Title: Why Use Placebased Education Four answers that emerge from the findings of PEEC, the Placebased Educ
1Why 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
2Background 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
3Overview 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
4Overview of the Body of Evidence
- Place-based education can
- Invigorate educators
- Support transformation of school culture
- Help students learn
- Engage parents and communities
51 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
6PEEC 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
7PEEC 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
8ONE 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
9Other 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
10Other 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
112 PBE can Transform CulturePlace-based
education can actively shape and become embedded
in a schools culture and identity
12ONE 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
13Analysis 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
143 PBE can Help Students
LearnPlace-based education can help students
with academic achievement
15Ten 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
16ONE 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
17ONE 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
18ONE 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
19ONE 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
20ANOTHER 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
21ANOTHER 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
22ANOTHER 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
23ANOTHER 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
24ANOTHER 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
25Other examples of place-based educationhelping
students learn more or better
More ?
- Educators report increased student engagement in
learning
3 PBE can Help Students Learn
26Other 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
27Other 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
284 PBE can Engage CommunitiesPlace-base
d education can help engage youth in their
community andconnect communities to their
schools
29ONE 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
30Other 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
31Review
- Drawing from several years of data from PEEC, the
Place-based Education Evaluation Collaborative,
evidence suggests that place-based education can - Invigorate educators
32Review
- 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
33Review
- 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
34Review
- 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
35Why 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