Q and A

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Q.  What is environmental education?

A. Environmental Education is the study of the relationships and interactions between natural and human systems. It is interdisciplinary, combining aspects of natural sciences such as ecology and geography with aspects of social sciences such as economics, law, and public health. It is hands-on, student-centered, inquiry driven, and relevant to students' everyday lives.  

Two NSF boards have underscored the importance of environmental education and have called for a systematic approach to EE.  Business leaders like Dupont's Charles Holliday, believe an environmentally literate workforce is critical to their long term success and profitability.  A recent Roper Poll found that 95% of the public supports EE in schools.

Q.   Who determines what environmental education is taught in the schools and in the curriculum?  

A. Under the proposed No Oregon Child Left Inside legislation, the responsibility for defining what environmental education 
programs would be implemented is left to Oregon and local school systems.  


Q.  What evidence do you have that environmental education improves student achievement?

A. Several studies have found that, when environmental education is incorporated into the curriculum or used as an integrating 
context for learning, students perform better on standardized tests in reading, math, writing, social studies and
science.   Other studies have documented that environmental education improves critical thinking skills, motivates
students to greater engagement and achievement in their schoolwork, reduces discipline and classroom management problems,
encourages civic engagement and environmental stewardship, and better problem solving skills.  These studies include:

• Lieberman, Gerald A. and Hoody, Linda. 1998. Closing the Achievement Gap. San Diego, CA: State Education and Environment Roundtable.   Survey of 40 schools across the country. 
  

• Bartosh, Oksana. 2003. Environmental Education: Improving Student Achievement. Thesis for a Masters in Environmental Studies, Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA.

• Athman, Julie and Monroe, Martha. 2004. The effects of environment-based education on students' achievement motivation. Journal of Interpretation Research, 9(1): 9-25.

• Duffin, Michael., Powers, A., Tremblay, George, and PEER Associates. 2004. Place-based Education Evaluation Collaborative: Report on Cross-program Research and Other Program Evaluation Activities, 2003-2004. (http://www.peecworks.org/PEEC/PEEC_Reports)

• Ernst, Julie Athman and Monroe, Martha. 2004. The effect of environment-based education on students' critical thinking skills and disposition toward critical thinking. Environmental Education Research, 10(4): 507-522.

• Falco, Edward H. 2004. Environment-based Education: Improving Attitudes and Academics for Adolescents. Evaluation report for South Carolina Depart­ment of Education.

• National Environmental Education Training Foundation (NEETF). 2000. Environment-based Education: Creating High Performance Schools and Students.

• State Education and Environment Roundtable (SEER). 2000. California Student Assessment Project: The Effects of Environment-based Education on Student Achievement. 

• American Institutes of Research. 2005. Effects of Outdoor Education Programs for Children in California.

 Q.  Why do we need environmental literacy plans?  Shouldn't we just provide federal funding to the states and let them decide how best to put the funds to use?

A. Planning at the state level is consistent with existing ESEA and will allow for much better coordination and integration of related programs and resources that might currently exist - whether the programs or resources come from ongoing school efforts, state or local natural resources agencies or parks, not-for-profit organizations or foundations.  Without planning those resources are less likely to be targeted on improving student performance as necessary under NCLB or state and local school system improvement efforts nor are they as likely to reach all students, particularly students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds or students with disabilities.  Moreover the plans preserve states' authority to define the environmental education content and allows for public participation.

Q.  What evidence do you have that environmental education has been squeezed out of the classroom?

A. While there are no specific studies of declining participation in environmental education research by the Center for Education Policy consistently document the curricular focus on NCLB reading and mathematics testing requirements and the reduction in classroom time spent on science, social studies and other curricular areas.