SPRING I 999
NORTH AMERICAN ASSOCIAT I O N FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
deas,for integrating your curriculum
Activities and resources
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Exemplary programs and partnerships
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
2
2
About NAAEE
An Introductory Note
3
31
Test Your Environmental I.Q.
FEATURE ARTICLES
Please let us know
your thoughts
about EEducator
(and tell us about
your experiences
with environmen-
tal education) by
mailing back the
survey stapled
into the center of
this publication.
We would greatly
appreciate your
input and sug-
gestions to help
us evaluate the
usefulness of
this and future
publications!
Education and the Environment: Partners for Change by Ruth Flanagan
A Primer on Education Reform by Art Sussman
PreparingTeachers for The Next Century by Rosalyn McKeown-Ice
California Dreamin' Becoming a Reality
A Little Salad Dressing Goes a Long Way
Wisconsin: A Model of Success
The Regional Educational Laboratories
Transforming Study Hall into an Integrated Curriculum
Audits: They're Not Just for Taxes Anymore!
A Framework for Learning
14
Powerful Pedagogy — Using EE to Achieve Your Education Goals
byJudyBraus 17
Educating for a More Livable Urban Environment by Emilia Williams and Julian Agyeman 26
34
From the Inside Out: Professional Development in Environmental Education
by Joanne M.Glenn
40
48
52
Achieving StandardsThrough Environmental Education byMikeKaspar
Knowing What Works: Trends in Educational Assessment byJoeE.Heim.lich
TheTiesThat Bind: Developing School-Community Partnerships by Caroline Taylor 60
PROGRAM PROFILES
FindingYourWay on the Prairie
13
25
32
46
47
56
58
59
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EEducator
Editor and Project Manager
Copy Editor
Additional Copy Editing
Design and Layout
Lori D. Mann
Leslie Comnes
Kendra Kurosawa
Poulson/Gluck Design
Advisory Committee
Reviewers
HMEE
NORTH AMERICAN
ASOCIATION FOR
EETAE
Judy Braus
WorldWildlife Fund
Kathleen MacKinnon
US. Environmental
Protection Agency
Edward J. McCrea
North American
Association for
Environmental Education
Gus Medina
Environmental Education
and Training Partnership
Andrea Shotkin
North American
Association for
Environmental Education
Elaine Andrews
Diane Cantrell
Peggy Cowan
Cindy Gay
Sylvia Gilbert
Joe Heimlich
Conrad Katzenmeyer
Pam Landers
Molly Lusignan
Kathy Machado
Daphne Minner
Susanne Mulcahy
Barbara Pietrucha
Bora Simmons
PattiVathis
BrendaWeiser
DebYandala
EEducator was developed by the North American Association
for Environmental Education as a project of the Environmental
Education and Training Partnership. It was funded by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Environmental
Education under agreement NT-902897-01 -0 with the North
American Association for Environmental Education.
The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the
view of the United States Environmental Protection Agency or
the North American Association for Environmental Education,
nor does mention of trade names or commercial products
constitute endorsement or recommendations for use.
Educators may photocopy the information in EEducator for
the noncommercial purpose of educational advancement.
© Copyright 1999 North American Association
for Environmental Education
Printed on recycled paper.
About NAAEE
The North, American Association for Environmental Edu-
cation is a network of professionals and students working in
the field of environmental education throughout North
America and in over 55 countries around the world. Since
1971, the Association has promoted environmental educa-
tion and supported the work of environmental educators.
There are many environmental interest groups and
many organizations dedicated to the improvement of edu-
cation. NAAEE integrates these perspectives and takes a
positive, cooperative, non-confrontational approach to pro-
moting education about environmental issues.
The Association is made up of people who have
thought seriously—over lifetimes—about how people be-
come literate concerning environmental issues. NAAEE
members believe education must go beyond consciousness-
raising. It must prepare people to think together about the
difficult decisions they have to make regarding environ-
mental stewardship, and to work together to improve and
solve environmental problems.
NAAEE recognizes the need for a coherent body of in-
formation about environmental issues. Its members also
recognize that information and analysis are only part of an
effective education program. To be truly effective, this body
of knowledge must be integrated into all aspects of the cur-
riculum and into all types of educating institutions for the
widest array of audiences.
In order to translate theory into reality and provide
tangible support for environmental education and environ-
mental educators, NAAEE engages in a variety of programs
and activities: an annual conference at varying North
American sites; an active publications program; the VINE
(Volunteer-led Investigations of Neighborhood Ecology)
Network; the Environmental Issues Forums program; the
Urban Leadership Collaboratives; the Affiliates Partnership;
and the Environmental Education and Training Partnership
(EETAP).
or morejnformation or to order copies of this oublication.
iSIi=:«
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
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An introductory note...
Dear Colleague:
Welcome to the first issue of EEducator, a magazine-style publication that explores education
about the environment from new and stimulating perspectives. EEducator began as an idea first
put forth by Judy Braus, then NAAEE Publications Committee Chair. It has reached completion as
a project ofNAAEE's Environmental Education and Training Partnership, which is funded by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Environmental Education. NAAEE undertook this
new publication with the hope that it would grow into a series focusing on key issues in environ-
mental education, promoting thoughtful discussion on those issues, and highlighting important
trends in education about the environment. After you read this first issue, I hope you'll agree with
me that the editors and authors of EEducator have provided an auspicious and powerful first issue.
This issue is devoted to the subject of education reform. Education reform is making fundamental
changes in schooling today. Whether you work within K-12 schools, nonformal settings, or higher
education, the education reform movement challenges us all to ponder questions related to what
we teach, how we teach, how we prepare educators, and how we view the very nature of schooling.
Because the education reform movement is so important and because environmental education as a
field can offer a great deal to reform efforts and to successful schooling, we decided to focus on this
topic for the inaugural issue of EEducator.
A quick glance at the table of contents shows the breadth of the articles addressing environmental
education and education reform. A great deal of thought went into ensuring that the publication
includes a variety of perspectives. Throughout the publication you'll also find several profiles high-
lighting some of the many local, state, and national programs that have been successful in their
efforts to strengthen schools through environmental education.
I hope you enjoy this new publication and that it stimulates serious discussion and further enquiry.
Since this is a prototype, we need your opinions to help us decide on frequency and content of
future editions. Please complete the survey stapled into the center of this publication and return it to
NAAEE.
Sincerely,
Edward J. McCrea
Executive Director, NAAEE
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
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Clay County High
School students
installing the bridge
they designed and built
from scrap lumber.
Education and
the Environment:
Partners for Change
by
Ruth
Flanagan
To learn about local plants, biology students from
Kentucky's Clay County High School decided to cre-
ate their own nature trail on the school grounds. Be-
fore they could complete the trail, however, they had to
build bridges over creeks. But before they could do that,
they had to teach themselves how to build a bridge. They
also had to test the soil around the creeks to make sure the
foundation was safe, and develop a budget and marketing
plan to raise the money for lumber. What started as a seem-
ingly straightforward project evolved into a collaborative,
long-term endeavor that drew together almost every school
subject.
The project created new paths for one school. It
also highlights new paths in education—trends that are
dramatically shifting the way some schools work. Spurred
by calls for reform at the national, state, and local levels,
many schools are adopting more integrated approaches
to teaching.
These changes were nudged partly by reports such as A
Nation at Risk, issued in 1983 by the National Commission
on Excellence in Education, which cited falling student test
||j|| SPRING 1999
scores as a sign that the public schools were faltering. But
these changes have also come from a recognition that the
world as a whole is changing at a dizzying pace. Given shift-
ing economic, political, and technological realities, busi-
nesses are increasingly demanding employees with more
flexible skills; people who not only possess knowledge, but
who can nimbly apply it to complex problems.
While schools are changing in many different ways, a
growing number are moving in the same basic direction
as Clay County High: stressing the value of real-world
experiences to boost student learning. Many are moving
away from strictly textbook-driven, teacher-led instruction
in favor of hands-on approaches with students more in-
volved in their own learning. Some are replacing traditional,
compartmentalized subjects with interdisciplinary curricula
that more authentically connect fields of knowledge.
At the same time, a large number of schools are em-
bracing the environment as a focus of study. According to
Jane Wilson, executive director of the Kentucky Environ-
mental Education Council, there's been a renaissance in en-
vironmental education since legislators passed the Kentucky
EEDUCATOR
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Education Reform Act (KERA) in 1990. This is probably no
accident. As Clay County High School biology teacher Joce-
lyn Wolfe explains, "Environmental education is the best
way to achieve KERA goals."
Though sometimes presented as an ancillary, stand-
alone subject or a filler for a Friday afternoon, environmen-
tal education was originally conceived to mean something
both far broader and more profound. It is not a subject
but an approach that integrates many subjects—a kind of
teaching that instills what Aldo Leopold termed "a con-
sciousness of land," an understanding of the intricate,
dynamic relationship between human beings and the envi-
ronment, and a search for balance between the two. The Na-
tional Environmental Education Advisory Council, which
advises the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
on implementing the National Environmental Education
Act of 1990, defines environmental education as: "A learn-
ing process that increases people's knowledge about the en-
vironment and environmental challenges, and develops the
necessary skills, expertise, and motivation to address these
challenges with informed decisions and responsible ac-
tions."
Of course, it's one thing to argue that environmental ed-
ucation is good for ensuring that people make informed and
responsible decisions that affect the environment. But is it
good for education? If the reform initiatives described so far
make pedagogical sense, the answer is "yes." "The most im-
portant reason is probably the simplest," says Dixie Reimer, a
science teacher at Komachin Middle School in Olympia,
Washington. "Children care deeply about the environment."
As a result, she says, important and engaging environ-
mental themes can breathe life into academics, providing
the relevance that motivates students to learn. Many educa-
tors believe that environmental studies hold particular
promise for improving student achievement in science and
math, a goal specifically mentioned in Goals 2000, the na-
tional agenda for education reform. Environmental topics
also lend themselves to hands-on instruction, so they ap-
peal to students' diverse learning styles.
Since environmental issues are by nature multifaceted
and interdisciplinary, they provide rich opportunities for
teaching across the curriculum. "You can't understand envi-
ronmental problems unless you have a good sense of num-
bers, like parts per million and billions of people," says Gary
Heath, Branch Chief for Arts and Sciences for the Maryland
State Department of Education. "Nor can you understand
them unless you understand the government, economics,
and geography. How can you address an environmental
problem unless you know about the people involved?" This
encompassing quality can encourage a shift to interdiscipli-
nary teaching, he argues, helping teachers to restructure
their curricula and link disparate subjects in meaningful
ways.
Environmental issues also provide ample opportunities
for students to solve problems. This point touches on one of
2000:
m America Act
it,-1:.:-•_.:.,::,:.;:• -"•".-.. Mw'-r-:. ;:-:x-iVy/v-^ Vli.K^/'^-i^^-Jtyi
^bh March 31,1994, President Clinton signed the Goials
1^2000 Act—one of the most comprehensive scnoolre-
lform initiatives in history, thus far committing more
jtlhan $1.7 billion to improving schools. Environmental
educators have long promoted many of the strategies
incorporated in these goals, including critical thinking
B^kills, partnerships, citizenship skills^and interdiscipli-
*sylary teaching. Here's a summary of the eight goals:
s» School Readiness: Every child will start school ready
to learn.
—I
£
ir
Schpol Completion: The high school graduation rate
will increase to at least 90 percent.
Student Achievement and Citizenship: All students
will leave fourth, eighth, and twelfth grades having^
demonstrated competency over challenging subject
matter including English, mathematics, science, for- ___
eign languages, civics and government, economics,
art, history, and geography; and every school in
America will ensure that all students learntojise ___
their minds well, so they may be prepared for respon-
sible citizenship, further learning, and productive
^employment in our nation's modern economy.
, . jr I
Teacher Education and Professional
Development: The nation's teaching force will have
access to programs for the continued improvement
pf their professional skills and the opportunity to ac-
quire the knowledge and skills needed to instruct and
prepare all American students for the next century.
Mathematics and Science: U.S. students will be first
in the world in science and mathematics achieve-
. ment. - ^
iflAdult.Literacy and Lifelong Learning: Every adult
American will be literate, and will possess the knowl-
edge and skills necessary to compete in a global econ-
omy and to exercise the rights and responsibilities of
citizenship.
• Safe, Disciplined, and Alcohol- and Drug-Free
~~ Schools: Every school in the U.S. will be free of
^_ -drugs, violence, and the unauthorized presence of
firearms and alcohol and will offer a disciplined envi-
~ ronment conducive to learning.
"• Parental Participation: Every school will promote
r~_ __ partnerships that will increase parental involvement
Lr and participation in promoting the social, emotional,
I- and academic growth of children.
: See the web site www.ed.gov/G2K/
fr" ,*_ for more information on Goals 2000.
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
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the more controversial, and often misunderstood, facets of
environmental education. While some environmental edu-
cation programs have been criticized as politically biased,
high quality programs never advocate a particular view-
point. Rather, they encourage students to investigate issues
from aH sides, and then—and only then—make their own
informed decisions, and take responsible and constructive
action when appropriate. The process of investigation helps
students develop the critical thinking skills that more and
more schools are trying to cultivate.
This analytical aspect of environmental issues has
helped earn them a place on a number of new standardized
tests. For example, the Maryland State Department of Edu-
cation has been administering new, comprehensive perfor-
mance assessments to third, fifth, and eighth graders in the
state's schools since the early 1990s. Like most new assess-
ments, the Maryland tests aim to measure not only what
students know, but how well they can apply what they know
to solve real problems. And since "environmental issues
lend themselves naturally to such analysis and synthesis, a
number of the tasks and questions are set in an environ-
mental context," Heath says. These tests in turn exert a pow-
erful influence on teaching in the state.
No one can say whether schools around the country
have consciously incorporated environmental education
into their programs as a result of new tests. However, ac-
cording to Heath, since the baseline assessment in 1993,
Maryland's test scores have risen in most subjects, such as
reading, social studies, and science. "Most schools' scores
have gone up, and I think that's good for both education
and the environment," he says.
Needless to say, schools approach environmental edu-
cation in strikingly different ways. For instance, according
to Gerald Lieberman, Program Director of the State Educa-
tion and Environment Roundtable (see page 59), many ex-
emplary schools initiated their programs as a natural out-
growth of their educational offerings, not as any conscious
effort to "do environmental education." On the other hand,
a small but significant number of schools developed their
Hollywood Elementary students participated
In the 1988 "wade-in" on the Patuxent River.
programs in close partnership with outside environmental
educators. In some instances, environmental educators
have even offered fundamental educational assistance,
helping teachers to rework their curricula and instruction
to meet reform goals.
Following is a glimpse at a few U.S. schools whose in-
novative programs demonstrate the possibilities. Contact
information for each school is listed in the resources section
at the end of the article.
Project-Based Environmental Education
Hollywood Elementary School, Hollywood, Maryland
The blacktop at Hollywood Elementary says a great deal
about the school. Atop the playground is a vivid painting of
the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed. Principal Kathleen
Glaser says that the painting reflects Hollywood's commit-
ment to the Bay. It also reflects a focus of education at Hol-
lywood—helping students to recognize their connections
to a larger community.
Unlike some schools, recent reforms from the district
and state haven't dramatically altered Hollywood's pro-
grams. But the push for more relevant teaching has bol-
stered the school's longstanding philosophy: to nurture
children's curiosity by helping them engage directly with
the world. "I want fifth graders to leave our school deeply
interested in life, asking good questions and having a good
way of approaching their questions," says Glaser. To hone
that sense of inquiry, teachers use projects as an integral
part of instruction, with students working in small,
multi-age groups to tackle both short- and long-term prob-
lems.
Perhaps not surprisingly, many of the projects at Holly-
wood involve the local environment. The students have
long been involved in recycling, for example, and are now
working to reclaim meadow on unused school lawns. And
since 1988, students from teacher Betty Brady's fifth grade
class have participated in an annual "wade-in" on the Patux-
ent River, which flows into the Chesapeake Bay. Former
Senator Bernie Fowler started the wade-in—participants
literally wade into the river until they can't see their feet—as
a way of checking water clarity and raising awareness of the
importance of the Bay.
By virtually any measure, Hollywood's programs repre-
sent high quality environmental education. They also "sim-
ply represent high quality education," says Heath. The
Maryland State Department of Education has even show-
cased some of the teaching methods being explored at Hol-
lywood as models for other schools.
A project led by science teacher Julie Tracy shows how
such teaching can work. In one sense, the aim of the project
was to attract more wildlife to a storm-water management
pond on school grounds. At the same time, it offered rigor-
ous and rewarding learning opportunities across the cur-
riculum.
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
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At tKe start of th.e project, for instance, teams of third
and fifth graders studied as artists, gathering at the pond
and carefully drawing what they observed. Later, they be-
came field biologists, systematically surveying the pond and
discussing how to make it more amenable to wildlife. After
deciding to plant wetland species, the students chose appro-
priate plants in an ecology lesson and calculated how many
they would need using charts and algebra, advanced skills
for these age groups. They also came up with a budget, jus-
tified their choices in writing, and wrote to a wetland expert
for suggestions. Ultimately they wrote their own grant pro-
posal for plants and materials. And now, two years after
their first planting, the students are proudly monitoring the
pond, which, as a result of their labors, has become home to
muskrats, snakes, frogs, dragonflies, and many other
species.
For this and other environmental projects at Holly-
wood, the staff calls on outside environmental educators for
resources, training, support, and inspiration. "I don't think
we could have done anywhere near as meaningful a job
without environmental educators working with our teach-
ers," Glaser says.
Partnerships and New Perspectives Meet
Needs of Diverse Student Body
Gave Elementary School, Belle Glade, Florida
In a county where 67 languages are spoken, Gove Ele-
mentary seems, in some respects, a different world. About
70 percent of the children speak limited English, with Span-
ish the most common native language. A large number
come from migrant farm-worker families. Fourteen percent
of the students receive services from the Exceptional Stu-
dent Education Program, which helps students with chal-
lenges ranging from specific learning disabilities to pro-
found mental disabilities.
At Gove, both state-mandated reforms and environ-
mental education have had a transforming effect. In 1995,
Florida's Commissioner of Education placed Gove as one of
13 "critical schools" in the state whose performance on
standardized tests fell far below the national average in
reading and math. The school was put on notice to bring up
its scores as part of a comprehensive school improvement
plan.
Cove's principal, Margarita Pinkos, swiftly made dra-
matic changes in the way teachers approach their work. At a
two-week, voluntary summer retreat last year, she encour-
aged teachers to collaborate much more, both within and
across grade groups. These new perspectives led to a major
shift to an integrated curriculum organized around four
nine-week themes, and tied to county benchmarks for edu-
cation.
Of course, actually implementing such a fundamental
change posed a serious challenge. Most teachers had little or
no experience developing integrated, interdisciplinary
Gove students at Pine Jog Environmental Education Center.
units. Five teachers on staff, however, gained this knowledge
thanks in large measure to a "Model School" program of-
fered by the Pine Jog Environmental Education Center in
West Palm Beach, Florida. Among other objectives, Pine
Jog's Model School program helps teachers use environ-
mental education to meet their reform goals. For example,
it enabled Gove teachers to attend "Dimensions of Learn-
ing" workshops, where they learned general strategies for
improving their teaching. The Mid-Continent Regional
Educational Laboratory in Aurora, Colorado — one of the
nation's ten regional educational laboratories (see page
47)—developed "Dimensions of Learning" to introduce an
approach to learning that cultivates critical thinking skills.
The Pine Jog staff also worked closely with Gove teachers to
design new curricula tailored specifically to their diverse
student body and their specific improvement plan.
"Pine Jog taught us a lot about how to create an inte-
grated thematic unit, what a concept map is (see page 8),
how you look at benchmarks and tie them in, and how you
find meaningful, relevant activities for different learning
styles," says Denise Beaulieu, a speech language pathologist.
"Pine Jog was really useful because these strategies are at the
cutting edge of school reform."
Though many of Cove's teachers have always taught
about the environment, the Pine Jog experience cemented
their decision to make the environment the focus of one of
their school-wide, nine-week units. According to Beaulieu
and Gayle Zavala, also a speech language pathologist, the
unit offered appropriate learning experiences for all of the
students. A group of mentally disabled kindergarten
through second grade students cultivated their own garden
and ate what they grew. A group of fourth graders studied
energy through lessons that pulled together several disci-
plines and incorporated developmentally appropriate liter-
ature. To reinforce the new concepts, they read Gary
Paulsen's The Tortilla Factory, in which the lead character—
a Mexican farm worker to whom many of the students eas-
ily relate—follows the different ways energy is used as corn
moves from field to factory, store, and table.
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
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INTRODUCTION
We Live on the Planet
EARTH
which provides our
which includes the
North
American
Continent
is where
we find
South
Florida
Our Home
Care for our
home
Value &
respect
diversity of
life
that share our
home planet
Earth
Hotels,
Apartments,
House, Condos,
Trailers, Boats,
Chickees, Tents
Water
Homes
can be
in or
near
can be
in or
near
Trees
Nests
Under
ground
burrows
Above
ground
dens
FRESH
WATER
canals,
ponds,
lakes.
gator holes
SALT
WATER
oceans,
reefs
Concept map created
by Gove students.
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
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The unit culminated with an exciting flourish: the
school held an environmental fair in which students in each
grade designed activities for the rest of the school to enjoy.
At the fourth grade station, students ate nachos baked in a
handmade solar oven. A few yards away, second graders
fished simulated pollutants, such as oil and miniature tires,
out of a model of Lake Okeechobee. Susan Toth, director of
education at Pine Jog Environmental Education Center,
said of the fifth graders, who created skits and visual aids to
teach younger students about cycles: "I was blown away.
The fifth graders took their job of teaching the younger kids
so seriously. It was incredible to watch." Zavala and Beaulieu
say the unit was a success—so successful that the school
plans to repeat and improve it this year.
Naturally, the staff hopes that its work will pay off in
student achievement. "We're waiting to see the benefits of
our labor," says Zavala, "but we like what we've accom-
plished so far." And the signs are encouraging; based on im-
proved standardized test scores, the school was excised from
the Commissioner's critical list.
Starting from Scratch
Komachin Middle School, Lacey, Washington
For people struggling to reform and improve their schools,
Komachin's beginnings may sound like a dream come true.
Instead of tinkering with an existing, traditional school, ed-
ucators built Komachin from scratch in 1990. "We started
by envisioning what we wanted," says teacher Dixie Reimer.
"We visited schools; we thought; we read; we asked, 'What
do kids need? How do they learn best?'....Then we collec-
tively put all that together and designed a school."
Their vision of a sound education for the future has a
familiar ring. According to Reimer, they felt that students
would need, among other things, "problem solving skills,
communication skills, and technological skills for the new
world." And to nurture their learning, they'd need
hands-on, cooperative experiences and the chance to de-
velop close, longstanding relationships with teachers.
Komachin realized these goals, in part, by adopting a
block schedule, with most classes at least 90 minutes long to
allow more time for projects, such as laboratory work and
trips. They also adopted an integrated, interdisciplinary
curriculum organized around broad themes. Each class
subject aims to reinforce the theme from a different per-
spective, and the semester concludes with a culminating ac-
tivity to help students synthesize what they've learned.
One of the school's integrated activities gives a flavor
for its approach. Teams of students are asked to envision
and create their own "sustainable community" set along
one of three local ecosystems: the ocean, a river, or a forest.
At the semester's end, they present and "sell" their ideal
community to the rest of the school, often using dioramas
and posters.
The teachers don't prescribe any single approach to the
Komachin students test water quality on the Deschutes River.
task, but rather give students tools to identify and articu-
late their own visions. In science, they visit and investigate
the ocean, rivers, and forests. In math, they calculate the
waste that their own family produces to get a sense of the
challenges involved in sustainable design. In language arts,
they write poetry that could help them express and pro-
mote the values of their community.
Over the past few years, the school has bolstered its en-
vironmental instruction further with help from "Environ-
mental Education Model Schools" and "Creating Model
Links," environmental education programs coordinated by
Washington's Office of the Superintendent of Public In-
struction. These programs provided money for field trips
and time for planning. The teachers used their time to in-
fuse the environment more fully into the curriculum while
simultaneously enhancing their academic offerings. And
now Komachin hopes to use a district grant to launch a
ninth grade program on global rivers, in which students
from various schools would use the Internet to share ideas
and data, and gain skills in science, math and technology.
"We're trying really hard to do this program," says Reimer.
"This is one way to prepare them for the rigors of high
school, and to keep them in love and involved with science."
A School That's in It Together
Clay County High School, Manchester, Kentucky
The teachers at Clay County High School know well what it
means to keep students "in love" academically. And for the
past several years, they've seen their own labors of love take
hold in the school. Indeed, one could view their efforts as an
object lesson: a demonstration of the power of a dedicated
community—and well-timed reform—to turn a flagging
school around.
Like Gove Elementary, Clay County High faces some
formidable challenges. Set in a coal-mining and farming
region of eastern Kentucky, Clay County is the seventh
poorest county in the nation. About 80 percent of the stu-
dents receive a subsidized lunch.
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
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The 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA)
was, in some respects, a godsend for the school. Arguably
the most comprehensive reform package in the country,
KERA provided more equitable funding for schools across
Kentucky. Interestingly, the Act also provided an occasion
for some of the school's teachers to try out ideas that had
been simmering for years. According to biology teacher
Jocelyn Wolfe, she and her colleagues had long dreamed of
creating an outdoor classroom where students could learn
by doing. Such a classroom would lend itself to skills-
oriented interdisciplinary, collaborative instruction—
approaches that KERA requires. "Before KERA we might
have met some resistance from our administration," she ex-
plains. "People are so afraid of liability, they're hesitant to
try new things."
With the license to experiment and some staff develop-
ment from local environmental educators, Clay County's
stafTand students created a full-fledged Environmental Re-
search Center. The Center encompasses traditional ele-
ments of an outdoor classroom, such as a nature trail and
wildlife habitat. A Cherokee village, a pioneer log cabin, and
an herb garden greenhouse also bring traditional Ap-
palachian culture to life. Restored wetlands and a green-
house focusing on native plant preservation offer many
possibilities for research and field study.
The Center also provides rich opportunities to achieve
KERA goals. For example, teachers of anthropology, art,
history, and economics all use the Cherokee Village to teach
collaborative lessons about Native Americans. And since
approximately 1,800 students visit the outdoor classroom
each year, the students have ample opportunity for service
learning, which is also encouraged by KERA. The high
school students teach younger children such skills as Indian
gardening, cooking, and basket weaving. They write bro-
chures, develop lessons, and offer guided tours along the
nature trail. If all goes well, a class of juniors and seniors will
soon run the trail like a business, with a board of directors
in charge of public relations.
The Environmental Research Center has not only
helped students learn, says Wolfe, it has given them pride in
themselves and their school. "Before the outdoor class-
room, I used to hear kids refer to school as a prison," she
says. "I don't hear that anymore. The kids are so proud it's
just unreal. The whole school feels like we're in this humon-
gous project together."
Limited Preparation May Be
Keeping Numbers Low
In strikingly different ways, Hollywood and Gove Elemen-
tary Schools, Komachin Middle School, and Clay County
High School all exemplify how the environment can ad-
vance education reform. Yet the total number of schools in
the nation that have woven the environment deeply and
meaningfully into their teaching remains relatively small.
The reasons, of course, are numerous and complex. But one
of the most fundamental is easy to pinpoint: limited teacher
training in both the preservice and inservice arenas.
Despite society's professed interest in the environment,
the vast majority of teachers emerge from schools of educa-
tion, where they get their preservice training, without any
formal instruction in environmental education. As Rosalyn
McKeown-Ice of the University of Tennessee points out in a
recent report, only nine percent of teacher colleges require
elementary education majors to take a practicum in envi-
ronmental education; only seven percent require one for
high school teachers. (Her article on page 34 explores this
issue further.)
There is also room for improvement in how environ-
mental education is presented to future teachers in schools
of education, according to Nancy Gabriel in a recent report
from Second Nature, an environmental education organi-
zation in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her report shows-that
while environmental education is inherently interdiscipli-
nary, it is usually introduced as a discrete "special topic" in
science curricula. The opportunity exists for schools of
g about the environment and environmental issues can be used to:
nvironmenta
Develop inquiry, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills.
• Develop team-building and group decision-making skills.
• Promote hands-on learning.
ofjhnproving
• Tie learning to the community with a real-world application.
en learning in core subjects (science, matn, geography,
e'lrts,'
-------
education to introduce a more practical model for integrat-
ing the environment throughout the curriculum.
Since environmental education has not yet won a per-
manent place in the preservice system, those teachers who
do receive environmental education training usually do so
from nonformal providers such as natural resource agen-
cies, nature centers, botanical gardens, and zoos, as well as
national programs like Project WILD, Project Learning
Tree, and Project WET. These types of nonformal educa-
tional entities operate separately from, but certainly not in-
dependent of, the formal school system. They offer a critical
service to educators in the form of inservice training. (See
page 40 for more on inservice training.)
For instance, the highly successful Project Learning Tree,
an educational program of the American Forest Founda-
tion, held training workshops for 30,000 educators and
2,500 facilitators throughout the United States in 1998
alone. Certainly these large and popular programs, with
their expansive networks of facilitators
and trained educators, are making a dent
in bringing environmental education
into the school system. But still, with
3,126,000 teachers in nearly 115,000
schools across the United States, there is
a great opportunity here for more inser-
vice training that can reach increased
numbers of educators. Fortunately,
some of the larger inservice programs—
Projects WILD, WET, and Learning Tree
included—are being expanded under
the Environmental Education and
Training Partnership (EETAP). Funded
by U.S. EPA, EETAP is a $9 million, five-
year joint venture between EPA, the
North American Association for Envi-
ronmental Education (NAAEE), and ten
other universities and organizations to
deliver environmental education train-
ing and related support services to edu-
cation professionals.
Kimberly Wade, in a 1996 article published in The Jour-
nal of Environmental Education, cautions that in some cases
there are drawbacks to prepackaged curricula—the most
common form of inservice training for teachers. In Wade's
analysis, some of these curricula tend to focus on what to
teach but do not as often address the more difficult issue of
how to teach. What's more, because these programs are
ready-made, they tend to assume that all teachers, students
and communities can be treated alike. In Wade's words,
"The shortcoming of today's dominant approach to staff
development is that teachers are spoon-fed prepackaged ac-
tivities and treated as curricular consumers rather than pro-
fessional educators.. ..The result is that environmental edu-
cation is in danger of becoming less and less relevant to the
nation's schools and school support systems."
"Before the outdoor
? classroom, I used to
hear kids refer to
school as a prison,"
she says. "I don't hear
that anymore. The
kids are so proud it's
just unreal. The whole
school feels like we
are in this humongous
'..project together."
i
A Changing Rote for Nonformal
Education Programs
The same political and economic pressures that are squeez-
ing schools today are also affecting nonformal environmen-
tal education programs. In this era of accountability (it's of-
ten "raise test scores or else"), many schools view programs
from agencies, zoos, and nature centers as a luxury they can
ill afford. "It's really important to attend to the pressure to
perform that our schools are under," says Heath of the
Maryland State Department of Education. "All schools
would like to, say, get kids outside on a field trip. But they've
got to get more out of that field trip than they used to get."
Fortunately, many nonformal environmental educators
are increasingly aware of their changing role, and are find-
ing creative ways to address schools' needs. Florida's Pine
Jog Environmental Education Center, for example, has
evolved from a traditional nature center into a sophisticated
catalyst for systemic school change. In that capacity, Pine
Jog has learned to listen to teachers,
and do its "homework" to meet their
true needs. "We've heard loud and
clear that teachers are overburdened.
We can't expect them to add one more
thing to their curriculum plates," ex-
plains Susan Toth, director of educa-
tion at Pine Jog. "But we can use envi-
ronmental education to restructure
what's already on their plates and make
it more manageable."
In a similar vein, the Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife has
collaborated with the state's Model
Links Program to retool its curriculum
packages. The aim is to create pro-
grams that respond more effectively to
schools' learning objectives.
Some environmental educators
_ — J see such efforts as part of a larger
trend: a renewed focus on the "educa-
tion" in environmental education. But
what does this really mean? As Tom Marcinkowski, chair of
the Graduate Program in Environmental Education at the
Florida Institute of Technology, points out, infusing envi-
ronmental education more fully into schools demands a
better understanding of all the disparate forces that influ-
ence them, from local school boards to state governments to
national education organizations and even textbook pub-
lishers.
NAAEE is one of many organizations involved in this
broad mission. Among other projects, NAAEE is working to
create voluntary guidelines for excellence in environmental
education in the areas of materials, what learners should
know and be able to do, and environmental educator prepa-
ration. The guidelines effort is parallel to the standards es-
tablished for math, science, and other subject areas. Critics
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
-------
fear that the guidelines are unnecessary and potentially
damaging since creating separate environmental education
guidelines might widen the conceptual gap between envi-
ronmental education and the core disciplines. Proponents
feel that guidelines will offer quality control for educators,
ensuring that the environmental education students receive
is effective, comprehensive, and unbiased.
U.S. EPA is also placing more emphasis on the "educa-
tion" component of environmental education. In 1997, EPA
added a new priority to its list of projects that will be con-
sidered for funding under the Environmental Education
Grant Program. The addition is for those projects that "uti-
lize environmental education as a catalyst to advance state,
local, or tribal education reform and improvement goals."
In addition, EPA has made tying environmental education
to education reform a central theme of the Environmental
Education and Training Partnership.
Clearly, this is a dynamic, if tumultuous, time for edu-
cation and the environment alike. The "right" path to take
remains to be seen. But as today's students move into adult-
hood, that path may become clearer. After all, it is those stu-
dents' knowledge, attitudes, and actions as citizens that will
tell us, in the end, whether we have succeeded.
Ruth Flanagan is a freelance writer living in Madison,
Wisconsin.
REFERENCES
Lieberman, G. A, Pieces of a Puzzle:
An Overview of the Status of
Environmental Education in the
United States. Poway, CA: Science
Wizards, 1995.
McKeown-Ice, R. Summary
of Environmental Education in
the United States: A Survey of
Pre-Service Teacher Education
Programs. Knoxville, TN:
University of Tennessee, 1995.
National Commission on Ex-
cellence in Education. A Nation
at Risk: The Imperative for Edu-
cation Reform. Washington, D.C.:
U.S. Government Printing Office,
1983.
Wade, Kim. "Environmental
Education Teacher Inservice
Education: The Need for New
Perspectives." Journal of Environ-
mental Education.Vol. 27, No. 2,
pp 11-17,1996.
RECOMMENDED
READING
Chard, Sylvia. The Project
Approach: A Practical Guide for
Teachers. Division of Technology
in Education, Faculty of Educa-
tion, 3-102, Education Dept,
North University of Alberta,
Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA
T6G2G5 (403-492-3667)
Gabriel, Nancy. Teach our Teachers
Well: Strategies to Integrate Envi-
ronmental Education into Teacher
Education Programs. Cambridge,
MA: Second Nature, 1996.
Gardner, Howard. Frames of Mind:
The Theory of Multiple Intelli-
gences. New York: HarperCollins
Publishers, 1983.
Hungerford, H. A. Investigating
and Evaluating Environmental Is-
sues and Actions: Skill Develop-
ment Program. Champaign, IL:
Stipes Publishing Co., 1996.
Orr, David. Ecological Literacy:
Education and the Transition to
a Postmodern World. Albany:
State University of New York
Press, 1992.
PROGRAMS CITED
Hollywood Elementary School
44345 Joy Chapel Road
Hollywood, MD 20636
(301)373-4350
www.smeps.k / 2.md.us/
holhome.htm
Gove Elementary School
900 SE Avenue G
Belle Glade, PL 33430
(561) 993-4042
Komachin Middle School
3650 College Street SE
Lacey.WA 98503
(360)438-8800
www.hellgate.kl2.mt.us/tp/
schoolslkoman.htm
Clay County High School
Route 7, Box 44
Manchester, KY 40962
(606)598-3737
Pine Jog Environmental
Education Center
College of Education/Florida
Atlantic University
6301 Summit Boulevard
West Palm Beach, FL 33415
(561) 686-6600
Model Links Program
8323 28th Avenue NW
Seattle, WA 98117
(206)706-6051
http:llcisl.ospi.wednet.edu/CISLI
ENVEDIMDLINKS.html
iect-Based
ortersoTPBL, defines it as
liWWi^Hwl
^Engaging learning experiences that^in-
stydentsln complex, real-world*
ojectS- through whicfi they develoD
s ,and^pply skills and knowledge;
t learning taps students inherent
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§ ctR be identified, up-front, but
jpg that requires stuaents to
w from many information sources
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
-------
Finding
Your Way
on the
Prairie
PROGRAM
Teacher jane Weaver was scared when
she first took her fifth grade students out-
side to explore the prairie grassland near
Gililland Elementary School in Blue Mound,
Texas. She worried about losing control in
the vast space. She worried about kids
• Experiences through which students
learn to manage and allocate re-
sources such as time and materials.
According to the Autodesk Foundation,
which sponsors a PEL Network as well
as ah annual PBL conference called
"Kids Who Know and Do," students
. need to and want to know they can
solve peal-world problems that are
open-ended, complex, and interesting.
Project-based learning is student-
driven; with PBL, students develop and
hone academic, social, and life skills
through school work that has a context
meaningful to them. Learning is con-
nected, or reconnected, to the real
world so that it is meaningful and
memorable.
For more on project-based learning,
contact the Autodesk Foundation at its
web site, www.autodesk.com/founda-
,; tion/pbl, or at 111 Mclnnish Parkway,
: San Rafael, CA 94903, (415) 507-5670.
RECOMMENDED READING:
The California Freshwater Shrimp Project:
An Example of Environmental Project-
Based Learning by Laurette Rogers
Berkeley: Heyday Books, 1996.
wandering off, and spent much of her time
counting to make sure everyone was
there. Mostly, though, she worried about
getting lost.
In fact, it was outside on the prairie
that Weaver found her way as a teacher.
Those early outdoor lessons have evolved
into The Prairie Project.The project is an
exemplar of project-based learning (see
box), an approach that engages students in
complex, real-world projects through
which they develop and apply skills and
knowledge. Weaver no longer uses text-
books. Although she has received some
static about it, she says,"l don't know how
1 could go back to teaching any other way."
The Prairie Project curriculum is al-
most entirely integrated, incorporating
science, math, history, social studies, lan-
guage arts, and more. A majority of the
learning goes on outdoors through hands-
on activities. According to Weaver, "The
outdoors is an equalizer. With project-
based learning in the outdoors, the'A' stu-
dent and the non-reader work side-by-
side, each bringing something special to
the project. When you let students take
some responsibility for their own educa-
tion, they will change."
Over the project's eight-year history,
Weaver's students have helped restore
the prairie, an ecologically important rem-
nant of an ecosystem that once covered
12 million acres. They've studied the
bioregion's social and ecological history,
and have published literary research on
the legends of prairie flowers. To improve
access, the fifth graders designed and built
a bridge, and they added a greenhouse in
which to raise native prairie plants and
collect seeds. This year, the students will
conduct their seventh annual tree plant-
ing. They've also planted an herb garden
on their campus, and are talking about
publishing a community cookbook with
recipes using the vegetables and herbs
they grow.
Picking up on traditional arts of the
prairie, each of Weaver's classes creates a
quilt to celebrate the 100th day of the se-
mester. Each student makes two squares
for the quilt, sometimes based on a theme,
sometimes entirely their own design.The
quilts are hung with great care around the
school, and former quilters—some now
graduating from high school—regularly
EEDUCATOR
return to see them and share them with
others. When asked what they possibly
could learn by quilting in class, students
explained, "We learned how to make even
squares and to measure perimeters. And
we learned how to iron."
Weaver's students do well on stan-
dardized tests, but she is still asked to
prove that her methods work. She fears
that some people want to change educa-
tion by doing the same old thing a little bit
better. Instead, she feels relevance is key.
She says, "Learning out of context is a
waste. We don't have time for children
to ask 'Why am I doing this?'" That her
methods are effective is clear to several
middle school teachers who have trans-
ferred into the district so they can teach
former Gililland students, noting that
"they're the only ones who still like sci-
ence in the eighth grade."
According to Weaver, "The whole
town loves The Prairie Project. It changes
people. It's changed the town. They liter-
ally had nothing to be proud of, and now
they're so proud." Even the local McDon-
ald's is involved. Along with other teach-
ers and parents from the school, Weaver
cleans tables at the restaurant. She does it
once a month, but she's not supplement-
ing her income. In exchange for this good
spirited volunteer labor, McDonald's do-
nates 10 percent of the day's income to
the project.
Imagine how proud the community
felt as Gililland's fifth grade students trav-
eled to Fort Worth to sing for former first
lady Lady Bird Johnson. Or how com-
munity members must have beamed when
renowned scientist and educator Jane
Goodall visited the school and com-
mented, "What the children have done
here is unbelievable. I've searched the
whole world for a place like this."
For more information on the Prairie
Project, contact Jane Weaver, Gililland
Elementary School, 701 Waggoman,
Fort Worth, TX 76131, (817) 232-0331.
Two web sites also offer program
descriptions:
www.tpwd.state.tx.us/expltx
and www.seedsource.com
SPRING 1999
-------
A Primer on
Education Reform
Art
Sussman
Since the publication in 1983 of a report called A
Nation at Risk, education reform has occupied a
prominent place in national dialogue. Presidents and
governors endorse national education goals and promote
programs to achieve those goals. School districts and teach-
ers engage in a wide array of efforts to improve how stu-
dents learn in America.
From one point of view, education reform is very com-
plicated, featuring lots of different initiatives, programs,
and players. From another point of view, it is not so compli-
cated. Virtually all efforts to improve education focus on
one or more of four broad areas, summarized below and
detailed in the following primer:
Curriculum the knowledge and skills we want
students to learn and be able to do.
Instruction the ways we expect teachers to teach
and students to learn.
Assessment how we know if students have
learned what we want them to learn.
Schools how schools are organized at the
local level.
Comparing the goals of education reform cited in the
Educate America Act (see page 5) to the goals and objectives
set forth for environmental education (see page 36), it is
clear that the two efforts have similar aims. Both are con-
cerned with connecting learning to the real world and ap-
plying knowledge across disciplines. Both emphasize devel-
oping students' abilities to make sound decisions and to en-
gage as active citizens. The articles and program profiles in
this publication describe how environmental education can
help achieve the goals of public education reform. Specific
examples are referenced throughout this primer.
Curriculum in Education Reform
Most traditional curricula emphasize student command
of basic skills and academic subject matter. In contrast, cur-
riculum reform efforts generally focus on applying content
knowledge using higher order thinking skills (such as prob-
lem solving) and connections to the world beyond the class-
room. Important trends in curriculum reform include:
• Standards. One of the most prominent features of
the education reform landscape is the development
of standards. Standards define what students should
know and be able to do at different grade levels.
National and state standards have been developed
for many academic disciplines and are now driving
curriculum content.
• Higher Order Thinking Skills. Curriculum reform
efforts promote development of skills such as logical
analysis and problem solving. More traditional
curricula focus on memorization and repetitious
practice of basic skills.
• Depth Not Breadth. Traditional curricula tend to
cover, sometimes superficially, many topics within
each subject area. Curriculum reform efforts usually
promote in-depth study of fewer topics.
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
-------
• World Beyond the Classroom. Faced with more tradi-
tional curricula, students are prompted to ask, "Why
do I have to learn this?" or "Will I ever use this?" Service
Learning, School-to-Work, and other reform-based
curricula emphasize real world topics and learning
situations.
Environmental topics are particularly appropriate for
curricula that emphasize the world beyond the classroom,
depth of treatment, and higher order thinking skills. The
article on page 4 offers examples of elementary, middle, and
high school level curricular changes that use the environ-
ment as a basis for learning, and the article on page 48 dis-
cusses relationships between standards and environmental
education.
Instruction in Education Reform
Many education reform efforts focus on instruction: the
ways we expect teachers to teach and students to learn.
These efforts generally place increased emphasis on profes-
sional development for teachers, collaboration among
students and among teachers, and student-centered teach-
ing strategies. Important trends in instructional reform
include:
• Teachers as Professionals. Teachers are often not given
the basic tools and learning opportunities generally
associated with professional occupations. Many reform
efforts emphasize increasing the preservice require-
ments for teacher certification. Others stress providing
high-quality professional development programs for
inservice teachers to continually update their content
knowledge and instructional skills. Given teachers'
schedules, professional development efforts are most
successful when time for them is institutionalized into
the school year.
• Multidisciplinary/Team Teaching. Especially in
upper grades, traditional classrooms tend to fragment
learning into compartments labeled English, history,
science, or math. They isolate teachers from one
another. Some reform strategies take advantage of the
fact that topics in the real world naturally involve link-
ages among the different disciplines. Multidisciplinary
lessons enable teachers to work together as a team.
• Constructivist/Student-Centered Learning. Rather
than treat students as passive learners who absorb
information provided by lectures and textbooks, some
reform efforts focus on enabling students to take more
active responsibility for their learning.
• Active/Collaborative Learning Strategies. These
efforts promote hands-on instruction and students
working in cooperative groups to develop content
and problem-solving skills.
• Technology. The explosive growth of the Internet
and other communications technologies provide new
opportunities for students to move beyond the con-
fines of their school. Technological skills are obviously
important as students graduate and move into the job
world or post-secondary education. In addition, the
Internet allows students to find resources, to talk and
collaborate with scientists, and to exchange data
and ideas with other students.
Environmental topics are particularly appropriate for
multidisciplinary and hands-on instruction. Since environ-
mental education aims for students to develop new under-
standings and apply their knowledge through responsible
action, it supports constructivist, student-centered learn-
ing. Global technologies such as the Internet are particu-
larly appropriate for sharing environmental data, such as
tracking animal migrations or monitoring water quality in
a geographically extensive watershed. To explore instruc-
tional strategies that use the environment as a foundation
for learning, read the article on page 17. Environmental
education training for preservice and inservice teachers is
addressed in the articles on pages 34 and 40 respectively.
Assessment in Education Reform
Traditionally, written tests have been the primary method
of assessing student understanding. Assessment reform ac-
knowledges that testing provides a limited view of what stu-
dents know, and therefore emphasizes the use of a broader
variety of assessment strategies. Reform efforts also place
greater stress on psychometric issues of validity, reliability,
and bias. Important trends in assessment reform include:
• Standards-Based Assessment. Using rubrics (scoring
guides that establish expectations for performance)
and other tools, assessments are becoming more
aligned with the standards that describe what students
should know and be able to do. Rather than being
compared with each other, students are scored by
how well they achieve the desired learning skills
or knowledge.
•Alternative Assessment. Rather than relying
almost exclusively on written tests—still well used
in appropriate circumstances—assessment often
includes performance tasks, open-ended questions,
and portfolios of student work.
Through its emphasis on engagement in action projects,
environmental education is particularly conducive to using
student projects and portfolios to assess a wide range of skills.
Environmental education works well for skill-based and mul-
tidisciplinary assessments. The article on page 52 explores as-
sessment strategies and gives examples of assessments that
have been used in several environmental education lessons.
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
-------
Education Reform at the School Site
To succeed, education reform has to occur at the individual
school site. Many site-based reform strategies involve giving
parents more options aboutwhich school their child will at-
tend. Restructuring the school day to allow for longer, more
in-depth studies, increasing parental involvement, and link-
ing classrooms to the community are among other site-
based reform efforts. Important trends in school site reform
include:
• Magnet Schools. Magnet schools feature a unified
curriculum that is generally based on either a specific
curriculum area (such as science or environment)
or a particular method of teaching and learning.
• School-Based Management. School-based manage-
ment (SBM) is intended to improve education by
transferring significant decision-making authority
from state and district offices to individual schools.
SBM gives principals, teachers, students, and parents
responsibility for decisions about the budget,
personnel, and curriculum.
