds.
Please note that at the time I
didn't truly understand what these standards really meant or what
the district would have to do to meet them. I just knew they were
important!
How many rooms received acoustic modifications at Curie?
I specifically requested that
the ambient noise and reverberation time standards apply to, "all
learning environments" and not just his classroom. In addition
to his classroom, the auditorium and speech therapy room received
modifications. There are many programs and assemblies that take
place in the auditorium. If a D/HH child is
auditory/oral and does not have
access to verbal instruction, then he cannot learn. As a comparison,
when a child who uses a wheelchair does not have a ramp to get
into her classroom, then she does not have access to education.
[Editor's note: this is the concept of "equal access to education".]
What challenges or resistance did you encounter?
Somewhat related to this project is the fact that the home school for my son had a "loft" or open-classroom plan. And although the IEP team agreed that this was not an appropriate placement for Crosby, I could not get them to agree to place him at the next closest non-loft school to his residence. It took me a good month of having conversations with key district personnel before the Assistant Superintendent approved the placement of both Crosby and his twin brother Riley at Curie. I was then able to meet with the principal and request that she designate the classroom that he would be attending. This enabled me to talk about making modifications to the specific school site.
Another challenge was that Owens
Corning was not a local firm and was new to classroom acoustics.
There were many long-distance consultations and negotiations.
In essence I became the broker between district staff and Owens
Corning (keep in mind there were many layers of people in both
of these organizations). Ultimately this turned out to be good
since I had more control of the situation.
How did the school staff respond to the changes?
I expected reactions from staff who had their environment changed, but I did not expect the degree of frustration that they and others (including some parents) expressed. To her credit the teacher was very patient and understanding. We had to move the panels in her room around several times, especially when they blocked the windows (thus air circulation and light!) which made the room "cave-like."
There are a number of things I
would do differently to educate staff and others impacted by the
project. Although the entire staff of the school received an in-service on the needs of Crosby and acoustics
in general, more time needs to be spent with the
primary service providers who will be impacted by the modifications.
This information needs to come from the experts, not the parent.
The teachers and speech therapist need to have a clear idea of
what their rooms will look, sound and smell like (the glue to
secure some of the panels was a bit overwhelming for a few days).
Initially, the speech therapist had a difficult time adjusting
to the changes and was somewhat skeptical about the benefits to
Crosby and the other children she serves. The principal needs
to be educated on the benefits in order to field questions from
staff and parents. Parents expressed concerns about the panels
falling and the music teacher wanted to know if they negatively
impacted performances. I even made a presentation at a PTA meeting
to address some of the issues that were raised. Also, I would
spend more time with the school custodian and have him more involved
in the planning meetings.
What were the actual modifications made?
To meet Crosby's need, a number of accommodations were made:
Absorptive panels were placed in his classroom, speech therapy room and auditorium. The panels in his classroom are removable and will be moving with him from year to year. Double-paned windows, a new roof vent, and quieter clock were placed in the speech therapy room. The toilet and clock were replaced in his classroom. Four aluminum wheelchair ramps near his classroom were covered with rubber matting. "Quiet Zone" was painted in areas surrounding his classroom and speech therapy room
I did need to make a number of sacrifices, but I felt these were necessary in order to maintain good relations with district staff. It is important to understand that an appropriate learning environment is a balance of acoustics, temperature and lighting. The acoustical engineer's recommendation required replacing the louvered windows in the classroom with double-paned windows. Since the windows were the main source of ventilation, it did not make sense to replace them since they would be open anyway. Of course, I could have required the district to meet the standards as written in the IEP, but this would have required installation of an HVAC system at a cost of approximately $20,000 - $25,000.
The district then starting talking
about modifying one room that Crosby would stay in for his entire
elementary school years and require teachers to rotate through
the room. Classrooms are a teacher's world, and I envisioned being
greatly disliked by all of Crosby's teachers!
Could you estimate the number of children who, in addition to Crosby, benefited from the acoustic improvements?
It is well-documented in the literature that all children gain from improved acoustics. The following specific populations also receive great benefit:
To translate this into numbers
would include the 20 kids in my son's classroom, any child receiving
therapy in the speech therapy room, and all the children who used
the auditorium benefited from the modifications.
How long did it take to complete the project?
