A Survey of the Status of State-Level Environmental Education in the United States–1998 Update

Abstract

This study was designed to determine changes in the status of state-level environmental education (EE) programs between 1995 and 1998. A baseline study was conducted in 1995 (Kirk, Wilke, & Ruskey, 1996) that tracked the extent to which the 50 states had achieved components that constitute a comprehensive state-level EE program (Ruskey & Wilke, 1994). In 1995, a total of 263 components were in place. By 1998 the number of components had increased by 71 to a total of 334. This article discusses the methodology involved in the 1998 study (n = 173 state EE leaders). It also reviews the increase and addition of 215 new initiatives reported due to an additional 7 component areas that were identified in 1997 and added to the 1998 survey. The article also analyzes comparative and new data and describes the implications of the results for future efforts in EE capacity building.

Key Words:

• EE capacity building
• environmental literacy
• state-level EE

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tracie Beasley

Abby Ruskey is a co-director of the National Environmental Education Advancement Project in the College of Natural Resources, and Richard Wilke is a professor of Environmental Education at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Tracie Beasley is the schoolyard habitats training coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation.