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There has been a lot of jargon and lingo floating around the topic of environmental education in the public school system. You’ve probably heard of No Child Left Behind, you may have heard of No Child Left Inside, and you possibly could have heard of the Children in Nature Action Plan — but what does it all mean and how does it affect you?
Let’s start from the beginning. The Bush administration passed an act in 2001 called No Child Left Behind that allowed states to have more authority and flexibility while making them more accountable for student performance. An outcome of No Child Left Behind was that school curriculum became more test-centered. Topics that weren’t covered by the test were sometimes dropped, including science, the arts and social studies. Field trips and hands-on or outdoor activities that took away test prep time were often abandoned.
At the same time the No Child Left Behind Act was being put into practice, research and literature were being released that children weren’t spending enough time outside. In 2005, Richard Louv published his groundbreaking book Last Child in the Woods. Louv’s work identified a national epidemic called “nature-deficit disorder” that linked growing problems in our children (like obesity, attention disorders, and depression) to a lack of time spent in nature. While nature was being pulled out of the classroom, Louv was telling us that nature is critical to our children’s health, intellect and happiness. No Child Left Behind, in addressing well-known educational problems, unintentionally became part of another problem.
The No Child Left Inside (NCLI) Act is a proposed solution to No Child Left Behind. The act provides funding to train teachers in environmental education and implementation, including taking students outside for class. The act encourages states to create environmental literacy plans so all high school graduates will be prepared to address environmental issues. It will provide support for teachers, administrations, and school systems to deliver environmental education to all students. The act will also integrate environmental education across disciplines from math and science to English and social studies.
Currently there are multiple coalitions working to gain federal support for the NCLI Act. The national No Child Left Inside Coalition is a group of over 1,500 organizations that support legislation to reconnect kids and nature. The Maryland coalition represents over 200 organizations and supports the NCLI Act as well as Maryland Partnership for Children in Nature that was established by Governor Martin O’Malley in 2008. The Maryland Partnership for Children in Nature is co-chaired by Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary and the State Education Superintendent and is in charge of developing and executing a plan for structured and unstructured outdoor play, science and environmental literacy for Maryland’s children. This past fall Governor O’Malley endorsed the Children in Nature Action Plan that will implement some of the Partnerships’ recommendations.
On February 2, 2010, the US Department of Education released their budget; it included funds for environmental literacy for the first time. This means that the Obama administration will include aspects of NCLI in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (the act formerly known as No Child Left Behind.) This is good news for kids getting outside and back to nature. It is a big step towards happier and healthier American children.
But the work isn’t done yet. As Marylanders there are many steps we can take to help ensure that no child will be left inside. Join the National and Maryland NCLI Coalitions; the more people involved the more voices are represented and a larger, more vocal coalition presents a stronger case to congress. It is quick and free to sign up and it will keep you up to date on any developments. Maryland Representative Sarbanes and Rhode Island Senator Reed are the sponsors of the NCLI Act. The more support there is in Congress, the more likely the act will pass and be fully included in the elementary and secondary education act. Maryland representation is not as strong as it could be; contact Senator Mikulski and Representatives Ruppersberger, Edwards, Hoyer, and Bartlett and urge them to support the NCLI Act.
Implementing the NCLI act in schools will change the face of education. Children will be exposed to more hands-on learning experiences; they will be exposed to local community issues and begin thinking about solutions instead of reading textbook scenarios. Our children will no longer be unaware of their natural environment, but will have learned to appreciate and respect the beauty and complexity of the world around them. Instead of feeling bewildered and hopeless by today’s political and environmental issues, graduates will be ready to tackle the environmental challenges because they are better-informed citizens and have developed critical thinking skills in school. And those are skills that go far beyond the environment—what our children could learn outside may very well be what carries them into the future.
National No Child Left Inside Coalition website:
www.nclicoalition.org
Maryland No Child Left Inside Coalition website:
www.mdncli.org
Educational recommendations from the Maryland Partnership for Children in Nature
- Provide an annual meaningful outdoor environmental education experience for every student every year, pre-K through grade 12.
- Require for graduation that every high school student take and pass a designated course of study on environmental literacy (as defined in the report)
- Establish a comprehensive initiative to green all schools and school grounds, and embed schoolyard habitat programs as integrated indoor and outdoor instructional components of the curriculum, to create opportunities for outdoor learning experiences for students and members of the community.
- Provide professional development for teachers, state park rangers and naturalists, and other service providers.
- Adopt the Maryland State Environmental Literacy Standards
By Janet Jefferson
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