Over the past ten years many papers and books have been published about classroom acoustics in North America and Europe, and in 2002 the Acoustical Society of America published ANSI standard S12.60-2002 on classroom acoustics. In contrast, little attention has been focused on classroom acoustics in the developing world. Building design and construction methods in the developing world differ significantly from methods used in the developed world and funding for acoustic treatments is not typically available. School buildings in many parts of the developing world are constructed of reinforced concrete and are sparsely furnished (often with little more than benches and a chalkboard). This environment can result in a highly reverberant and noisy space. In addition, classrooms in warm climates often have large areas of windows which are kept open for ventilation. Ambient noise from children on the playground or traffic on a nearby road can enter through the windows and increase the level of background noise in the classroom. Excessive reverberation and high levels of background noise can result in reduced student concentration, increased student stress, and poor speech intelligibility in the classroom environment.

The objectives of this project are to:

1. Assess the acoustical problems in classrooms in several locations in the developing world.
2. Develop simple assessment techniques that a lay person can use to estimate:
   • Reverberation time.
   • Sources of background noise and background noise levels.
   • Signal to noise ratio or speech intelligibility index.
3. Create and test acoustical treatments that can be implemented in the developing world at little or no cost.
4. Develop a set of best practices for the acoustical design of new school structures.
5. Produce a manual containing items 2-4 above that can be distributed to engineers, architects, and school administrators around the world. The manual will be written in simple language with clear illustrations and will be published in PDF format for easy distribution. The manual will initially be written in English, but the eventual goal is to translate it into several languages.
6. (Future goal) Create an educational module which teachers can use to teach the basics of acoustics while engaging students in hands-on learning. The module will have students assess the acoustical setting in their own classroom and develop their own acoustical treatments.