The initial IEP addressing the acoustic standards was written in February 2000 and the modifications were completed in October 2000 (even though I stipulated in a subsequent IEP that the modifications be completed by the time Crosby started school in the Fall). Eight months is too long for a project of this size to take. Some of the delays in the project included:
A significant amount of time was taken negotiating between the Section 504 Office and the Special Education Department to determine who was responsible for funding the project. This is where some legal research came in handy! I was able to provide the district documentation that any child who receives an IEP does not require a 504 plan. This is not typically the role a parent should play, but if I was not persistent in requesting meetings and having discussions, I'm not so sure the project would be complete today.
There was a period of time when the proposal was not being actively processed by Owens Corning. This was during the summer when a number of individuals who needed to authorize the bid were on vacation.
After the project was authorized, some issues arose with the school district about exceeding the dollar limit without going out to bid for the project. It was also a non-standard process since Owens Corning was partially contributing to the project which caused a few hiccups.
The truck delivering the panels ran into an unforeseen delay. This impacted the speech therapist who had dismantled her room in anticipation of the work being done on a specific date. Although a few days may seem minor to the casual observer, the children receiving speech therapy needed to be seen in their classroom, which was not an appropriate environment for this service. The delay also impacted installation since the consultant used by Owens Corning to install the materials had many projects which he could not easily bump back.
Would you estimate the cost involved?
Cost is an important issue for
parents to understand. By law, the cost of accommodations cannot
be discussed at IEP meetings. However, it is my opinion that cost
is the main issue in determining necessary accommodations. The
overall cost to the district for all the modifications at Curie
came to $22,000 with Owens Corning donating $10,000 in the form
of testing, supervision and product.
How could an acoustical engineer help parents who want to make acoustical changes?
Acoustical engineers can help
educate parents about the importance of improved acoustics in
the classroom and supply them with information that could be used
in IEP meetings. If needed, professionals could provide a report
or participate in the IEP meeting to help convince the district
to support these needed modifications. Engineers who are interested
in working with school districts should begin to establish relationships
with key district staff. Until district personnel have the experience
and equipment necessary for testing, they will depend upon consultants
to complete the work. Most large districts have the staff to install
panels, but would need some supervision during the process. Providing
this service and making recommendations that are cost-effective
will work to everyone's benefit.
What advice would you give to other parents in working with their school districts?
One of the parent's primary role is to educate others about D/HH issues. For example the work request stated, "A profound deaf student requires an acoustically treated learning environment per 2/2/00 IEP." At a planning meeting I talked about residual hearing and how my son, who has a severe-to-profound loss, was able to hear with hearing aids. I even brought in his hearing aids and had the staff listen to them with a stethoset while I walked up and down the aluminum ramp in hard-soled shoes. They gained an appreciation of why containing the noise was so important.
Some other thoughts include:
Any parent who would like additional
information may contact Melanie at mdoyle3@san.rr.com.
GLOSSARY
Absorptive panels: Wall-mounted panels made of soft material which absorbs sound. They reduce reverberation and noise build-up in a room.
Access Board's Response to Petition for Rulemaking on Classroom Acoustics
Ambient noise: All noises in a given location that are not associated with the sound of interest ("background noise"). Ambient noises can be both external (traffic, children playing) or internal (fans, plumbing), and may or may not be controllable. Levels of ambient noise that are high enough can interfere with speech. Various sources recommend maximum levels of ambient noise in a classroom of between 30 and 45 dBA, with the lower levels preferred for hearing-impaired children.
ASHA: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
ASHA position paper: Position Statement and Guidelines for Acoustics in Educational Settings (March 1995). Lacking other definitive guidance regarding classroom acoustics, ASHA published a paper specifying minimum acoustical requirements for classrooms. Specifically, the requirements are: 1) ambient levels less than 30 dBA or NC-20; 2) signal-to-noise ratios of greater than 20 decibels, and; 3) reverberation times of less than 0.4 second.
home school: A school closest to the student's residence
IEP: Individualized Education Program. A written statement for each child with a disability that includes, among other things, a statement of supplementary aids and services to be provided to the child. The IEP is defined in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Reverberation time: The time required for a sound in an enclosed space to decay by 60 decibels. Stated another way, the time for a sound to "die out". Excessive reverberation time tends to garble speech, as is commonly observed in a gymnasium. Very low reverberation times (0.4 - 0.6 seconds) are preferred in classrooms in order to provide maximum clarity of the teacher's voice. Reverberation times are usually greater in the lower frequencies, where they are the most difficult to control. This presents an extra difficulty on hearing-impaired children as they often have most of their residual hearing in these lower frequencies.