Quality environmental educational programming, time outdoors, and teacher training predict environmental literacyBuilding environmental literacy (EL) in young people is important in meeting emerging environmental challenges. This study examined the delivery and impact of environmental education (EE) programs and time spent outdoors on the development of EL in 739 North Carolina 6<sup>th</sup> and 8<sup>th</sup> grade students in 34 classrooms and their 38 science teachers. Study participants were randomly selected from schools that had registered school-wide EE programs (324 students); for comparison purposes a control group of 6<sup>th</sup> and 8<sup>th</sup> graders was also selected from schools without a school-wide EE program (415 students). Students were majority white (70%), as well as black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American.
The authors used the Middle School Environmental Literacy Survey (MSEL) at the beginning and the end of a spring semester for both the EE schools and the comparison group. The MSEL measures four components of EL – knowledge, cognitive skills, affective and behavioral dimensions. Teachers completed a survey about their use of EE, the degree to which they expose students to nature, and their own training, educational and work background. A variety of factors were controlled for, including teacher educational and experience levels, student demographics, and school characteristics.
Overall, the authors reported that use of published EE curricula, time outdoors, and having teachers with advanced degrees and mid-level teaching experience predicted enhanced EL whereas minority status (Hispanic and black) was related to lower EL. The authors did not find a significant relationship between participation in a school with an EE program and enhanced EL scores (even when compared to the control group). Being a registered EE school had limited impact on whether a given student actually received EE curriculum. The authors suggest that lack of consistency in defining and implementing EE across the schools likely explained this finding. However, teachers’ report of using a published EE program in their classroom (such as Project Wild, Project Wet or Project Learning Tree), regardless of whether they were from an EE school or a control school, was the only significant predictor of change in EL, particularly within the cognitive skills area. Taking students outside was also a significant predictor of EL, particularly the affective and behavioral components. The authors suggest that the combination of using of published EE curriculum (impacting the cognitive skills area) and taking students outside (impacting the affective and behavioral components) represents a promising strategy for increasing EL. Teachers with higher levels of education had students with higher levels of EL. The authors suggested that teacher development may be even more important than curriculum in influencing EL. However, teaching experience was related in a complex way to EL, suggesting that years of teaching benefits EL up to a point, but teacher burnout, loss of idealism or enthusiasm, or feelings of lack of support from administration may take hold in more veteran teachers, negatively influencing EL outcomes. Student age, gender and ethnicity were related to EL outcomes in complex ways. In particular, time spent outside may be particularly effective for engaging African American and Hispanic students.
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