Improving Test Scores Through Environmental Education: Is It Possible?

The present research investigated the impact of environmental education (EE) programs on student achievement in math, reading, and writing by comparing student performances on two standardized tests for environmental education schools and schools with traditional curriculum. Quantitative analysis was used to evaluate the impact of the EE programs. The study indicates that schools with integrated environmental education programs outperform comparable “non-EE” schools on the tests. The authors believe that this exploratory research shows a pattern or trend between the level of implementation of environmental education and student achievement, which calls for more in-depth studies to investigate a correlate or cause-effect relationship.

Notes

¹We thank Jean MacGregor and John Perkins who were the members of Ms. Bartosh's thesis committee for their valuable advices and constant support.