Nurture thru Nature: Creating natural science identities in populations of disadvantaged children through community education partnership

ABSTRACT

In this article we describe the development, implementation, and some of the early impacts of Nurture thru Nature (NtN), an American after-school and summer program designed to introduce elementary school students in disadvantaged, urban public schools to natural science and environmental education. The program, which began operations in 2010 as a collaboration of Rutgers University, Johnson & Johnson, and New Brunswick, New Jersey, public schools, was motivated by broad concerns over the achievement gap in science and mathematics that has long characterized student performance in the state's suburban and inner-city schools. We present results from a classical experiment conducted in four elementary schools which suggest that NtN does improve grades and knowledge of science and nature.

KEYWORDS:

• Disadvantaged children
• natural science education