National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education Launches Four-Point Program
Environmental education is a process that aims to develop an environmentally literate citizenry that can compete in our global economy, has the skills, knowledge, and inclinations to make well-informed choices, and exercises the rights and responsibili ties of members of a community. Through the National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education, the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) is taking the lead in establishing guidelines for the development of balanced, scientifically accurate, and comprehensive environmental education programs. These guidelines will show how environmental education can be used as a means for meeting the high standards set by the traditional disciplines by providing students with opportunities to synthesize knowledge and experiences across disciplines. Good quality environmental education programs facilitate the teaching of science, civics, social studies, mathematics, geography, and language arts. It is hoped that these guidelines will help educators develop meaningful environmental education programs that integrate across and build upon the core disciplines.
The National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education is focusing on four interrelated efforts: 1) publication of Environmental Education Materials: Guidelines for Excellence; 2) creation of a series of educators' resource guides to quality environmental education materials; 3) development of environmental education learner guidelines; and 4) development of a set of recommendations for the preparation and continuing education of teachers and other environmental educators.
Published in November 1996 by NAAEE, the Guidelines for Excellence provides a set of recommendations for developing and selecting environmental education materials. These guidelines aim to help developers of activity guides, lesson plans, and other instructional materials produce high quality produces, and to provide educators with a tool to evaluate the wide array of available environmental education materials. Developed through a process of critique and consensus, the Guidelines for Excellence are grounded in a common understanding of effective environmental education. Over 1000 practitioners and scholars in the field participated in the review and development of this document.
Guidelines for Excellence points out six key characteristics of high quality environmental education materials. For each of these characteristics, there are listed some guidelines for environmental education materials to follow. Each guideline is accompanied by several indicators listed under the heading "What to Look For." These indicators suggest ways of gauging whether materials follow the guidelines. The Guidelines for Excellence offer a way of judging the relative merit of different materials, a standard to aim for in developing new materials, and a set of ideas about what a well-rounded environmental education curriculum might be like. Single copies of Guidelines for Excellence are available for $6 (NAAEE members) and $7 (nonmembers) plus $3.95 shipping and handling from NAAEE's Publications and Membership Office, P.O. Box 400, Troy, OH 45373, phone/FAX (937)-676-2514.
To help guide teachers in deciding which materials best meet their needs, The national Project for Excellence in Environmental Education is also developing a series of educators' resource guides to quality environmental education materials. All materi als listed in these resource guides will go through an extensive review conducted by panels of classroom teachers, environmental educators, curriculum developers, and environmental scientists. A broad range of educational materials will be included in the review. The review criteria have been drawn from Guidelines for Excellence.
In cooperation with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and World Wildlife Fund, at least four resource guides are being developed: one focusing on biodiversity-related materials, one on wildlife-related materials, while the remaining two will draw broadly from materials developed in environmental education. The first resource guide is expected to be published in March 1997. Subsequent guides will be published throughout 1997 and 1998.
The Environmental Education Learner Guidelines, drawing on the field's best thinking about the core ingredients for quality environmental education, will describe what an environmentally literate person would know and be able to do. They will 1) sugge st appropriate expectations for learner achievement in kindergarten through fourth grades, fifth through eighth grades, and ninth through twelfth grades; 2) foster the development of effective and comprehensive environmental education programs and curricula; 3) point the way toward using environmental education as a means for meeting the standards set by the traditional disciplines by providing students with opportunities to synthesize knowledge and experiences across disciplines; and 4) provide a common understanding of the aims of environmental education to ground collaborative educational efforts.
Developed through a process of critique and consensus, the Learner Guidelines will be modeled after the national standards published by the various discipline-based groups. The first full draft of the Guidelines will be available for review and comment in February 1997. After at least two full review cycles, the Guidelines are expected to be published by early fall 1997.
The development of guidelines for teacher education and professional development in environmental education relates integrally to the Learner Guidelines. Defining what students should know and be able to do as environmentally literate citizens determines, to some degree, what educators need to know and be able to do. But being an effective environmental educator requires more than competency with a specific set of learner knowledge and skills. Educators design programs and curricula, teach students with diverse backgrounds, maintain educational policies, assess student achievement, and utilize a variety of education strategies. The Environmental Educator Guidelines will need to address each of these issues. The Environmental Educator Guidelines will be developed through a process of critique and consensus. It is anticipated that this process will be initiated later during the fall of 1997.
The Director for the National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education is Bora Simmons, Northern Illinois University, Lorado Taft Field Campus, Box 299, Oregon, IL 61061, (815)-753-0205 X113; FAX: (815)-732-4242.
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