• Charter Schools. Charter Schools are public schools
that sign a contract ("charter") to guarantee a high
level of student achievement. In exchange, a Charter
School receives waivers that exempt it from many
education code requirements and bureaucratic rules.
* Privatization/Vouchers. Some people advocate
privatizing schools or issuing vouchers from public
education budgets to families to cover tuition costs
at private schools.
• Parent/Community Involvement. The need for and
great value of increased participation by parents
and other community members is a theme that runs
across many school site reform efforts.
Environmental education can be especially appropriate
for magnet schools because, by definition, magnet schools
focus on a particular topic. With its emphasis on action
projects involving local issues, environmental education
is also germane to enhancing parent and community
involvement. The program profiles on pages 13 and 56, and
many of the programs highlighted in other articles, reflect
successful efforts to restructure schools to accommodate
new forms of teaching and learning.
Education reform and environmental education clearly
have a lot in common. They share a fundamental goal: that
of developing real skills and knowledge so students can
make sound decisions. They use similar approaches:
student-centered, problem-based, hands-on learning. Part-
nered, education reform and environmental education
enhance both educational and environmental quality.
Marry them and we can change the world!
RECOMMENDED WEB SITES
Putnam Valley's "Developing
Educational Standards"
An annotated list of Internet
sites with K-12 educational
standards and curriculum
framework documents.
http:llputwest.loces.orgl
standards.html
U.S. Charter Schools
Uses web-based technologies to
support educational innovation
in charter schools.
www.uscharterschoo/s.org
Coalition of Essential Schools
A growing national network of
more than 1,000 schools and 24
regional support centers that
coach schools through systemic
change at the school site.
www.essentia/scfioo/s.org
"Systemic Reform: Perspectives
on Personalizing Education"
A collection of articles and papers
examining systemic reform.
http:llllanes.panam.edul
researchlsystemicreform
,;. •SWSWir «r
atoTS m both formal and riontormal settings find,
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ArtSussman, Ph.D., is a biochemist who directs environ-
mental education projects and the Eisenhower Regional
Math/Science Consortium, at WestEd, one of the nation's
ten regional educational laboratories. WestEd is also a
partner in the Environmental Education and Training
Partnership (EETAP).
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
-------
Middle school students explore their
feelings about protecting biodiversity
in "The Spice of Life," an activity from
World Wildlife Fund's Biodiversity
Basics. (See page 21.)
POWERFUL PEDACOCY
Using EE to Achieve
Your Education Coals
by
Judy
Braus
You're a new teacher with a head full of ideas. You want
to be innovative and effective—on the cutting edge of
reform. You want your kids to be excited about learn-
ing. And you think the environment is an important, cross-
cutting theme that will engage your students. But you're a
little overwhelmed. You've spent more than four years study-
ing constructivism, cooperative learning, thematic teaching,
learning styles, authentic assessment, interdisciplinary tech-
niques, service learning, and what seems like a thousand
other educational strategies, theories, and techniques.
So now what do you do? How do you put it all together?
And how can you use environmental education as a vehicle
to enhance and even transform your teaching? My col-
leagues and I asked more than a dozen seasoned educators
to list the five most important instructional strategies that
they would use to enhance learning. The group we surveyed
included teachers, environmental educators, zoo and aquar-
ium educators, professors, and curriculum developers—
each with more than 15 years of teaching experience. Then
we asked them to pick some of their favorite environmental
education activities that use one or more of these strategies
effectively.
It's not surprising that there were a lot of similarities in
the instructional strategies that this select group of educa-
tors felt were most important. Many school systems and
across the country have identified similar strategies to en-
hance learning, motivate students, and build better citizens.
The twist that many teachers don't learn during pre-service
training is that you can use environmental education to in-
tegrate these strategies and make them come alive—and at
the same time, help students develop an environmental
ethic and set of citizenship skills that will carry them into
the future.
At the Top of the List
Here are the top picks from our ad hoc survey group. The re-
sources at the end of this article elaborate on these strategies.
Constructivism: Building on what students know.
Constructivism involves helping students learn new infor-
mation in a way that makes sense for them and fits with
their world view. As Cynthia Ellwood, a teacher in Milwau-
kee, Wisconsin, says, "At the very core of teaching is the task
of helping students make connections between what they
already understand and the new concepts, information, or
skills we want them to learn."
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
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Cooperative Learning: Working in groups to solve
problems, promote cooperation, build relationships among
students, and get a taste of how the real world works. The
world's problems are rarely solved by individuals working
alone. Learning to build on each other's strengths is what
pushes creativity, insight, and achievement. David W. John-
son and Roger T. Johnson, two experts in cooperative learn-
ing, point out that "More than five hundred research studies
now report that students learn better when they work coop-
eratively." (See the resources on page 24 to find out more
about cooperative learning and how some educators differ-
entiate between cooperative learning and collaborative
learning.)
Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Teaching:
Helping students to understand the interconnectedness of
knowledge, and to use knowledge from several disciplines
to examine individual and societal problems. Environ-
mental issues are interdisciplinary by nature and offer the
perfect platform for drawing connections among disci-
plines and areas of study (such as science, social science,
technology, politics, and philosophy) and within disciplines
(such as genetics, conservation biology, geology, and physi-
ology). (For more about the relationships among fields of
knowledge, see Interdisciplinary Curriculum: Design and
Implementation edited by Heidi Hayes Jacobs (ASCD,
1989), which also addresses crossdisciplinary, multidiscipli-
nary, and transdisciplinary definitions and approaches.)
Problem-Solving and Critical Thinking: Exploring is-
sttes to give students experience investigating and defining
problems, identifying solutions, implementing action
plans, and designing ways to measure success. Solving com-
plex environmental problems requires non-linear thinking
and improves the ability to think "outside of the box."
Martha Monroe, a professor at the University of Florida,
emphasizes that "problem-solving takes experimentation,
creativity, flexibility, risk taking, and independent thinking."
Community Learning: Using the community to ex-
plore real issues that promote learning and, at the same
time, benefit the community. In some school systems, com-
munity learning is practiced as "service learning" — pro-
grams that offer students credit for volunteering in the
community. Many teachers also promote community learn-
ing by facilitating environmental action projects in the
community that promote problem solving, action research
(reflecting on action and practice), cooperative learning,
and other educational strategies.
Values and Ethics: Examining and reflecting on the
underlying values that influence individual and societal
actions with regard to issues, and building a personal ethi-
cal framework that helps distinguish right from wrong.
Many school systems are now emphasizing character edu-
cation, which focuses on moral and ethical development
and activities that help students clarify their values. As Bill
Andrews, Education Programs Consultant in the California
Department of Education Office of Environmental Educa-
tion, says, "Values are important to social change and to cit-
izenship education. If we want to build a citizenry that cares
about the environment and takes responsible action, we
can't ignore values."
Other strategies and approaches listed by educators
included catering to a variety of learning styles, ensuring
that all teaching is relevant to student interests and using
theme-based learning that includes authentic assessment
(which is discussed on page 52) and emphasizes depth over
breadth. Of course, some teachers mentioned that you can't
design effective teaching programs without paying atten-
tion to age appropriateness, learning environment, and
state and national standards, including Goals 2000 (see box
on page 5).
To show how you can turn these instructional strategies
into lessons and activities, we've included a synopsis
of four sample activities. These are just samples of the thou-
sands of resources that can help you create your own
lessons and units. The challenge is to use these resources
as tools to shape a learning program that works for your sit-
uation, making use of your talents and interests, as well as
those of your students.
Activity Sampler
Visit a hundred classrooms in America, and you'll see
dozens of different strategies, approaches, activities, and
techniques-—many of them using the instructional strate-
gies we highlighted earlier. You'd see some teachers using
detailed daily lesson plans and others going more with
the flow. Some would be using textbooks; others would be
teaching from lessons they designed using newspapers, the
Internet, supplementary activity guides, textbooks, and
anything else they can get their hands on.
We've summarized four activities here, with a brief
analysis that explains why we think each models good
teaching. However, no one activity embodies all the educa-
tional strategies outlined earlier, and we encourage you to
look at the activities in their original form.
There are also hundreds of other quality resources
available. We encourage you to explore the compendiums
developed by the North American Association for Environ-
mental Education, World Wildlife Fund, and the California
Department of Education, which are listed at the end of this
article. All the compendiums rate supplementary curricu-
lum materials against state or national guidelines and high-
light the materials' strengths. They can help you select the
most appropriate resources. To help you use the environ-
ment as the integrating force in your teaching, many of the
educational resources cited include conceptual and skill
frameworks, unit planning ideas, and other support to help
build effective lessons.
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
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Activity # I: Every Drop Counts
Source: Project Learning Tree (PLT) is a national environ-
mental education program that uses forests as a window to
explore environmental issues. This activity is adapted from
the K-8 activity guide, which includes about 100 activities,
a conceptual framework, and many ready-to-copy activity
sheets. PLT also produces a series of high school modules
and reaches more than 30,000 educators each year through
workshops and training.
For more about PLT, see the web site at www.plt.org.
Water Use
Breakdown of the 394 billion gallons*
(1491 billion liters) of water used daily
in the United States:
Thermoelectric Utilities ... 187 billion gal./day
Irrigation 137 billion gal./day
Public Supply 36 billion gal./day
Industry 26 billion gal./day
Rural & Livestock 8 billion gal./day
Total 394 billion gal./day
Daily water use:
Flushing the Toilet ** 1.5-7 gal.
Taking a Shower 25—50 gal.
Taking a Bath 36 gal.
Washing Clothes 35-60 gal.
Washing Dishes (machine) 10 gal.
Brushing Teeth 2 gal.
Washing Hands 2 gal.
Watering the Lawn 5-10 gal./min.
* To convert gallons to liters, multiply by 3.785
** Water-saving toilets are now available that use
as little as 1.5-3.5 gallons (5.7-13.2 I) of water
Used with permission from Project Learning Tree.
Overview: It's easy to waste water and even easier to take
water for granted. Water pours out of our faucets as though
it were endlessly available. But the truth is that fresh water
supplies are dwindling. Fortunately, it's just as easy to con-
serve water as it is to waste it. Try this activity to help your
class (and maybe the whole school) cut back on water
waste.
Age: Upper Elementary and Middle School
Objectives: Students will (1) monitor their daily actions
and estimate the amount of water they use in a day, (2) de-
scribe how water is wasted and why it is important to con-
serve it, (3) design and implement a water conservation
plan, and (4) determine the amount of water and money
saved through their plan.
Summary of Approach: In the first part of this activity, stu-
dents estimate the amount of water they use every day and
then try to determine if their actual water use is more or less
than they predicted. They estimate the amount of water
they use for drinking, showering, cooking, brushing their
teeth, using the toilet, and so on. They can do this two ways:
one by using a chart that shows average water use for each
activity; another by determining the average flow per sec-
ond, timing their water usage, and coming up with an esti-
mate. Next students brainstorm how they might be able to
reduce their water use, try their ideas out, and see if their
suggestions work by again monitoring daily water use. Fi-
nally, they investigate how much water the school can save if
everyone uses simple water conservation practices. Each
group researches one aspect of water conservation (such as
installing faucet aerators in restrooms or putting toilet
dams in toilet tanks throughout the school) and together
they create a water saving plan. Students then estimate the
savings of both water and money and try to "sell" their wa-
ter conservation plan to school administrators and parents.
Other Comments: Activity includes background informa-
tion (see box), a ready-to-copy activity sheet to help stu-
dents record their water use for the day, and assessment
strategies (which in this case suggest that teams of students
design a brochure for the general public, urging them to
save water in their daily lives).
Analysis: Emphasizes stewardship and models environ-
mental responsibility. Highlights cooperative learning. In-
terdisciplinary, emphasizing connections between math
and science. Also promotes community learning by exam-
ining individual, school, and home water use. Other good
points: good graphics with easy-to-use chart, grade appro-
priate, explores values about water, provides options for
community action, and engages students in active learning.
EEDUCATOR
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Reprinted with permission from World Wildlife Fund.
. 17-The Spice of Life
Why Is Biodiversity Important?
WHY CARE ABOUT BIODIVERSITY?
li If important to
conserve the diversity
of life for Medical and
economic reasons, Plants
and animals could provide
us with additional food*,
medicines, and other
product* that will save
liver and benefit society.
if.
I
It If important to protect
the diversity of life
because no generation
has the right to destroy
the environment and
resource* on which future
generations depend. It
if our responsibility to
take care of the
diversity of life.
It if i/wportant to
protect the diversity of
life because biodiversity
helps Maintain important
ecological processes such
as oxygen production,
pollination, and flood
control that, in turn, help
support all life on Earth.
Our lives would not be
as rich if we lost species
such as bears, beetles,
hawks, frogs, lizards, and
tigers, and the habitats
where they live. The
rich diversity of life
also allows for important
recreational activities
such as hiking, fishing,
camping, and pirding.
It is important to protect
the diversity of life because
biodiversity provides
inspiration and provokes
curiosity and imagination.
Art, music, and poetry
are often inspired by the
diversity of Hfe. And
many of our technological
advances, such as flight,
have been inspired by
examples found in nature.
It is important to
preserve the diversity
of life because all species
have a right to exist.
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
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Activity #2: The Spice of Life
Source: Biodiversity Basics is the first module in the Win-
dows on the Wild biodiversity education program developed
by World Wildlife Fund (WWF), with input from hundreds
of educators around the world. Windows on the Wild is de-
signed to educate people about biodiversity and stimulate
critical thinking, discussion, and informed decision making
on behalf of the environment. WWF partners with a variety
of communities and institutions around the world to en-
hance education and conservation.
For more about Windows on the Wild and WWF, visit the
web site at www.worldwildlife.org
Age: Middle School
Overview: People's feelings about biodiversity issues do not
depend on just their knowledge of these issues and the sci-
ences that relate to them; people's feelings also depend on
personal belief systems and values. This activity is designed
to give your students a chance to examine their values and
to sharpen their own thinking by sharing their opinions
and feelings with their peers. The activity would be con-
ducted after students have developed an understanding of
the meaning of biodiversity.
Objectives: Students explore personal beliefs and values
about the importance of biodiversity.
Summary of Approach: In advance of the activity, the
teacher writes six statements, each giving a different reason
for protecting biodiversity, on separate pieces of flip chart
paper (see page 20). He or she hangs the sheets around the
room, covering them to prevent students from seeing the
statements. To get started, students discuss whether or not
it's important to protect biodiversity, and if so, why. They
are encouraged to think about reasons they have read; rea-
sons they have heard others express; or their own, personal
views. Then they compare their ideas with the reasons listed
on the chart paper.
Students are then asked to consider the statements care-
fully and to pick one of the statements and go stand near it.
The one they pick should be one they feel strongly about—
either because they think it's particularly important or be-
cause they disagree with it. If they don't see a statement that
reflects their viewpoint, they can stand at a seventh sign
marked "other."
Students at each statement are encouraged to discuss
among themselves why they chose that particular state-
ment, with reminders that each person will have personal
reasons for making that choice and that the group should
explore some of those reasons. Then one person summa-
rizes each small group discussion. Finally, the teacher facili-
tates a class discussion, using some guiding questions to ex-
plore issues and challenge each group's thinking.
Other Comments: Activity includes introduction, step-by-
step directions, a list of statements and guiding questions,
an assessment, extensions and resources, and writing ideas.
Activity is connected to a framework, is linked to other ac-
tivities that provide the prior knowledge needed to take
part in the activity, and is included in an overall unit to ex-
plore biodiversity issues.
Analysis: Emphasizes values and ethics without promoting
a particular point of view. Highlights connections between
science and social studies, and promotes critical thinking
and problem-solving skills such as evaluating a position,
taking a position, and defending a position. Other good
points: allows students to think about the issue first, then
get out of their seats to discuss how they feel with other stu-
dents; promotes writing skills.
: Activity #3: A Research Request
Source: Eco-Inquiry—A Guide to Ecological Learning Expe-
riences is made up of three modules focusing on food webs,
decomposition, and nutrient recycling. It embeds hands-on
science within thematic, multi-dimensional learning expe-
riences. The modules contain investigations that build stu-
dents' understanding of ecological processes in their local
environment. The Eco-Inquiry guide includes classroom-
tested lesson plans with practical teaching strategies, ex-
pected learner outcomes, assessment strategies, and cross-
curricular extensions.
Age: Upper Elementary and Middle School
Overview: In this module, "Who Eats What?" students start
out by receiving a request to survey animals and their food
resources on a local site. Then they talk about what they al-
ready know and how they could find out more. In following
activities of the module, the students have opportunities to
investigate the local site, determine the food web of the site,
and process, apply, and assess what they learned.
Objectives: Throughout the lesson, check that students (1)
realize that people can harm or protect the food resources
animals need to survive, (2) have a mental image of the
study site, and some ideas about what animals live there, (3)
are curious and have questions about animals and their
food, and (4) have ideas of how to look for animals and ani-
mal signs.
Summary of Approach: Students take on the role of ecolo-
gists and are charged with investigating an outdoor study
area to find out what animals live there and what those ani-
mals eat to survive. This preliminary activity is designed to
get them thinking about what they and other people already
know about the study area. The first part of the activity is a
discussion to find out what the students already know
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
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about the creatures living in the site and what questions
they might want to answer. The final part of this activity has
the students work in pairs to figure out what animals live in
the outdoor area and how they could determine what the
animals eat.
Additional Comments: This is the first activity of the mod-
ule called "Who Eats What?" The guide contains two other
modules, "Decomposer Dynamics," and "From Rot to
Radishes." There are a variety of assessment ideas, re-
sources, field trip tips, and other information to help teach-
ers carry out the activities and modules.
Analysis: Activity takes a constructivist approach to helping
students start a unit that explores ecology. Students have a
chance to talk about what they know and what they want to
know. As they proceed through the unit, they take part in
investigating, thinking, processing, and applying. The mod-
ules in Eco-Inquiry cover the concepts in depth and give stu-
dents a chance to explore and understand their local envi-
ronment. The activities also encourage student-directed,
cooperative learning.
'Activity#4: Dilemma Derby
Source: Project WET is a national nonprofit water educa-
tion program for educators and young people in grades
K-12. This activity is adapted from the Project WET Cur-
riculum and Activity Guide, a collection of more than 90
water-related activities that are hands-on, easy to use, and
fun! The curriculum is available to educators through
workshops provided by state Project WET coordinators and
trained facilitators.
Age: Middle and High School
Overview: Managing water resources often creates dilem-
mas. As with most dilemmas, water resource management
can involve conflicts between what one wants to do-versus
what one believes should be done. People use various ap-
proaches to determine a course of action when confronted
with a dilemma—from flipping a coin to conducting exten-
sive research and attending high-powered meetings. In this
activity, students debate the pros and cons of different solu-
tions to water management issues and use critical thinking
skills in the process.
Illustration by Lisa Morganstern from Eco-/nqu/ry: A Guide to Ecological Experiences for the Upper Elementary/Middle Grades by Kathleen Hogan.
1994. Kendall/Hunt Publishers. (800)-228-0810. Reprinted with permission.
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
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Objectives: Students will outline reasons that managing
water resources can create dilemmas; and identify, analyze,
and select actions related to a water resource dilemma.
Summary of Approach: To start the discussion about water
issues, students are provided with a scenario that presents a
dilemma. They list the reasons why they think it is a
dilemma and discuss some of the approaches they might
use to resolve it. Then they divide into small groups and
address a variety of water-related issues that are provided in
the activity. With each dilemma, group members discuss
the situation and decide what to do and why. They must
select one of the available options or identify an alternative
course of action. One approach to making a decision is to
rate each option.
One member of each group reports on their dilemma,
identifying why it's a dilemma and what course of action
the group favored. The class then evaluates the option that
was selected, and, if applicable, provides alternatives that
might be better. They then discuss whether taking part
in this activity could help them react to real-life water
dilemmas.
\"A™/x5s^A-=*
Water Education for Teachers
S afrie'nd are hiking,and you see someone
dumping a 55-gallon drum of a dark qu.d mto a
shallow stream. What should you do?
I. GO over and ask what is going on.
2. Run home and call the police.
3 Wait until the person leaves, then
ISgate by smelling and feeling the l.qu.d.
4 Take down the license plate number of the
nearby truck and report the situat.on to the
fire department.
5. Other?
Other Comments: Activity includes background informa-
tion, step-by-step directions, assessment ideas, and exten-
sions and resources. It is also connected to a conceptual and
skills framework, linked to other activities that provide the
prior knowledge needed to take part in the activity, and is
included in several units that provide different ways to
teach about water issues. Activity includes ten dilemmas.
Analysis: This interdisciplinary activity emphasizes critical
thinking skills and problem solving. It also promotes group
cooperation and allows students to explore options for
reaching consensus. Students learn skills for resolving issues
that they can apply to current and future dilemmas.
sta/ state that-„
— ~i ictfia \vhiVk (,• at ovvns
Mi
/n the vvetfands (SUch af S°me organisms /,V;n!J
-«:Srs-s£-
.*** -educed. Sh7il Shr/mp) hav« been
--^7r-^^-
.^"o::~e^ine here
'• Vote down the taw
In ^xes a/ready Payen°"gh
T \,
4-
for th
en, k
uH ^ your ^st fr/
S- Other?
Used with permission from The Watercourse/Montana State
University and the Council for Environmental Education from
the ProjectWET Curriculum and Activity Guide.
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
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RECOMMENDED READING
Cooperative Learning in Middle-Level Schools by J. Rottier and B.
Ogan (National Education Association, 1994).
Enriching the Curriculum Through Service Learning by Carol W.
Kinsley and Kate McPherson, eds. (Association for Supervision
and Curriculum Development, 1995).
Environmental Education for Empowerment: Action Research and
Community Problem Solving by William B. Stapp, Arjen E. J. Wals,
and Sheri L. Stankorb (Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1996).
Environmental Values Education: An Exploration of Its Role in the
School Curriculum by William Scott and Chris Oulton (Journal
of Moral Education, 1998).
Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences by Howard
Gardner (HarperCollins Publishers, 1983).
In Search of Understanding: The Case for Constructivist Classrooms
by Jacqueline Grennon Brooks and Martin G. Brooks (Associa-
tion for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1993).
Structuring Cooperative Learning: Lesson Plans for Teachers
by D. Johnson, R. Johnson, and E. Holubec (Interaction Book
Company, 1987).
The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's
Life by Parker J. Palmer (Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1998).
Their Best Selves—Building Character Education and Service
Learning Together in the Lives of Young People by Bruce O. Boston
(Character Education Partnership, 1997).
What Matters Most: Teaching for America's Future. Report of'the
National Commission on Teaching and America's Future.
September 1996.
RESOURCES
Project Learning Tree
1111 19th Street NW, Suite 780
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 463-2462
www.plt.org
Windows on the Wild
World Wildlife Fund
1250 24th Street NW
Washington, DC 20037
(202) 778-9669
www.wor/dw/Mife.org
Eco-Inquiry
Kendall/Hunt Publishing
Company
4050 Westmark Drive
Dubuque, IA 52202-1840
(800) 228-0810
www.kendallhunt.com
Project WET
201CulbertsonHall
Montana State University
Bozeman, MT 59717-0570
(406) 994-5392
www.montana.edu:
80/wwwwet
TO ORDERTHE COMPENDIUMS
The Environmental Education Collection: A Review of Resources for
Educators, Volumes 1, 2, and 3, published by the North American
Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), 1997-1998.
The Biodiversity Collection: A Review of Resources for Educators,
published by NAAEE and World Wildlife Fund, 1998.
