This study explores the relationship between K-12 school buildings and the health and wellbeing of educators with a focus on women’s health experiences across their reproductive life stages. We want to better understand how the spaces educators work in every day may affect their physical and mental health, and use that information to improve how schools are designed, maintained, and renovated.

AREA Research is a non-profit that leads this study in collaboration with Perkins&Will. AREA Research designed and administers the study methodology; Perkins&Will's Human Experience (Hx) Research Team contributes subject-matter expertise on the built environment and supports outreach and dissemination. Perkins&Will is the study's applicant of record with the Institutional Review Board. AREA was founded in 2012 with the aim of advancing knowledge and seeking solutions to complex problems through community partnerships and innovative design solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges.

Perkins&Will is a global architecture and design firm with a long-standing commitment to research that improves the health and wellbeing of the people who use the spaces we design. The Human Experience (Hx) Research Team leads our work at the intersection of health, people, and the built environment. The study is led by Dr. Erika Eitland, Director and Senior Research Lead, who holds a doctorate from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

A lot of research exists on how school buildings affect student outcomes, but very little attention has been paid to how those same buildings affect the educators, and even less to health experiences specific to women. Educators spend a significant portion of their lives inside schools and this study aims to build the evidence base that can help change how schools are designed.

Women make up approximately 76% of the K-12 educator workforce in the United States, yet school buildings are rarely designed with women’s specific health needs in mind, including health experiences tied to reproductive life stages. This study aims to fill that gap and generate evidence that can directly inform future school and planning decisions.

Yes. This study has been reviewed and approved by the WCG IRB, an independent Institutional Review Board that ensures research involving human participants meets federal ethical standards for the protection of human subjects.

No. This is independent research conducted by AREA Research in collaboration with Perkins&Will. Your school or district is helping distribute the survey, but the research itself is not a school or district initiative. Your school and district have no involvement, no access to individual responses, and no role in data analysis or reporting.

The survey is being distributed through partner school districts and educator networks. Your designated point of contact received the survey link from our AREA Research team and shared it with eligible staff. Our team did not have access to your contact information prior to your participation.

No. This is independent academic research with no connection to any legal proceedings, litigation, regulatory investigation, or funding decisions involving your school or district.

This survey is open to K-12 educators who are currently employed at a school in the United States and spend most of their working day inside a school building. Participants must be 18 years of age or older and able to respond in English.

The following groups are excluded, as their work patterns differ meaningfully from the fixed classroom environments under investigation:

• Administrative or office staff whose work is conducted primarily outside of classroom settings

• Custodial, facilities, and grounds staff

• Paraprofessionals or aides whose duties require them to move between multiple rooms or settings throughout the day

• School nurses and health office staff whose work is conducted primarily in a dedicated health or medical space

Yes. While this study focuses on women’s physiological health experiences, we welcome responses from all K-12 educators regardless of gender identity. Demographic questions about gender identity are included in the survey and participation is open to all eligible educators. All responses contribute to our understanding of how school environments affect educator health more broadly.

No. Participation is entirely voluntary. Choosing not to participate will have no effect on your employment, standing, or relationship with your school or district.

No. Your individual responses will never be seen by your school, your district, or any employer. Nothing you share in this survey will affect your employment, your school’s standing, or any funding decisions. The research team is entirely independent.

The survey itself takes approximately 15-20 minutes to complete.

You can pause and then resume taking the survey at a later date or time. You may exit the survey at any time without penalty. You may also skip any question you do not wish to answer; there are no required fields.

Yes. The survey does not collect your name, email address, or other individually identifying features, and your responses cannot be linked back to you. Results will be reported in aggregate form only. Any open-ended responses included in published materials will be reviewed and edited to remove potential indirect identifiers before publication and data will never be shared in a manner that permits identification of individual participants.

No. Individual responses will never be shared with any party outside the research team. Only de-identified, aggregate findings will be reported. School district names will be replaced with randomly generated numeric codes and will never be included in any published findings. Results will only be reported at aggregate level, using broad typologies such as geographic region, school type, or urbanicity.

Only members of the Hx Research Team. Data will be stored on password-protected, encrypted servers with restricted access.

De-identified survey data will be retained indefinitely for potential future research use.

No. The survey is anonymous, which means we have no way of linking results back to any individual respondent.

The survey includes questions about your school and classroom environment, your personal health history, and how your work environment may have affected your health and wellbeing over the course of your career. Some questions use standard health survey tools that are widely used in research across the country.

Some questions touch on topics that may feel personal or sensitive including reproductive health, pregnancy and pregnancy loss, menstrual health, mental health, and chronic illness. You may skip any question at any time. There are no required fields and no penalty for skipping if you are uncomfortable.

The survey will be open from September 2026 to May 2027.

Yes. The first 350 participants who complete the survey will receive a $20 gift card. Claiming the gift card is optional and separate from survey participation.

After completing the survey, you will have the option to follow a separate link to submit your email address. Your email address will be stored completely separately from your survey responses and cannot be linked back to your answers in any way. Gift cards will be sent to the email address you submit.

Your responses are included in the study regardless. The incentive is currently funded for 350 participants, and we're actively seeking sponsors to expand that. We encourage you to submit your information to receive the gift card anyway — entries are kept in the order received, and we'll honor them as funding allows.

No. Your survey responses are completely anonymous. The email address you submit for the gift card is stored on a separate system and can never be linked to your survey responses.

No. Claiming the gift card is entirely optional. You may complete the survey without submitting your email address and your responses will be included in the study either way.

We anticipate sharing findings beginning in Fall 2027. Results will be made available on the Healthy K-12 website at healthyk12.perkinswill.com as they become available.

Findings will be reported in aggregate form through academic publications, conference presentations, professional design guidance documents, and the Healthy K-12 website. A white paper summarizing key findings will also be produced. We plan to host these materials on healthyk12.perkinswill.com.

Aggregate findings will be shared broadly, including with participating partner organizations and school stakeholders.

Raw or respondent-level data will not be made publicly accessible at any point during or following the study. Aggregate, de-identified findings will be disseminated through the channels described above.

Please reach out to the study lead:

Erika Eitland
Director and Senior Research Lead, Human Experience
EducatorHealthSurvey@AREAresearch.org
225 Franklin St, Suite 700, Boston, MA 02110