Prepared by: Michael Duffin, PEER Associates, Inc. Prepared for:

Why UsePlace-based Education?Four answers that emerge from the findings of PEEC, the Place-based Education Evaluation Collaborative (Group presentation version) Prepared by: Michael Duffin, PEER Associates, Inc. Prepared for: the Place-based Education Evaluation Collaborative (PEEC) February 9, 2007 Suggested citation: Duffin, M., & PEER Associates (2007). Why use place-based education?: Four answers that emerge from the findings of PEEC, the Place-based Education Evaluation Collaborative, (Presentation version). Retrieved [date] from http://www.peecworks.org/PEEC/PEEC_Reports/S01248363-01248382

Background Context • What is place-based education (PBE)? • Community as curriculum • 3 integrated goals: student achievement, community vitality, ecological integrity • See www.PromiseOfPlace.org for more • What is the Place-based Education Evaluation Collaborative (PEEC)? • 5 programs, one foundation • 3 goals: improve programs, share evaluation tools, contribute to research base • See www.PEECworks.org for more • About this presentation • Summarize four key findings • Multiple versions can be downloaded for free at www.PEECworks.org

Haley School, Roslindale, MA Overview of the Body of Evidence • Large amount of data… • 4 years of individual and cross-program evaluations of 6 place-based education programs representing more than 75 schools (rural, suburban, and urban) in 5 states • Over 700 adult interview or focus group participants • Over 200 student interview/ conversation/focus group participants • Nearly 650 educator surveys • Nearly 1,500 student surveys • Extensive document review and on-site observations • Evidence suggests that…

Haley School, Roslindale, MA Overview of the Body of Evidence • Place-based education can… • Invigorate educators • Support transformation of school culture • Help students learn • Engage parents and communities

#1 – PBE can Invigorate EducatorsPlace-based education can help educators become more excited and collaborative in their professional practice, and more likely to use local resources for teaching and learning

Program “Response” (Measures of Intended Outcome) Lower Higher Less More Program “Dose” (Exposure + Implementation) PEEC Cross-Program Survey Results 2003-2006Changes in Educator Practice Toward PBE Outcomes • Dose-response strategy • Best fit line going from lower left to upper right suggests program is active ingredient #1 – PBE can Invigorate Educators

PEEC Cross-Program Survey Results 2003-2006Changes in Educator Practice Toward PBE Outcomes • Strongest PEEC finding • PEEC dose accounts for 17% of variance in Overall Educator Practice • (For comparison, weight status accounts for 17-19% of the variance in costs of cardiovascular disease) #1 – PBE can Invigorate Educators

ONE EXAMPLE: Forest For Every Classroom program helps second grade teacher(s) from the Ray School in Hanover, NH For instance • “FFEC gave me the peers on a professional level outside my school to recharge and to update my knowledge and content and gave…me the push to get the science committee to commit to the outdoor-focused curriculum.” • “We have been energized to do more in the area of backyard science because we realize that we CAN!” Gilford Elementary School, Gilford, NH #1 – PBE can Invigorate Educators

Other examples of place-based educators reporting increased engagement, collaboration, and professional growth  More • “I think of this work as a big ball, and I have to push it up this big hill. But the more I think about it, it’s like a little snowball at the top of the hill and all you have to do is push it, and then it builds and builds…even with all the obstacles along the way.” - TTEC Educator • “Because of CO-SEED I’ll never again be the same teacher…It’s transformed my whole vision about how I teach my kids. It gave me the tools…the opportunity. The results are just phenomenal…and I will never ever teach the same again.” - CO-SEED Educator Gilford Elementary School, Gilford, NH #1 – PBE can Invigorate Educators

Other examples of place-based educators reporting increased engagement, collaboration, and professional growth  More • Inspires additional training • Release time for collaborative planning is key • SSP Critical Friends Groups • LREC increased staffing Gilford Elementary School, Gilford, NH #1 – PBE can Invigorate Educators

#2 – PBE can Transform CulturePlace-based education can actively shape and become embedded in a school’s culture and identity

ONE EXAMPLE: CO-SEED helps Haley Elementary in Boston achieve their goal of becoming a model environmental school For instance  • Surveys show gains over 3 years • 88% of educators surveyed agree that “Place-based education is a part of the cultural fabric of our school.” • “’Ahh ha’ moments are slowly but surely infiltrating all of the other minds of the other teachers.” • “I think the mentality is really part of our identity. It’s who we are.” Haley School, Roslindale, MA #2 – PBE can Transform Culture

Analysis of data across PEEC programs reveals a “Tipping Point” pattern of culture change at multiple sites More  • After multiple years of whole school model PEEC program, newer educators tend to report similarly high outcomes as veterans of the school or program • Intended outcomes transmitted through the norms and culture of the school as much or more than by direct exposure to the program • “Now it’s just part of the culture of the school.” • “Collaboration is now kind of a built in thing.” • “[Veteran teachers] sweep these new people up and into the theme, the culture of the school.” Haley School, Roslindale, MA #2 – PBE can Transform Culture

#3 – PBE can Help Students LearnPlace-based education can help students with academic achievement

