The Value and Evaluation of Educational Environments: The Case of Lithuanian General Education Schools

Annotation. Educational environments include different physical places, contexts, and cultures in which pupils are raised and learn. This article offers a retrospective view of the importance and significance of educational environments. Gradually, educational leaders, together with their communities, are reflecting on the adequacy of existing educational environments and acknowledging the necessity to update, adjust and create new ones.


Introduction
School is a place where children learn about the world, as well as acquire life and cultural experiences.This is why more and more attention is being paid to the school environment.Researchers (Dove, 2006;Cheung, 2021) underline the importance and significance of educational environments for learning, enriching competences with knowledge and their co-creation.Many educational institutions are discussing the creation of new environments, as the well as the renovation and adaptation of existing ones.For a smooth educational process, it is essential to have a supportive environment that provides learners with security, a spiritual balance, the ability to cooperate with community members and to live an active life while learning.Many educational institutions are considering the creation of new environments, or their renovation and adaptation.It has been observed that appropriate environments can determine the success of learning.This is supported by the analysis of factors that promote learning conducted by Glinskienė and Lapinskienė (2005).The research findings show that educational environments have an impact on learning outcomes (Jena, 2013;Liu et al., 2011;Lu et al., 2021).These studies have shown that a supportive educational environment strengthens learners' motivation to learn, promotes active learning, and improves academic performance.
Smart educational environments have been and continue to be the subject of research (Gros, 2016;Singh & Hassan, 2017;Hwang & Fu, 2020).The area of educational environments and indicators requires not only attention but also effort, as many aspects need to be taken into account to create a supportive, inclusive, and modern educational environment.It is not only the external, physical environment of the institution (equipment, facilities) that becomes important, but also the social and emotional environment created by the participants themselves.School environments should be in line with the rapidly changing needs of society.It is important to continuously redesign and innovate educational environments for 21st century competencies (OECD, 2023).In this context, the research question is formulated as follows: how are educational environments evaluated, and what is their value in general education schools?
The object of the study: educational environments in general education schools.
The aim of the study: to analyse the evaluation and value of educational environments in Lithuanian general education schools.
The objectives of the study: • to define educational environments in general education schools; • to describe the possibilities of evaluating educational environments of schools; • to determine the state of educational environments in Lithuanian general education schools.

Literature review
The quality of education is determined by the individual elements of the education system and the interaction and coherence between them.A fundamental dimension of quality monitoring is contribution, which includes both material and human resources.The concept of quality in education suggested by UNESCO (2006) underscores the importance of material resources such as funds, curricula, learning materials, physical environment, equipment, and inventory, as well as human resources, including educational administrators, managers, school leaders, teachers, and educational support staff.The Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Education defines the environment as "a factor in human education, consisting of the totality of natural, geographical, climatic, social, and cultural conditions in which an individual or a group of people live" (Jovaiša, 2007, p. 20).Thus, the educational environment, which comprises material and human resources, creates the conditions for teaching, learning, and maturity.At the institutional level, material resources are used to create educational environments, while human resources are used to develop and maintain them.At the learner level (Balevičienė, 2013), the educational environment is a physical place that meets the basic needs of the individual and is adapted for learning, ensuring not only physical but also emotional and psychological safety.School environments are where educators interact with learners.The resulting educational interaction between the participants changes the learner's understanding (Biggs, 1999), interpretation of the meaning of the place and subsequently transforms the environments.Such educational environments (Ramsden, 1996;Bowden & Marton, 1998) build the learner's self-confidence and self-esteem, and lead to the sustainability of learning progress.
Educational environments are characterised by various aspects, embracing both physical elements (such as buildings, classrooms, and technology) and social factors (such as learners' relationships, mood, and motivation).Among these, the physical features are the most obvious and fundamental, and they can be easily modified with minimal effort.Continuously, educational environments are identified (Dove, 2006) as key factors in the success of schools, which aim to provide their pupils with opportunities to learn, create, and share knowledge.Well-organised, comfortable and attractive environments offer a variety of stimuli for cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development.Jensen (2001) states that thoughtfully designed educational environments can have a significant influence on: strengthening a positive attitude towards the study subject, building a strong relationship between teachers and pupils, stimulating thinking, inventiveness, and curiosity, enhancing self-esteem, and self-confidence, and reinforcing a sense of responsibility, fairness, and a positive attitude towards school.Various factors, including adequate facilities, pupil-teacher ratios, curricula, teaching methods, appropriate training for teachers and staff, and organised parental involvement, all contribute to educational outcomes (OECD, 2023).Therefore, the significance and importance of educational environments for children's experiences and educational outcomes and growth are undeniable (Matthews & Lippman, 2020).
The importance of the educational environment for developing the creativity of future members of society is highlighted in the National Progress Strategy "Lithuania 2030" (2012).The Concept of a Good School (Geros mokyklos koncepcija, 2015) not only highlights the importance of the educational environment, but also describes characteristics such as dynamism, openness and functionality.It highlights the physical, emotional, and psychological aspects of educational environments.Thus, Lithuania's strategic education documents emphasise the goal of creating modern, inclusive, non-discriminatory, non-violent and bullying-free educational environments.These strategic objectives relate to assessing the quality of educational environments and improving educational conditions.The provision of appropriate educational environments in all schools is made compulsory.

