Green Lessons Boost Grades

Environmental Health Perspectives, June, 2001 by Julie Wakefield

Using the environment as a context for learning changes student outlook and results in better academic performance across grades K-12 compared with traditional schooling, according to Environment-Based Education: Creating High Performance Schools and Students, a report issued in September 2000 by the National Environmental Education & Training Foundation (NEETF). Environment-based education uses the environment as a thematic focus for interdisciplinary, hands-on learning. Students in environment-based programs not only raise their reading and math scores but also perform better in science and social studies and are better able to transfer knowledge from familiar to unfamiliar contexts, according to the report. Classroom discipline problems also decline.

The report examined a diverse group of schools and grade levels in Texas, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kentucky, and Florida. It includes case studies at five individual schools with environment-based programs, a model school program, and the statewide Kentucky public school system. "The fact that environment-based education boosted achievement regardless of geographic location and socioeconomic status is most significant," says Mary Smith, director of environmental education with the National Audubon Society.

According to the report, students' natural interest in the environment motivates them to learn and understand the complexities of their world, which translates into higher test scores. For example, the report describes the case of Isaac Dickson Elementary School in Asheville, North Carolina, where fourth-grade students saw a 31% boost in math achievement after just one year of environment-based learning as measured by state achievement tests.

Teachers also observed increased student motivation and improved classroom behavior after introducing environment-based programs. In fact, known troublemakers often find an interest in academics through the hands-on opportunities the environment offers as a classroom, the report says. "Teacher after teacher in Kentucky reported that students previously performing at low academic levels `came alive' when introduced to an environment-based curriculum," says the report.

The NEETF report follows the seminal 1998 State Education and Environment Roundtable report Closing the Achievement Gap: Using the Environment as an Integrating Context for Education, which examined 40 schools in 12 states and detailed the success of environment-based programs in motivating student interest and improving academic achievement. "The new report provides more evidence the first study wasn't a fluke," says Andy Finch, senior director of NEETF's Education and the Environment Program.

The two studies attempt to take the case studies further by linking anecdotal evidence with test scores, Smith says. But there are limits to this approach as well. Whether test scores truly quantify academic achievement remains controversial. In addition, comparing data among states is difficult because achievement measures are increasingly state-specific, says report author Joanne Lozar Glenn.

The NEETF report recommends creating an Office of Ombudsman for the Environment to establish links among the Department of Education, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, and other federal agencies concerned with U.S. education. The report also suggests conducting demonstration projects in order to improve community outreach programs and attract greater community involvement. It further recommends expanding cooperative educational ventures with resources such as public and private parks, marine sanctuaries, and nature centers.