Come learn about Rhode Island’s statewide survey of K-12 educators and the successful partnerships that were informed by the results. Development and implementation of the tool will be shared. Consider how to conduct a similar inventory of current practices and leave with access to the survey for your own organization.

This poster session was about Digital Observation Technology Skills (DOTS) program, an environmental education approach that engages K-12 students across Wisconsin in water quality monitoring activities. The session highlighted successes and learning opportunities from year one of the project based on evaluation results and discussed their significance for best EE practice.

For over 20 years, the Field Museum's Action Center has engaged more than 100,000 students in conservation work throughout Chicago. Staff will share lessons learned from their community-based model. Attendees will gain insight into building stakeholder partnerships, measuring outcomes, working with volunteers, and ensuring that students make contributions to conservation.

Environmental Volunteers’ Educate 4 Action project is improving stewardship education in our curriculum and incorporating best practices for English language learners. Learn more about our journey, the evaluation and research that guide us, our results, and how you can do this too.

Learn about a Green Schools program that partners schools with their local government to increase environmental literacy in the community. It provides educators with resources to connect classroom concepts with the city where students live. Partners will share strategies to increase local environmental education opportunities and offer advice for collaborating with local schools.

Learn how Chewonki leveraged a college level, skills-based workshop to support programming for under-resourced elementary students. Through a collaborative partnership with Unity College, career bound seniors receive authentic program development and teaching experience in the field of wildlife education, broadening the reach of environmental education in a rural community.

Where does place-based education fit in the NGSS? We critically reviewed the standards and found that opportunities for observations of ecosystems and human impacts are scarce. In this poster, we raise questions about where and how to teach students critical observation skills as they implement NGSS.

Teachers cite a number of barriers to teaching students outdoors, which can be mitigated through effective inservice professional development in place-based environmental education. Gain insights into one successful program in which teachers integrate watershed-focused outdoor experiences into their curriculum, fostering opportunities to connect children with nature while meeting learning objectives.

Under the U.S. Clean Water Act, more than 7,500 cities have permits for their stormwater systems. The first required component of such an "MS4" (municipal separate storm sewer system) is "education and outreach." Many cities could use more help from professional environmental educators. This is a primer on MS4s. See pdf for full abstract, key slides and fact sheets.

Finding innovative ways to bring more educators into the field of environmental education. Learn more about how Kentucky has undergone the process of developing an AmeriCorps program to build the capacities of environmental education providers on a statewide scale through unique partnerships.