2003 Annual Report: Environmental Education

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• Background
• Environmental Ambassador Pilot Program
• Unified Education Strategy Program
• Teacher Training

Background

During 2003, the Office of Education and the Environment focused its resources on implementing the mandates of the School Diversion and Environmental Education Law (DEEL), Chapter 926, Statutes of 2001 (SB 373, Torlakson), which requires the Office to do the following:

• In concert with the State Board of Education, establish environmental concepts in schools’ science curriculum frameworks through the California Education Code.
• Establish an environmental ambassador pilot program (EAPP) that promotes sustainable school programs, coordinated instruction with on-site action programs, service learning partnerships, and assessment of the impact of these programs on student achievement and resources conservation.
• Develop and implement a unified education strategy (UES) on the environment for elementary and secondary schools.
• Develop a teacher training plan for the UES and accompanying materials.
• Develop school waste reduction tools and models for implementation.
• Evaluate implementation of school waste reduction and recycling programs in California schools.
• Create a grant program for schools and school districts to implement integrated environmental education and integrated waste management practices.

The School DEEL requires the Board to work closely with the state’s educational community in developing and implementing environmental education and school waste reduction and diversion programs. In consultation with California Department of Education, State Board of Education, and Secretary of Education, the Board developed two grant programs in 2003: 1) the Environmental Ambassador Pilot Program, and 2) the Unified Education Strategy Program.

Environmental Ambassador Pilot Program

The Environmental Ambassador Pilot Program helps participating school districts design and expand sustainable elementary and secondary school programs for environment-based education and environmental science and technology through documenting replicable education and resource conservation programs. The Board approved the selection of the following seven school districts to participate in the Environmental Ambassador Pilot Program (EAPP): Burbank Unified, Desert Sands Unified, Fresno Unified, Oak Grove Union, San Juan Unified, Eureka City Unified, and Warner Unified.

As a result of participating in the Board’s pilot program and Board staff’s efforts to help the districts partner with their local jurisdictions, the EAPP school districts are already implementing a variety of sustainable diversion programs. For example, Desert Sands Unified has implemented a cooperative purchasing agreement with their host cities, Desert Sands and Indian Wells. This agreement will allow the district and cities to pool their purchasing resources to buy recycled-content products.

San Diego County purchased a chipper/shredder for Warner Unified to chip their green waste. The green waste the district formerly disposed of is chipped and used for mulch, bedding, and other purposes. The Board will be sharing these types of model programs with other districts and jurisdictions through the Board’s Web site and technical assistance activities.

Unified Education Strategy Program

The Unified Education Strategy (UES) program helps schools implement instructional strategies for providing active pupil participation with on-site conservation efforts, promotes service-learning opportunities between schools and local communities, and assesses the impact on student achievement and resource conservation. The following 13 school districts are receiving UES grants: Anderson Valley Unified, Belmont-Redwood Shores, Beverly Hills Unified, Chico Unified, Emery Unified, Etna Union Elementary, Hawthorne, MIT Academy, Pacific Unified, Petaluma City, San Carlos, Mariposa County Unified, and Los Angeles Unified (to include local districts A, C, D, E, F, G, H, and I).

Teacher Training

An important feature of the School DEEL Implementation Plan for the EAPP and UES programs is the professional development training. The first round of training was conducted in summer 2003. Four week-long institutes were conducted for the EAPP grantees and two two-day workshops were conducted for the UES grantees. A copy of the syllabi for both trainings is available at http://www.seer.org/EAPP-UES/. The training provided critical information and “how-to” approaches to the grantee districts. The training will be the catalyst for systemic reform of resource efficiency and student academic performance in the school districts. Additional trainings are scheduled for 2004 to continue providing the professional development needed for the grantees to move their programs and projects forward.

The EAPP and UES programs will conclude by June 2005. The Board will report to the Legislature on the progress of the programs and make recommendations for the future.

Other 2003 educational highlights include the following efforts:

• The Board actively participated in the crafting of environmental education legislation (AB 1548, Pavley, Chapter 665, Statutes of 2003) and will coordinate the implementation process for the education-related requirements of this legislation.
• The Board continues to participate as a partner in the California Environmental Education Interagency Network (CEEIN), a consortium of State agencies who network to collaborate on environmental education initiatives. CEEIN also partners with the Walt Disney Company in Jiminy Cricket’s Environmentality Challenge, an environmental education program for fifth-grade students in California schools. The Board continues to manage the CEEIN contract for this program.
• As part of the memorandum of understanding between the environmental agencies of California and Mexico, the Board’s staff is finishing a K-6 grade curriculum to be used by teachers in the Baja region. The curriculum, Conservation and Pollution Prevention at a Shared Border, is a cross-media approach to teaching students about natural resources and conservation on the topics of waste, energy, air, and water.

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