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Averican Speech-Language-Hearing Association

ClassroomAcoustics
It is hard for a child to learn in a noisy classroom. There are ways to make it easier for children to
hear and learn. Audiologistscan help.
On thispage:

About ClassroomAcoustics
Problems Caused by Poor ClassroomAcoustics
GoodClassroomAcoustics Helps Everyone
Improving ClassroomAcoustics
Other Resources
About ClassroomAcoustics
Your child needsto hear and understand what otherssay to learn. A noisy classroom can make this
hard. Noise in the classroom is more than children talking. There are other factors that make a
classroombad for hearing.

Acoustics is a termused to talk about how sound travels in a room. There are factors in the room
design that may make sounds louder or softer. Examples include rugs on the floor, the type of
ceiling the room has, and how theair ducts work. Classroomacousticsis theterm for theseissues
in schools.

Two things cause poor classroom acoustics. These are too much background noise or too much
reverberation.

BackgroundNoise and Reverberation

Background noise is any sound that makes it harder to hear. In a classroom,background noise can
comefrommanyplaces, such as:

Cars and trucks outsideof theschool

Lawnmowers
The soundsof other childrenon theplayground or in thehallway
Heating or air conditioning units
Other studentsin theroom
Reverberation describes how sounds stay in a room after they first happen. Sounds stay in the
room when they bounce off of desks or walls. It is harder to hear when sounds stay in theroom. If
many sounds do this at once, it can get very loud. In a classroom, it is important to have a short
reverberation time.

Problems Caused by Poor ClassroomAcoustics

When classroomacousticsare bad, it can causeproblems with howyour child

understands speech;
reads and spells;
behaves in theclassroom;
pays attention;
concentrates; and
succeeds in school.
For thesereasons, it is important to make theclassroomquieter for all children.

GoodClassroomAcoustics Helps Everyone

All children will do better in a quieter classroom. It is even more important to havea quiet room if
your child has

hearing loss in oneor both ears;

an ear infection or fluid in theear;
a learning disability;
auditory processing disorder;
speech and languagedelay; and/or
attention problems.
A quieter classroomwill also help if your child speaks morethan onelanguage.

Teachers also do better if there are good classroomacoustics. Teachers use their voices for about
60% of their workday. Talking in a loud classroomstrains theteacher’s voiceand may lead to voice
problems.

Improving ClassroomAcoustics
It is important to reduce background noise and reverberation in any space used for learning. To
learn more, see Tips for Creatinga GoodListening Environment. For moredetailed informationon
classroomacoustics, visit ASHA’s Practice Portal.
Other Resources
American National Standard on ClassroomAcoustics
ClassroomAcousticsResources
To findan audiologist near you, visit ProFind.

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