Environmental Literacy: What have students learned that is not on the test?
Environmental Literacy: What have students learned that is not on the test?
by Janell Simpson and Susan Meyers
reprinted from the North American Association for Environmental Education
he intent of this article is to provide tools to the classroom teacher to document the impact of a formal environmental education program on the environmental literacy of students. Although standardized testing provides an objective view of skills and knowledge, integration of data from an evaluation tool will provide a more complete assessment—not only of the individual student learning, but also a larger picture of the classroom learning environment that nurtures the whole student.
Measuring environmental education outcomes is a step forward from anecdotes to reliable measures of student growth. A measurement tool that evaluates student attitudes about the environment will help the teacher design a formal program that includes practical ways that an individual can make a difference based on newly-developed environmental literacy. The tools offered seek to quantify environmental literacy both as observed by the classroom teacher and as self-reported by the student. Standardized testing may provide an effective assessment of knowledge and competencies detailed in a curriculum. However, competencies, knowledge, and dispositions should be expressed in behaviors; and environmentally responsible behavior is the ultimate expression of environmental literacy.
Environmental literacy
An environmentally literate person is someone who, both individually and together with others, makes informed decisions concerning the environment; is willing to act on these decisions to improve the well-being of other individuals, societies, and the global environment; and participates in civic life. Those who are environmentally literate possess, to varying degrees:
• The knowledge and understanding of a wide range of environmental concepts, problems, and issues;
• A set of cognitive and affective dispositions;
• A set of cognitive skills and abilities; and
• The appropriate behavioral strategies to apply such knowledge and understanding in order to make sound and effective decisions in a range of environmental contexts.
This definition treats the primary elements of environmental literacy—the cognitive (knowledge and skills), affective, and behavioral components—as both interactive and developmental in nature. That is, individuals develop along a continuum of literacy over time—they are not either environmentally literate or illiterate.
There are four interrelated components of environmental literacy: knowledge, dispositions, competencies, and environmentally responsible behavior, all of which are expressed in particular contexts. Competencies are clusters of skills and abilities that may be called upon and expressed for a specific purpose. Measurement of competencies is the primary objective in large-scale assessments. They include the capacity to:
• Identify environmental issues;
• Ask relevant questions;
• Analyze environmental issues;
• Investigate environmental issues;
• Evaluate and make personal judgments about environmental issues;
• Use evidence and knowledge to defend positions and resolve issues; and
• Create and evaluate plans to resolve environmental issues.
The expression of a competency is influenced by prior knowledge and dispositions (Hollweg, 2011).
Measurement tools
The teacher rating tool (Table 1) can be personalized for different groups. It seeks to quantify both practices, such as recycling and gardening, and connections to larger issues, such as global warming.
Other types of measurement tools to consider include: informal interviews, journal entries written in response to a prompt, surveys, pre- and post-tests, and student projects. Several Likert scale surveys are available examining student connection to nature, sense of place, and environmental stewardship (EE Outcome Measurement Tools, 2012). Additional outcomes might be observed in a typical environmental education classroom and could be included in such a tool. Do students actively conserve energy, tend a school garden, or participate in composting? Do students show awareness of environmental connections between current events and classroom discussions? Does the student’s artwork show an appreciation of the natural environment? Does the student report family dialog about nutrition or food security or visits to a farmers’ market?
References
Bennett, D. B. (1984). Evaluating environmental education in schools: a practical guide for teachers: UNESCO.
Bogan, M., and Kromrey, J. (1996). Measuring the environmental literacy of high school students. Florida journal of educational research, 36 (1).
EE outcomes measurement tools. (2012). From Cornell University Civic Ecology Lab: http://civeco.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/2012-meeo-tools.pdf
Evaluation glossary. (n.d.). Retrieved from MEERA My Environmental Education
Evaluation Resource Assistant: http://meera.snre.umich.edu/links-resources/meera-evaluation-glossary
Goldstein, N. J., Cialdini, R. B., and Griskevicius, V. (2008). A room with a viewpoint: Using social norms to motivate environmental conservation in hotels. Journal of Consumer Research, Inc.
Hollweg, K. S. (2011). Developing a framework for assessing environmental literacy: Executive summary. Washington, D.C.: NAAEE.
McKenzie-Mohr, D. (2006). Retrieved from fostering sustainable behavior: Community-based social marketing: http://www.cbsm.com/public/world.lasso
Murphy, B. (2011). Assessment and evaluation of outdoor/enviro-education. Green Teacher 94, 34-41.
Orr, D. W. (1992). Ecological literacy: Education and the transition to a postmodern world. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.
Prochaska, J., and DiClemente, C. C. (1984). The transtheoretical approach: Crossing the traditional boundaries of therapy. Melbourne, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company.
Simmons, B. (2004). Designing evaluation for education projects: NOAA Office of Education and Sustainable Development.
The Transtheortical Model. (n.d.). Retrieved from pro-change behavior systems, Inc.: http://www.prochange.com/transtheoretical-model-of-behavior-change
Todd, A., Stuart, E., Schiller, S., and Goldman, C. (2012). Evaluation,
Measurement, and Verification (EM&V) of residential behavior-based energy efficiency programs: Issues and recommendations. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. http://behavioranalytics.lbl.gov
The Transtheortical Model. (n.d.). Retrieved from pro-change Behavior Systems, Inc.: http://www.prochange.com/transtheoretical-model-of-behavior-change
Todd, A., Stuart, E., Schiller, S., and Goldman, C. (2012). Evaluation, Measurement, and Verification (EM&V) of Residential Behavior-Based Energy
Efficiency Programs: Issues and Recommendations. http://behavioranalytics.lbl.gov: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Murphy, B. (2011). Assessment and evaluation of outdoor/enviro-education. Green Teacher 94, 34-41.
Orr, D.W. (1992). Ecological literacy: Education and the transition to a postmodern world. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.
he last time we met, students had planted seeds in parts of a garden plot they chose. So, where do they go now? They’ve made their decisions about where to plant each of their seeds. As the seeds sprout and grow, are there opportunities for them to engage in self-directed inquiries? Can they ask questions, like, “What would happen if ___?” followed by a perturbation they choose to introduce. Some possibilities that come to mind are things like sun flecks (the moving patches of sunlight in forested areas), watering schedules, companion plants, fertilizers and vitamins, pruning, hours of sunlight (photoperiod). What effect do these perturbations have on plants’ optimal growth? Kids have great imaginations, and I’m sure some of their perturbations would be more interesting than those I’ve mentioned. Doing this kind of work suggests that we are seriously entering the Experimental dimension of science inquiry. This is where you lose a little control over what students think and do, but not over how they go about their work. 
oing out into the world beyond the classroom for science and other curricula can be confusing. I clearly remember the first time I took students out to make observations. In the classroom, we had lined up all the conifers together, deciduous species together, and animals in neat little boxes. It all made sense to me. Little did I know! When we went into the real world, there was no sense of order my students could perceive. I saw that my first job was to help organize what seemed to be disorder. We did a transect, and the observations they made along its length brought the underlying order in any ecosystem within reach. And the difference between the ecology in the publishers’ materials and in an actual ecosystem opened my eyes to why we need to begin our science studies with actual hands-on inquiry, both as a pragmatic necessity, and as being a closer fit to how our brain learns for understanding, than the lessons and activities in the published materials I was using. It’s also the way scientists work; inquire of nature to answer a question, communicate findings, and inquire some more.
