Abstract
Green School Programs are an internationally recognized effort that transforms schools into environmentally friendly entities and engage school communities in environmentally impactful efforts. Such efforts may increase student awareness about their connection to the environment and have the potential to increase achievement through opportunities for hands-on science learning. This study utilizes publicly available data on public schools and student outcomes to examine the extent to which the Green School designation in Maryland is related to changes in science proficiency. Specifically, methods entailed using mixed regression of school-level science proficiency rates on the number of years as a Green School and predictive school characteristics to determine the association between time as a Green School and student science outcomes over two decades. This study improves upon existing research with timely data and methods to account for factors that may have biased previous findings.
Acknowledgement
We would like to acknowledge and thank the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education, for allowing us access to state wide Green School data.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Data availability statement
Results not shown but available upon request.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Juliann Dupuis
Dr. Juliann Dupuis is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean in the School of Education at Notre Dame of Maryland University. In these roles, she oversees the secondary science program and is the Director of the STEM leadership program.
Rachel E. Durham
Dr. Rachel E. Durham is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at Notre Dame of Maryland University, where she teaches in the PhD program and serves as institutional lead for the Baltimore Education Research Consortium.