Education Workgroup

Meetings

About

The goal of the Education Workgroup is to have every student in the region graduate environmentally literate having participated in meaningful watershed educational experiences in elementary, middle, and high school that were supported by teachers who have received professional development in environmental education and schools that are models of environmental sustainability. The Education Workgroup provides a forum for cross-jurisdictional coordination and support on all aspects of environmental education with an emphasis on:

• Increasing Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEE) and other place-based, outdoor education
• Supporting training for teachers and environmental education professionals in content, pedagogy, and outdoor-learning techniques related to environmental topics
• Encouraging green infrastructure and operations on school grounds
• Supporting federal, state, and regional environmental literacy planning, including providing an ongoing forum to collaborate on the goals and objectives of the federal Executive Order and the nonprofit community Regional Roundtable.

The Education Workgroup is tasked with evaluating and recommending policies related to PK-12 bay education, maintaining the Bay Backpack website, and tracking state implementation of the MWEE in elementary, middle, and high school. The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office also convenes a biennial Environmental Literacy Summit on behalf of the Workgroup to advance environmental literacy activities in the region.

The 2014 Watershed Agreement outlines the Environmental Literacy Goal and three Outcomes: Student, Sustainable Schools, and Environmental Literacy Planning.

Projects

Publications

Related Resources

• Bay Backpack

  The Education Workgroup's teacher resource website is THE source for Chesapeake Bay and environmental education resources, lesson plans, field studies, trainings, and funding information