NAAEE Publications Office
410 Tarvin Road
Rock Spring, GA 30739
(706) 764-2926
www.naaee.org
Environmental Education Compendia, published by the
California Department of Education Office of Environmental
Education:
Air Quality
Air Resources Board
Office of Communications
2020 L Street, 5th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916)322-2990
Energy Resources
California Energy
Commission
Public Education
1516 Ninth Street, MS-29
Sacramento, CA 95814-4219
(916)654-4989
Human Communities
California Energy
Commission
Public Education
1516 Ninth Street, MS-29
Sacramento, CA 95814-4219
(916) 654-4989
Integrated Waste Management
California Integrated Waste
Management Board
8800 California Center Drive
Sacramento, CA 95826
(916)255-2385
Natural Communities
State Water Resources Control
Board
Office of Legal & Public Affairs
901 P Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916)657-1261
Water Resources
Department of Water
Resources
Publications, Room 338
1416 Ninth Street, Box 942836
Sacramento, CA 94236-0001
(916)653-1097
All six compendium* are also available on the Internet at
http:llceres.ca.govleducationleducatorslnatjsci.html
Judy Braus is Director of Education at World Wildlife Fund,
an international conservation organization whose mission is
to conserve biodiversity worldwide. She oversees a variety of
education programs around the world, including Windows on
the Wild, a biodiversity education program, and Education
for Nature, a leadership and capacity building program for
individuals and institutions in Africa, Asia, and Latin
America. Judy is currently the president of NAAEE.
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
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California
Dream in'
Becoming
a Reality
PROGRAM PROFILE
People often think of California as a state
that takes the lead—in healthy eating, phys-
ical fitness, fashion fads, and movie stars.
Admittedly, environmental education is not
the first thing to come to mind when some-
one mentions the Golden State. But there
are many reasons it could be!
Throughout California, students are en-
gaged in environmental education programs
made possible by the California Department
of Education Office of Environmental Educa-
tion (CDE).Through an environmental edu-
cation grant program established by the
state's Conservation Education Act of 1970,
CDE annually commits over $700,000 for
site development projects, implementation
of programs that promote responsible ac-
tion projects (such as environmental moni-
toring), networking events, and planning and
implementation of articulated scope and se-
quence curricula over several grades.
To help teachers find quality lesson
plans, CDE has co-published environmental
education compendia that identify several
hundred high quality curricula in six topic
areas: energy resources, water resources,
integrated waste management, air quality,
natural communities, and human communi-
ties. Teachers and other educators evalu-
ated the materials using an evaluation tool
developed by CDE in collaboration with
other state agencies that partnered with
CDE to develop the compendia. The tool
was designed to evaluate environmental
curricula that align with instructional mate-
rials criteria adopted by the California State
Board of Education and with other policies
framed by the State Legislature and CDE.
Information on obtaining the compendia
can be found on page 24.
CDE has also developed its own inte-
grated curriculum, A Child's Place in the Envi-
ronment, for first through sixth grade class-
rooms. The units offer sequential sets of
theme-based lessons that incorporate sci-
ence, language arts, social studies, and visual
and performing arts, and correlate to the
State Frameworks and State Standards in
those disciplines.
The California Guide to Environmental
Literacy (CGEL), due out later this year, is
another tool being developed by CDE.
CGEL will assist teachers in using the en-
vironment as an integrating context in all
disciplines as a means of developing envi-
ronmental literacy while studying core,
standards-based concepts. Subtitled Using
Hope, Systems Thinking, and Holistic Instruction
to Build Sustainable Communities, CGEL is a
voluntary curriculum-support document
designed to help schools, curriculum devel-
The high quality
of regional leadership
in environmental
>3-
education is our key
to capacity building
and developing a
^sustainable EE
[network."
opers, and teachers restructure curriculum
around the environment. It describes a sys-
tems approach to education and shows
how this approach can be implemented in
the classroom by citing successful examples
from schools across California.
One principle of systems thinking is
networking, and California is putting this
principle into action statewide. The Cali-
fornia Regional Environmental Education
Coordinators (CREEC) Network's mission
is to "provide educators with access to high
quality environmental education resources
to enhance the environmental literacy of
California students." Bill Andrews, Educa-
tion Programs Consultant for CDE, says,
"The high quality of regional leadership
in environmental education is our key to
capacity building and developing a sustain-
able EE network."
In its second year, the CREEC Net-
work has 11 regional hubs throughout the
state, each with its own fiscal agent (usually
a county office of education or a local non-
profit organization) and one or two part-
time coordinators. The coordinators work
to build relationships between area teach-
ers, environmental educators in non-formal
settings, and college and university-based
teacher educators. Each region functions
relatively independently, with guidance from
CDE, implementing such networking activi-
ties as creating web sites, on-line discussion
groups, professional gatherings, regional cal-
endars and resources guides,and promoting
workshops and other events in the area.
The CREEC Network is funded primarily by
CDE, along with three other state agency
partners. The Network has recently re-
ceived additional funding from the U.S. En-
vironmental Protection Agency Office of
Environmental Education for further organ-
izational and financial development.
Many of the environmental education
efforts in California have been developed
under the auspices of the Environmental
Education Advisory Committee, a group of
teachers and representatives from agencies
and organizations that meets twice yearly
to set priorities and monitor progress on
CDE's environmental education activities.
California is also participating in both the
State Education and Environment Round-
table (see page 59) and the National Envi-
ronmental Education Advancement Project,
based at the University of Wisconsin-
Stevens Point. Through these efforts, Cali-
fornia is increasing the state's capacity to
develop and deliver quality environmental
education.
For more information about
environmental education programs
in California, contact:
California Department of Education
Office of Environmental Education
721 Capitol Mall
PO Box 944272
Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cde.ca.gov/cilbranchloee.
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
-------
The Summit School
Garden Project
Educating for a More
Livable Urban Environment
by
Emilio Williams &
Julian Agyeman
Environment: The word conjures up images of moun-
tain peaks climbing to the sky, towering pines, and
soaring hawks. For most U.S. students, however, the
environment they experience daily more likely includes
buildings, street trees, and pigeons. It is this environment—
the complex urban environment—that students need to
understand if they are to contribute as confident citizens to
their community's future, one of the key goals enumerated
in the 1994 Educate America Act, Goals 2000 (see page 5).
A key attribute of good environmental education, if not
all education, is relevance of learning to students' lives. To-
ward this end, education reform efforts encourage such
strategies as service learning, project-based learning, and
school-to-work programs. If learning is to be meaningful
for urban students, and if these students are to leave school
prepared to make productive contributions to their com-
munities, we must include issues specific to urban environ-
ments in our education reform efforts. These issues include
equality, social and environmental justice, civil rights, and
respedrfor other cultures and a diversity of values and lan-
guage.
The interplay of people, cultures, natural cycles, social
and economic systems, architecture, and transportation
systems in the urban setting creates rich opportunities for
relevant study of the local environment. The urban setting
also poses real challenges. While issues such as transporta-
tion, habitat depletion, and air and water pollution are im-
portant, many students and teachers living in cities have
more pressing concerns. Violence, drug abuse, lack of recre-
ational opportunities, or rodent infestations may be daily
realities. For many urban students, relevance requires devel-
oping the knowledge and skills necessary to address these
immediate issues.
Environmental Education
in the Urban Setting
Environmental education in the urban setting has as its core
the same aims as quality environmental education in any
setting: developing peoples' awareness, knowledge, attitude,
skills, and participation. Whether learning takes place in a
city or a rural setting—or anywhere in between—the fun-
damental process of learning does not change, even while
the subject matter may. It is as appropriate for rural students
to address pollution of a local stream (see page 56) as it is for
urban students to address issues such as local overcrowding,
hunger, and safety. It is equally appropriate, and equally im-
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
-------
portant, for urban students to study and experience the con-
nections to the natural world within their communities.
In any setting, interdisciplinary, student-centered
teaching methods that draw on students' real-world experi-
ences are the foundations of effective learning. As we
broaden the scope of environmental education to include
the diverse issues facing urban youth, the essential goals of
both environmental education and education reform re-
main intact: preparing students to think critically about
what is happening around them, and to facilitate the
changes they perceive as necessary for their welfare, and the
welfare of their community and the world beyond.
The basic "rule" of environmental education in urban
areas, also called urban environmental education, is that lo-
cal communities' needs come first. In many cities, where
there are problems like pollution and
rodent infestation, there are also con-
centrations of people living in poverty
and poor conditions. Human inequal-
ity is mirrored by low environmental
quality. Effective urban environmental
education involves listening closely to
the perceptions and priorities of urban
residents, and creating programs that
are relevant and sustainable over
the long term. Urban environmental
education must be rooted in local
communities in order to take up the
challenge of making the urban en-
vironment a more livable and sustain-
able system.
Garden, for our
t souls to tend.
Summit, for us
- to reach for.
Community, where
- we work together.
(Environment,
what we create
for ourselves.
from Sts. Cyril and Methodius School wrote press
releases—in English and Polish—about the impor-
tance of testing young children for lead poisoning
and the availability of a free testing service.
TSO helps students gain citizenship skills, such as com-
municating, using media, group problem-solving, and con-
ducting community education and action. They also gain
experience in identifying, researching, and addressing envi-
ronmental problems on their school sites, in their homes,
and throughout their communities. The projects, which are
designed by the students, always involve content and skills
from several disciplines, and reflect the diverse audiences
and issues inherent in learning in the urban setting.
Educators from CEYNC work with participating classes
once weekly for at least one semester
and more often for an average of six
„ ., years. The program is available free of
t charge to New York City schools, funded
j through contributions to CEYNC, pro-
fessional development workshops for
teachers and students in TSO methods,
i and the sale of curriculum materials.
— E. Ritchie, Summit
Training Student Organizers
In a third exemplary program, Train-
ing Student Organizers (TSO), stu-
dents in New York City schools work
with educators from The Council on
the Environment of New York City (CENYC) to design
their own environmental improvement projects. Sample
projects have included:
• Students from 11 schools in three New York
boroughs organized water conservation projects
including cutting home water use by hundreds of
thousands of gallons, and reporting defective fire
hydrants to the New York City Department of
Environmental Protection for repair.
• Young people from Intermediate School 318 orga-
nized two public education events that reached more
than 300 people with information on the proper use
and disposal of hazardous household products and
alternatives to these products.
• Responding to the relatively high number of lead
poisoning cases in their neighborhood, students
, A Case in Point:
, The Summit Garden Project
^ One example of such an urban environ-
* mental education program is the Sum-
f mit Garden project in Seattle's K-12
*' Summit School. During the spring of
I 1997, some 60 seventh- through twelfth-
-'. grade students in Crystie Ballard's "Com-
1 munity and the Environment" classes
^-'.J.U „_, j' created a school yard garden with raised
beds of perennial flowers, vegetables,
and herbs; a landscaped wetland area;
and a sitting area for students and neigh-
bors. The project was funded in part by the Alliance for Edu-
cation and the Puget Sound Urban Resources Partnership.
As part of an effort to provide real-world learning ex-
periences, students surveyed neighborhood residents to
learn about the local environment. They also conducted a
school resource inventory to identify ways to curb waste
and promote environmental stewardship at the school.
These activities helped students realize the need for a "nat-
ural refuge" on the school grounds. Many students wanted a
place to connect with nature at school.
The idea of the garden took shape out of that desire. As
part of the project, students went door-to-door to houses
around the school, informing neighbors about the project
and inviting them to join in. Many did, and what
resulted was the transformation of a little-used part of the
school grounds into a garden area that adds beauty to the
neighborhood and provides habitat for birds and insects.
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
-------
Ninth grade students at the
High School for Environmental
Studies test for ground level ozone
during a Training Student Organizers
project. A report on their findings
was sent to the New York City
Commissioner for Environmental
Protection.
The garden project also offers opportunities for hands-
on studies, perhaps besLendorsed by one participating stu-
dent, who said, "When I was in fourth grade and we learned
how a plant grows, we could have used a place like this to
have a better example—instead of little seeds inside foam
cups." Students had a great deal of-ownership over project
development, thus cultivating their problem-solving and
group decision-making skills. In addition, disciplines such
as art, social studies, writing, and science have all been inte-
grated into the formation of the garden.
Irvine Natural Science Center's Natural
Connections Project — A VINE Project Site
In another exemplary project, Natural Connections, third
and fourth grade students in 13
Baltimore City public and private
elementary schools learn about
plants, animals, and ecological re-
lationships right in their own
schoolyards. These urban settings,
with lots of cement and asphalt,
come alive for students with the
help of volunteers from nearby
high schools and colleges.
In keeping with one prominent
component of many education re-
form efforts, most of the volunteers
are high school teens who earn ser-
vice-learning credits they need to
graduate. The program coordinator
at the Irvine Natural Science Center
trains the high school teens and
helps get them to the elementary
school on scheduled days. Once there, each pair of teens
works with a group of third and fourth graders.
Together, teens and children discover the diversity of
things living around them. One week they may search for,
collect, and sort leaves to find how many different kinds of
plants grow in the schoolyard. Another week they may use
homemade insect nets to discover tiny animals living in the
grass. As a result of all these experiences, both teens and
children gain a new understanding of the ecosystem in
which they live and their place in it.
This project is part of a larger network called Volunteer-
led Investigations of Neighborhood Ecology (VINE). A pro-
gram of the North American Association for Environmen-
tal Education, VINE supports environmental education in
urban neighborhoods.
Teens work with third and fourth graders in the VINE project.
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
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Principles of Effective
Urban Environmental
Education Programs
After observing outstanding programs such as the Summit
Garden, Natural Connections, and Training Student Or-
ganizers, and after gaining input from hundreds of people
involved in education, the environment, and urban com-
munities, we have gleaned five essential principles of high-
quality urban environmental education programs. Adapted
from NAAEE's Guidelines for Urban Environmental Educa-
tion, these principles form a framework that environmental
educators may use to inform their knowledge of urban en-
vironmental education and to help in program and project
development.
1. Effective urban environmental
education is based in local communities.
Urban environmental education works in the context of the
local community and draws on the capacities and needs of
all of its people as its driving force. It includes all parts of
the community, reflecting both the community's demo-
graphic diversity and its cultural values.
In the Natural Connections program, for example, high
school teens were seen as a resource rather than a detriment
to the community. By calling on them
to work with young students, the pro-
ject helped the teens gain self-confi-
dence, clarity in their career goals, and
personal satisfaction from helping the
community.
3. Effective urban environmental
education builds understanding
of the urban environment as a system.
Urban environmental education builds an understanding
of cities as complex systems that blend nature and culture,
and ecology and society. Human systems are often thought
of as being separate from natural systems, but cities illus-
trate their interconnections. Urban environmental educa-
tion can integrate issues and aspects of issues that are often
disconnected. In building connections with the community
and with local organizations, for example, participants in
the Training Student Organizers program begin to see their
schools and their neighborhoods as interrelated parts of the
same urban system.
4. Effective urban environmental
education programs use the local
environment as a setting for learning,
Urban environments are rich settings for learning. Urban
residents can develop a strong foundation for expanding
knowledge by understanding the workings of the immediate
surroundings.
The Natural Connections project used the immediate
urban schoolyard as a setting for learning. Teachers reported
that by using the school grounds in this
way, students were very motivated to
-~ , complete their writing and graphing
tasks, and to learn more about their im-
mediate environment.
2. Effective urban
environmental programs
build a sense of community.
Aligning with Goals 2000's call to pro-
mote partnerships and increase parental
involvement in schools (see page 5), in-
teractions among community members
help to develop a stronger sense of com-
munity. Urban environmental educa-
tion deepens a community's self-under-
standing; builds a sense of mutual
respect, ownership, and belonging; and
enhances residents' ability to contribute
to the community's well-being.
In the Summit Garden project, collaboration among
students was the driving force that enabled so much work to
get done in so little time. According to one of the teachers
involved in the project, "Everything that happened, hap-
pened in groups." The group work allowed students to sup-
port each other, select areas of particular interest, and boost
their skills in working together across age levels to achieve a
common vision.
When I was in fourth
"^ ™ "** r f
grade and we learned
how a plant grows,
we could have used a
place like this to have
a better example—
instead of little seeds
inside foam cups.
I
— Summit School
fourth grader
5. Effective programs teach urban
environmental education as a lifelong
process that emphasizes action.
Urban environmental education is a
continuous process of personal and
community change that is as relevant
to preschoolers as it is to seniors. A
strong action component helps make
urban environmental education rele-
vant to city dwellers. Young people are
encouraged to take action, as this builds
ownership, confidence, and ultimately,
self-esteem.
With Training Student Organizers,
students work together on projects of
their own creation, something they see as meaningful to the
school and the urban community. Their actions engender
enthusiasm and commitment among them. As one TSO par-
ticipant said, "My project was very exciting; I really liked the
tabling events, when we talked to people on the street and
handed out literature on conserving water and reducing,
reusing, and recycling solid waste. If I were in charge of all
school programs, I'd encourage students all over to try this."
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
-------
NAAEE's Guidelines for Urban Environmental Educa-
tion contain additional principles for high-quality environ-
mental education in urban settings. While not directly per-
taining to the formal K—12 arena and achieving the goals of
education reform, we have found them to be important
components of many effective programs. For more infor-
mation on the Guidelines, see the recommended resources
at the end of this article.
Urban Environmental
Education at its Best
Using the urban environment as a place for learning brings
home many of the goals of education reform. Meaningful,
constructivist learning opportunities abound, and a multi-
disciplinary approach to problem-solving is essential.
All students can benefit from studying the diverse
urban environment—not just those who live in cities.
Learning about the urban environment, and relevant issues
of equality, justice, and respect for other cultures and val-
ues, can build tolerance and understanding.
At its best, urban environmental education forges links
between environmental issues such as natural habitat
degradation or air pollution, and social, cultural, and
economic issues such as housing or transportation. The
potential for positive change within these linkages makes
urban environmental education exciting. By engaging
young people in developing their values and visions of a
more sustainable future for cities—and encouraging them
to act—we are surely doing our job as educators.
Emilia N. \Vtlliatns, M.H.S., is President of the Koi Group
and currently serves as Chair of the Urban and Multicultural
Commission and on the Board of Directors of the North
American Association for Environmental Education. He is
also on the board ofAdopt-A-Watershed.
Julian Agyeman, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of 'Environ-
mental Education at Pennsylvania Center for Environmental
Education, Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania.
He is founder and co-editor of the international journal
Local Environment (wwv.carfax.co.uk/loe-ad.htm).
PROGRAMS CITED
Training Student Organizers
Council on the Environment
of New York City
51 Chambers Street, Room 228
New York, NY 10007
(212)788-7900
www.cenyc.org
The Summit Garden Project
Alliance for Education
500 Union Street, Suite 320
Seattle, WA 98101-2332
(206)343-0449
Natural Connections,
VINE Project Site
Irvine Natural Science Center
8400 Greenspring Avenue
Stevenson, MD 21153
(410) 484-2413
www.expforenature.org
RECOMMENDED
RESOURCES
Community Coalition for
Environmental Justice. Pro-
vides links to environmental
justice and multicultural issues
including resources, bibliogra-
phies, government, commu-
nity groups, speeches and talks
about~environmental justice,
solutions and approaches
and many others.
www. halcyon, comlccejl
E/f/nks.htm/
Second Nature. A nonprofit
organization working to help
colleges and universities
expand their efforts to make
environmentally sustainable
and just'action a foundation
of learning and practice.
www.2nature.org
The Koi Group. Select group of
training professionals special-
izing in group facilitation,
training, diversity/cultural
competency, sustainability,
staff and organization
development. P.O. Box 305,
Riverdale, MD 20738-0305
www.koigroup.com
"Guidelines for Urban
Environmental Education,"
in Environmental Education
in the United States—Past,
Present, and Future (Collected
Papers of the 1996 National
Environmental Education
Summit, Burlingame, CA).
Sets forth ten guidelines for
high-quality urban environ-
mental education programs
and offers concrete ideas for
putting the guidelines into
action. Published by the North
American Association for
Environmental Education.
www.naoee.org
Race, Poverty and the
Environment. A journal
co-published by the Urban
Habitat Program and Califor-
nia Rural Legal Assistance.
It gives voice to the growing
movement for environmental
justice. A special collabora-
tive issue on multicultural
environmental education is
available. RPE/Earth Island
Institute, Box 29908, Presidio
Station, San Francisco, CA
94129-9908.
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EEDUCATOR
-------
Test Your Environmental I.Q.
For the last seven years, the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation (NEETF) with Roper Starch
Worldwide has studied the American public to determine what we know—and don't know—about the environment.
According to the studies, students across the country clearly have intense interest in and concern about environmental
quality. If teachers are to effectively respond to this interest, they, too, need to be environmentally literate. Yet, the 1997
survey shows that only one in three adult Americans has a passing understanding of our most pressing environmental
issues.
How literate are you? Answer these 12 questions and test your environmental IQ. Answers are on page 30.
There are many different kinds of animals and plants,
and they live in many different types of environments
What word is used to describe this idea?
a) multiplicity b) biodiversity c) socio-economics
d) evolution e) don't know
The current solution to the disposal of most
nuclear waste in the United States
(i.e., what we do with it now) is?
3. Which of the following household materials
is considered hazardous waste?
a) plastic packaging b) glass c) batteries
d) spoiled food e) don't know
10. What is the most common reason that animal
species become extinct?
5. Most electricity in the United States is generated
from what source of power?
12. Where does most household garbage eventually
end up once it leaves the home?
Note: These questions are quite similar to the actual survey questions used as part of the 1997 NEETF/Roper Starch
Worldwide telephone survey of environmental attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors of adult Americans. The exact text of
the questions (including the multiple choice answers for each) are not being circulated so that the questions can be used
in coming years to gauge whether Americans are becoming more (or less) knowledgeable about the environment.
The 1998 NEETF survey results indicate that the public relies on outdated information to make decisions about the envi-
ronment. For more information on NEETF research, contact: NEETF, 734 Fifteenth Street, NW, Suite 420, Washington,
D.C. 20005, (202) 628-8200, (202) 628-8204 (fax), E-mail: neetf@neetf.org, Web site: www.neetf.org
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
-------
A Little
Salad
Dressing
Goes a
Long Way
PROGRAM
A group of students from Crenshaw High
School in South Central Los Angeles has
earned more than $124,000 in scholar-
ships by selling salad dressing and organic
produce. No, it's not one of those school
fundraisers run by an outside company.
These inner-city teens are student-owners-
of a natural food products company called
"Food From the 'Hood."They created the
company and manage it themselves, taking
part In all the responsibilities associated
with running the business: weeding and
watering, developing and testing new pro-
ducts, bookkeeping, marketing, business
planning, and even hiring and firing. They
get welcome advice from teachers, com-
munity members, and entrepreneurs such
as Morris Bernstein of Bernstein's Salad
Dressing.They've even inspired visits from
such varied notables as Ben Cohen, co-
founder of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, and
the Prince of Wales.
Company profits are distributed
among the students according to points
earned by working after school on com-
pany tasks, tutoring other students, taking
the SAT, and participating in business-
related seminars, all of which carry equal
point value. When students graduate, they
convert their points to company shares,
and can apply their earnings to post-
secondary education or vocational training.
Food From the 'Hood grew out of
the 1992 riots sparked by the acquittal of
four police officers charged in the video-
taped beating of motorist Rodney King.
The students wanted to help rebuild their
battered community. So, with guidance
from biology teacher Tammy Bird, they re-
claimed a weed-infested quarter-acre plot
behind the school's football field. Their
initial goal was simple: to grow healthy
food and give it to needy people in their
neighborhood. But more than vegetables
took root and an enterprising spirit and
commitment to the community rose from
the riots' ashes.
After learning about the importance
of vision and long term planning, the stu-
dents developed their mission statement:
• Create jobs for youth.
• Show that young people can
and do make a difference.
• Prove that business can be socially
responsible, environmentally
friendly, and profitable.
• Give back to our community.
• Use this experience to prepare
for the future.
"I knew these young people were on
the right path the minute they developed
their mission statement," said company
advisor Melinda McMullen. "I told them
that if other companies were as commit-
ted to their community, America might
not be in such trouble right now."
In December 1992, Food From the
'Hood harvested its first crop and do-
nated 100 percent of its produce to a lo-
cal area food bank. In July 1993, the stu-
dents attended their first public Farmers'
Market, selling $ 150 worth of produce in
30 minutes and listening carefully when
one of their customers suggested they
should market their own label.
