About the NAAEE/NPEEE Environmental Education Resource Reviews

Curriculum materials were evaluated using the Environmental Education Materials: Guidelines For Excellence developed by the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE). The Guidelines provide a set of criteria for developing and selecting environmental education materials. These guidelines aim to help developers of activity guides, lesson plans, and other instructional materials produce high-quality products, and to provide educators with a tool to evaluate the wide array of available environmental education materials. Developed through a process of critique and consensus, the Guidelines for Excellence are grounded in a common understanding of effective environmental education. Over 1000 individuals and organizations (e.g., teachers, educational administrators, environmental scientists, curriculum developers) participated in its development.

The Guidelines were used to review several hundred widely used teaching materials by the National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education (NPEEE). Each set of materials was reviewed by at least three educators (e.g. classroom teachers, content experts and environmental educators). In cases where reviewers disagreed, the materials were evaluated by at least one more person.

Each review contains a summary of the curriculum (In a Nutshell), information about grade levels, subject areas, author, publisher, and price. Selected reviews also include comments specific to the six key characteristics of the Materials Guidelines (What the Reviewers Said!), and a sample of quotations from the reviewers' evaluation sheets (The Bottom Line).

Summary of the Guidelines for Excellence

#1 Fairness and accuracy: EE materials should be fair and accurate in describing environmental problems, issues, and conditions, and in reflecting the diversity of perspectives on them.

1.1 Factual accuracy
1.2 Balanced presentation of differing viewpoints and theories
1.3 Openness to inquiry
1.4 Reflection of diversity

#2 Depth: EE materials should foster awareness of the natural and built environment, and an understanding of environmental concepts, conditions, and issues, and an awareness of the feelings, values, attitudes, and perceptions at the heart of environmental issues, as appropriate for different developmental levels.

2.1 Awareness
2.2 Focus on concepts
2.3 Concepts in context
2.4 Attention to different scales

#3 Emphasis on skills building: EE materials should build lifelong skills that enable learners to prevent and address environmental issues.

3.1 Critical and creative thinking
3.2 Applying skills to issues
3.3 Action skills

#4 Action orientation: EE materials should promote civic responsibility, encouraging learners to use their knowledge, personal skills, and assessments of environmental issues as a basis for environmental problem solving and action.

4.1 Sense of personal stake and responsibility
4.2 Self-efficacy

#5 Instructional soundness: EE materials should rely on instructional techniques that create an effective learning environment.

5.1 Learner-centered instruction
5.2 Different ways of learning
5.3 Connection to learners' everyday lives
5.4 Expanded learning environment
5.5 Interdisciplinary
5.6 Goals and objectives
5.7 Appropriateness for specific learning settings
5.8 Assessment

#6 Usability: EE materials should be well designed and easy to use.

6.1 Clarity and logic
6.2 Easy to use
6.3 Long lived
6.4 Adaptable
6.5 Accompanied by instruction and support
6.6 Make substantiated claims
6.7 Fit with national, state, or local requirements

Using The Reviews

As a set of review criteria, the Guidelines for Excellence offer a standard to aim for when considering materials.. However, it is not reasonable to expect that all environmental education materials will follow all of the guidelines. For example, a set of materials might not present differing viewpoints, as outlined in guideline #1.2. This shortcoming does not necessarily mean that the materials should not be used. An instructor could work them into a larger set of activities that explores different viewpoints and helps learners discern opinion and bias in individual presentations of the issue. Likewise, a curriculum project that focuses on the science behind water ecology might not include a discussion of social issues, but may still be used effectively as a science resource within a larger unit on water-related issues.

The reviews are designed to point out factors an educator may consider when deciding which materials are most appropriate for a particular group of students and how those materials might be used most effectively. The reviews should be used as a tool to inform decisions, contributing to more effective environmental education.

As you read the reviews, keep these things in mind:

• The reviewers highlighted strengths and weaknesses or constraints they felt other educators would want to know about before purchasing a resource

• If the materials were not designed to meet one of the key characteristics, this was noted in the write-up.

• Each item reviewed was produced by an organization, agency, business, or other institution that has its own goals, mission, and agenda. Many different kinds of organizations produced outstanding materials and all materials contained a certain perspective – just by the emphasis on certain subjects, activities, values, and methods.

• The key to effective education lies with educators. A mix of resources have been reviewed by NPEEE to help educators select the materials that will help them build educationally sound units and programs.

This review of resources is the result of a collaborative effort among the National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education, the World Wildlife Fund, and the North American Association for Environmental Education.

This project was funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Education Division. Additional funding and support for this project was also provided by the Environmental Education and Training Partnership (EETAP), the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, World Wildlife Fund, the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, and Northern Illinois University.