Research Methodology
The research methodology is rooted in a combination of constructivism and systems theory.A qualitative approach was employed, using both content and secondary data analysis methods.The study was guided by the influential work on leaders' capacity to enhance educational environments at school (Cheney & Davis, 2011) and the exploration of methodologies for evaluating school educational environments (Glinskienė & Lapinskienė, 2005).
Research methods.Qualitative content analysis included a retrospective and systematic study of national statistical data related to the evaluation of educational environments in Lithuanian schools.In addition, reports on the evaluation of individual school educational environments underwent detailed reviews.
The research process was based on qualitative deductive analysis.This approach analysed the data from general to specific details referring to existing theoretical models and identifying the distinctive features of educational environments (Burns & Grove, 2005).This process aimed to reveal the evaluation and significance of educational environments.
Study sample.The datasets required for qualitative content and secondary analysis are drawn from national-level data that are publicly available and considered reliable.Two data sources are used.The first source is open data from the education management system, based on the national strategic (minimum) indicators for education evaluation.The second source includes the reports of external evaluation of school quality published by the National Agency for Education (NAE) for the period 2007-2019.The secondary analysis of quantitative and qualitative data is designed to reveal trends in the repeated evaluation and value of educational environments over a twelve-year period.
Limitations of the study.The qualitative content and secondary data analysis was based on data from the external quality evaluation of Lithuanian general education schools carried out by NAE between 2007 and 2022.The limitations of the study are therefore related to the available qualified datasets and the comprehensiveness of the published data.
The external evaluation of the quality of school performance continues to be conducted in accordance with The Description of Procedures for the Organisation and Implementation of the External Evaluation of the Performance of Schools Delivering General Education Programmes (2018).This document outlines three approaches for external evaluation: comprehensive, thematic, and risk evaluation.Comprehensive evaluation analyses the entirety of a school's activities, while thematic evaluation focuses on a specific issue relevant to education policy.Risk evaluation is applied to identify areas of weakness and improvement in school performance and to pinpoint risk factors that hinder the educational progress.
NAE implemented 1035 external evaluations of the quality of school performance between 2007 and 2022 (Figure 1).The area of educational environments is mentioned only a few times in the thematic evaluation and not at all in the inventory of risk evaluation.Therefore, the period of the study on the educational environment is limited to the comprehensive evaluations carried out between 2007 and 2019.The majority (75%) of the general education schools functioning between 2007 and 2019 were evaluated by a comprehensive external evaluation -765 in total, where the evaluators observed and evaluated 72557 educational activities.Therefore, the aggregated data on the evaluation of school environments presented in the study can be considered reliable and reflective of the situation of general education schools in Lithuania.
Following the change in the methodology for assessing the performance of general education schools in 2016, the data on the quality of educational environments are reported for the period 2017-2019.Thus, the second limitation of the study is that the data on educational environments highlight the trends in the evaluation over a three-year period.
Research ethics.The philosophical principles of significance and replicability are applied to the research.Significance refers to the relevance of the chosen topic and the novelty of research in a particular aspect of educational science.The principle of replicability affirms the reliability of the data, emphasising the importance of ensuring that the research can be replicated to validate and verify its findings.

Analysis of research results
The study focused on the possibilities and state of evaluation of educational environments in Lithuanian general education schools in the period 2007-2019, revealing the evaluation and value of educational environments.
Indicators of school educational environments.In Lithuania, the quality of school performance has been assessed at national level since the introduction of external audits for school improvement in the school year 2004-2005.The Description of Procedures for External Audits of the Quality of General Education Schools was initiated by the National Agency for School Evaluation and developed in 2007.The model for external evaluation of school quality has been developed over several years in a targeted and focused manner.In 2009, The Description of Procedures for the External Evaluation of the Quality of Performance of General Education Schools was adopted, which defines the concept of external evaluation of the quality of performance of general education schools, and the organisation and conduct of external evaluation.Five areas and 22 themes are analysed and evaluated following the established methodology for the evaluation of school performance.One of the themes in the area of School culture (1.) is Order (1.3.), which is linked to the educational environment.