The following fall, Food From the
'Hood received financial support from
RLA (formerly ReBuild Los Angeles) to
develop a reproducible commercial prod-
uct based on their homemade salad dress-
ing.The students worked with a food tech-
nologist from Sweet Adelaide, a leading
salad dressing co-packer. Six taste testings
and reformulations later,"Straight Out 'the
Garden" creamy Italian dressing was ready
to hit market shelves.
Food From the 'Hood now has a
second product, honey mustard dressing,
and shelf space in more than 2,000 gro-
cery stores in 23 states.They also have a
licensing agreement with Food From the
'Hood East, students in Ithaca, New York,
who have worked with Cornell Univer-
sity's food service testing facilities to de-
velop three "Straight Out 'the Orchard"
organic applesauces. The students are
exploring sister programs in Chicago, San
Francisco, Detroit, New York, Honolulu,
Atlanta, and San Diego, and are seeking
funding partners to document their cur-
riculum and replicate the program in
other communities.
Food From the 'Hood still donates
50 percent of its produce to local food
banks. Half of the company's profits are
put back into operating the company; the
rest goes to funding scholarships. There
have been 67 student-owners; all of the
participating seniors have gone on to col-
lege or vocational training, as compared
to less than half of the other students en-
rolled in the school.
"As a teacher, I was amazed to see
the student-owners take such an interest
in their company," said teacher and com-
pany advisorTammy Bird."Whether it was
English, math, or science, they were willing
to learn what they had to learn to create
and manage a successful company. Food
From the 'Hood has helped the kids apply
what they are learning in the classroom—
and more."
The first five student-owners are
now graduating from college. It wasn't
always an easy road; the students faced
emotional challenges in their new, racially
mixed surroundings, and some found
themselves taking remedial classes and
feeling cheated by the general quality of
their inner-city high school education. But
the benefits of their real-life experiences
are clear: recent graduate Mark Sarria
faced a skeptical interviewer who ques-
tioned that someone so young (21 years)
could have the business acumen required
for an available management position with
a natural products broker. Needless to
say, Sarria got the job.
As Executive Director Aleyne Larner
puts it, "There's a special quality to what
they're learning because it's transferable
to real life."
For more information on
Food From the 'Hood,
contact the company at
Crenshaw High School,
SO 10 Eleventh Avenue,
Los Angeles, CA 90043,
(888) 601-FOOD,
fax (323) 295-4658.
Web site: www.foodfromthehood.com
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
-------
EEducator
Survey
This is the first of a possible
continuing series of occasional
publications exploring issues
related to environmental education.
Your input on this survey will help
NAAEE determine whether to
continue to produce this type of
publication for teachers and other
environmental educators.
Please help us assess the usefulness
of this type of publication by com-
pleting and returning this survey to:
NAAEE
1825 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Suite 800
Washington, D.C. 20009
(202) 884-8455 fax
-------
To what degree...
NONE
SOME
HIGH
Do you feel there is a need for a
publication such as this?
Would you like to see NAAEE
continue to produce a publication
such as this?
Would you be interested in subscribing
to a publication on environmental
education and education in general?
Should paid advertisements be used to help
fund production of such a publication?
3 4
3 4
3 4
3 4
How often do you think a publication such as this should be produced?
D once per year D three times per year
D two times per year O four times per year
NA
NA
NA
NA
Would you be interested in future issues on:
EE and Service Learning
EE and Multicultural Education
EE and Bilingual Education
EE in the Urban Setting
EE and Preservice Education
Criticism of Environmental Education
EE and Multidisciplinary Education
Other:
Other:
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NA
NA
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EDUCATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT:
PARTNERS FOR CHANGE
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O A PRIMER ON EDUCATION REFORM
O POWERFUL PEDAGOGY — USING EE TO
ACHIEVE YOUR EDUCATION GOALS
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2 3 4 5 6 NA
D EDUCATING FOR A MORE LIVABLE
URBAN ENVIRONMENT
NA
PREPARING TEACHERS FOR
THE NEXT CENTURY
NA
FROM THE INSIDE OUT: PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT IN ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
NA
D ACHIEVING STANDARDS
THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
NA
O KNOWING WHAT WORKS:
TRENDS IN EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT
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D THETIESTHAT BIND: DEVELOPING
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Food From the Hood!
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
-------
Preparing Teachers
for the Next Century
by
Rosalyn
HcKeown-lce
" When I entered my teacher education program,
I thought I was going to learn all about being a
professional educator," says Patricia, a talented
preservice teacher. "After a while, I knew I would
learn the basics, but realized there was a lotjvejust
wouldn't be able to cover."
Education reform efforts have called for changes in the
initial preparation of teachers. However, change has
been slow, primarily due to existing certification
requirements that take up much of the prescribed course
work. As a result, teacher-preparation faculty have little
opportunity to teach non-mandated, but important, ap-
proaches to teaching and learning. If new teachers are to im-
plement an interdisciplinary, student-centered curriculum,
such as that promoted through environmental education,
their training must provide experience in such methods.
Factors Shaping Preservice Teacher Education
Many factors shape preservice education programs. Most
programs appear to strongly emphasize state teacher certifi-
cation guidelines. Among other major influences are na-
tional and state tests for certification, the K-12 curriculum,
professional guidelines, national and state trends, and the
interests of education faculty.
When I visited a colleague at a small college in East Ten-
nessee, I asked her what environmental education themes,
strategies, and instruction methods she included in her block
methods class. She shook her head and explained that the
best she could do was to introduce the students to popular
materials such as Project WILD and Project Learning Tree
so that later in their careers they would know where to find
environmentally-related lesson plans. She went on to explain
that she had only three hours per week to teach science, social
studies, and math methods and the skills mandated in the
certification requirements; little time remained to try to work
in effective environmental education strategies.
This story repeats across the nation. A national survey
of teacher education institutions reveals that the number
one barrier to including environmental education in the
curriculum is too little time. In short, environmental edu-
cation competes with mandated course content for time.
The few institutions that offer environmental education
usually do so because of the expertise and interest-of one
individual.
Current Status of Environmental
Education in Teacher Education Programs
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville conducted a na-
tional survey regarding environmental education in 715 in-
stitutions of higher education that provide preservice
teacher training. The results suggest-a lack of attention to
environmental education.
For example, the institutions were asked to rate their ef-
fectiveness in conveying environmental content knowledge,
educating about environmental issues, conveying instruc-
tional methods related to environmental education, and
conveying environmental action strategies. Most institu-
tions rated themselves as poor or adequate, and less than 10
percent rated themselves as excellent in these areas (see
Table 1). These low self-ratings are surprising given the cur-
rent societal interest in learning about the environment.
Environmental education is most frequently incorpo-
rated into science methods classes. Generally, departments
of education have not yet responded to the national trend to
infuse environmental education into a variety of methods
classes such as English, foreign language, math, music, or
social studies.
EOT
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
-------
Analysis of the survey data also indicates that a higher
percentage of future elementary teachers than secondary
teachers are exposed to environmental education. Almost
all future elementary education teachers take science educa-
tion methods, while only those secondary teachers who will
specialize in science education (biology, chemistry, earth
science, and physics) receive such preparation.
Aspects of Environmental Education
in Preservice Programs
I asked a few colleagues what elements of environmental
education realistically could be taught in a preservice cur-
riculum. We know, for instance, that reading methods
should not be abandoned to add environmental education
to the elementary teacher-training curriculum. Together,
we came up with a list of content, pedagogical methods, and
skills described here. The list is not comprehensive, but re-
flects different professional opinions.
In general, preservice teachers receive training to teach
with guided inquiry, constructivism, cooperative learning,
discussions, mini-lectures, and critical thinking as part of a
reformed teacher curriculum, and these are important to en-
vironmental education. Other methods central to environ-
mental education include simulations, values clarification,
and issues investigation. Of course, learning to conduct a
field trip and take young people outdoors is also important.
There are countless supplemental instructional materi-
als containing environmental simulations that can be inte-
grated into virtually any discipline. In my own methods
classes, I enjoyed using the activity "Oh Deer" from Project
WILD (see box) to convey how to teach simulations. The
experience involved the preservice teachers in content,
Table I
Institutional Self-Evaluation Related to Teacher
Preparation in Environmental Education
Effectiveness in:
Conveying environmental
content knowledge
Educating. about
environmental issues
Conveying instructional
methods related to
environmental education
Conveying environmental
action strategies
Environmental
education overall
Excellent
6%
2%
S%
\%
\%
Good
16%
18%
18%
13%
14%
Adequate
33%
36%
32%
27%
35%
Poor
33%
33%
33%
46%
38%
methods, and classroom management, as well as in the joy
of learning.
"Knowing how to teach environmental issues is one
skill all preservice teachers need before entering the class-
room," says Professor Ron Cleminson of the University of
Memphis. "Our society faces a number of hot issues that
ignite strong emotions. It's important to give a student
teacher a way to handle those topics so the students hear
different perspectives and understand the science underly-
ing the issues."
Issues analysis, values clarification, and values analysis
are techniques that can lead students to examine their own
values and understand the motivation behind the positions
and statements of other stakeholders. Southern Illinois
University includes an issues-investigation class for all stu-
dents seeking teacher certification. With guidance from
C/ il D CCTl "Oh Deer!" is one of more than 100 activities in the supplemental K-12 activity guide, Project
VWLD. The activity simulates the rise and fall of a deer population as available food, water, and shelter vary over 15
f years. To begin, one-fourth of the class acts like deer, while the remaining students represent components of the habi-
Etat required for the deer to survive (food, water, and shelter). The teacher creates two lines, 10 to 20 yards apart, to set
*, the playing field. The area behind one line is for the deer; the second area is for the habitat components.
In each round of play, the deer must search for one of the three habitat components. They signify which resource
it they need by putting their hands on their stomachs (for food), mouths (for water), or over their heads (for shelter).
" the same signals, students representing habitat components also choose to portray any of the three resources.
signals can be changed between.imt not during, rounds.
.-1" ;' To obtain their resources, deer must run to the habitat area, find a matching resource signal, and return with their
K"resource to the deer area. To simulate the fact that adequate resources allow reproduction, any resource so taken be-
P comes a deker in the next round. Any deer that fails to find its resource dies and becomes part of the habitat. The num-
tj>er of deer in each round (year) is recorded on a chart, then graphed, so students can see how populations fluctuate in
^.response to resources.
K > * * * /' • ,,.,,*.„ '.,'_.•"••'"
To find out more about Project WILD, contact Project WILD, 707 Conservation Lane,
Gaithersburg, MD 20878; web site: www.projectwiW.org.
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
-------
Professor Trudi Vblk and her colleagues, the students select
and research a broad range of social and environmental is-
sues, such as the logging of endangered species habitat, the
use of steroids to enhance athletic performance, or the
availability of abortion. They learn to teach about issues in a
way that does not allow emotional outburst or political
alignment to derail the learning process.
Good education should include field trips—either in
the school yard or off^premises. But safety, classroom man-
agement, and use of materials are all different in an outdoor
setting. Specific skills and experiences are required to maxi-
mize the effectiveness of field studies. Many such tech-
niques are simple—for example, positioning students so
they face away from the sun when listening to instructions
or using a buddy system on walks—but their impact is sig-
nificant. Adding the excitement of the outdoors to a lesson
can be overwhelming to both new teachers and students.
For that reason, instruction in outdoor education tech-
niques is essential both to learning and safety.
Beyond Science
"One of the founding documents of the environmental ed-
ucation field, the Tbilisi Declaration [see box], created in-
creasingly sophisticated goals of environmental education
dealing with awareness, knowledge, attitudes, skills, and
participation," says Chuck Hopkins, former superintendent
of curriculum with the Toronto Board of Education and
long-time environmental educator. "Teachers should be
able to instruct at each of these [awareness to participation]
levels. They need to understand that environmental educa-
tion is more than thematic teaching about the local
ecosystem or the ecosystem of a rain forest in the Southern
Hemisphere."
In addition, many educators and teacher educators be-
lieve that environmental education is the exclusive respon-
sibility of the natural sciences. According to authors Harold
Hungerford and R. Ben Peyton, "It is the social sciences in
which the nuts and bolts of decision-making take place
Environmental
nyi ron m
-------
regardless of the amount of ecological knowledge that im-
pinges on the problem or the solution to the problem."
Professor Ruth Jacquot of Murray State University adds, "A
preservice program should give new teachers an apprecia-
tion for the way environmental education can be integrated
across the curriculum into music, art, language, math, and
other disciplines. There ought to be an environmental edu-
cation component to each methods and strategies class."
She also contends that it is necessary to include an experi-
ential component in preservice teacher education. "We can-
not expect [new teachers] to teach something they have not
done."
The North American Association for Environmental
Education (NAAEE) is in the midst of drafting initial
preparation guidelines for formal and non-formal educa-
tors. The guidelines list six themes important to an educa-
tion professional: environmental literacy, foundations of
environmental education, professional responsibilities of
the environmental educator, planning and implementing
environmental education programs, an environment for
learning, and assessment. This set of guidelines is now un-
dergoing nationwide review and will represent current na-
tional informed opinion.
One of the major points of the preparation guidelines is
that environmental educators must themselves have some
level of environmental literacy. That means they must have
a working knowledge of the content and skills they teach,
with mastery equal to the grade level they teach. (For more
information, see the article on standards on page 48.)
Another View
In some states, a number of require-
ments combine to squeeze all but "3R"
essentials from the preservice curricu-
lum. For example in Georgia, the sum
of core university requirements (60 cre-
dits), student teaching (12 credits), and
state certification requirements that in-
clude two 15-credit minors, is just 18
credits less than the maximum 120 cre-
dits required for graduation. This situa-
tion leaves little opportunity to teach
basic methods and classroom manage-
ment. A professor in a state that has
heavy mandates confides, "We are
struggling to keep a methods class in
science and social studies."
Professor Susan Gannaway, chair of the department of
education at North Georgia College and State University
and director of the local water center, is a leading environ-
mental educator in the Southeast. Despite her heavy involve-
ment in environmental education, she does not envision en-
vironmental education being part of the preservice teacher
education program at her institution. She sums up the state
A national survey
.
of teacher education
.Institutions reveals
that the number one
barrier to including
environmental educa-
tion in the curriculum
is too little time.
Hands-on experience is as important to teachers as it is to students.
and university requirements with one phrase, "There's no
room for it [environmental education] to happen."
She also expresses doubt about the readiness of preser-
vice students to take on the challenge of outdoor education.
After years of training and observing student teachers she
admits, "It's hard to take kids outside
and control them if you cannot do it
inside." She goes on to suggest that be-
cause inservice teachers returning to
higher education for graduate-level
study normally have that ability, envi-
ronmental education is more appropri-
ate at the graduate level. Gannaway also
has the courage to thoughtfully ques-
tion mainstream thinking. "Another
issue here is that environmental educa-
tion is an integrative field," she says. "It
is hard to teach integrative methods to
students without a solid base. That is
one reason why I am in favor of envi-
* ronmental education at the graduate
level."
She points out that a logical way to ensure that teachers
have training in environmental education is to require it in
the state re-certification process. For example, a state could
require an environmental education course for professionals
seeking re-certification in elementary grades or in middle-
grades social studies and science. With this requirement,
experienced teaching staff would be competent in environ-
mental education.
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
-------
REFERENCES
Gabriel, Nancy. Teach Our Teachers Well: Strategies to Integrate
Environmental Education into Teacher Education Programs.
Cambridge, MA: Second Nature, 1996.
Hungerford, Harold R. and R. Ben Peyton. Teaching Environmen-
tal Education. Portland, ME: J. Weston Walch, Publisher, 1976.
Hungerford, Harold R. et al. Investigating and Evaluating
Environmental Issues and Actions: Skill Development Program,
Champaign, IL: Stipes Publishing Co., 1996.
Libbee, Michael. "Strengthening Certification Guidelines."
Journal of Geographic Education. Vol. 94, n. 5,1995.
McKeown-Ice, Rosalyn, et al. "Environmental Education in the
United States: A Survey of Preservice Teacher Education Pro-
grams," in Environmental Education Literacy/Needs Assessment
Project. Ann Arbor, MI: National Consortium for Environmental
Education and Training, University of Michigan, 1995.
Newman and Clune. When School Restructuring Meets Systemic
Curriculum Reform. Madison: Center on Organization and
Restructuring of Schools, University of Wisconsin, 1992.
North American Association for Environmental Education.
Excellence in Environmental Education: Guidelines for Learning
(K-12). Washington, D.C.: 1999.
North American Association for Environmental Education.
Draft—Excellence in Environmental Education: The Initial
Preparation of Environmental Educators. Washington, D.C.: 1998.
UNESCO. Final Report, Intergovernmental Conference on Envi-
ronmental Education. Organized by UNESCO in cooperation
with the United Nations Environment Programme. Tbilisi,
USSR, 14-26 October 1977. Paris: UNESCO ED/MD/49.
UNESCO-UNEP."The Belgrade Charter," Connect: UNESCO-
UNEP Environmental Education Newsletter,Vol. 1(1), pp. 1-2,
1976.
Zint, Michaela, et al. Directory of Faculty Who Teach "Environ-
mental Education" Courses at Colleges and Universities in the
United States, Volume 1. Washington, D.C.: North American
Association for Environmental Education, 1998.
Rosalyn McKeown-Ice, Ph.D., directs the Center for Geog-
raphy and Environmental Education at the University of
Tennessee-Knoxville. Her current research focuses on assessing
environmental literacy.
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EEDUCATOR
-------
Teachers participating
in a Project Learning Tree
inservice workshop.
From the Inside Out:
Professional Development
in Environmental Education
Joanne
H. Glenn
The students leave tables that are covered with
newsprint, egg cartons, and milk jugs that hold rem-
nants of their experiments, and form a circle in the
hall. One student states something she learned, then throws
a ball to another, inviting him to do likewise.
These students are classroom teachers who have spent
the day at a training on how to teach a resource conserva-
tion unit. They have been practicing for themselves what
school reform goals say they must teach children to do: in-
vestigate, inquire, experiment, and collaborate. These
teachers are learning from the inside out.
Like other workshops of its kind, this environmental
education training offered concrete learning applications,
opportunities for reflection, and feedback from skilled train-
ers—all hallmarks of good professional development.1 As
reform-minded educators look for a new vision of teaching
in xvhich "professional development activities are under-
stood to be as vital to learning as classroom instruction,"2
environmental education trainings such as this are becoming
more important. The challenge is organizing environmental
education training so that it reaches teachers, improves stu-
dent achievement, and widens the lens on environmental
education as more than just a collection of-activities saved
for Earth Day.
The Issues
Bora Simmons, a professor at Northern Illinois University,
says the most cost-effective professional development strat-
egy would be to target preservice teachers and demonstrate
how to teach using environmental education topics, espe-
cially since so many teachers will retire in the next decade.
Yet, while effective preservice preparation in environmental
education is of critical value, it cannot be the only way of
learning to implement environmental education. Many
practicing teachers and nonformal educators (such as those
who teach in nature centers) have little or no environmental
education preparation in their undergraduate course work.
A strong system of comprehensive, in-depth preparation
for inservice teachers is equally important. Simmons says
that instead of encountering environmental education in
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
-------
thek preservice training, "most teachers learn of environ-
mental education through word of mouth, or by attending
conferences—or through something like Project WILD, a
nationally-disseminated curriculum supplement, at a dis-
trict inservice."
In general, Simmons says, formal educators are strong
in pedagogy but weak in science content. Nonformal educa-
tors often come into environmental education strong in one
of the sciences but without having had the opportunity to
learn about teaching and learning.
Environmental education inservice targets both con-
cerns. "If you look at the pieces of education reform—
higher-order thinking skills, different learning styles, Gard-
ner's work on multiple intelligences, and learning that is
relevant to the child—so much in environmental education
is compatible," says Simmons. Yet "there's still a need for a
comprehensive look at what environmental education is,
and how it can be sequenced to develop knowledge, skills,
and action." Simmons is working with the National Project
for Excellence in Environmental Education to identify
high-quality environmental education practices. Out of
that will come recommendations for the preparation and
continuing education of teachers and other environmental
educators.
Environmental Education Training:
Not for Science Teachers Only
Perhaps the most well-known professional development
programs in environmental education are the "Projects":
Project Learning Tree, Project WET, Project WILD, and Pro-
ject WILD Aquatic. Each program features hands-on work-
shops plus a take-away manual of activities with back-
ground information, teaching tools that support education
reform, and other resources.
"'Project' activities can be a catalyst for integrating cur-
riculum areas," says Marylin Lisowski, professor of educa-
tion at Eastern Illinois University. That's a good first step for
teachers nervous about teaching science. The activity "The
Long Haul" from Project WET, for example, taps math,
geography, social studies, and language arts to explore
socio-cultural impacts of water use and abuse (see box).
Christy Trutter, environmental protection specialist at
the Illinois EPA, understands teachers' trepidation, so she
advertises her workshops as "not for science teachers only."
Trutter created the "Watershed Meisters and Mentors Pro-
gram" with her state board of education. The program
teams teachers and EPA officials in partnerships that
provide water monitoring training and data to the EPA for
water quality reports. Other environmental education
,
Long
"The^Long Haul" is one of"more* than 90 activities in
** the Project WET Curncufmrfand Activity Guide. The "
*• activity is'intended to help students develop an appre-
| ciation of today's readily available water supplies, and
fe* increase their understanding of how easy access to wa-
pjjfr A |r J& *•<-'>* ^ ' ^ *
\ ter can enonifage people to use large amounts.
TrTe class is divictecl into two teams. Using**buc£ets,
f >J. J * * ^ ®t J- I *u ** ± V*
their task is to haul enough water from a source (a
% ( i » «*f •'J'C'0 t, »„ r i „
stream, pond, or water spigot) to fill a garbage can 150
j^-ftton-w Hh, t'Slt'jf A _ *• WUr *& ,*".J# mOM ~~jf i '&HI j & i 3 USS
*- feet away. Students predict the number of trips and the
fc- time they think it will take to fill the can. Then, ihe ac-
| tivity, run as relay race, ensues.
5""'*""" w j, -wwi Krf-w ^IHHE-" « & «a*<(£ "a? «r BB *T» w
In follow up to the race, students compare their
. T^> & * *, -««<•** TI
'predictions to their actual results, use math to calcu-
& late the, size of the trash,cari and other containers, and
discuss ways people m the past used water. Emphasis is
^ placed on how having to haul water for household use
^ ft W " nr >" 8F * «"« JStIB"* ' i* VW IM *n * fa u-W-fc, " & "
iWould affect water use.. Students design skits or murals
f, ** r * "* ft """'ty? f~ v »*
conveying the advantages and disadvantages of readily
*=ss-]J "° *-j£ Ml ( I- ffi HI fe 6 V "-*
^""available water.
k
*•-
For more information on Project WET,-
***> " A, |«* #. * " * "1*3!
see the box on selected resources on page 45.
•/, .*£y?'^ I**" ^ , I
, *• , * f I ft * r», t - > 1
t. a*—i ^t^liia^U't___^ ^ __i — ^ . t.^-J
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
-------
training providers have created topic-specific advanced
workshops that bring in experts such as biologists and
foresters to give teachers the content they want.
Even the most enthusiastic graduates of environmental
education inservice workshops will find it difficult to sus-
tain their commitment to problem-
based teaching without some support
mechanism, says Simmons. The obsta-
cles—scheduling, resources, and resis-
tance from other teachers—can seem
too great. Even teachers who've man-
aged to get their colleagues' support say
it took three to four years to win them
over. For this reason, professional devel-
opment models that are long-term and
provide ongoing support are critical. |i
"What's been successful is sending
teams of teachers from the same school
to a longer (usually one to two weeks)
training session and having the admin-
istrator attend one or two days," Sim-
mons says. "An even more powerful
model is to have teachers meet some-
time during the first semester, regroup,
and report successes and failures."
This type of long-term support al-
lows teachers to reflect, she explains, and to refresh by see-
ing what other teachers are doing. Programs such as the
California Schools Implementation Network, a part of
the California K—12" Alliance, and the model schools pro-
jects in the states of Washington and Florida work with
entire schools in this fashion, engaging teachers in profes-
sional development over a sustained period and offering
lots of choices about what teachers do with their curricu-
lum. Simmons believes this is the kind of work that needs to
be done if there is going to be long-term change.
