Many environmental educators lack the time, money or skills to evaluate their programs, and evaluation can feel like a box to tick. When the pandemic pushed programs online, many organizations were also building new programs fast, with little evidence about what worked.
From September 2020 to September 2021, a research team led a community of practice: a group of educators who meet regularly to learn together. Sixty-three educators from 37 organizations offering online programs for grades 5 to 12 took part. Each organization evaluated one or two programs with the same short student survey. It then received a private report comparing its results with the network average. Members met monthly online and at two longer "learning exchanges" to discuss results and plan changes. At the end, 28 members completed a survey about their experience.
What they found:
- Connection and support. Members valued facing a hard year with colleagues. They rated the shared resources as highly relevant and the suggestions they received as useful.
- Better evaluation skills and attitudes. Members said they learned to identify program outcomes and to interpret and use results. They felt more positive about evaluation, more likely to do it, and better prepared to work with outside evaluators. Collecting valid data was the skill they felt least sure of.
- Changes in practice. Members tried new techniques and said their teaching improved. Some started aiming beyond knowledge toward outcomes such as stewardship.
- Ideas spread. Twenty-five of the 28 shared resources within their organization, and seven shared them more widely.
- More involvement, more benefit. Members who attended more sessions reported the most benefit. So did the 11 who completed the full cycle of evaluating, adjusting and re-evaluating.
- Schools were the main hurdle. Coordinating surveys with teachers was the biggest barrier, along with school firewalls and access to devices.
What this means for your practice:
- Find or form a peer group. Agree on a shared set of outcomes so you can compare results and learn from programs that score higher.
- Look beyond knowledge. Use a broad list of outcomes, such as skills, attitudes and stewardship, to sharpen what each program is for.
- Change one thing at a time. The network encouraged small, manageable changes, such as adding an introductory lesson or reworking one activity.
- Write a short improvement plan. For each change, answer four questions. What will change? Which outcome should it improve? What steps will it take, such as staff training or new materials? Who will do it, and by when?
- Watch each other teach. Members found it especially useful to see colleagues' full programs and give feedback.
- Learn what research says works. Members valued research-based teaching principles as a source of ideas for their changes.
- Plan survey logistics early with teachers. Check firewalls, devices and the time students need before the program starts.
- Commit for the whole cycle. The authors suggest a smaller, committed group may work better than a large one.
- Bring colleagues along. One leader said involving her staff gave the team a shared language for talking about outcomes.
The Bottom Line
Researchers ran a year-long online learning network for 63 educators from 37 US nature centers, parks, zoos, aquariums and similar organizations, then surveyed members. Members said they gained practical evaluation skills, warmer attitudes toward evaluation, new teaching strategies and a supportive circle of colleagues. They tried new techniques, rethought what a successful program looks like, and passed ideas on inside and beyond their organizations. Educators who attended more sessions, or completed the full cycle of evaluating, adjusting and re-evaluating a program, reported the most benefit. The biggest practical hurdle was coordinating student surveys with schools. For educators, the study shows that evaluating alongside peers, with expert support, can turn evaluation from a reporting chore into a practical way to plan program improvements.