Heather Belichesky Assessment of Environmental Education at the Elementary Level May 8 2006p.1Effects of Standardized Test Scores on Environmental Education at the Elementary LevelHeather BelicheskyAbstract Elementary environmental education is important in order to nurture students’ interestin the environment, and will promote environmentally positive actions later in life (CaliforniaState Department of Education 1973). However, with the 2001 implementation of the No ChildLeft Behind Act, schools are evaluated according to their students’ performances on standardizedtests, which do not incorporate environmental education. In this study, the amount and quality ofenvironmental education was assessed through teacher surveys and interviews. The resultsshowed that schools with lower overall scores on standardized tests had less and lower qualityenvironmental education. Interviews showed that teachers at schools with lower AcademicPerformance Index (API) scores, spent more time focusing on lessons to increase their students’test scores which limited time for environmental education, compared to teachers at schools withhigher API scores. Teachers at schools with higher API scores were motivated to teachenvironmental lessons because of personal and student interest rather than regulations. Theseresults imply a need to train teachers or create curriculum that incorporateso6 environmentaleducation in a manner that is also conducive to increasing students’ performance on standardizedtests.Heather Belichesky Assessment of Environmental Education at the Elementary Level May 8 2006p.2IntroductionIn the past century there has been an increased concern about promoting positiveenvironmental behaviors, which is widely thought to be best achieved through education(Bjornor 2004). The State of California included state legislation into the education code in 1968stating that teachers need to include a segment of environmental education into their curriculumfor primary and secondary levels (California State Department of Education 1973). However,this addition to the education code left the environmental curriculum up to the teachers, in orderfor them to “[suit it] to the specific needs of the students they serve” (California StateDepartment of Education 1973). Thus, what types of environmental education, if any, areincluded at the elementary level is currently an issue of controversy. This study investigates thepresence of environmental lessons by considering time spent on such lessons and the lessonquality from the teachers’ perspective.Environmental education is a multidisciplinary subject, making it extremely hard to quantifywhat exactly is included in the curriculum. Environmental education can be looked at aseducation related to the environment and education on sustainable development (Hart 2003).Environmental education at the elementary level should include lessons that allow for students toexplore and interact with their environments. There have been studies done in order to formulatethe ideal way to teach environmental education. This includes methods such as questioning andanalysis, knowledge of environmental systems, addressing issues, and personal responsibly(Meredith et al., 2000). This outline for environmental education also includes the importantaspect of teaching the students about their civic duty, as this aspect of the lesson will stay withthem to create a lifelong learning environment (Santone 2003).The complexity of the subject of environmental education creates a need for several differentlevels of teaching. Recent studies have stated that in elementary environmental education“what’s important is that children have an opportunity to bond with the natural world, to learn tolove it, before being asked to heal its wounds” (Sobel 1996). The stages of teachingenvironmental education at the primary level are different from the basic theories ofenvironmental education. At the elementary level, teachers need to build on their students’ innatecuriosity about nature and turn that into a lesson on environmental issues (Blades 1989). Aneffective method for teaching science at the elementary school level is the “five E learningcycle” (Lauer 2003). This is a cyclic plan for lessons which rotates through five steps:Heather Belichesky Assessment of Environmental Education at the Elementary Level May 8 2006p.3engagement, exploration, explanation, extension and evaluation. Such a method enables teachersto continuously build on their students’ prior knowledge and interests in order to incorporatepractical applications and more elaborate material. This method also enables teachers to havesections focusing on student analysis and environmental accountability. The “five E learningcycle” is important in fostering a strong environmental education program that will facilitate lifelong learning starting at the elementary level.Environmental education at the elementary level is strongly dependent on the teachers’knowledge and capabilities to present such a diverse topic. Not only must a teacher know whatkind of activities to plan, but also how to incorporate several different subjects into one lesson.Teachers must be able to spend the time to have students connect the science they learn in theclassroom to social and political issues in the real world (UNESCO 1971). This is why it isextremely important to consider a teacher’s training and experience when assessing theirenvironmental lessons.However, it is uncertain whether elementary educators are developing lessons thatincorporate environmental issues in this manner. This is an important area to examine teachers’methods and commitment to teaching environmental education because the California EducationCode’s requires that teachers include such lessons bet the national No Child Left Behind Actdoes not. The main objective of this study is to investigate environmental education at theelementary school level, looking at potential correlations between time and quality compared toperformance on standardized tests and teacher experience.MethodsThis study focuses on elementary teacher surveys (see appendix) and interviews. Teacherswere chosen based on two parameters: school performance on standardized tests according to theAcademic Performance Index (API), and location (San Francisco Bay Area). The surveyedteachers were
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