Multi-layered predictors of ESE policy adoption in large school districts in the United States

Abstract

Prior research on environmental and sustainability education policies has largely focused on the international to national policy uptake. This article explores such policies at the subnational level in a fragmented education system. Over the past two decades, a growing number of school districts in the United States have enacted sustainability-oriented policies through the implementation of simultaneous efforts to green their facilities and provide related educational programming. This article explores the breadth of this approach in the 200 largest school districts in the country. In examining policy predictors at the district, municipal, and state levels, the study combines National Center for Education Statistics data and information from a systematic web scan. Using logistic regression, the analysis is grounded in an expanded Advocacy Coalition Framework and reveals four main findings. First, school districts under mayoral control are more likely to have a policy than districts governed by a school board. Second, the study underscores the interconnectedness of these policies with the sustainability efforts of the municipalities they are located in. Third, school districts located in large cities are more likely to have a policy. Fourth, a strong environmental movement in the state is associated with the presence of a policy.

Keywords:

• Education policy
• environmental and sustainability education
• sustainability

Disclosure statement

No potential competing interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Carine Verschueren

Verschueren is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Comparative and International Education Program and a policy analyst at the Center for Sustainable Futures at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her mixed methods research sits at the intersection of education, policy, and sustainability. She also explores the role of education in urban responses to climate change and sustainability.