View Content #26654

From http://blog.tesol.org/

Judie Haynes writes, "Research shows that an overly cluttered classroom can be more of a distraction than an aid to learning. Children, particularly those in the early grades and those with special learning needs (this includes English learners; ELs), are easily distracted by a cluttered classroom. My friend and early child education expert Karen Nemeth wrote a guest blog for TESOL about this topic in April 2017. I’d like to add some more details about the research. Although all of this research was completed using the general school population, it certainly applies to ELs."

Read the full blog post, which includes a discussion of the key environmental influences on student learning and a recommendation for 20-50% of empty wall space, at http://blog.tesol.org/overly-cluttered-classrooms-and-el-learning/