Figure 2 Indicators for Assessing the Quality of Order at School Since 2009
A closer analysis of the indicators for the quality evaluation of the theme Order (1.3) reveals that the indicator Cosiness of the environment (1.3.3)specifically reflects the suitability of the school environment for learning, socialising, or relaxing (classrooms, library and reading room, canteen, other shared spaces).
In 2016, a new version of the Description of Procedures for the External Evaluation of the Quality of Performance of General Education Schools was adopted.It defines a comprehensive evaluation of the quality of general education schools.It is conducted using a framework of 25 indicators, approved in 2016, covering four areas of school performance: results, education and pupils' experiences, educational environments, leadership and management.The area of Educational environments (3.) consists of two themes: Physical environments conducive to learning (3.1.)and Learning without borders (3.2.).

Figure 3 Indicators for Assessing the Quality of Educational Environments Since 2016
The general methodology for evaluating general education schools, introduced in 2016, summarises the adequacy of educational environments and is broadly in line with the whole evaluation area of Educational environment (3).
Education monitoring focuses on the educational environments.In the Methodology for School Performance Assessment, the theme of Order (1.3.) in 2009 was expanded to the area of Educational environments (3.) adopted in 2016.This is in line with global trends of educational change (OECD, 2006 and2023) and empowers school communities to monitor, nurture, and use educational environments for the success of students.
Institutions representing different structural levels of society are responsible for the creation of the school environment and the improvement of the conditions: the local authorities -at the top level; the school principal, teachers -at the meso level; parents and the surrounding community -at the micro level.The school community expresses its needs and consistently implements ideas such as school rules, the environment, furniture, and events.The relationship between society and the school in terms of provision can be said to be compensatory.If one institution is unable to provide the conditions for education, the other takes the lead, for example, by addressing the relevant problems, providing (up to 2%) support.
Possibilities for evaluating educational environments in schools.There are wellknown attempts by educational researchers and education policy makers to identify the requirements for modern educational environments.Li et al. (2005) point to the importance of diversity and modernity of material resources in creating appropriate educational environments.They argue that schools should be able to use ICT resources such as interactive whiteboards, broadband radios, laptops, wireless Internet access, etc. School buildings should be tailored not only to the needs of the school and the local community, but also to the wide-ranging needs of local community (people from different socio-cultural backgrounds) and to the needs of disabled people (people with intellectual, physical, sensory and learning disabilities).It is particularly important to ensure equal learning opportunities and access to educational services for these community members.Modern schools are also subject to high environmental requirements.The aim is to improve learner comfort, promote their active engagement.The OECD recommendations (21st Century Learning Environments, 2006) provide for the importance of modern educational environments and a model for evaluating the quality of school buildings.The quality of educational environments refers to their relevance to the aims of education as well as their accessibility, adaptability, convenience, and safety.International practice has suggested three principles for the evaluation of educational environments: durability, functionality, and attractiveness.
Currently, the Description of Indicators for the Comprehensive Evaluation of the Quality of School Performance in Lithuanian General Education (2016) allows for the evaluation not only of the diversity of educational environments, but also of the modernity of the school environment.Diversity is assessed in terms of the location of equipment and facilities (on or off school territory) in terms of purpose, sufficiency, purposefulness of use, development of facilities, appropriate distribution, and development.Modernity is measured by the appropriate updating and use of equipment and facilities in line with modern educational requirements, usefulness, community and owner contribution to the school infrastructure, and the quality of facilities.
Although the methodology for assessing the quality of general education schools has evolved, the evaluation of the quality of indicators in all areas and themes of the school's activities is still conducted using a five-level scale.

Percentage value Conclusion
Level 4 Very good: effective, outstanding, focused, distinctive, creative.

