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Section III. Teacher Respondents
Section III. Teacher Respondents
A series of specific questions were asked of those respondents who indicated their work was in formal education (PreK-12 and higher education- Table W10). The following teacher-specific questions related to grades and subjects taught as well as questions relating to the level of environmental education taught in schools. The three tables below summarize the findings of these questions.
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Table T1. Teacher Respondents by Grade and Subject |
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Teachers by Grade Taught (n=112)* |
Teachers by Subject Taught (n=111)* |
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PreK |
K-2 |
3-4 |
5-6 |
7-8 |
HS |
HE |
Sci |
Math |
LA |
SS |
PE |
Mus |
Art |
Other** |
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8 |
18 |
23 |
33 |
26 |
45 |
18 |
93 |
30 |
28 |
28 |
8 |
6 |
9 |
31 |
* Totals across grade or subject may not equal total n as some teachers selected more than one category.
** Other = environmental education/sustainability/outdoor learning, energy (n=11); health (n=4); other language arts (n=4); computers/information management/technology (n=3); family and consumer studies (n=2); other science (n=2), gifted and talented (n=1)
Discussion Points:
· Respondents to the Grade and Subject questions represent teachers across all grade levels and across all subject areas although the greatest representation is of teachers in high school and 5-6th grades and teachers who teach science
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Table T2. Environmental Education in the Schools |
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EE is taught in school 71% (n=80) |
EE not taught in school 29% (n=33) |
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Separate Subject* |
Integrated into Science* |
Integrated into Other* |
Reason |
% (n) and most frequent response (n=30) |
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29 |
62 |
28 |
Limited time
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48% (14) primary reason |
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Integrated into other = language arts (n=5); social studies, geography, history, civics (n=5); multiple areas/all (n=4); not part of our curriculum/does not apply (n=3); field trips/field experiments (n=2); health (n=1) |
EE not part of standardized testing |
41% (12) primary reason |
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No admin support for EE |
32% (9) primary reason 32% (9) does not apply |
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State standards don’t support EE |
34% (10) major reason |
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Don’t have appropriate resources |
50% (14) minor reason |
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Don’t have proper training |
48% (14) does not apply |
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Don’t believe in EE
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97% (28) does not apply |
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* Numbers in these columns are number of teachers who indicated teaching EE this way; some teachers indicated more than one category so these totals will not equal total n of 80.
Discussion Points:
· In schools where environmental education is taught, more teachers integrate environmental education in to science curriculum (62) than teach it as a separate subject (29), though quite a few teachers integrated EE into other subjects (28) .
· In schools where environmental education is not taught, primary reasons include limited time, not part of standardized testing, and no administrative support.
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Table T3. Environmental Education in the Classroom |
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Currently teach EE in the classroom = 81 teachers (72% of teachers who responded yes to this question) |
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Materials used to teach EE in classroom |
# of mentions* |
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Local, state, or federal government materials |
72 |
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I make up my own activities |
71 |
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The Projects (Wild, Wet, LT, FLP) |
70 |
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Non-profit organization materials |
69 |
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Media |
67 |
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Local industry materials |
52 |
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Web pages |
48 |
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Other published materials |
45 |
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Other |
15 |
* Respondents could select as many responses as applied; on average, each teacher
selected approximately 6 of the 9 response categories.
Discussion Points:
· Materials used to teach environmental education in formal education classrooms include a diverse set of materials including government agency materials, the Projects (Project Wild, Wet, Learning Tree, and Food, Land and People) and non-profit organization materials. As well, many teachers (71) make up their own activities.