Setting High Standards: Environmental Education Builds A Home In Teacher Education Accreditation

Abstract

What’s exciting enough to make Dr. Terry Wilson postpone his retirement? It’s a bold move by the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE)—one that Wilson, director of the Center for Mathematics, Science and Environmental Education at Western Kentucky University, notes is making it “easier to get support for new environmental education courses.”

In 2002, NAAEE joined the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). A coalition of 33 organizations, NCATE is the professional accrediting body for college and university programs that prepare preschool through high school teachers and administrators. Two-thirds of the nation’s new teacher graduates come from NCATE-accredited schools.

Wilson says that participating in NCATE’s national accreditation program provides a long-awaited opportunity to weave environmental education into the fabric of teacher education. Establishing national environmental education accreditation standards will spur institutions across the country to improve or develop environmental education programs as their teacher education programs come due for seven-year NCATE accreditation reviews.

NAAEE began formulating program area standards for environmental education in 2004, with an eye toward submitting them for NCATE approval in 2007. Click on the link to learn more about this effort.

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