Literacy of Environmental Education Assessment Framework (LEEAF)

Abstract

The Literacy of Environmental Education Assessment Framework (LEEAF) is a pre and post-assessment survey to evaluate the current Environmental Education (EE) curriculum and learn how it supports the Science / Environmental Education Curricular Standards (Connell, 2019). LEEAF provides a systematic approach to aligning the existing and self-adopted EE science standards based on NAAEE (2010), GCDEE (1980), and Tbilisi (1978). The three categories: Fully Aligned - EE curricula and science professional development questions (100% - 70%); Partially Aligned - science curricula and professional development questions that also discuss the possible implementation of the EE curriculum (69% - 30%); Not Aligned - questions, discussing the current science curricula and which areas are successful and the other regions in which improvement requires an implementation of an EE curriculum (29% - 0%). LEEAF is a two-year assessment comprising four assessments submitted to school educators, administrators, students, and community stakeholders to determine EE alignment. LEEAF works per Tscion Research Environmental Education, Enrichment & Stewardship (TREEES). TREEES is an environmental education framework that provides activities that improve EE literacy for students, teachers, and community efforts. The LEEAF assessment allows TREEES to determine EE alignment and apply the appropriate percentage of activities based on science curricular deficiencies and strengths. During the evaluation, public and private school data are analyzed through qualitative and content analysis to assess the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK, Schulman, 1987) of the school or institution, to check for curricular’ understanding or misunderstandings, and teachers’ reflection on their teaching( Tan, Yap & Wan, 2002). Introduction The Literacy of Environmental Education Assessment Framework (LEEAF) is a pre-assessment portion of a two-part survey administered to the X school district. This survey aims to evaluate the current culture and climate of the X school district and how it supports the Science / Environmental Education Curricular Standards. This survey would be administered districtwide to a total of X schools. Participants of this survey would include X Teachers, grade levels: K-12, and School & District Administrators. This data of X schools would be assessed to determine the proper alignment category and development of the LEEAF Post-Assessment surveys. The three categories are: Fully Aligned, direct Environmental Education curricula and science professional development questions Partially Aligned, direct science curricula and professional development questions that also discuss the possible implementation of the Environmental Education curriculum. Not Aligned, direct questions discuss the current science curricula, which areas are successful, and other areas where improvement is needed to implement an Environmental Education curriculum. The first initial stages of assessment would require evaluating the overall data of the X and X. This data would be evaluated through the adapted National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) surveys to determine the general relevancy of the X and the NAAEE Guidelines Coding System. All data would be analyzed using the Qualtrics Data Analysis Software (QDA). Method The methodology of this proposal refers to the dissertation, A Systematic Approach to Understanding Alignment Between The Existing And Self-Adopted Environmental Education Standards: United States Sixth to Twelfth Grade Environmental Science Standards (Connell, 2019), Excellence in Environmental Education: Guidelines for Learning (NAAEE Guidelines) (Simmons/NAAEE, 2010a), the Tbilisi Declaration Objectives (UNESCO, 1978), and the Goals for Curriculum Development in Environmental Education (GCDEE) (Hungerford, Peyton & Wilke, 1980). Results Connell, 2019 conducted a systematic approach to determine the alignment between the existing and self-adopted science 6th-12th grade EE science standards. Based on NAAEE (2010), GCDEE (1980), and Tbilisi (1978), Connell, 2019 determined how ten randomly selected States within U.S. EPA Regions aligned with Existing Environmental Education Standards (EEES). This research addressed if each State’s alignment was implicit or explicit with environmental education standards. The Connell 2019 research design was conducted by means of deductive content analysis (DCA) (Mayring, 2002) and coding procedures based on the theoretical formulation of Krippendorff (2004). Therefore, measures were put in place by Goals of Curriculum Development of Environmental Education (GCDEE/ Hungerford et al., 1980) to create specific goals and objectives appropriate for curricular and instructional implementation as follows: Level I: Ecological Foundation Level Level II: Conceptual Awareness Level – Issues and Values Level III: Investigation and Evaluation Level Level IV: Action Skills Level – Training and Application Discussion Data analysis would be conducted through quantitative and qualitative deductive content analysis (Mayring, 2000; Connell, 2019). Connell notes that deductive content analysis examines textual documents with established themes for coding and evaluation purposes. Quantitative Methods for the TREEES’ LEEAF Pre-Assessment Survey would be analyzed with Qualtrics Data Analysis System based on a Coding System developed by Connell, 2019. Results from the Post Assessment Survey determine the level of support and types of for Culturally Relevant Professional Learning Experiences to determine how Sci./Soc. Studies Curricular Standards align with the NAAEE Guidelines (Simmons, 2010).