Declan Curry

Air temperature has been a persistent issue in American schools, from the establishment of the first schools to the introduction of air conditioning. Although the installation of these units seems like common sense, a significant proportion of New York public high schools have failed to do so. The purpose of this research was to address this issue, while measuring the true impacts these environmental settings have every day on high school students, within the range, 15 to 18 years of age. To achieve this, I conducted a survey, along with additional interviews. The survey responses provided a general idea of the students' feelings in classrooms with and without air conditioning systems. To achieve this, I used a Likert Scale, to give a base understanding of student's comfort in class. Furthermore, the surveys had a short response option that gave participants more space to respond and express their emotions. This same idea was applied in the optional interview portions of the study, where participants were asked to expand on their previous responses. Moreover, the results showed that almost all students preferred to work in air-conditioned environments. The Likert scales gave a broad preview of the findings, while the short response and interviews allowed me to find patterns and create connections in the language of the responses. The results represent the current issue across New York state public high schools, regarding the lack of air conditioning. It shows how mass numbers of students, in their most important years of high school, are faced with all kinds of challenges and disadvantages, that in many ways hinder their ability to focus on learning in their given class. Ultimately, this study underlines a major issue in New York State public high schools—the lack of air conditioning is a barrier to student success, creating unnecessary challenges in their most crucial years of education.