How Environmental Education
Training Changes Teachers
Does environmental education training change teachers in
ways consistent with school reform goals? Lisowski, who
follows up the programs her department offers, answers an
unqualified yes.
She sees teachers using inquiry-oriented strategies such
as case studies, outdoor observation, simulations, games,
and experiments. If done well, teachers may "throw away
the textbook" as their students use real-world resources to
study community-based environmental issues.
Ron Hellstern, a ninth-grade teacher at South Cache
Freshman Center in Hyrum, Utah, says conferences spurred
him to change his teaching. "A conference is a motivational
hypodermic-needle," Hellstern says. "I pull a blue-ribbon
idea from each program."
Hellstern's successful use of these ideas earned him
J i actually understand
what I'm learning
flSfSs *KtfSi&, * awlSSiiitesrfrfi^ltM «*««,&j«rf4.*JU-^^
w because I'm doing it,"
~^l~*" _ _ ^~ "
sa/s Stephanie,
a senior. "The lab
&+- i 1*® ^_ ~~» ^
=write-ups were huge
^iMtefflfe
nijjt'sa project
: we could really be
proud of.
statewide recognition and a Project Learning Tree "Teacher
of the Year" award. "I used to be a 'Where's Waldo' type of
teacher: having students read the book, find the answers,
and take the test," he says. Now his students do self-directed
learning. For example, Hellstern lists on an overhead trans-
parency Utah's ninth grade earth systems
standards. Then he asks students what
they think the standards mean, what
they know about the topics, and what
they need to know. Hellstern's students
generate questions, which he then
records and distributes to his classes.
Students assume responsibility for dis-
covering answers, using any resources at
their disposal. Once they are immersed
in the topic, students must generate
lessons dealing with the topic's scientific
principles (for example, water surface
tension) and teach other students.
As successful as his methods are,
Hellstern admits this approach can en-
gender instructional problems: setting
up the learning situation is a lot of work,
and placing the burden of learning on
the student involves lots of trust. It is also
difficult for both the teacher and stu-
dents to shift the teacher's role from content expert to
knowledge facilitator.
The shift creates a paradox, says Bill Donate, a teacher
at Woodstock High School in Woodstock, Illinois. "Teachers
need knowledge. They also need the ability to feel comfort-
able not knowing everything," he says. Donate adopted
problem-based instruction after he participated in pro-
Ron Hellstern, 1997 PIT National Teacher of the Year
- -I
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
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Bill Donate and students explore the catch from a seine net.
grams such as Project WET, Project Planet, and EcoWatch. As
a result of their own water monitoring projects, his students
provide data to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"Problem-based instruction is a more holistic way of
learning and teaching," Donate says. Echoing Hellstern,
Donate says that learning becomes more authentic. His stu-
dents concur.
"I actually understand what I'm learning because I'm
doing it," says Stephanie, a senior. "The lab write-ups were
huge but it's a project we could really be proud of."
Students and teachers with whom educator Susie
Harpham works know that sense of pride. Harpham directs
Eco-Educators, a non-profit organization based in Colum-
bus, Ohio, that trains students and teachers in environmen-
tal concepts. Describing a three-year pilot in which 30
middle-school students conducted waste audits in busi-
nesses and then presented recommendations for cost sav-
ings through better waste management practices, Harpham
says, "Kids get lots of responsibility. Teachers find they love
the activities. They see students getting a number of things
in one class: science, math, and writing skills." At the end of
the year, Harpham says, teachers convinced their supervi-
sors to revise schedules to accommodate longer sessions
more conducive to environmental education's integrated
approach.
Student Learning Outcomes
Do students whose teachers use environmental education-
based strategies learn more? There is a common sense
among teachers that they do, though hard data are still
forthcoming. One reason for the lack of data may be the
novelty of how outcomes are measured. Bill Ehmann of the
environmental science program at Drake University in Des
Moines, Iowa, explains: "Schools are looking at corporate
models for assessment, trying to track outcomes," he says.
"The data gathering is not really standardized yet because
it's a new field and the technique is new to academics." Sim-
mons senses that things are extremely positive: teachers are
being successful, students are achieving—whether or not
that achievement shows up on standardized tests.
One educator's experience with a third-grade class tells
the story: after demonstrating a model of nonpoint source
pollution, Christy Trutter took students down to the river
to make the model real. "I had just started explaining," she
says, "and this third grade boy interrupted me. His hand
waved in the air, words bubbling out with the exact idea—
he got it! I told him 'That's great, a very good observation.'
The other kids needed more information to take the model
further. Later as the kids ran ahead to the next activity, his
teacher told me, 'I am just so proud of him! You know, he's
generally not one of my better students.'"
A Literacy of Learning
Giving students a way to make those connections is at the
heart of education reform. For environmental education to
be more than just a collection of Earth Day activities, teach-
ers will need to make those connections, too.
Some workshop facilitators borrow from other disci-
plines to make learning about environmental education
as integrative for teachers as it is for students. Hellstern, for
example, uses a technique naturalist Aldo Leopold used. He
asks teachers to reflect and write about what they learn and
how they'll apply it in their classroom. This premise of
teacher-researcher (a model long endorsed by the National
Writing Project in Berkeley, California) promotes literacy
about the learning process.
Literacy is also the lynchpin of environmental educa-
tion professional development: What is environmental lit-
eracy? How do environmentally literate citizens conduct
their lives? What do teachers who wish to create environ-
mentally literate students need to know and be able to do?.
The National Project for Excellence in Environmental
Education is using critique, collaborative inquiry, and con-
sensus to develop guidelines for effective environmental
education. The Project will address curriculum design,
student diversity, educational policies, student assessment,
and, of course, teaching strategies and professional devel-
opment.
Developing guidelines for preparing environmentally
literate citizens is a first step toward organizing the deep
EEDUCATOR
-------
and flexible understanding of content needed to make this
learning authentic—for environmental education teachers
as well as their students. As more data about the effective-
ness of environmental education strategies are collected,
the challenge of organizing appropriate environmental ed-
ucation training for teachers may become less daunting,
and the opportunities for achieving compatible goals of
school reform more accessible.
REFERENCES
L American Psychological Association. "Bringing to Scale
Educational Innovation and School Reform: Partnerships in
Urban Education." Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association Conference Proceedings, 1997.
2 National Center for Research on Teacher Learning. "Learning
to Walk the Reform Talk: A Framework for the Professional
Development of Teachers." College of Education, Michigan
State University, East Lansing, MI, 1995.
Joanne M. Glenn is an independent writer and educator
based in Woodbridge, Virginia, who specializes in education
and healthcare. Drawing on her experience as a teacher,
editor, and association management professional, Glenn
also develops and delivers presentations for businesses and
universities.
al Education Infusion: Where to Start
ef intent with programs that lend you a mentor, such as those sponsored by
eoartments or iNaturai Kesources or tne jum.. Let me mentormodeltheactivities.
hop. Use the activities jfrom thg workshop in your classroom.
ental education organization.
aSes tor environmental education organizations and training providers.
angejjappens one teacher at a time. Invite a colleague to accompany your class on an
edition. (Pretty soon the two or you will be collaborating on lessons.
v taking more in-depth training. Bora Simmons of Northern Illinois University
uestions to select the best option:
or series or workshops provide a general overview ot environmental educations
orinteatmgironmental education
your curriculum?
shop otter_help ir^how to develop a long-term thematic unit or year-long program
liliSilaiaiMMii»iiiiiiiiBAm»i«nttBiMiM^ ,«KStesn*'43«tS
p help your school infuse environmental education into its
acititators providing more than just content, tor example, demonstrating constructivist
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
-------
V"
r SELECTED ___.,,,
; WHERE Tq FJND INfORMATpQN ^
~~ ON ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
^ f V ., «!*V fj-» , *V -A"'
•»S.N
«ry
TRAINING PROGRAMS
*
j-
• !• t)
Project WET. Water Education for Teachers, Internet home
page gives overview of project and supplemental curriculum
materials. Also provides contact information for state coordi-
r^ riators and calendars of upcoming workshops. (406) 994-
5392; www.montona.edu/wwwwet/
1
Many environmental education programs are free topartici-
^pams According to ^MaryhnLisowski, Eastern Illinois Umver-
'^sity, most states have developed correlation guides that prove
'^standards are cohered, ffljhe t£a£Jlw.g of environmental educa-
* £ ? ^ «v f ^* «H^4S l&j ,* t^ SB *^ & ^s, " *
i, giving teachers 'legal leverage" to use this approach in
f *<
their classrooms
^NATIONAL LEVEL
.The Environmental,E,ducati^n_and Training Partnership
^(EETAP) web site provides an easy link to training mforma-
r tion and a variety of resourcesrwww.eetap.org
i*»ta—* « A # ^'Z ^T -i^S'feAi-^'W^^kj^ -or v*^% j*- •"
tV * * j !** ** -*=T^('tF'*'lt^» f >" ?V *««• ffi -^^ *^ ^ ^
* Autodesk Fqundation.JProject-based learnrng information
jS^aipd trajrijng, including annual conference.
,; www.autodesk.cqm/foundat/on
p^G^tgwav, Nltionaj^ state^and local,cdendars of events,
•^.^••,:_lv.-j .:-.•/:-••&.;.f M""' -;."••• v? "-.- • —— jinks tQ ^^_
' Project WILD/Project WILD Aquatic. Internet home page
gives overview of project and supplemental curriculum~mate-
rials. Also provides contact information for state coordinators
1 and calendars of upcoming workshops. (301) 527-8900;
www.pro/ectw/W.org
* U.S. EPA Office of Environmental Education. Includes infor-
mation on training activities that OEE funds through EETAP
with other federal agencies, www.epa.gov/env/roed
OTHER,TRAJNiNJ3
* (LOCAL OR REGIONAL)
California Schools Implementation Network. Provides school
J staffs with planning, content instruction, and pedagogy
<**" to improve science at member elementary schools.
(714) 824-8456, www.fwl.orglseabal96journallcsin.html
Community Organizations, nature centers, environmental
education centers, parks, museums
icatioi\re-
|i^purces, rriaferialsj organizations, projects, events calendars,
SPgrants", and job listings on the web. http:lleelink.net
^•-l-'-V'^1^"^!"^'11^1'^^^ s ^*- u °*
j|ppnsorea Regional Educational Laboratories www.ejic.org
^^^^^M^^j^^^^^^3^^0^
1^1 (NA^Efi)-Offers^^professional deveippment opportunities
" *" ~ " ftPl^-i^lBY^J-isa"
the |nrirogr^^ Partnerslu'p
"
Guide-
||||r|^a|preparatipn of'environmental educatprs. (815J 753-
ST'^J.. ;'"'i».i ;';;v:s;,rts::fWrs^W
*0205; www.nqaee.org
;^?|r«^lCt;;i;^fSSSs:|£**|;jK;Sa
«- 'ui >'r™'"i'«.
Ki.Project Learning Tree. Internet home page give
fe't;'^1.1"'"':''''-''11 j"1-' ••^Y'iM*w*7*™Wi*^t^*(*>Iw^fr*'^r'
fe't;'^1.1'':''''-''11 j"-' ••^Y'iM*w*7*™Wi*^t^*(*>Iw*'r'*^'^^"-'v-"''
project and supplemental curriculum materials. Also pro-
'--.^^.:,-^,!,v*vr.»---..TTW?-v^5,-;:p*'.5:"««B.-^-»!».li>-^"t «v r .
County or City Offices- Education, Solid Waste Management;
"Soil and Water Conservation District; University Extension.
Often have education staff.
^Eco-Educators Provides environmental education to schools,
r and nonprofit organizations (614) 487-9522; e-mail
„ GGOHIOigaol com,
1 Second Nature: Training programs and access to educational
respurces for environmental education at, institutions, pf
* ''higher learning. (617) 292-7771; www.2nature.org/
State Boards/Departments of Education. Usually maintain
calendars of upcoming workshops, including environmental
^education training. Teachers interested in connecting class-
rooms with the business world may find opportunities in
"School to Work" and "Service Learning" programs.
State Departments of Natural Resources, Environmental Pro-
tection Agencies, or Fish and Wildlife Services. Examples of
progf arhs include watershed workshops, fire ecology, fishery
t4i ;:sarfipling, caves,etc. Ask for the Education Coordinator.
State Environmental Education or Outdoor Education
Universities and Colleges: Departments of Education, Natural
Resources, Outdoor Recreation.
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
-------
Wisconsin:
A Model
ofSuccess
PROGRAM
BY KENDRA KUROSAWA
The roots ofWisconsin's exemplary envi-
ronmental education program go back to
the early 1930s, when a forward-thinking
conservationist, Wilhelmina Diefenthaler
LaBudde, co-founded the Wisconsin Asso-
ciation for Conservation Education
(WAGE). LaBudde and her colleagues col-
laborated with teachers and school ad-
ministrators to bring environmental edu-
cation into the classroom. LaBudde was a
driving force behind Wisconsin's first Envi-
ronmental Education Statute, a ground-
breaking 1935 law mandating common
school instruction in conservation princi-
ples and corresponding training for any
science or social studies teacher seeking
certification.
Like its predecessor, the current ver-
sion of the Wisconsin Conservation Edu-
cation Statute has served as a model for
other similar statutes across the U.S. It
focuses on training for early childhood,
elementary school, agriculture, science,
and social studies teachers in a variety of
areas from ecological principles to building
citizen participation skills. The statute be-
came the basis for other Wisconsin initia-
tives, including a grants program, a state
environmental education center and board,
and a curriculum planning requirement.
Today Wisconsin is a leader in pro-
moting environmental literacy among
both teachers and students.The following
are some of the components ofWiscon-
sin's comprehensive environmental educa-
tion program:
Teacher Certification Requirement:
All candidates receiving first-time certifi-
cation must demonstrate competency in
seven areas: natural resources and their
conservation, ecological principles, biolog-
ical and physical energy systems, people-
environment interactions, affective educa-
tion methods, cognitive education methods,
and building citizen participation skills.
K-12 Curriculum Planning: Every
school board in Wisconsin's twenty school
districts must develop a written sequential
curriculum plan in reading, language arts,
mathematics, social studies, science,
health, computer literacy, environmental
education, vocational education, physical
education, art, and music. Plans must spec-
ify objectives, course content, resources,
and program evaluation methods. The
penalty for non-compliance may be the
loss of 25% of the school's annual aid
package from the state.
Environmental Studies Major and
Minor Standards: The Wisconsin De-
partment of Public Instruction (DPI) has
approved standards for a certifiable major
and minor in environmental education.
Teachers in grades 1-8 must complete an
academic minor in any subject area, with
environmental education as an option.
Teachers desiring to teach environmental
studies as a subject area in grades 9-12
must complete a major or minor in envi-
ronmental education.
Wisconsin Environmental Education
Board:The Wisconsin Environmental Ed-
ucation Board (WEEB) was created under
Wisconsin's 1990 Environmental Educa-
tion Act to identify needs and priorities
for environmental education in the state.
The fifteen-member board is composed of
representatives of government agencies
such as the Wisconsin Department of
Natural Resources (DNR) and the Wis-
consin DPI, as well as representatives of the
state legislature, environmental education,
environmental organizations, the business
sector, and the University of Wisconsin
system.
The State Environmental Education
Grants Program: WEEB administers a
state allocation of $200,000 each year to
be awarded as matching grants "for the
development, dissemination, and presenta-
tion of environmental education pro-
grams." Public agencies—including school
districts, towns, cities, and counties—and
non-profit corporations are eligible to re-
ceive these grants. WEEB's Development
Committee is responsible for soliciting ad-
ditional contributions from the private
sector as well as fostering partnerships
between the private and public sectors to
support environmental education goals.
The Wisconsin Center for Environ-
mental Education: The Wisconsin Cen-
ter for Environmental Education (WCEE)
was established by the state's 1990 Envi-
ronmental Education Act to assist enviro-
mental education teachers throughout the
state.The WCEE provides inservice courses
for K—12 teachers; offers an Extended
Masters degree in Natural Resources for
teachers through the University of Wis-
consin-Stevens Point; assists the DPI in the
periodic assessment of environmental lit-
eracy of students and teachers; maintains a
curriculum resource library for educators
at all levels; manages the Wisconsin School
System Environmental Education Net-
work; consults with school districts, teach-
ers, and institutions of higher education to
improve environmental education curric-
ula; sponsors an annual Teacher/Student
Environmental Action Leadership Confer-
ence; and works with the DPI to develop
an environmental education needs assess-
ment program for school districts.
Environmental Literacy Assessment:
The 1990 Environmental Education Act
also requires that the environmental liter-
acy ofWisconsin's students and teachers
be assessed periodically. Wisconsin is the
only state to require this by law.
The State Environmental Education
Consultant: As part of the DPI, the State
Environmental Education Consultant is
charged with helping schools, universities,
and colleges meet the state environmental
education requirements. The consultant's
responsibilities include creating curricu-
lum guides for districts and interfacing
with other agencies to support environ-
mental education programs.
The Wisconsin Association for Envi-
ronmental Education: The Wisconsin
Association for Environmental Education
(WAEE) is a private, non-profit profes-
sional organization composed of over
1,000 teachers, university students, and
environmental professionals, as well as or-
ganizations such as school districts and
environmental groups. The WAEE holds
conferences and workshops, publishes a
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
-------
The Regional
Educational
Laboratories
PROGRAM
The ten Regional Educational Laborato-
ries funded by the U.S. Department of
Education comprise a research and devel-
opment network dedicated to solving the
nation's most persistent education prob-
lems. Each lab is staffed with skilled pro-
fessionals who work in partnership with
members of their region's educational
community to design and implement pro-
grams to improve teaching and learning in
their region. Unlike many university-based
research centers that focus on long-term,
complex issues, the Regional Educational
Laboratories favor an approach that is
practical and direct — the Laboratories
are capable of responding quickly to time-
sensitive situations and policy issues.
The relationship that is formed be-
tween the educators and researchers is a
symbiotic one. Research & Development
activities are strongly influenced by the
recommendations of teachers, parents,
administrators, and policymakers who are
on the front lines of education. As practi-
tioners help design projects and test
teaching models, researchers learn about
how to best apply research-based knowl-
edge in the field. The products of these
collaborations—including research sum-
maries, how-to manuals, audio cassettes,
and videotapes—are available through
the Laboratories, each of which has at
least one designated specialty area.
The Regional Educational Laborato-
ries channel tens of millions of funding
dollars into well over a thousand research
projects each year. Many of these projects
are relevant to environmental education.
Contact the Educational Laboratory in
your region to find out about its publica-
tions, workshops, training programs, on-
line conferences, information and referral
services, and research opportunities.
All ten Regional Educational Labora-
tories can be accessed on the web at
www.nwrel.orglnationall
Appalachia Educational Laboratory (AEL)
1031 Quarrier Street
PO Box 1348
Charleston.VW 25325
(304) 347-0400 or (800) 624-9120
Specialty Area: Rural Education
Lab at Brown University Education
Alliance (LAB)
222 Richmond Street, Suite 300
Providence, Rl 02903
(401) 274-9548 or (800) 521-9550
Specialty Area: Language and Cultural
Diversity
The Laboratory for Student Success (LSS)
933 Ritter Annex
13th and Cecil B. Moore
Philadelphia, PA 19122
(214)204-3001
Specialty Area: Urban Education
Mid-Continent Regional Educational
Laboratory (McREL)
2550 S. Parker Road, Suite 500
Aurora, CO 80014
(303) 337-0990
Specialty Area: Curriculum, Learning, and
Instruction
North Central Regional Educational
Laboratory (NCREL)
1900 Spring Road, Suite 300
Oak Brook, IL 60521
(630)571-4700
Specialty Area: Technology
Northwest Regional Educational
Laboratory (NWREL)
101 SW Main Street, Suite 500
Portland, OR 97204
(503) 275-9500 or (800) 547-6339
Specialty Area: School Change Processes
Pacific Resources for Education &
Learning (PREL)
1099 Alakea Street, Suite 2500
Honolulu, HI 96813
(808) 533-6000
Specialty Area: Language and Cultural
Diversity
Southeastern RegionalVision for
Education (SERVE)
PO Box 5367
Greensboro, NC 27435
(910) 334-3211 or (800) 755-3277
Specialty Area: Early Childhood Education
Southwest Educational Development
Laboratory (SEDL)
21 I East Seventh Street
Austin,TX7870l
(512)476-6861
Specialty Area: Language and Cultural
Diversity
WestEd
730 Harrison Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
(415)565-3000
Specialty Area: Assessment and
Accountability
Wisconsin, continued
quarterly newsletter, and sponsors an
awards program recognizing individuals
who have made outstanding contributions
to the field of environmental education.
Publications: Two Wisconsin govern-
ment-sponsored publications are readily
available to environmental educators. A
Guide to Curriculum Planning in Environmen-
tal Education (1985), published by the Wis-
consin DPI, discusses how environmental
education can be integrated into the
broader curriculum by examining the sub-
ject from goals and theory to implementa-
tion and evaluation techniques. The guide
has served as a model for similar docu-
ments in four other states and 41 nations
around the world.The ££ News quarterly
newsletter, a joint publication of Wiscon-
sin's DNR, DPI, and local environmental
education organizations, covers environ-
mental issues, teaching activities, re-
sources, and workshops. The newsletter
reaches over 5,000 educators throughout
the state and nationwide.
Kendra Kurosawa is a freelance writer in
the San Francisco Bay Area. Exploring the
world is part of her current curriculum.
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
-------
Achieving Standards
through Environmental
Education
by
Hike
Kaspar
In North Carolina, sixth graders are expected to summa-
rize, analyze, and evaluate different types of fiction and
nonfiction literature. In Delaware, fifth graders have to
construct, examine, and extend the meaning of various
texts; they must read a full-length passage from a text, and
answer questions with both brief and detailed responses.
What do these activities from two different states hold in
common? The answer is "standards."
The push for standards-based teaching is perhaps the
most visible component of current efforts to improve the
nation's schools. Upset by tests showing that American stu-
dent performance falls far short of student performance in
other countries, the National Council of Governors, busi-
nesses, universities, and parents called for the adoption of
tough standards to ensure that the United States retains its
place in the global economy.
State governments are solely responsible for determin-
ing what is taught hi U.S. schools, defining what students
are expected to know and to be able to do at various steps
along the way to high school graduation. We have no na-
tional curriculum and, in the past, there has not been a sig-
nificant push for national standards in education reform
movements. So why have national standards come to play
such a key role in recent years?
In 1992, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor
Michael Apple speculated that, "Education in general has
increasingly become dominated by economic interests." His
subsequent commentary led him to conclude that business
is the power base of the current reform movement. In 1995,
Margaret Cozzens of the National Science Foundation cor-
roborated his speculation and wrote, "With increasing tech-
nological skills needed in the workplace, it becomes more
necessary to reform mathematics, science, and technology
education in order to prepare today's students for the work-
force of tomorrow."
Professional organizations such as the National Council
of Teachers of Mathematics, the Center for Civic Education,
the National Academy of Science, and The National Coun-
cil for Geographic Education responded by developing
standards or guidelines for learning in their respective disci-
plines. These standards are intended to be an important
tool for properly preparing students to be effective citizens
and workers in the 21st century.
The national standards are voluntary; that is, they do
not usurp state standards. Rather, states have the opportu-
nity to use the national standards—representing the best
thinking of leading educators in their respective fields—as
guidelines for developing and revising their own curricu-
lum standards. The chart on page 49 illustrates a general-
ized model of how national standards currently influence
the curriculum in classrooms across the country.
Achieving Standards through
Environmental Education
Teachers in many districts are under tremendous pressure
to "teach to the standards" to improve academic perfor-
mance. Often, this improved performance is defined by stu-
dent scores on standardized statewide tests, many of which
have been rewritten to reflect newly adopted, and some-
times challenging, standards for performance.
Standards have been written for disciplines such as math,
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
-------
A Generalized Model Showing How Standards Are Used in Current Education Reform Efforts.
