Designing Effective Strategies for Environmental Education:
An Evaluation of The Center for Environmental Study’s
Partnership with Providence Public Schools

Tracy Ostrowski

In January of 1996, Brown University’s Center for Environmental Studies expanded its existing relationship with Providence public schools into a professional development workshop for teachers. The program, Teachers and Resources for Environmental Education in Schools (TREES) was funded by an Eisenhower grant from the Rhode Island office of Higher Education. It combined the efforts of CES faculty and staff, 35 Providence teachers, and 90 students in an introductory environmental studies course (ES11). The teachers participated in a series of workshops in which they were trained in topics in environmental education (EE) and urban forestry. In a second session, the teachers created a pilot curriculum packet for use in their classrooms. The ES11 students conducted lessons and activities to supplement the teachers’ efforts as part of a semester long project. This thesis is an evaluation of all stages of the TREES project. It examines the effectiveness and appropriateness of the TREES project for Providence teachers and students, ES11 students, and the staff and faculty at CES.

My research included a number of different ethnographic and qualitative methods including surveys, interviews, and participant observation at all stages of the TREES project. I analyzed evaluation reports and surveys from the TREES project and conducted interviews with 12 participating teachers to assess the effectiveness of the workshop series. To evaluate ES11 students I read course evaluation forms as well as final papers and self and peer evaluations for the education project. Providence students completed perception surveys as part of the TREES project. I reviewed survey responses and conducted group interviews in five classrooms.

My findings are that the response to the program was mixed. Teachers benefited from the workshop series, but were not all able to use the curriculum packet in their classrooms as it was intended by CES. The ES11 project was valued for providing support for classroom activities and mentors for Providence students. ES11 students enjoyed working in the classrooms but felt that they were not given adequate time or resources to prepare for the project and did not have enough time to meet all of the goals for classroom activities. Providence students enjoyed outdoor, hands-on activities associated with the project and learned basic facts about urban trees. By the end of the project they did not report feeling any greater responsibility or concern for environmental issues. Based on these findings I recommend that the CES EE Partnership with Providence public schools should continue with some changes. These changes include the reorganization of the curriculum design workshops, the allotment of more time to the ES11 education project during ES11 discussion sections, and the inclusion of follow up workshops for teachers and ES11 students throughout the semester of the project.