The Development and Implementation of an Environmental Education Liaison-Communication Plan and Program for Teachers of Grades K-5 at Ninety-Fifth Street School Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Abstract

An Environmental Education Liaison Communication Plan and Program (EELCPP) was developed in hopes of influencing the instructional practices of teachers of grades K-5 at Ninety-Fifth Street School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin regarding environmental education (EE). Prior research revealed that educators face many obstacles when trying to implement EE, the most common obstacle being a lack of training. The EELCPP was designed to assess those obstacles and work around them in order to produce a change in instruction. A survey administered to the Ninety-Fifth Street School K-5 teachers in the fall of 1994, assessed the extent to which EE was occurring and the methods being used. The survey also determined what manner of dissemination of information from the Wisconsin School System Environmental Education Network those instructors would find most beneficial. Finally, the survey determined what form of help those teachers needed and wanted in order to meet DPI mandates concerning EE. Based on the results of the survey the EELCPP was written by the EE committee. The plan's focus was to provide an inservice at which the K-5 teachers of Ninety-Fifth Street School could learn methods for infusing EE into their curriculum. This inservice occurred in the spring of 1995. A final survey in June of 1995 assessed whether the efforts made during the 1994-1995 school year to motivate the teachers about EE influenced their instructional practices. Results of the survey indicated that all efforts made had an influence, particularly the inservice provided.