EETAP Summary of Goals and Accomplishments (1995 - 2010)

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Purpose: To advance education and environmental literacy by delivering environmental education training and support to teachers and other education professionals across the U.S.

Background:

Section 5 of the National Environmental Education Act of 1990 mandates that EPA operate a national educator training program. This program receives 25% of Congressionally-appropriated funds to EPA's Environmental Education Division (typically $1.5 million per year).
Since 1992, this program has operated as a multi-year consortium of universities and non-profit organizations (typically a 5 year program).
The current program, called the Environmental Education and Training Partnership (EETAP-3), will operate from 2005 - 2010. This program builds on the groundwork laid by previous programs, especially EETAP-1 operated by the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) from 1995 - 2000 and EETAP-2 operated by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP) from 2000 - 2005. EETAP-3 is led by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP) along with 8 partners. Click here to review summaries of Year 1 and Year 2 of the EETAP-3 program.

Why EETAP is Unique:

EETAP is a consortium of universities and nonprofit organizations. While some partners have changed over time, a core group of national leaders has remained relatively constant. Because of this, EETAP has become a forum for 1) assessing the needs of the EE field, and 2) developing strategies and programs to address those needs.
EETAP is an unprecedented 15 year effort to provide systematic training and long-term support to education professionals across the U.S. EETAP has received over $27 million to date in EPA funds. These funds have been matched by approximately $7 million in in-kind contributions from the partners (a 25% match of federal funds).
Because of long-term support from EPA, EETAP has been able to launch several strategic initiatives that take years to develop and refine.
The most significant achievement is the National Project for Excellence in EE (NPEEE). NPEEE has produced 4 sets of national guidelines for EE materials, K-12 students, educators, and non-formal programs. The Guidelines have also provided a solid foundation for other groundbreaking initiatives such as:
1. state certification of environmental educators
2. national accreditation of state certification programs
3. standards for college and university teacher preparation programs
4. an online process for reviewing and evaluating materials
5. creation of several university accredited online courses

Goals and Accomplishments:

Supporting Professional Development

Goal 1: To develop and deliver training for teachers and other education professionals that enables them to improve learning and teach effectively about environmental issues.

Accomplishments:

Delivered training and support to tens of thousands of educators nationwide. These educators have, in turn, reached hundreds of thousands of students and other learners in virtually every state, the District of Columbia, and various U.S. territories. Many educators have received training through existing national programs such as Project Learning Tree, Project WILD, and Project WET who implement training through state coordinators.
Developed and delivered university accredited online courses on the fundamentals of EE, program evaluation, and strategic planning which have reached educators in virtually every state. Developed a new course on cultural diversity scheduled to begin in the Fall of 2008.
Developed and delivered "capacity building" training and support on strategic planning and organizational development for teams of state leaders and state EE associations in virtually every state.

Advancing Environmental Education

Goal 2: To promote quality materials and programs and support efforts which institutionalize and professionalize the field of EE.

Accomplishments:

Initiated NPEEE. Produced 4 sets of guidelines, along with companion publications, for EE materials, K-12 students, educators, and non-formal programs. Developed and delivered training to educators across the country on how to use the guidelines.
Developed a set of standards accepted by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) that apply to over 600 teacher education programs at colleges and universities across the U.S.
Supported initiatives in several states to develop their own state EE certification programs (KY, TX, UT, NV, and CO).
Initiated the development of a national program to accredit state EE certification programs.
Supported dozens of correlations of supplemental curricula developed by Project Learning Tree, Project WILD, and Project WET to state and national education standards.
Developed an online resource review process for reviewing, evaluating, and posting EE materials on the Internet.
Published research, evaluation tools, articles, and other materials to assist educators in understanding the issues facing the field of EE and the connections between EE and education reform.
Further developed a state-of-the art Internet site, EE-Link, which provides access to a vast array of EE information and thousands of resources which has been accessed by hundreds of thousands of users. EE-Link was initially created by the National Consortium for EE and Training (NCEET) operated by the University of Michigan (EETAP's predecessor from 1992 - 1995).

Reaching Diverse Audiences

Goal 3: To ensure that traditionally-underserved audiences, such as culturally-diverse communities and non-formal educators, benefit from and actively participate in environmental education programs.

Accomplishments:

Published a "casebook" and developed and delivered workshops to help environmental education programs become more inclusive and relevant to culturally-diverse audiences.
Supported education and outreach efforts that reach tribal communities.
Developed a "toolkit" and delivered workshops to reach conservation practitioners in non-formal settings such as zoos, nature centers and museums.
Provided support for ongoing efforts to reach culturally-diverse audiences as part of the Project Learning Tree, Project WILD, and Project WET educator training programs.
Participated in conferences and established working relationships with dozens of organizations that focus on education, natural resources and conservation, and culturally-diverse populations.

Current EETAP Partners*:

*Past partners have included the Groundwater Foundation, National Association of Conservation Districts, National Urban League, Northern Illinois University, Ohio State University, Project del Rio, WestEd, and World Wildlife Fund.

EETAP Summary of Goals and Accomplishments (1995 - 2010)

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