Science*
Mathematics*
Language Arts*
Social Studies/
Civics*
Environmental
Education
Geography*
State Legislature mandates establishment of
academic standards (e.g., State School Code)
I
"O
c
a
State Board of Education or State Education Agency develops
state academic standards (e.g., Language Arts, Mathematics,
Science, Physical Development/Health, Fine Arts)
-o
School District Curriculum
Goals & Units
Goal Assessment Project (StudentTesting)
* Environmental education strategies and content may be infused within these subject areas.
science, English and language arts, civics, social science, his-
tory, and physical education. Until recently, however, there
were no standards written specifically for environmental ed-
ucation. According to Dr. Bora Simmons, a professor at
Northern Illinois University, "Environmental education is
by its very nature interdisciplinary, so it can help students
meet the high standards set by the traditional school disci-
plines. But states often do not feel they have the time nor the
resources to do the research needed to develop environmen-
tal education standards from scratch." While some of the
discipline-based standards do reflect strategies and content
that pertain to environmental education, none are compre-
hensive, nor do they provide a unified voice for the field.
In response, the North American Association for Envi-
ronmental Education (NAAEE) undertook the National
Project for Excellence in Environmental Education. Spear-
headed by Simmons, the multi-year program is designed to
identify and provide examples of high quality environmen-
tal education practice. The Project is focusing on four inter-
related efforts:
• Publishing Environmental Education Materials:
Guidelines for Excellence;
• Creating a series of educators' guides to quality
environmental education resources (The Environ-
mental Education Collection: A Review of Resources,
Volumes 1-3 and The Biodiversity Collection: A Review
of Resources);
• Developing environmental education learner
guidelines (Excellence in Environmental Education:
Guidelines for Learning (K-12); and
• Developing a set of recommendations for the
preparation and continuing education of teachers
and other environmental educators.
EEDUCATOR
-------
The Project is funded by the U.S. Environmental Pro-
tection Agency through the Environmental Education and
Training Partnership (see page 62).
With Excellence in Environmental Education: Guidelines
for Learning (K-12), which was completed in February
1999, teachers can "develop a coherent, comprehensive en-
vironmental education program—and use the environ-
ment to create integrated learnings while also meeting the
standards set by the traditional disciplines," says Simmons.
The Guidelines identify what learners should know and be
able to do in grades K-4,5-8, and 9-12 in order to graduate
as environmentally literate citizens. Specific references to
ten discipline-based national standards are included. Re-
search conducted by the State Education and Environment
Roundtable (see page 59) demonstrates that such inte-
grated approaches do indeed result in improved perfor-
mance on standardized tests.
Which States Require
Environmental Education?
According to a 1995 survey by the National Environmental
Education Advancement Project (NEEAP), twelve states
have a requirement or by-law for K-12 environmental edu-
cation instruction. As defined by NEEAP, this requirement
or by-law obligates schools and K-12 teachers to incorpo-
rate environmental education into their existing curricu-
lum as a result of a legislative or administrative ordinance.
How this is accomplished varies from state to state.
In Louisiana, for example, environmental education is
included in the state Science Framework. In "Strand 4:
nmental E
eepJCfliptoa 1995 survey'conaucted"by
-12 ejrarQnmental eawation inr
ted survey will be pub-
site: http://neeap.uwsp.edu/
Science and the Environment," the framework begins with a
focus statement about environmental education and clearly
articulates the standard: "In learning environmental sci-
ence, students will develop an appreciation of the natural
environment, learn the importance of environmental qual-
ity, and acquire a sense of stewardship. As consumers and
citizens, they will be able to recognize how our personal,
professional, and political actions affect the natural world."
Unlike Louisiana, Pennsylvania makes little reference to
environmental education in any subject area, even though it
is mandated by law. The same holds true for Nevada. Wis-
consin's comprehensive environmental education program
is described on page 46.
While many states do not mandate environmental edu-
cation, related content and skills are often taught in a num-
ber of subject areas.
The Role of Nonformal Institutions
Because of increasing emphasis placed on achieving state
standards, many nonformal education institutions are link-
ing their activities to standards in their respective states.
This is especially true when it comes to the significant influ-
ence many school administrators have placed on standards.
For example, in a recent study of a number of public school
principals in central Texas, principals were found to be
more concerned than teachers with how outdoor field trips
connect to the standards and, more specifically, to the cur-
riculum. These data indicate that it is important for nonfor-
mal education organizations to be able to show principals
how their programs meet the state or district standards.
In Florida the situation is different. There, the state sci-
ence standards link specific nonformal education sites to
Florida education reform efforts. The standards are
arranged in strands that include references to such nonfor-
mal science institutions as the Miami Museum of-Science,
the Odyssey Science Center in Tallahassee, and the Museum
of Science and Industry in Tampa.
Selecting Supplemental Curriculum
that Helps Achieve Standards
Many educators turn to supplemental activity guides for
ideas and assistance in designing their environmental edu-
cation programs; but it is sometimes difficult to know how
well these supplemental guides advance the goals set by
Guidelines for Learning (K-12) or by a state's disciplinary
standards. Because there are so many materials from which
to choose, selecting a program that is effective in any partic-
ular set of circumstances can be difficult.
Environmental Education Materials: Guidelines for Ex-
cellence, another of NAAEE's National Project for Excel-
lence in Environmental Education publications, makes the
process for selecting and developing environmental educa-
tion materials easier. The Guidelines help developers of
El SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
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activity guides, lesson plans, and other instructional materi-
als produce high quality products and provide educators
with a tool to evaluate the wide array of available materials.
Six key characteristics—fairness and accuracy, depth, skills
building, action orientation, instructional soundness, and
usability—are described.
Four other publications, The Environmental Education
Collection: A Review of Resources for Educators, Volumes 1-3
and The Biodiversity Collection: A Review of Biodiversity Re-
sources for Educators, were produced to help educators find
curricula, multimedia resources, and other educational ma-
terials that can enhance teaching in a variety of settings (see
box). Based on the materials guidelines, these "reviews" an-
alyze more than 150 different curricular materials. Each re-
view indicates the strengths of the materials and other con-
siderations when compared to the six key characteristics in
the Guidelines. Also included are a short description of the
material, core curriculum areas reflected, length, date pub-
lished, cost, and contact information.
With tools such as these, educators can select excellent
supplemental environmental education curricula to use
with their students. In doing so, they will be helping their
students achieve high academic success.
Mike Kaspar, Ph.D., is the Environmental Education and
Training Partnership (EETAP) Training Coordinator for the
North American Association for Environmental Education
in Washington, D.C. He is an adjunct faculty member at
the Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, Maryland,
and in 1996 served on the Science TaskForce of the Austin,
Texas, Independent School District.
* *v
r For more on Standards...
SITES
American Association for the
Advancement of Science:
Project 2061
http:llproject206l.aaas.org
- EdGateway Environmental
Education Community
l^ www.edgateway.net
'" EnviroLinkThe Online _
'"Environmental Community
" http:llenvirolink.orgl
? * ^
Environmental Education and
1 jraining Partnership (EETAP)
5^'www.eetap.org
"r \ * *
fc>' - * / 11-«' "w,r» *v t *
1 Enw'ronmenta/ Education
j_ * *
; Link on the Internet
"'*http:lleelink.net
Global SchooJNet Foundation:
}. Hotlist ofK-12 Internet School Sites
www.gsn.'brg/hot/ist/index.htm/
:,,J^r «,-^,. % \ * 1 ^'^ -Ift "'|^j
£f Mid-Continent Regional
£, Educational Laboratory:
fe"Standards at McREL
tf , t *.-* s *> f -«^ i-
www. mere/, orglstandards
North American Association
for Environmental
Education (NAAEE)
www.naaee.org
Third International
Mathematics and Science Study
http:flnces. ed.gov/timss
U.S. Department of Education
www.ed.gov
U.S. Department of Education:
Sites Offer ing Academic and Skill
Standards
www.ed.gov/G2k/standard.htm/
U.S. Environmenta/ Protection
Agency, Office of Environmental
Education
www.epa.govlenviroed
PUBLICATIONS
Excellence in Environmental Education:
Guidelines for Learning (K-12)
Environmental Education Materials:
Guidelines for Excellence
The Environmental Education
Collection: A Review of Resources
for Educators, Volumes 1,2, and 3
All published by the North
American Association for
Environmental Education
between 1997 and 1999.
NAAEE Publications Office
410 Tarvin Road
; ; Rock Spring, GA 30739
:':"''' (766)764-2926
www.hdaee.org
The Biodiversity Collection:
A Review of Resources for Educators
Published by NAAEE and
_ World Wildlife Fund, 1998.
WWF Publications Dept. CAS
PO Box 4866
Hampden Post Office
Baltimore, MD 21211
(410) 516-6951
www.worldwildlife.org
* i -.-* ,?•
1999 HI
EEDUCATOR
SPRING
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Knowing What Works:
Trends in Educational
Assessment
by
Joel.
Hcimlich
Testing has long been the dominant means of assessing
students. This approach basically works when much
of what happens in traditional, discipline-based
classrooms is the transfer of facts, figures, and cognitive tid-
bits from teacher and text to student. If teachers are to use
environmental education to help achieve the goals of edu-
cation reform, there must=also be changes in how learning,
and learners, are assessed. Assessment tools have to reflect
the thinking process, and acknowledge that the educated
student is one who can take complex sets of data and ideas,
formulate opinions, make decisions, and take action.
Assessment can—and should—help students learn bet-
ter and teachers teach better. A body of evidence demon-
strates that what is evaluated or tested drives what students
perceive as important, and therefore what they concentrate
on learning.1'2 The form of assessment directly affects stu-
dent motivation; it can help to change the focus of learning
from recalling facts to using facts to express ideas, and other
higher-order thinking.
Also valuable tools for teachers, nontraditional assess-
ments provide ongoing feedback that allows teachers to ad-
just instruction to better assist student learning. Cyndy
Curran, a teacher at Iditarod Elementary School in the
Matanuska-Susitna Borough Schools in Alaska, says:
"Using alternative assessments has allowed me to
get a better sense of what all of my students know
and can do. This is especially true of English-as-
Second-Language (ESL) students who, when faced
with paper and pencil tests, are at a distinct disad-
vantage. However, when they're given the opportu-
nity to demonstrate their knowledge in a different
format, everything they really know and are able to
do comes shining through and they have a real
sense of accomplishment."
All assessments are designed to measure outcomes
against claims. This is relatively easy when the objective of
learning is for the student to recall facts or ideas. It's much
harder to measure creativity, problem solving, 'critical
thinking, decision-making, or conceptual understanding—
all essential components of both environmental education
and education reform—in a manner consistently applied
to all students.
The key to any assessment tool is that it be valid. A valid
instrument measures what it is supposed to measure, all
that it is to measure, and only what it is to measure. With
education reform, assessment is tied to measuring signifi-
cant content in instruction, including higher level thinking
skills, decisions for action, and process skills. These skills
and processes are difficult to measure using traditional
fact-based testing strategies.
New ways of defining and measuring student achieve-
ment go hand in hand with education reform. It is vital in
the education reform movement to let students know at the
beginning of a lesson the expected gains in skills, under-
standings, and content. Students also need to know in ad-
vance how these gains will be measured. Using examples
from several Ohio schools, the following sections explore
some of the themes and terms used in education reform
and assessment: performance-based assessment, portfolios,
rubrics, assessing cooperative learning, competency-based
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
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assessment, and nonformal environmental education and
nontraditional assessment.
Performance-Based Assessment
In performance-based assessments, learning or solving
complex tasks is measured using a similar complex task. To
an outside observer, performance assessments are often in-
distinguishable from learning activities; the major differ-
ence is that the learners are aware the activity is being used
for assessment and know the criteria that will be used for
scoring or grading their performance.
Performance-based assessments are often synthesizing
activities incorporating writing, reflection, graphic repre-
sentations, presentations, or other efforts that reveal the
process as well as the outcome of the students' work. At
Bexley High School in Columbus, Ohio, teacher Richard
Smith used performance-based assessment to measure the
progress of his students' understanding of a complex envi-
ronmental issue. Smith had each student identify personal
daily actions that required electrical energy. During the
course of the unit on electricity, students were to assess their
energy use, document changes they made (or did not make)
in their lives, and support their behaviors with scientific in-
formation. The assessment was made based on the ability of
the students to explain the influence of competing environ-
mental impacts and other issues on their decisions about
electricity use.
Portfolio
A portfolio is a purposeful collection of student work to ex-
hibit the student's effort, progress, and achievements. Some
have called portfolio assessment the process of "collection,
selection, and reflection." Portfolios are usually developed
by having students save all tangible evidence of work, in-
cluding art projects, writing efforts, quizzes, tests, and
notes. Each student, with the teacher, sets the criteria for se-
lecting and judging the work. Then students select exam-
ples of their work to be included in their portfolio for grad-
ing. Grading is usually done in a meeting between teacher
and student, and sometimes with a panel of teachers, ad-
ministrators, community members, and parents.
The portfolio process has been demonstrated at Coal-
ton Elementary School in rural Waverly, Ohio. At the begin-
ning of the unit, the teacher and the class discussed what
"should be learned" by the end of the unit. Homework,
in-class activities, reflective writing efforts, and projects
were assigned as portfolio pieces. At the end of the unit,
each student chose three samples of work from the begin-
ning of the unit and three from the end. The teacher met
with the students in small groups. In these groups, students
compared their work against the criteria the class estab-
lished, and explained differences in understandings be-
tween their earlier and later work. Students then wrote indi-
vidual reports on what they experienced, learned, and
gained through the unit and the assessment process. These
reports incorporated comments from their group, their
teacher, and their perceptions of their own progress.
Rubrics
A rubric is a matrix denning expectations and indicators of
quality for a task or concept. Rubrics clearly identify for stu-
dents what is to be gained from a particular lesson, and how
that gain will be evaluated. The rubric itself is not an assess-
ment; rather, it is a structure for establishing performance
levels and quality to guide learners to meet desired out-
comes.
Rubrics set the standards for measuring the quality of a
student's work and are designed for use with performance
assessments, portfolios, and other forms of assessment.
Knowledge, behaviors, competencies, and products are
identified and defined in the matrix. Concrete expectations
that identify fulfillment of criteria are listed for satisfactory
a home water use inventory with follow-up action ideas
portfolio
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&
• poems about rain
Wff
• worksheets based on a video watched and discussed in class
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different activities
"
Wffc1feated portfolios of their
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EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
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or unsatisfactory performance, a letter grade, or a perfor-
mance score. The rubric is developed by the teacher, often
with input from the students. Rubrics have gained in popu-
larity, as traditional assessments do not reveal complex
thought, creativity, and other elements of holistic learning.
In Upper Arlington High School in suburban Ohio,
physics teacher Phil Lampe developed a rubric to assess stu-
dent progress during a unit in which students simulated the
decision-making of a community attempting to build a nu-
clear power plant. The rubric measured three primary con-
structs: factualiry, creativity, and participation. Specific, ob-
servable outcomes were identified for each letter grade (see
box on page 55):
Assessing Cooperative Learning
Emphasis on authentic (real-world) decision-making and
teamwork have led to increased use and assessment of co-
operative learning. In cooperative learning settings, there
are two processes that are assessed: the product and the
teamwork. The product, or outcome, can be assessed in the
manner most congruent with the teacher, the content, the
class, and the learners. The cooperative element is usually
assessed using self, peer, and teacher observations, check-
lists, or scoring sheets. The criteria used in the evaluation
are set either in the cooperative teams with the teacher or as
a full class. Grading often uses a rubric and the teacher
meets with each team before assigning the grade. Many
teachers find that cooperative grading works for authentic
assessment for several reasons: although time consuming,
the assessment process becomes part of the learning; by us-
ing cooperative teams, the individual receives feedback and
grades from multiple sources; and the consistency of grades
is improved by the use of peers.
Competency-Based Assessment
Industry has used competency-based assessment for years.
In schooling, vocational programs have also used compe-
tency measures for centuries in apprenticeship programs.
A competency-based assessment divides learning into nec-
essarily cumulative steps, then requires the learner to demon-
strate competency (the ability to perform at a specified level)
before progressing to the next task. Competency-based
assessments are often used for skill-driven curricula. The
most common example of competency-based assessment is
in industrial training where individuals must complete var-
ious tasks to a satisfactory level before they move up to the
next level of responsibility.
Competency-based assessments in the classroom often
look like individualized work plans. In one example, the
teacher gave the students a series of tasks involving investi-
gating a local environmental problem. The tasks were cu-
mulative in nature: identify a problem in the local environ-
ment, find resources on the general problem, find resources
on the local situation, compile the information, construct
questions, develop a research project to answer questions,
conduct a study, present findings, and participate in local
action. Students met with the teacher to review their
progress on each task and make sure it was successfully
completed before they moved on to the next one.
Nonformal Environmental Education
and Nontraditional Assessment
Many teachers take advantage of environmentally-oriented
programs offered by the nonformal education sector, such
as field trips to outdoor areas and tours of museums and
nature centers. These experiences are most effective when
integrated with course content, and can be ideal for apply-
ing many forms of nontraditional assessment. Working
with teachers to incorporate the learning from the nonfor-
mal setting into portfolios, rubrics, or performance-based
assessments enhances and validates the nonformal pro-
gram. This creates a framework for students to realize the
value of the learning from these programs.
For example, one Ohio nature center uses perform-
ance-based assessments to see if hikes are teaching the skills
desired: toward the end of the hike, the naturalist has the
youth participate in a hunt in which each of the youth must
find and identify three to five of the species focused on dur-
ing the hike and explain how they "knew" what they found.
One zoo works with a local school district to ensure that the
programs offered by the zoo fit within the school's course of
study and the activities the students are engaged in at the
zoo become part of the students' portfolios. Many science
museums work with formal education institutions to pro-
vide skill training that is part of the scoring guide for sci-
ence classes.
Environmental Education as a
Catalyst for Nontraditional Assessment
If assessments are to be used to truly enhance learning, they
must not only look different, but must accurately measure
the very traits, skills, and cognitive processes we want them
to measure. Environmental education, at its core, has sev-
eral of the characteristics needed for successful application
not only in education reform, but in assessment within the
reform movement. By its very nature, environmental edu-
cation simultaneously draws on many disciplines. It re-
quires learners to use higher level thinking skills, such as de-
cision-making about complex situations or integrative
problem-solving. Environmental education can place the
learners' actions within the context of the real world. It is a
natural catalyst for using nontraditional forms of assess-
ment to further the goals of education reform.
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
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SAMPLE RUBRIC: Evaluating the Simulation of
Community Decision-Making Regarding a Nuclear Power Plant
Factual
Information
Creativity
Participation
To earn an A*
Using at least-eight
varied sources to
present science-
based and social
science information
that supports your
position and antici-
pates the arguments
of other groups
All to earn grades B-
D, plus incorporate
dress, behavior of
the role in the simu-
lation, including a
unique perspective
that goes beyond
the role card
Presenting your in-
formation in an ap-
propriate manner
and fully exploring
your assigned role
To earn a B*
Using five or more
sources to present
science-based and
social science infor-
mation that supports
your position
Assume the role
assigned, interview
people in the com-
munity, fully play
out the role in the
simulation
Doing more than the
required research,
participating in the
simulation in the
role assigned
To earn a C*
Using more than
three sources to
present science-
based and social
science information
that supports your
position
Assume the role
assigned and do
basic research on the
position for that role
Doing required re-
search on the topic
and the community
and participating in
the simulation
To earn a D*
Presenting factual
information with
minimal citation
Participate in the
simulation activity
Being present
*Many people prefer to correlate rubrics with general standards (basic, proficient, advanced) rather than letter grades.
REFERENCES
1 Jorgensen, M. Assessing Habits of Mind: Performance-Based
Assessment in Science and Mathematics. Columbus, Ohio:
ERIC Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and Environ-
mental Education, 1994.
2 Herman, J. L. "What Research Tells Us about Good Assess-
ment." Educational Leadership 49 (May 1992): 74-78.
RECOMMENDED READING
Crooks, T.J. "The Impact of Classroom Evaluation Practices on
Students." Review of Educational Research 85, no. 4 (1988): 467.
Jorgensen, M. Rethinking Portfolio Assessment: Documenting
the Intellectual Work of Learners in Science and Mathematics.
Columbus, Ohio: ERIC Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics,
and Environmental Education, 1996.
Marcinkowski, T. "Assessment in Environmental Education."
In Environmental Education Teacher Resource Handbook,
edited by R. J. Wilke. Millwood, New York: Kraus International
Publications, 1993.
Meyer, C. A. "What's the Difference Between 'Authentic'
and 'Performance' Assessment?" Educational Leadership 49,
no. 8 (May 1992): 39-40.
Paulson, R L., P. R. Paulson, and C. A. Meyer. "What Makes a
Portfolio a Portfolio?" Educational Leadership, (February 1991):
60-63.
Slavin, E.R. Student Team Learning: A Practical Guide to
Cooperative Learning. 3rd ed. Washington, D. C.: National
Education Association, 1991.
JoeE. Heimlich, Ph.D., is Leader, Environmental Science
for Ohio State University Extension and an Associate Professor
of Environmental Education in the OSU School of Natural
Resources, which is a partner in the Environmental Education
and Training Partner ship. Heimlich also works with the
EETAP Resource Library.
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
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Transforming
Study Hall
into an
Integrated
Curriculum
PROGRAM
BY FREDERIC R.WILSON
When community leaders in Huntingdon,
Pennsylvania, face an environmental prob-
lem, they're likely to call on the sixth
graders at Huntingdon Area Middle School
to help. These students have earned their
reputation as knowledgeable and capable
community stewards. Over the last five
years, for example, they:
* Launched a three-year campaign to cor-
rect a severe local pollution problem. Hav-
ing discovered the problem while testing
water quality on Muddy Run stream dur-
ing their science class, students traced
the pollution to storm water runoff infil-
trating and overloading a sewer line.They
wrote a proposal for—and received—
a $250,000 state grant to replace three
miles of broken sewage lines.
• Helped to design, pay for, construct, land-
scape, and build a wetland on school prop-
erty to reduce problems associated with
storm water runoff in their community.
• With community partners, constructed a
swale along a flood-prone section of
Muddy Run to prevent flooding and re-
duce erosion. In January 1999,the students
received a $3,600 Watershed Restoration
Assistance Grant from the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection,
which they will use to plant trees and un-
derstory scrub to stabilize the swale.
These sixth graders are taking part in a pro-
gram called Science Teams in Rural Environ-
ments for Aquatic Management (STREAMS).
Developed at Huntingdon, STREAMS is an
integrated curriculum that incorporates
environmental topics into hands-on learn-
ing activities in science, math, social studies,
and language arts. A team of four teachers
conducts the classes, including program
co-founders Frederic Wilson and Timothy
Julian (see box). A large portion of the pro-
gram is based on voluntary student parti-
cipation.
Like most new programs, STREAMS
did encounter initial obstacles. Scheduling,
funding, and convincing community leaders
to involve students in local problems all re-
quired creative approaches. The school
made time in the schedule for these extra
learning opportunities by using former
study hall periods and letting students
continue their work in an after-school en-
vironmental club. Grants helped meet the
funding challenge. Program participants
earned the cooperation of community
members and parent volunteers as stu-
dents proved themselves capable of de-
signing relevant projects and doing accu-
rate field work.
Getting Started
Given an already full curriculum at Hunt-
ingdon, STREAMS started as a way to liven
up study hall periods. Students were of-
fered a choice of taking a study hall or get
ting involved in hands-on, environmentally-
oriented academic study and outdoor
learning. Many students enthusiastically
volunteered for the rigorous program.
STREAMS was fortunate to have the
support of principal Jill Adams from the
start. Adams said, "Administering the
STREAMS program is exciting because both
students and teachers are engaged in the
learning process, and it benefits both. It's
this type of academic endeavor that will
help schools meet national standards in
math and science. All it takes is a change
in teaching approach, collaboration, and a
willingness to make it happen."