% and over
Worth spreading outside the school.
Level The highest quality level, level 4, means that the school's educational environment is rated very good.They are described as effective, rapidly improving, outstanding, purposeful, original, special, impressive, distinctive, excellent, highly conducive, impeccable, and creative.The epithets listed above describe the characteristics of the educational environment both as a whole and as a separate indicator.Thus, the structured assessment framework used to evaluate the quality of a school's performance allows the state of the educational environment to be determined.The adoption and use of evaluation of educational environments are both about improving them and about the pursuit of a higher quality of learning for school students.
Assessing the state of educational environments in Lithuanian general education schools.A detailed analysis of the data from the external evaluation of general education schools according to the relevant methodologies (2007,2009,2016) shows that the average level of the educational environment evaluation for 2007-2016 is 2.67, and the average for 2017-2019 for educational environments is 2.69.Thus, from 2007 to 2019, the evaluation of educational environments generally was close to level 3 out of 4, i.e., good.Generally, good educational environments are a manifestation of demonstrated adequate provision as well as a reflection of adequate attention to the different teaching and learning needs of school students.
According to the data from NAE for the period 2007-2016 on the external quality of performance of Lithuanian general education schools, the indicator Cosiness of the environment (1.3.3) is on average highlighted as a strong aspect of the school's performance by 38.37%.After the change in the methodology of school performance evaluation in 2016, indicators of the educational environment continue to be identified as a strong aspect of the school.The indicators identified by the evaluators as areas for improvement in 2017-2019 are Learning in virtual environments (3.2.2.) and Learning outside school (3.2.1.),Equipment and tools (3.1.1.).And the most frequently identified indicators in the area of Educational environments as strengths of the school are Co-creation of environments (3.1.3.),Equipment and tools (3.1.1.).
Since 2017, experts visiting schools have been observing educational environments to document students' ability to actively participate in school life.It has been found that learners contribute significantly (30.7% in 2018) to the school environment with their ideas and work, and are involved in creating environments that are good, interesting and fun to be in.School spaces clearly showcase not only the completed works of the learners, which become elements of its decoration, but also the process of work, creativity, discussion -notes, sketches, plans, models, etc.In general education schools in 2017-2019, there is a clear shift from the adaptation of traditional classroom spaces to the educational transformation of "learning without walls".It is acknowledged that the educational process can and does occur in various spaces within and outside the school premises, including corridors, halls, the library, the schoolyard, and other internal and external areas.A high level of evaluation of the educational environment is found in a third of schools.The experts noted that the spaces were comfortable, functional, easy to arrange, pleasantly colourful, and conducive to stimulating thinking, creativity, and learning.This allows educational environments to be associated with flexibility, engagement, adaptability, and effectiveness in teaching and learning.The inspiring power of educational environments is confirmed in Lithuanian general education schools.Similar characteristics of educational environments have been identified by Spector (2014), with a focus on their adaptability.Subsequent research (Gros, 2016), documented the power of educational environments to integrate formal and informal learning.
Educational environments that are used adaptively enable the use of technical and methodological support for personalised learning.Smart educational environments increase the effectiveness of personalised learning (Hwang & Fu, 2020).According to Singh and Hassan (2017), in general, educational environments empower students to engage and act actively, increase access to knowledge, and improve the relevance of learning to real life, thus improving the learning experience.

Value of educational environments
The impact of the educational environment on teacher performance.In the development of education science, two social science paradigms have been identified and described (Kron, 2008): normative and interpretive.Applying this classification, educational activities are conditionally divided into teaching (impact, traditional) or learning (free education, contemporary).When educators combine impact with free creative activity of learners, they are seen to attempt to work in a contemporary way.This is supported by the research of several authors, which underpins the paradigm shift (Bruzgelevičienė, 2014;Klekovska et al., 2022).Thus, in educational reality, educational activities can be classified according to the dominant expression as belonging to a particular paradigm.
Statistical data on the quality of the performance of Lithuanian general education schools show that the diversity and richness of educational environments do not have a significant impact on the tactics of teacher work and the choice of the appropriate paradigm.NAE data showed that more than half (55.4%) of teachers designed educational activities based on the teaching paradigm.Despite learning environments being the most favourably rated among all areas of school performance from 2017-2019, on average only 11.9% of teachers designed the learning process based on the learning paradigm (liberal education, contemporary).A third (32.1%) of teachers were situationally oriented and tried to work in a modern way.
Comparing the good state of educational environments (level 2.7 out of 4) and the implementation of modern educational practices (44%) in Lithuanian general education schools, it is likely that the use of technical and methodological preparedness will expand in the future to meet the individual needs of students.
The impact of the educational environment on pupil achievement and overall school results.Studies indicate that a well-organised, comfortable, and attractive environment has the potential to foster cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development.However, the reality of general education in Lithuania reveals certain paradoxes (Figure 4).In 2007-2019, the state of the educational environment in Lithuanian general education schools was found to be almost good, with a rating of 2.7 out of 4. The average rating for pupils' achievements in lessons is 2.3 out of 4, i.e. satisfactory.There is a significant difference of 0.4 in the prevalence of the evaluation of educational environments over pupils' achievement in the lesson.Although financing for education continues to increase annually, with a significant and consistently improving contribution to school infrastructure, the academic performance of schools and pupils remains satisfactory.This assessment is supported by retrospective studies conducted by other researchers (Merkys et al., 2022).In particular, no systematic and meaningful relationships have been identified between the effectiveness of education governance, the level of sector funding, and the learning achievement of Lithuanian pupils.This conclusion holds true for the entire period from 1990 to 2020 (Merkys et al., 2022).The overall analysis of the survey data indicates an untapped opportunity in Lithuania to achieve a more focused governance of the general education sector, implement more rational financing practices, and, concurrently, achieve a principled improvement in the learning achievement of the pupils in the country and the quality of education in general.

