Budget Lighting Home Page

Page 2 of 6
Continue to: Vita-Lite Full Spectrum Lamps - Education Study Page 3

FULL SPECTRUM LIGHTING IMPROVES EDUCATION
possible for this lighting to naturally improve the school classroom environment as well. The results presented herein confirm our belief that Vita-Lite is a natural for improving any interior environment, especially classrooms.

YOU CAN TO MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Knowing that good classroom lighting has these profound effects upon educational performance, parents and teachers are encouraged to petition school boards and administrators to remove the substandard lighting and replace it with the best classroom lighting, Vita-Lite. Neither students nor teachers should have to experience or endure the negative aspects of poor classroom lighting on educational performance and productivity.

STUDIES AND CASE HISTORIES

The following are short summaries of intensive and carefully conducted studies at the Edmonton, Alberta (Canada) schools over an eight-year period and other classroom lighting studies.

Interesting case histories from other schools support many of the results from the Alberta school system studies. For over 20 years, Vita-Lite full-spectrum lighting has been successfully used in thousands of classrooms throughout the nation. Some of these case histories are reported here.

Studies

EDMONTON. ALBERTA STUDY 1981-1985

This study was with 700 elementary students (grades 1 to 6) in two schools. Vita-Lite fluorescent lighting was used in the experimental school and Cool White fluorescent was used in the control school. The results showed that under the Vita-Lite lighting there were:

  1. Significantly lower student noise levels.
  2. Significantly more positive attitude of students.
  3. Significantly reduced absences for students
    (9.49 days per school year per student).
These were measured effects, using traditional statistical analyses to determine significance.

EDMONTON. ALBERTA FOLLOW-UP STUDY 1986-1989

As a follow-up replicate study to the previous 1981-1985 work, this study was designed on the hypothesis that different lighting systems had no differential effects on students. The classroom lighting systems compared were:
  1. Cool White and Vita-Lite in the standard school fluorescent luminaries (fixtures)
  2. Vita-Lite in improved fluorescent luminaries with aluminum reflectors
  3. High Pressure Sodium.
This was a much more intensive and detailed study than the previous one and involved classrooms with fourth grade students who reached an average age of 12.02 years as of June, 1989.

The major conclusions based upon statistical evaluation of measured effects were:
  1. Lighting does have a profound effect on students' educational achievement.
  2. The best attendance was under Vita-Lite with improved luminaries (3.2 fewer days of absences per year. With HPS, absenteeism increased by 3.2 days.).
  3. The greatest gains in academic achievement (basic skills) were under Vita-Lite lighting in both standard and improved luminaries. Academic achievement was lower under Cool White and lowest under high pressure sodium lighting.
  4. Lighting systems do not have an effect on changes in vision of students.
Note: Other significant effects on students were measured in the Edmonton, Alberta studies. These effects are related to the health, growth and development of students under the different classroom lighting environments.

Health effects ascribed to products come under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). FDA regulations state that describing or referring to health effects of products are health claims, and cannot be made without FDA approval. Therefore, we are prohibited from reporting these effects herein.
(Note: The FDA approval process is very expensive)

SCHOOL STUDIES YIELD IMPORTANT RESULTS

Two other studies were reported from schools in Bay City, Michigan and Green Street School in Brattleboro, Vermont. These studies support findings in the Edmonton, Alberta school system.

BAY CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS - BAY CITY MICHIGAN

Second and fourth grade classrooms were used to study the effects on students under Vita-Lite full-spectrum lighting compared to standard (Cool White) fluorescent lighting. Significant differences were noted in the experimental classrooms, showing that Vita-Lite lighting resulted in:

Continue to: Vita-Lite Full Spectrum Lamps - Education Study Page 3