In fact, when administrators saw the
outcomes of the voluntary program, they
^Among S^affis Key
I When Huntingdon Area Middle School students head to the river to monitor the water quality, Rose Taylor,
is?-the language arts teacher, is there. She also prepares students for STREAMS activities by making sure they
P=^SplpirS^olip3uTajry wOTdTtEeywHT need, working with students on writing assignments, and grading other
; • Subject"pap"ers~as"if they were turned in to her in language arts.
fr^^Matlilnrt
|f;tharts and graphs, and use word processing and database skills to complete tasks. He uses data collected by
ISJ&sjduring"field[.studies to engage them in problem-solving activities and to teach fractions, percentage,
ISSlSIs^
- ^Tjm Julian, ihe science teacher, integrates the physical, chemical, and biological sciences to help students
understandjhe properties of water and the physical features of a stream. Students investigate ways of treating
ter and waste water; conduct limnology tests; examine plankton; compare fresh and salt water; and
:Kartsan9 graphs, ancTto analyze limnologicaFdata.
T--'^WgS'WilspJri, theAsocial studies imtructor and STREAMS program"'director, relates environmental topics to
"" "" p and stewardship as students evaluate the envkonmental impacts of land use. His students share
their 'discoveries with appropriate authorities and encourage the potential solutions they have researched.
^_T_-?__:_rM_ll-^sfj^L jf.— "Jpson gives students opportunities to volunteer for community projects that
improve their local environment.
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
-------
knew they had a good thing going. They
soon integrated the STREAMS program
into the school's core science curriculum.
Now, all sixth-grade students at HAMS
participate in a 50-hour core program at
the beginning of each school year. About
60 percent of the 6th grade curriculum is
covered in team-taught, interdisciplinary
classes, largely using hands-on activities
and outdoor studies. This approach re-
quired changing the school schedule to al-
low longer time blocks, and cultivating a
willingness in teachers to allow individual
students to occasionally adjust their
schedules.
A STREAMS curriculum document,
specifically created to help teachers
integrate environmental education
into their school, is available at
www. ems.psu. edulHAMSI.
A Motivated Group
After they complete the core course, stu-
dents can—and do—choose to take part
in voluntary environmental activities to
benefit their community. They carry out
most of these activities through the after-
school club, which averages 60 members
each year. Students conduct original re-
search, prepare and analyze surveys, moni-
tor water quality, write grant proposals to
fund student-driven projects, and make
presentations at conferences or civic orga-
nizations. Students design and carry out
these projects on their own, with assis-
tance from teachers as needed. Their next
task is to construct a large study garden to
attract hummingbirds and butterflies and
provide more opportunities for inte-
grated, hands-on study on the school site.
The extra study and community pro-
jects are entirely voluntary and students
involved earn no academic credit. So, why
do students volunteer? According to
Rachael, one of the original STREAMS pro-
gram participants, "It made us feel like we
were making a difference." Alison, another
former participant who helped with devel-
oping surveys, public speaking, creating the
wetlands, building the swale, planting trees,
and monitoring stream water quality, said
she "liked that adults listened to us and al-
lowed us to help our town."
As a sixth grader, Heather spear-
headed the start of an environmental news-
letter, Reflecting on her experience two
years later, she said, "I realize that when
students have the courage to speak and act
with knowledge, adults will listen. Not only
adults have the power to change things.
Students do, too."
Frederic R.W/7son fe a team teacher of 25
years who has received outstanding educator
and community service awards. He has made
numerous local, state, and national presenta-
tions promoting the integration of environ-
mental education into school curricula, has
been a consultant to educational and environ-
mental institutions, and has conducted stu-
dent and teacher environmental workshops.
\ *
^•-•'^^u'it'feljp-
_ ^^'^^"^^^Mm-
Peer Teaching: Two sixth grade students master a computer
graphic program in order to help teach classmates how to
plot water quality data from field studies of local streams.
Multi-Grade Activities (above): Two high school advanced
biology students team with two sixth grade students
to complete a nitrate and phosphate evaluation at the
Huntingdon Area Middle School Wetland. Cross-grade,
multidisciplinary projects are encouraged.
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
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Audits:
They're Not
Just for Taxes
Anymore!
PROGRAM
BY LAUREN POLLOCK MCFALL
"It's so nice to do something
worthwhile at our own school.
We don't even have to get a bus!"
"This curriculum is one of the
best I've seen. The best part is,
it's locally based."
These are the responses E2: Environment
& Education (E2) coordinators heard from
Arizona teachers when they conducted
a workshop on their Environmental
ACTION curriculum, a science-based,
interdisciplinary environmental audit
curriculum for middle and secon-
dary school students. The curricu-
lum gives students and teachers a
step-by-step process for learning
about environmental issues and
their impact on human health and
environmental quality.
One of E2"s main goals is to
ease the introduction of the new
curriculum into classrooms on a
district-wide basis. In 1998,the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
awarded E2 a grant to train twenty
Tucson area educators through a
one-day workshop in fall 1998 and
year-long follow-up support The
workshop provided teachers the
opportunity to learn about environ-
mental action projects and how they
can enhance a classroom's current
curriculum. After setting implemen-
tation goals for the year, the educa-
tors are working with E2 trainer M.
Lynette Fleming, a Tucson resident,
to explore the varied ways they can in-
tegrate Environmental ACTION into their
current teaching.Through the grant, E2 is
carrying out the same district-wide-ap-
proach with E2 trainer Emi Gittleman and
the Ossining School District in New York.
Participants in both workshops stated
that they were pleased to discover the
SPRING 1999
accuracy, yet flexibility, of the materials.The
teachers were glad they can use each
module separately from the others, allow-
ing them to choose the topic(s) most ap-
propriate for their grade level. Fleming re-
ports that many of the Arizona teachers
have already worked up plans to use the
materials to implement a campus audit
during the current school year, which is a
requirement of participating in E2's grant
program. Added enticement comes from
having other teachers in the district using
the same program, and knowing there is
coordinated support from E2 educators.
The Environmental ACTION program
consists of six modules. The modules are
part of a complete curriculum package.
They can be used in companionship with
one another, or they can stand alone. Each
module includes a teacher resource guide
and a student edition. Following is a brief
description of the six modules:
Teachers conduct a campus audit.
Energy Conservation
Students explore the sources, production,
uses, and environmental effects of energy.
They apply their learning by examining
ways to improve the energy efficiency of
their school and homes.
Food Choices
Students investigate the effects of food
production, diet, and nutrition on human
health and the environment. Students ana-
lyze their food choices and the school's
food service program to identify healthy
choices and practices.
Habitat and Biodiversity
Students study the importance of bio-
logical diversity, landscape management,
xeriscaping, composting, and integrated
pest management. Students assess the
current landscaping, then evaluate its pre-
sent health and environmental impact.
This module also contains a step-by-step
guide to creating an organic garden and
seed bank.
Chemicals: Choosing Wisely
Students investigate the types of materi-
als, chemical products, cleaning supplies,
and pesticide practices used in their
school, including how they are used,
stored, and disposed of, and what their
potential effects are on human
health and the environment. Stu-
dents then develop a plan for using
Earth- and human-friendly alterna-
tives to hazardous chemicals at
school and at home.
Waste Reduction
Students sort and analyze school
waste to identify recyclable and
compostable materials. This helps
them identify ways to reduce con-
sumption and waste at school and
at home. They then develop an im-
proved waste management program.
Water Conservation
After an introduction to water con-
sumption and quality issues, stu-
dents will conduct an audit of water
usage and efficiency on the school
campus. They then develop strate-
gies for implementing water con-
servation at school and at home.
For many activities, students
work in small action groups.This al-
lows for leadership opportunities,
independent work, a practical way
of assessing the school campus, and a com-
prehensive approach to the issue. Activi-
ties are cross-curricular with suggested
extension paths by different subject areas;
they also demonstrate the interconnec-
tions of various aspects of the issue.
Through the practice of taking action
students begin to recognize their own
EEDUCATOR
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A Framework
for Learning
PROGRAM PROFILE
Huntingdon Area Middle School (see page
56) is one of 40 schools included in a recent
nationwide study on using the environment
as an integrating context for learning, re-
ferred to as E 1C. The State Education and
Environment Roundtable prepared a report
on the findings of the study, Closing the
Achievement Gap, that indicates students
learn more effectively within an environ-
ment-based context than within a tradi-
tional educational frameworkThis evidence
comes from site visits, interviews, survey re-
sults, and gains on both standardized test
scores and grade point averages.
The observed benefits of ElC-based
programs are both broad-ranging and en-
couraging. They include:
• Better performance on standard-
ized measures of academic achieve-
ment in reading, writing, math,
science, and social studies;
• Reduced discipline and classroom
management problems;
• Increased engagement and
enthusiasm for learning; and,
• Greater student pride in and
ownership of accomplishments.
The Roundtable's efforts to study and
promote EIC stem from a 1994 study that
revealed a broad-based need for better in-
formation about integrating environmental
content, pedagogy, and principles into for-
mal K—12 educational systems. As part of
the study, representatives from nine state
education agencies met and identified steps
needed to build the knowledge base for
EIC. Their recommendations included es-
tablishing a national body to help facilitate
information-sharing among state agencies
and identify successful implementation
strategies that might be replicated.
In response, the Roundtable was cre-
ated in 1995 with funding from The Pew
Charitable Trusts. Its mission is to "aid state
education agencies in their efforts to im-
prove learning by using the environment
as an integrating concept." The Roundtable
concentrates on serving the needs of twelve
member states with already-established
foundations that could most benefit from
concentrated support.
Through semi-annual meetings, the
Roundtable seeks to assist the member
states' program coordinators to refine their
skills, share experiences, and identify benefi-
cial resources. To build a knowledge base,
the Roundtable researches case studies and
collects information on existing EIC and en-
vironmental education programs. Research
results are disseminated through the semi-
annual meetings, as well as on the Internet
and at state and national conferences. They
are used to develop and disseminate rec-
ommended strategies for addressing essen-
tial components of effective state programs
in environmental education.The Roundtable
also offers seminars; a technical assistance
register; and an Internet-based communica-
tion system that includes links to related
sites, access to Roundtable publications, and
an on-line EIC discussion group (via Ed-
Gateway, see page 16).
Members of the Roundtable coined
the term and define EIC as "education that
employs natural and built environments as
the context for learning and, within that
framework:
- crosses traditional disciplinary
boundaries;
- relies on team-teaching;
— provides hands-on learning
experiences, often through
project-based, problem-solving
activities;
— offers cooperative learning
opportunities; and
— adapts to the needs of individual
students through learner-centered
methods."
EIC is about using a school's surround-
ings and community as a framework within
which students can construct their own
learning, guided by teachers and adminis-
trators using proven educational practices.
ElC-based programs typically employ the
environment as a comprehensive focus and
framework for learning in all areas: general
and disciplinary knowledge; thinking and
problem-solving skills; and cooperation, in-
terpersonal communication, and other basic
life skills.
By providing a comprehensive educa-
tional framework instead of traditional
compartmentalized approaches, research
results indicate that EIC significantly im-
proves student performance throughout
the curriculum and appears to enrich the
overall school experience.
For more information on EIC, contact:
State Education and Environment
Roundtable
16486 Bernardo Center Drive, Suite 328
San Diego, CA 92128
(619)676-0272
(619) 676-1088 (fax)
Web site: www.seer.org
Audits, continued
actions as part of the "problem," and
more importantly, part of the "solution."
They also gain experience in real life is-
sues, cost benefit analysis, and negotiating
for change.
For more information about the Enw'ron-
menta/ ACTION program, district-wide
implementation, and available outreach
services, contact the E2 main office
in Boulder, CO at (303) 442-3339. The
modules are published and distributed by
CuisenairelDale Seymour Publications,
(800)872-1100.
Lauren Pollock McFall, Director of Outreach
Services for E2, has worked with all age
groups both in the classroom and the out-
doors. She has a B.A. in education, teaching
certificates in California and Arizona, and a
master's degree in curriculum development
and leadership.
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
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As part of Project del Rio,
a Gadsden High School
student demonstrates
different reasons for
groundwater contamination
to New Mexico grocery
shoppers.
The Ties Thai Bind:
Developing School-
Community Partnerships
by
Caroline
Taylor
Modern technological advances such as air travel,
television, and the Internet have in many ways lib-
erated people from the established hierarchies and
prescribed social roles of traditional communities. But
, while technology expands our horizons, it also strains the
personal connections that are born of shared history, shared
interests, and shared responsibility. And as our lives become
more compartmentalized, social interactions within com-
munities are increasingly divided along the lines of family,
work, school, and worship.
These circumstances are perhaps most evident in urban
areas, where the natural environment—once a clear focus
of shared responsibility—seems removed from the sub-
stance of daily life. How can students be expected to em-
brace the natural world when they are isolated from that
world during school hours? How can a community encour-
age young people to participate in environmental steward-
ship? How can measures to protect the environment expand
beyond the dedication of a concerned few?
One answer is school-community partnerships. Under
the umbrella of environmental education, schools and
communities can find ways to combine their agendas in
projects that simultaneously conserve precious natural
resources, strengthen personal connections, and engage
students in a learning process that is active, meaningful, and
fruitful.
A Different Kind of Classroom
Students at South Colby Elementary in Port Orchard,
Washington, get their feet wet and their hands muddy not at
recess, but while they're in class. In fact, the students them-
selves created this on-site interpretive nature trail and wet-
land "classroom" where they can observe mallard ducks and
other indigenous species as they learn firsthand about the
wetlands' role in controlling flooding and eliminating tox-
ins from the water. In this classroom, real-life issues become
the context for assignments that can challenge and improve
students' basic reading, writing, and math skills.
The South Colby program has not only redefined the
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
-------
classroom, it has provided a way for parents and other
members of the community to get involved. Senior citizens
and experienced landscapers recently joined the school in
planting gardens and rescuing indigenous plants from the
surrounding area. "This has allowed us to embrace a new set
of volunteers, often people who were never sure how they
could fit into the volunteer puzzle at South Colby," says
fourth grade teacher Steve Maddox. "We've had many mas-
ter gardeners come out and help."
Nurturing Stewardship
In an urban setting, connecting with
nature is not as daunting a challenge
as it may seem. At the Robert Na-
thaniel Dett Elementary School in
one of Chicago's most impoverished
neighborhoods, a butterfly garden is
helping students learn about the en-
vironment while enhancing the city's
local biodiversity. The garden grew
out of a 1996 workshop to provide
Chicago educators with biodiversity
education training. The workshop
was created in partnership with the
World Wildlife Fund and the Chicago
Wilderness Project, a collaboration of
54 public and private organizations
whose mission is to protect, restore,
and manage Chicago's natural areas.
"There was a fenced-off empty
lot near the school," says Dett science
teacher John Roper, "and we'd clean
it up every year on Earth Day. But
we knew we could do more than just
give kids a cement playground." The
school appealed to the city of Chicago
to become one of the first schools to
have its own park. Then, under the "Adopt-a-School" pro-
gram, it joined forces with the Blue Cross-Blue Shield orga-
nization who provided the services of a horticulturist. The
horticulturist worked with students, teachers, and parents
to select native plants that would attract butterflies. "The
students studied the history of these plants and tried to pre-
dict which butterfly species would be attracted to them,"
says Roper. For their next project, Roper and his students
plan to build bird houses and are already trying to predict
what kinds of birds will use them.
Galvanizing the Community
Young people who get involved in their community become
empowered young people. They learn that they can make a
difference. In Vilas, South Dakota (pop. 2,800), students at
Howard High School are getting involved in a town-wide
to Successful Partnerships
A student looks at
organisms collected
with a seine net from
a lagoon at Chicago's
Washington Park.
prge partnerships that last and are meaningful
'fball involved, consider these fundamentals:
ign programs that are mutually beneficial
goals of all partners.
jUnvplve all parties from the start. Don't create the
program for them, create it with them.
Set realistic goals and make sure
you have the human resources
to achieve them.
Outline key responsibilities
and expectations clearly, and
preferably in writing.
Communicate regularly and
openly. Listen and respond
to all ideas.
Be ready for the unexpected.
Be flexible. Try new approaches.
Seek involvement from the
educational community: How
can parents help? How about
school administrators? Staff
from the local museum? Local
experts from universities?
Expand your possibilities—
- draw on the entire community:
Is there a restaurant or grocery
^•vs^**^ "storeTiiat can provide refresh-
_ he day you're planting a garden? Are
jmployees from a local business looking for
jfjlunteerLopportunities? Would the local Kiwanis,
r, OJ Qarden^Chib proyidefmidingor vol-
„ _^_^_. ^ JjLCanjhg conim^iinicatigns_department
localcorporate office lend the services of
:r for your brochure?
participation. Send thank you
^eyents, and copies of student
^yorlc to demonstrate your appreciation.
effort to revitalize the local economy. Vilas is participating
in the Annenberg Rural Challenge, a national program
aimed at strengthening rural communities by supporting
education that encourages students to become informed,
active citizens. As Howard High School teacher Raymond
Parry suggests, "There's more to education than what's in.
the textbook on page 28." Students at Howard have planted
a two-acre apple orchard behind the school as well as a
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
-------
strawberry field whose bounty they will market in the sum-
mer. Local gardeners are also helping the students develop a
wholesale nursery and flower business.
In another example of informed community action,
students at North Farrnington High School near Detroit
worked on a project to monitor the local water quality.
Downstream from a city sewage pumping station, the stu-
dents found elevated levels of bacterial contamination and
traced it to the outflow of one of'the pumping station's
pipes. They shared these findings with the city engineer,
who quickly mobilized a team to repair the malfunctioning
pump.
The key to this bilateral approach to environmental ed-
ucation is relevance. Classroom activities help students rec-
ognize the connection between school ecology studies and
shared community concerns such as water quality. When
they can see the positive impact of their efforts, students are
more motivated to identify and help solve local environ-
mental problems.
Bridging the Cultural Divide
The potential benefits of school-community partnerships
may be extended to virtually every area of study and every
facet of life. In the case of Project del Rio (Proyecto del Rio),
a water quality monitoring program along the Rio Grande,
cultural awareness, geography, and language studies have
been incorporated into the environmental education cur-
riculum. One of ten partners in the Environmental Educa-
tion and Training Partnership (see box), Project del Rio was
created in partnership with the nonprofit Tides Foundation
and the Global Rivers Environmental Education Network
(GREEN), an international organization dedicated to im-
proving education by promoting watershed sustainability.
Using maps and other resources provided by the Pro-
ject, students from various schools along the river from
Taos, New Mexico to Brownsville, Texas and Matamoros,
Mexico spend several days becoming familiar with the wa-
tershed. They examine regional land uses that might affect
water quality as well as learn about local communities' wa-
ter and sewage systems. Students from each participating
school then travel to various locations along the river and
sample the water quality. Through a bilingual computer
network, the students share their findings with other
schools. The result is a water quality profile of the Rio
Grande along its entire length.
Dreaming Big
As the previous examples illustrate, opportunities for both
formal and nonformal education abound in school-com-
munity partnerships. The more clearly this is demon-
strated, the greater the chances are to rally support for inno-
vative environmental education curricula. Long Middle
School in Booneville, Mississippi is building a Center for
Earth Science Studies with $6 million from the Southeast-
lucation and
EETAP Partners work with schools and
WestEd, in collaboration with the
[PiffnerjSip_CEETAPlwa.sj;s; ^rganjgationsi jo achieve state andlocal CaBtornia Schools Implementation
educ^QnreSrmgo^ln^TagTrSvF* ^~~NeTworEJTs~working wltn 35 scKooli"
rgm^nSreducation. Examples include: to promote envkonmentat^aence"
ressionaTs todeliver quality
mlti-
?ro)ect is managed
aciationror Envi-
m^>
nvironmental Education.
eram
wrenyironnientg.gducatipn
= Four Project Learning Tree (PLT)
—states have developed correlations of
« PLT curriculum to state standards.
••The work shows how PLT materials
--can help educators successruEy meet
s_._The work
ioIderaQn^sfrrateliQlscKS
aw<
jaljtyeducation in their
s. NanonalxorrelationsnaTC^
Participating schools report 15 to 80
or more days of integrated environ-
mental lessons in kindergarten
through sixth grades.
• For more information about EETAP,
—visit its web site at www.eetap.org
e-or contact the staff by e-mail at
jjugstlom@eetap.org or by phone
.
jrofessionals; ^5° been developed to promote .KLI
[ toolfooaeeting national...
*-science and social studies standards.
.providing correlation and assessment
niem meet state
SPRING 1999
EEDUCATOR
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em Regional Vision for Education (SERVE), one of ten
Regional Educational Laboratories funded by the U.S. De-
partment of Education (see page 47). "We are a small rural
community," says Long Middle School Principal Linda
Clifton. "We never thought this was possible, but SERVE
encouraged us to expand our dreams and provided techni-
cal assistance along with encouragement." With contribu-
tions from the Smithsonian Institution, the National Aero-
nautics and Space Administration, and the Mississippi
Department of Economic Development, the Center, a stu-
dent-oriented learning environment as well as a training
center for teachers in educational technology and environ-
mental studies, is on its way to becoming a reality.
How to Get Started
If you are interested in forming school-community part-
nerships within your own community, how should you be-
gin? A valuable resource is the Internet, one of the techno-
logical advances mentioned at the beginning of this article.
While the Internet may encourage individuals to think be-
yond the confines of their community, it also allows real-
time interaction among like-minded people from around
the world. Talking about shared concerns can go a long way
to refocus people's efforts in their own backyards. (See
"Web Sites Worth Checking Out" on page 64 for a number
of ideas.)
Needless to say, you can't stop in the virtual world; a
main point of developing partnerships is providing real-
world connections. The best resource, of course, is your
own creativity. If you identify a local opportunity for a
school-community partnership, go ahead and make a pro-
posal to community leaders who can lend their support.
And don't overlook potential contributions of volunteer
time, meeting space, publicity, and expertise from busi-
nesses and organizations from whom you would typically
solicit project funds. Many of the projects listed in "Partner-
ships with Nonformal Institutions" (see box) were devel-
oped outside the auspices of established programs.
Caroline Taylor is director of publications for World Wildlife
Fund and a former director of editorial policy for the U.S.
Department of Education.
j- •*- C
Partnerships with Nonformal Institutions
-H JK
Since 198 J, the Missouri Botanical Garden has oper-
ated EGO-ACT (ECO for ecology and ACT for ad ing,
creating, and teaching), which teaches environmental
issues and leadership_skills to about 6*0 St. Louis junior
and senior high school students of diverse back- i
grounds. The students receive class credit for teaching
environmental concepts to elementary school students
one hour per week.
Fourth-graders in Tulsa, Oklahoma, participate in the
"Secrets of Suryival" envfrp.nme.nt£(i workshop at the
city's zoo. The students are challenged to gain hands-
on'experience and use their critical thinking skills to
discover adaptations that help organisms survive and
reproduce. The fourth-graders leave with a greater un-
derstanding of the impact people have on the environ-
ment arid how tp careJfos, connect,|jp, and conserve the
natural world.
In Providence, Rhode Island, third- and fourth-graders
learn about trees by visiting places like the Rhode Is-
land School.pf Design (RISD). At the RISD Museum.
of Art, they see how trees are depicted in art; at the lo-
cal zoo, they see how animals use trees; at a local land
trust, they learn how trees grow and how wood prod-
ucts are used. The year-long program also includes
teacher orientation, classroom materials, and exhibits
of the students'artwork.
• Through a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical
Institute Precollege Science Education Initiative,
educators at Baltimore's National Aquarium provide
-.workshops designed to complement Baltimore's new
elementary school science curriculum for second-
and fifth-grade students. Each summer 48 teachers
from 24 schools participate in inservice workshops.
They receive valuable training in marine science and
hands-on learning.
• The Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose, Cali-
"fornia, has created a comprehensive environmental
research program called "BioSITE," which serves 1,400
low-income children, families, and teachers in down-
town San Jose. Participants use the museum's eleven-
acre site along the banks of the Guadalupe River to
conduct field studies on the effects of people and
nature on the river and its inhabitants.
EEDUCATOR
SPRING 1999
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