Discussion
The changing society is articulating new demands on education.In this context, transformations in educational environments are most noticeable.The society is paying attention to educational environments, the state is involving schools in the transformation and modernisation of environments through major projects (Bartaševičius, 2012).The financial resources from the European Regional Development Fund and the budget of the Republic of Lithuania are used for this purpose.
The study found that the condition of the educational environments of Lithuanian general education schools in 2007-2019 was rated almost good, i.e. 2.7 out of 4. The attributes of the educational environments, which were recorded, were related to the adequacy of the environments, the cleanliness and tidiness of the environments, and the evaluation of cosiness, modernity, variety, accessibility.School environments are believed to reflect the success of the educational institution and promote learners' self-confidence and self-esteem as well as programme the sustainability of their learning progress.The study presented in this article confirms that a greater public contribution to education improves the school infrastructure and allows the emergence of diverse and modern educational environments in schools of general education.
Recognising the significant role of the educational environment in the quality of education, a sustained and targeted support from the financial resources of education policies is expected (Kalvaitis, 2009;Bartaševičius, 2012) to enhance and modernise educational environments.
A supportive educational environment provides students with spiritual harmony, the ability to live and learn, and to actively engage with members of the community.Previous research (Jena, 2013;Liu et al., 2011;Lu et al., 2021) established that school educational environments foster students' experiential learning, promote self-development, develop learners' multiple interests and strengthen their worldview.However, a study on the educational environments of Lithuanian general education schools found that highly rated educational environments did not affect school performance.Anderson and McCabe (2018) highlight the benefits of involving school administrators, teachers, pupils and their parents, and the local community in the design or redesign of school environments.Evidence from both international scholars (Cheung, Kwok, Phusavat, et al., 2021) and this study suggests that identifying the needs of users of school environments provides an opportunity to design successful learning/teaching environments that meet the real and specific needs of the school community.School educational environments promote pupils' experiential learning, facilitate self-development, develop pupils' multiple interests and enhance their understanding of the world.A supportive educational environment provides pupils with spiritual coherence, the ability to live and learn, and to actively engage with members of the community.Assessing the quality of school educational environments is likely to help school leaders, educators, and the community realise the educational power of environments and be concerned about using them to enhance pupils' potential and achievement.

Conclusions
Educational environments refer to the various physical places, contexts, and cultures in which pupils learn and are taught, acquire experiences and get mature.Educational environments are characterised by physical (buildings, classrooms, technology, etc.), social and emotional (learners' attitudes, mood, motivation, etc.) aspects.
The educational environment reflects the contribution to the education system.The design and improvement of school environments is the responsibility of institutions representing different structural levels of society: at the top level of local authorities; at the meso level of the school principal and teachers; at the micro level of parents and the surrounding community.
In Lithuanian general education schools, the state of the educational environment is rated from N to 4. The assessment framework covers both the structural and functional levels of evaluating the educational environment of a school, i.e. both what it consists of and how it functions.This enables changes in the expression of the domain and indicators to be monitored and progression projected.

Figure 1
Figure 1 Change in The Number of External Evaluations From 2007 to 2022 According to the Data From NAE

Figure 4
Figure 4 Changes in Environments and Pupils' Achievements in Educational Activities Observed at the Generalised Evaluation Level During the Period 2007-2019

Table 2
2017ngths and Areas for Improvement in Educational Environment (3.)of the Indicators of the Area of School Performance Quality for2017 -2019, in Percentage   , in Percentage

Table 3
Expression of the Educational Paradigm in Educational Activities in the Period 2017-2019, in Percentage Source: NAE statistics on external evaluation of general education schools Gauta 2024 02 23 / Received 23 02 2024 Priimta 2024 06 06 / Accepted 06 06 2024