MEEA Projects
Environmental Literacy Assessments - 2012
Coordinator: Jan Weaver, weaverjc@missouri.edu
In June 2012, MEEA organized a team including Kevin Lohraff from the Department of Conservation, Debbie Brunner from the Department of Natural Resources, Ginny Wallace from the Outdoor Action Kommittee (OAK) initiative of the Conservation Federation of Missouri, and Matt Riggs from the Kanasas City EE Network to meet with EE leaders from Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska to begin the process of developing a way to assess environmental literacy in Missouri H.S. students.
This project is supported by a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency
Missouri Environmental Literacy Advisory Board - 2012
Coordinator: Jan Weaver, weaverjc@missouri.edu
The Missouri Environmental Literacy Advisory Board (MELAB) is an organization of organizations, with the goal of helping schools, agencies, non-profits and businesses find where they fit in the big picture, network with other organzations who share similar goals, develop ways to assess if and how they are making a difference, and provide a way for them to help guide environmental education in Missouri.
The organizing meeting for MELAB was held March 13, 2012. There is more information about MELAB here
The organization of MELAB is supported by a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency
Missouri Environmental Literacy Plan - July 2011
Coordinator: Jan Weaver, weaverjc@missouri.edu
- Content Standards: Regina Knauer, Missouri Department of Conservation - Education Programs; Erica Cox, Missouri Project WET; Linda Dooling, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education - Teacher Development
- Graduation Requirements: Jim Lubbers, Missouri Department of Natural Resources - Solid Waste Division; Jenna Rhodes, Grandview High School - Science and MEEA
- Teacher Professional Development: Regina Knauer, Missouri Department of Conservation; Erica Cox, Missouri Project WET; Linda Dooling, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
- Assessment: Nikki Davenport, University City Schools - Math/Science Curriculum; Jan Weaver, University of Missouri - Environmental Studies
- Implementation and Funding: Angelette Prichette, Missouri Department of Higher Education - Research, Amy Buechler, Conservation Federation of Missouri - Teaming With Wildlife; Fran Fry, Niangua Schools
- Facilities and Grounds: Andrea Putnam, Missouri Department of Natural Resources - State Parks; Donna Utter, AbitibiBowater Paper Recycling, Fran Fry, Niangual Schools
In July 2009 the working group met with delegations from Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska at a summit in Nebraska City. The first draft of the action plan was created and brought back to each state to work on.The Missouri leadership team worked on each of the six elements to move them forward and then met again in the summer of 2010 to pull an intial draft together.In April 2011 Jenna Rhodes and Jan Weaver met to incorporate suggestions and to realign the goals, strategies and action items. The revised plan was submitted to the working group members in June, and only modest grammatical corrections were suggested. In July 2011, the draft plan was submitted to the MEEA board, which approved it for distribution for feedback and comment.
Missouri Environmental Literacy Plan PDF (if you have trouble viewing this pdf, contact weaverjc@missouri.edu)
MO ELP Goals and Strategies (objectives and action steps are outlined in the pdf above). Comments can be emailed to Jan Weaver at weaverjc@missouri.edu, or can be posted on MEEA's facebook page.
Goal 1 - Missouri Students Will be Environmentally Literate
- Strategy 1. Determine how EE is actually implemented in Missouri schools.
- Strategy 2. Identify barriers to teaching EE in Missouri schools
- Strategy 3. Develop resources for overcoming barriers discovered in Strategy 2
- Strategy 4. Evaluate student performance on measures of environmental literacy using multiple strategies.
Goal 2 - Formal and Non-Formal Educators Will Understand and Use Best Practices in Environmental Education
- Strategy 1. Set nationally aligned, state approved standards for EE certification in Missouri
- Strategy 2. Create pathways and courses for EE certification.
- Strategy 3. Engage pre-service teachers in EE certification through college programs.
- Strategy 4. Engage in-service teachers in EE certification through professional development.
- Strategy 5. Engage non-formal educators in EE certification through professional development.
Goal 3 - Educational Settings and Resources Will Foster Environmental Literacy
- Strategy 1. Create a state recognized "Green Ribbon Schools" program for schools.
- Strategy 2. Ensure Missouri students participate in a high-quality outdoor educational experiences in elementary, upper elementary/middle and high school (3 times in their school career).
- Strategy 3. Ensure school yard programs are supported in all districts.
- Strategy 4. Create a web-based database for curricula and other environmental education resources.
- Strategy 5. Create stand-alone environmental science courses for use in middle and high school settings as well as through virtual programs.
- Strategy 6. Create a Missouri Environmental Education Grants Program.
Goal 4 - Environmental Education in Missouri Will be Sustainable
- Strategy 1. Create a State Office of Environmental Education within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
- Strategy 2. Create a State Environmental Education Interagency Committee (SEEIC) to coordinate state level EE efforts.
- Strategy 3. Create a State Environmental Education Advisory Board (SEEAB) to coordinate state organization efforts.
- Strategy 4. Develop sustainable funding streams for the State Office of Environmental Education, Missouri Environmental Education Association (MEEA) and other environmental education providers.
Suggested Changes
- incorporate language that recognizes after school programs
- incorporate language that recognizes service learning
- incorporate language that recognizes pre-K programs
- find alternative wording for "State Office of EE" (goal 4)
- find alternative wording for Certification, possibly Credential (goal 2)