Why Use Placebased Education Four answers that emerge from the findings of PEEC, the Placebased Educ

1
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/S012483
63-01248382
2
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

3
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

4
Overview of the Body of Evidence

• Place-based education can
• Invigorate educators
• Support transformation of school culture
• Help students learn
• Engage parents and communities

5
1 PBE can Invigorate EducatorsPlace-ba
sed education can help educators become more
excited and collaborative in their professional
practice, and more likely to use local resources
for teaching and learning
6
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
7
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
8
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 gaveme 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
9
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, its like a little snowball at the top
  of the hill and all you have to do is push it,
  and then it builds and buildseven with all the
  obstacles along the way.
• - TTEC Educator
• Because of CO-SEED Ill never again be the same
  teacherIts transformed my whole vision about
  how I teach my kids. It gave me the toolsthe
  opportunity. The results are just phenomenaland
  I will never ever teach the same again.
• - CO-SEED Educator

Gilford Elementary School, Gilford, NH
1 PBE can Invigorate Educators
10
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
11
2 PBE can Transform CulturePlace-based
education can actively shape and become embedded
in a schools culture and identity
12
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. Its who we are.

Haley School, Roslindale, MA
2 PBE can Transform Culture
13
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 its 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
14
3 PBE can Help Students
LearnPlace-based education can help students
with academic achievement
15
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
16
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
  theyve had rich experience The current first
  grade has about a third of the kids who didnt
  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
17
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
18
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
19
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
20
ANOTHER PEEC EXAMPLE Effects of CO-SEED
onStandardized Test Scores (MCAS) at theBeebe
Health Environmental Magnet School
? More

• 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

Beebe School, Malden, MA
3 PBE can Help Students Learn
21
ANOTHER PEEC EXAMPLE Effects of CO-SEED
onStandardized Test Scores (MCAS) at theBeebe
Health Environmental Magnet School
? More

• Typical pattern state performs highest, then
  Beebe, then district

Beebe School, Malden, MA
3 PBE can Help Students Learn
22
ANOTHER PEEC EXAMPLE Effects of CO-SEED
onStandardized Test Scores (MCAS) at theBeebe
Health Environmental Magnet School
? More

• Prediction supported for three out of four
  content areas

Beebe School, Malden, MA
3 PBE can Help Students Learn
23
ANOTHER PEEC EXAMPLE Effects of CO-SEED
onStandardized Test Scores (MCAS) at theBeebe
Health Environmental Magnet School
? More

• Prediction supported for three out of four
  content areas

Beebe School, Malden, MA
3 PBE can Help Students Learn
24
ANOTHER PEEC EXAMPLE Effects of CO-SEED
onStandardized Test Scores (MCAS) at theBeebe
Health Environmental Magnet School
? More

• Prediction supported for three out of four
  content areas

Beebe School, Malden, MA
3 PBE can Help Students Learn
25
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
26
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
27
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
28
4 PBE can Engage CommunitiesPlace-base
d education can help engage youth in their
community andconnect communities to their
schools
29
ONE EXAMPLE Students in Burlington, VT help
revitalize a neighborhood street as part of the
Sustainable Schools Project

• 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 theyve
  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

? For instance
4 PBE can Engage Communities
30
Other examples of place-based educationconnecting
youth to their communities

• School-community collaborations
• Networking for farmers 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 dont 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 its something
  that I cant 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

? More
4 PBE can Engage Communities
31
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

32
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/S012483
63-01248382