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A good summary of Maine's ELP planning process as presented at the New England EE Association conference.



Maine Planning Process Power Point

As part of your state Environmental Literacy Plan, you will need to develop "A description of programs for professional development of teachers to improve their environmental content knowledge, skill in teaching about environmental issues, and field-based pedagogical skills." (NAAEE 2009)

To help you identify quality professional development programs and develop new ones that will meet the needs of your state Environmental Literacy Plan, use Guidelines for the Preparation and Professional Development of Environmental Educators as a resource.  The Preparation and Professional Development Guidelines, published by NAAEE, provide a set of recommendations  about the basic knowledge and abilities educators need to provide high-quality environmental education.

Organized into six themes, these guidelines provide a mechanism for gauging the quality of preservice and inservice preparation programs and the abilities of environmental educators working in the field. Instead of offering fixed rules, these guidelines suggest a broad vision—a goal to work toward and a guide for professional and programmatic development.

Guidelines for the Preparation and Professional Development of Environmental Educators was used as the foundation for the development of the NCATE Standards for the Initial Preparation of Environmental Educators. In addition, these guidelines have been used in the development of state professional environmental educator certification programs.

For more information about the Guidelines for the Preparation and Professional Development of Environmental Educators, visit the Guidelines for Excellence network.  You can download a PDF of the guidelines and other resources here:

Guidelines for the Preparation and Professional Development of Environmental Educators (Complete Document)

Summary of the Preparation and Professional Development Guidelines (One Page)

NCATE Standards for the Initial Preparation of Environmental Educators

As part of your Environmental Literacy Plan you will be developing a set of "Specific content standards, content areas, and courses or subjects where instruction will take place." (NAAEE 2009)

Why re-invent the wheel?

Published by NAAEE, Excellence in Environmental Education: Guidelines for Learning (K-12) is a widely accepted framework for environmental literacy achievement. Organized into four strands and benchmarked at the 4th, 8th, and 12th grades, the EE Guidelines for Learning (K-12) can be used as the foundation for your state environmental literacy standards.

Writing a new set of stand alone environmental literacy content standards may not be feasible in some states. However, we know that environmental education content and skills are well-represented in most state academic standards.  It's just a matter of finding the links. One way of making these links explicit is to use Excellence in Environmental Education: Guidelines for Learning (K-12) as the framework and to create a crosswalk with your state academic standards. By developing a crosswalk, you will identify the state academic standards that support environmental education. Importantly, you will also identify the gaps! This can give you a road map for working with your state department of education.

To learn more about EE Guidelines for Learning (K-12), visit the Guidelines for Excellence network: http://eelinked.naaee.net/n/guidelines  You can download a copy of the EE Guidelines for Learning (K-12) and other resources directly from this post:

Excellence in Environmental Education: Guidelines for Learning (K-12) (PDF - cover to cover)

Excellence in Environmental Education: Guidelines for Learning (K-12) Executive Summary and Self Assessment Tool

Summary of EE Guidelines for Learning (K-12) (Two pages)