Below is the text from the Executive Summary from this report. The complete report can be downloaded from the bottom of this page.
An Evaluation of the Early Years of the
Boston Schools Environmental Initiative (BSEI)
2005-2006
Baseline Report
Presented to:
Boston Nature Center
Mass Audubon Society
Prepared by:
Rachel Becker-Klein
Michael Duffin
& Program Evaluation and Educational Research
(PEER) Associates, Inc.
January 29, 2007
Executive Summary
The Boston Schools Environmental Initiative (BSEI) program was designed to work with selected participant schools in Boston to foster “hands-on, minds-on” science and environmental awareness. The BSEI is a program of Boston Nature Center (BNC), which places a 75% time teacher naturalist in each school, during the school year, and provides ongoing professional development and project coordination for BSEI schools.
The BSEI program is conceptualized as moving through a model-mentor-coach cycle over the course of a four-year period. BNC teacher naturalists begin by modeling hands-on, minds-on science approaches, then shift to mentoring the classroom teachers through co-teaching, and ultimately step back and play more of a coach role as classroom teachers take the primary lead. This explanation is a simplification of the process. In actuality, the teacher naturalist and school educators move back and forth between these roles throughout this four-year period as the model becomes more fully integrated into educator practice and school culture.
This evaluation focused on three schools working with the BSEI program during 2005-2006, as described in Figure 1a below. The goal of this evaluation was to provide baseline data, collected during the beginning stages of the BSEI program implementation. Thus, ways in which BSEI schools are not yet meeting program outcomes should be interpreted as indicators that certain schools are at very early stages of implementing the BSEI program. More summative evaluation will follow in later years.
The central evaluation questions were: “How can BSEI adapt to the local needs of the participating schools?” and “To what extent are participating schools currently implementing intended BSEI outcomes?” To answer these questions, interviews were conducted with members of the school community, such as educators, administrators, and parents from each site, as well as with some of the BSEI staff.
Figure 1a. Snapshot of BSEI sites evaluated in 2005-2006.
School |
Grade Level |
Location in Boston |
BSEI began |
John D. Philbrick Elementary |
K2-5 |
Roslindale |
October, 2004 |
James M. Curley Elementary |
K1-5 |
Jamaica Plain |
December, 2005 |
Oliver W. Holmes Elementary |
K1-5 |
Dorchester |
February, 2006 |
Findings and discussion
Although this report does provide some commentary at the level of the BSEI program as a whole, it is important to note that the primary focus was on describing the BSEI program as it was beginning to unfold at each individual school. Below are summaries of the main themes identified at each school, followed by a summary of overall conclusions and recommendations.
Philbrick School
The overall finding at the Philbrick School was that the principal and many educators were invested in working towards the goal of integrating science throughout the curriculum. The working relationship between the Philbrick School and the BNC was characterized by enthusiasm and an attitude of partnership. Many of the educators in the school were utilizing a hands-on, minds-on approach to teaching, in the area of literacy (non-fiction). The school seems to be heading in the direction of the long-term goals of the BSEI program. Four main themes emerged in support of this overall finding:
· Increasing science integration
· Successful recycling program
· Teacher naturalist working with educators in the classroom
· Parents expressed enthusiasm for BSEI program
Curley School
The overall finding was that the BSEI program is making progress in the Curley School, including working through some challenges associated with program start up. Expectations for the role of the teacher naturalist are becoming clearer, as are ideas about how to most usefully focus future professional development activities.
Four main themes emerged in support of this overall finding:
· Science as an emerging focus
· Seeds of conservation awareness being sown
· The role of the teacher naturalist
· Successful “Sweet and Sappy” event
Holmes School
The overall finding was that the Holmes School is showing evidence of progress at integrating the BSEI program into the school’s curriculum. Interviews showed that the working relationship between the program and the school was characterized by openness and collaboration.
Three main themes emerged in support of this overall finding:
· Expanding the role and reach of the teacher naturalist
· Science focus increased
· School wide conservation project planned
Overall conclusions and recommendations
Overall, findings from this evaluation show that the theory of a model-mentor-coach cycle does play out in actual practice.
This evaluation was primarily focused on establishing a baseline for future comparison, and thus was not aimed at making summative judgments. This evaluation did, however, uncover evidence of success in achieving the initial steps of the stated BSEI program model. In other words, the program appears to be on track.
Recommendations include:
· Implement a school wide environmental initiative at each site as a way to maximize engagement, visibility, and coherence for the BSEI in each school.
· Create a rubric for scientific thinking using a hands-on, minds-on approach as a way to clarify expectations and strengthen implementation in classrooms.
· Provide more professional development on how to use hands-on, minds-on science approaches to meet state science standards in order to ease educator concerns.
· Define and describe indicators for beginning, middle, and end stages of the BSEI program as a way to provide stakeholders with more tangible benchmarks for inspiring, documenting, and celebrating program progress.
· Refine the program logic model based on evaluation findings as a way to further institutionalize critical reflection and continuous improvement within BSEI.
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