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Development of NCATE EE Standards
The North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) has embarked on an exciting venture. NAAEE is now in the process of developing NCATE Program Standards for the Initial Preparation of Environmental Educators.
These standards, when approved, will be used by NCATE in their accreditation process of college/university teacher education programs across the country. Consequently, the approved standards could serve as a catalyst and encourage further development of environmental education programs for pre-service teachers. We anticipate that the standards writing process will take two more years.
Currently, NCATE (www.ncate.org) has approved program standards for 20 different disciplines. NCATE program standards are adopted and overseen by its Specialty Area Studies Board, and have been developed by organizational members of NCATE (e.g., NSTA, NCSS). In many states, the NCATE/state partnership agreement requires institutions to address the NCATE program standards as part of the accreditation review process. Consequently, the development of NCATE Environmental Education Standards is an important effort for the environmental education community.
Background on the Writing Process
NAAEE is an organizational member of NCATE and sits on the Specialty Area Standards Board. As such, NAAEE is given the opportunity to provide input into specialty area standards developed by member organizations (e.g., ACEI, NSTA, NCSS).
The Environmental Education Standards are being developed by a ten member writing team formed by NAAEE. The writing team has met regularly and used NAAEE's Guidelines for the Preparation and Professional Development of Environmental Educators as a jumping off point for their work. This is the fourth full draft to be submitted for public comment. We will continue to submit drafts to the environmental education community for wide review and comment. The process is iterative.
The writing team includes Louise Fleming (OH), Paulette Johnson (PA), Martha Kuntz (WA), Tom Marcinkowski (FL), Kathy McGlauflin (VA), Bora Simmons (IL), Dan Sivek (WI), Al Stenstrup (DC), Brenda Weiser (TX), and Terry Wilson (KY).
The development of NCATE EE Standards is being funded through EETAP.
For more information about the project, please contact:
Bora Simmons (borasimmons@gmail.com)