Ten studies from across the United States connect place-based education and student academic achievement • 16 states, 265 schools, recent (1998-2005) • Standardized test scores, interviews, observations, demographics, and document review • Compelling as a group • Detailed references at www.PEECworks.org: (AIR, 2005; Athman & Monroe, 2004; Bartosh, 2004; Danforth, 2005; Emekauwa, 2004; Ernst & Monroe, 2004; Falco, 2004; Liebermann & Hoody, 1998; NEETF, 2000; SEER, 2000) • Does not even include service-learning #3 – PBE can Help Students Learn

ONE PEEC EXAMPLE: First Grade Academic Achievementas a Function of CO-SEED/ Experiential Units For instance  • “One thing we know is that kids’ writing is much more interesting, complex, and detailed if they’ve had rich experience …The current first grade has about a third of the kids who didn’t have Kindergarten here and in general it is breathtaking the difference in the academic achievement. Our Kindergarten has the strongest place-based education in the school, especially with language development.” • Compared achievement scores of first graders with one versus two years of exposure to strongest PBE teachers Young Achievers School, Jamaica Plain, MA #3 – PBE can Help Students Learn

ONE PEEC EXAMPLE: First Grade Academic Achievementas a Function of CO-SEED/ Experiential Units For instance  • First graders with more in-depth place-based education outperformed peers on all measures Young Achievers School, Jamaica Plain, MA #3 – PBE can Help Students Learn

ANOTHER PEEC EXAMPLE: Effects of CO-SEED onStandardized Test Scores (MCAS) at theBeebe Health & Environmental Magnet School • CO-SEED worked with Beebe 4+ years • Environmental theme became embedded in the school culture • Predicted increased performance relative to district and/or state in four content areas More Beebe School, Malden, MA #3 – PBE can Help Students Learn

ANOTHER PEEC EXAMPLE: Effects of CO-SEED onStandardized Test Scores (MCAS) at theBeebe Health & Environmental Magnet School • Typical pattern: state performs highest, then Beebe, then district More Beebe School, Malden, MA #3 – PBE can Help Students Learn

ANOTHER PEEC EXAMPLE: Effects of CO-SEED onStandardized Test Scores (MCAS) at theBeebe Health & Environmental Magnet School • Prediction supported for three out of four content areas More Beebe School, Malden, MA #3 – PBE can Help Students Learn

Student Engagement in Learning (index) From CO-SEED educator surveys, 2003-2004 Educator Reports of Student Engagement in Learning Gilford Elementary School, Gilford, NH Dosage of CO-SEED Other examples of place-based educationhelping students learn more or better More  • Educators report increased student engagement in learning #3 – PBE can Help Students Learn

Student Attachment to Place (module) From PEEC student surveys, 2003-2004 Student Reports of Attachment to Place Dosage of PEEC Program Other examples of place-based educationhelping students learn more or better More  • Students report increased place attachment Gilford Elementary School, Gilford, NH #3 – PBE can Help Students Learn

Other examples of place-based educationhelping students learn more or better More  • “My kids were so excited about the things that they saw that I know they will look more and pay closer attention to our environment. Actually visiting the ecosystems helped them really understand the concepts that I was trying to get across.” - Litzsinger Road Ecology Center Educator Gilford Elementary School, Gilford, NH #3 – PBE can Help Students Learn

#4 – PBE can Engage CommunitiesPlace-based education can help engage youth in their community andconnect communities to their schools

Barnes Elementary, Burlington, VT ONE EXAMPLE: Students in Burlington, VT help revitalize a neighborhood street as part of the Sustainable Schools Project For instance • Students get school zone signs installed • “[Our students] are very comfortable now with business owners, extremely comfortable with the Mayor, with the City Council, and with the Neighbor-hood Planning Committee because they’ve spoken there. And when they go to speak, people listen.” - SSP Teacher • “Sustainability involves strengthening the relationships between a community and a project, such that eventually the project naturally happens on its own because the entire community is so invested in its success.” - SSP Parent #4 – PBE can Engage Communities

Barnes Elementary, Burlington, VT Other examples of place-based educationconnecting youth to their communities  More • School-community collaborations • Networking for farmer’s markets • Recycling replicated by municipal officials • Bond issue to close landfill • Waste heat used to clear winter sidewalks • “There is not a town project that I do now where I don’t start with ‘How can we involve the students?’” - Town Mgr. in CO-SEED Community • “Before… I thought of [the AT] as a very individual thing,… for ‘me.’ Now it’s something that I can’t wait to go out and share with the kids, with the community. I want other people to see what a great resource it is.” - TTEC Community Member #4 – PBE can Engage Communities

Woodsville Elementary School, Woodsville, NH Dearborn Middle School, Roxbury, MA Young Achievers School, Jamaica Plain, MA FFEC training, VT Review • Drawing from several years of data from PEEC, the Place-based Education Evaluation Collaborative, evidence suggests that place-based education can… • Invigorate educators • Support transformation of school culture • Help students learn • Engage parents and communities

Why UsePlace-based Education?Four answers that emerge from the findings of PEEC, the Place-based Education Evaluation Collaborative (Group presentation version) Prepared by: Michael Duffin, PEER Associates, Inc. Prepared for: the Place-based Education Evaluation Collaborative (PEEC) February 9, 2007 Suggested citation: Duffin, M., & PEER Associates (2007). Why use place-based education?: Four answers that emerge from the findings of PEEC, the Place-based Education Evaluation Collaborative, (Presentation version). Retrieved [date] from http://www.peecworks.org/PEEC/PEEC_Reports/S01248363-01248382

Prepared by: Michael Duffin, PEER Associates, Inc. Prepared for: