Evaluation of the Environmental Education Program at the New Jersey School of Conservation

Abstract

The authors present the findings of an evaluation of the residential environmental education program offered by the New Jersey School of Conservation (NJSOC). Sixth-grade students (n = 419) from a large, central New Jersey school district participated in a 4-day/3-night experience. The Children's Attitudes Toward the Environment Scale (L. M. Musser & A. J. Malkus, 1994) was used to assess the effect of the NJSOC program on the students' attitudes toward the environment. A complementary phase of the research involved using qualitative methods of inquiry to evaluate the effectiveness of NJSOC programs experienced by the students in meeting selected missions of the NJSOC.

Keywords:

• attitudes
• children
• evaluation
• residential environmental education (EE) qualitative
• quantitative