Appropriate and inappropriate uses of classroom amplification

Currently, classroom amplifiers are being aggressively advocated as substitutes for good acoustics in small mainstream classrooms. Amplifiers are routinely installed without regard to unoccupied classroom noise levels and reverberation times. Amplifiers are being specified by some school districts as a money‐saving alternative to mandating compliance with the ANSI standard on classroom acoustics, S12.60‐2002. Manufacturers of portable classrooms and noisy wall mounted HVAC systems have joined in supporting the use of classroom amplifiers, claiming that low (35 dBA) classroom noise levels specified by the ANSI standard are unaffordable and unnecessary given amplifiers. The authors believe that the routine use of classroom amplification is appropriate in very large lecture rooms, in special education classrooms for hearing impaired students, for voice‐impaired occupants, and perhaps in certain other limited circumstances. The authors explain why they believe the routine use of amplifiers in small mainstream classrooms is an inappropriate substitute for the good classroom acoustics specified in the ANSI standard.