Any member of AEOE may submit articles or issues to be posted
on the web site. You may also submit comments on the online articles
or issues. Submissions may be edited for length or clarity, with the
assistance of the author. You may email or mail material to: the AEOE
Webmaster, or AEOE Newsletter
Editors.
Fire News, articles on Fire
Ecology and Fire in general are linked on the Fire
Information Page
Education and the Environment Initiative Update California’s Education and the Environment Initiative (EEI) is a landmark law concerning education about the environment in CA’s public schools. CREEC Coordinators throughout the state have been busy meeting with School Districts and selecting the 20 districts that will be field and pilot testing the EEI Model Curriculum. Field testing is slated to begin in February 2007, with pilot testing occurring during the 2007-2008 school year. By the fall of 2008, the curriculum should be ready to take to the State Board of Education for approval to use throughout CA. CREEC Coordinators will provide direct support to the teachers in the school districts selected for field and pilot testing.
The Model Curriculum will be an interdisciplinary program that teaches the CA State Standards to mastery, providing an alternate strategy to teach the standards using the environment as an integrating context for learning. EEI has a contract with the National Geographic Society, NOAA, and ESRI for pictures, maps, graphs and other graphic components to enhance the curriculum. Currently there are nine writers for the 4-6th grade curriculum package and 10 writers for the K-3rd grade package. The EEI team is hiring writers for the High school curriculum this month. If you’d like more information on EEI you can visit the district toolkit website at: www.seer.org/EEI/toolkit/EEI_District_Toolkit.html
Invitation To Participate In EETAP Cultural Inclusiveness Initiative EE and other organizations working in related areas are invited to submit letters of interest for an 18-month pilot initiative just announced by EETAP. The initiative will help build the knowledge base on EE how organizations become more culturally inclusive. Participating organizations will implement culturally inclusive practices and share their experience with other organizations as members of a learning community. It is anticipated that this experience will provide the groundwork needed to refine strategies and tools that will assist other EE organizations in becoming more culturally inclusive.
To learn more about this initiative, please request the “Building More Culturally Inclusive Organizations and Programs” description from:
Letters of interest are due by January 19, 2007.
AEOE
received mention in one of a series of Environmental Education Program
Profiles produced by the Environmental Education & Training Partnership (EETAP). The article is titled "California Dreamin' Becoming a Reality."
You can download the entire set of articles here or select this particular
article on the EETAP EE
Program Profiles page.
CONSERVATION
CAREERS DIVERSITY PROJECT SURVEY The Environmental Careers
Organization (ECO) is conducting a
national research project on initiatives/activities/programs (i.e. fellowships,
scholarships, field research education programs, K-12 programs, etc.)
which aim to educate, recruit, support and retain underrepresented groups
within the conservation field. The end result will be two-fold - a report
of trends and findings and an interactive online directory of activities.
ECO would like to include your activities in this important project
and free online directory.
Please go to: http://pragmatic-research.com/Surveys/10/eco.htm to
provide your information by answering 6 questions. Please respond at your earliest
convenience. As a thank you for your time, we will enter your name into a drawing
for a $300 American Express gift certificate upon submitting your information.
If you would like further information on the project, please go to http://www.eco.org/DI/Mapping/backgrnd.html.
If you have questions, contact the Project Manager, Marissa Glowac at
or 617-426-4375 X131.
COSA - Best Practices GuideCOSA
(California Outdoor School Administrators) is seeking submission of
outstanding and exemplary outdoor lessons which can be included in a
planned publication
entitled, “Best Practices Guide to Teaching in the Outdoors.” The
purpose of the guide will be to assemble the best lessons and trail
plans that are taught at residential outdoor schools throughout California.
The “Best Practices Guide” will be used to train new staff
or to offer greater resources to instructors at California’s Outdoor
Science Schools. To submit material, please go to the COSA website, http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/outdoored/cosa/ and
click on “Best Practices Guide.” There you will find the
format that needs to be used to submit a lesson or trail plan as well
as a sample lesson plan. New submissions are to be emailed to Rick
Mitchell at
. Submissions may include one picture preferably
in
a jpeg format. We’ll look forward to getting outstanding lessons
from outdoor science schools all across the state. We will announce
progress of the “Best
Practices Guide” on the COSA website and through articles in the
AEOE newsletter. Let’s show everyone that the best outdoor education
is happening in California!
Heroes of
the Environment Children?s Environmental Publishing respectfully
invites you to nominate candidates for inclusion in our upcoming
picture book for children, HEROES OF THE ENVIRONMENT. The purpose of
the book is to educate children about important contemporary environmental
issues and opportunities. The personal stories of environmental heroes
will serve to inspire children through examples of leaders from various
communities with whom they can identify. Deadline
for nominations: extended to April 8, 2005 Click
here for more information and a nomination form
NCLB (No Child Left Behind) Could
Alter Science Teaching - article reprinted from EdWeek, and commentary
from Dr. Art Sussman on the article. These issues and definitions
could definitely have an impact on the perceived importance of outdoor
science programs - but, as Dr. Art explains, the best of our programs
and instruction should and do combine direct instruction with
discovery and inquiry. Keeping on top of the research and politics
in this area will help us to keep providing the best possible experience
for students by allowing us to show administrators our value.
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION REPORT CARD SHOWS POSITIVE RESULTS ON STANDARDIZED
TESTS IN WASHINGTON STATE. Results of the Report Card on Environmental
Education in Washington State show students involved in environmental
education score higher on standardized
tests, than do students with more conventional schooling. The report
highlights successful ideas, projects, and innovations in environmental
education. View full report here (pdf
- 1.9 MB)
Effects of Outdoor Education
Programs on Children in CaliforniaThe
American Institutes of Research, a prominent evaluation research
center, is conducting an evaluation study of how California
Outdoor Schools
impact students' stewardship of the environment, personal and
social skills, as well as learning outcomes, especially in
science. Of
particular interest is their "delayed treatment" design,
which provides some attributes of an experimental design. The final
report is due
in January 2005. Funding for the study was made possible through
advocacy efforts by the Sierra Club. This is the result of AB
1330 .
URGENT ACTION NEEDED TO SUPPORT OUTDOOR
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION FOR UNDERSERVED AND AT-RISK YOUTH - get
on the Sierra Club's "Inside the Outdoors" Listserv to find out what
you can do
Green Power article from the
May 5, 2004 Dallas Morning News, sent in by Jack Shu. The Environmental
Justice implications of this article are profound. Greenery and natural
settings have positive effects on children with ADHD, crime rates, stress
reduction, driving, and much more.
Outdoor Education in the Schoolyard -
one outdoor educator's journey into, and back out of, the classroom!
(by former AEOE Southern Chair, Julie Lancaster)
The cover story in the November/December
2003 issue of Sierra magazine is "Growing up Green at Balboa
High" and features an absolutely fantastic program at several
San Francisco high schools known as the Wilderness Arts and Literacy
Collaborative (WALC). The program integrates subject matter and
uses outdoor adventures as a core component. The WALCs and other
such high school programs are literally turning lives around and
I am so pleased that the Sierra Club has showcased this special story.
- Jackie McCort
Classroom Warfare by Ted Williams, from Audubon Magazine Incite, September 2000
Certificate of Recognition for Denise Ducheny for work on legislation.
California Student Assessment Project: a research study by State Education & Environment Roundtable about the effectiveness of environment based education in California.
Mike Kahn Coast to Coast Discovery Ride for Environmental Volunteers (posted 19Jun2000)
Education and the Environment Initiative Update
