Good acoustics play an important role in the effectiveness of instructional spaces. Classrooms with excessive noise reverberation make it difficult for students to understand what is being taught. Children with learning disabilities have a far more difficult time paying attention to their teacher, which is neither good for the student or the rest of the class. Recently, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) along with representatives from the acoustics industry issued the paper "Position Statement and Guidelines for Acoustics in Educational Settings."
Outlined in the paper are several of suggested guidelines concerning maximum ambient background noise and a suggested Reverberation Time (RT 60) of .5 seconds (in the speech intelligibility range), in the classroom.
Using these guidelines will greatly increase the student’s ability to understand the instructor and create a better learning environment.
