CDE Update

• Over the past 16 months several hundred volunteers have been working in State EE Plan Working Groups under the joint leadership of the California Department of Education (CDE) and the California Environmental Education Foundation (CEEF).
• The CEEF Operating Committee Working Group Co-Chairs have developed detailed work plans on the first five Strategic Initiatives described in Education and the Environment: Strategic Initiatives for Enhancing Education in California.
• The latest versions of the work plans can be viewed www.edgateway.net
• (Click on “Discussions,” click on “Environmental Education” in the “EXPLORE” box, scroll down to CA EE Plan and choose the Initiative that you are interested in).
• If you are interested in participating in a discussion group and receiving email messages on one or more of the five Initiatives, use the same pathway as aforementioned and click on “subscribe.”
• If you wish to join a Working Group, you should email caeeplan@cde.ca.gov.
• These work plans also reflected comments made by the CEEF Operating Committee, “Subcommittee on Initiative Alignment,” which critiqued each Initiative work plan to ensure that the objectives were aligned with the “Recommended Activities” described in the state EE plan.
• Four of the five work plans underwent a technical review by outside specialists who were not members of any particular Working Group in order to provide a fresh perspective on the work plans. The remaining work plan (Initiative #1) is currently under review.
• We are all deeply indebted to each of the Co-Chairs and their Working Groups for their enormous dedication and substantial commitment in time and effort to produce these excellent work plans.

• Mission of CEEF:
  “To promote environmental stewardship in students by connecting resources to the California state plan for environmental education.”
  “CEEF guides the environmental education plan implementation: links philanthropic individuals, non-profits, foundations, corporations and public agencies to strategic opportunities; and assesses the effectiveness of funded activities.”
• Key roles of CEEF Board Members:
  • Develop funding for implementation of the State Strategic Plan for EE.
  • Provide fiduciary oversight.
  • Monitor, assess, and guide implementation of the State Strategic Plan for EE.
• The CEEF Board of Directors has grown since the last time I spoke with you. Please refer to the handout that I have provided you to see that the two new members are Ellen Wright, PhD and former Chair of the Academic Standards Commission, and Marilyn Nemzer, founder and Executive Director of the California Study and the Geothermal Education Office and current board member of the Marin County Office of Education.
• Over the past year, CEEF has updated its By-Laws and Articles of Incorporation and is officially classified as a non-profit 501(c) 3 organization. CEEF has convened monthly board meetings to guide the development of the state EE plan work plans.
• The CEEF BOD has hired a private contractor to merge the 5 work plans into a State Strategic Plan for EE by July 2004.
• The CEEF Board will provide opportunities to review and comment on the draft of State Strategic Plan for EE 
• The CEEF BOD intends to use the State Strategic Plan to solicit targeted funds from public agencies, corporations, foundations, and philanthropic individuals
• If you want an update on the State Strategic Plan, please send my staff an email at caeeplan@cde.ca.gov.

• CDE is developing contract language for hiring the American Institutes of Research (AIR) to evaluate three outdoor science school programs serving primarily at-risk youth and underserved demographic groups. 
• COSA worked with the American Institutes of Research and CDE to select the three outdoor programs that would provide a curriculum that fosters stewardship of the environment and include community outreach components to build partnerships.
• If the contract is approved, and CDE receives the necessary funding from a private foundation, the evaluation is scheduled to be conducted in Fall 2004.
• The results of the study are due to the legislature by February 1, 2005.

• The EEGP is in the Governor's preliminary budget for FY 2004-2005!  The State Priority Grant Guidelines for Application will be mailed to all County Offices of Education to solicit interest in sponsoring a CREEC region.
  (Here is a description of the grant from past years and the CDE page where it will be for future opportunities)

• The State Education and Environment Roundtable (SEER) has completed its research within California to determine the effects of environment-based education on student achievement and attendance. The results of this study will be published in Fall 2004 and available at www.seer.org.

AB 1548 (Pavley)

This sweeping bill requires CDE to do the following:

CDE Alone

• Encourage the development and use of instructional materials and active pupil participation in campus and community EE programs, including after school programs for K-12 pupils and state and local professional development activities for teachers [Ed. Code Section 71303 (c)].
• Incorporate publications that provide examples of curriculum resources developed by the Office of Education and the Environment (OE&E), within the California Integrated Waste Management Board, to provide information on education resources for the environment. Furthermore, CDE will make the model curriculum, developed by the OE&E, available electronically on its website [Ed Code Section 71303 (a)].

• The CDE is expected to collaborate with the State Board of Education (SBE) to revise the framework in Science to include the necessary elements to teach environmental education [Ed. Code Section 33541 (a)]. 
• Revisions to the course requirements in Science shall not be implemented until the next appropriate curriculum adoption cycle (Ed. Code Section 33541 (c)). 

• Develop and implement a teacher training and implementation plan to guide the implementation of the unified education strategy for the education of pupils, faculty, and administrators on the importance of integrating environmental concepts in schools throughout the state [Public Resources Code (PRC) Section 71300 (d)].

• OE&E will establish a grant program to school districts in development and implementation of educational programs, as well as promoting existing education programs, to teach the concepts of source reduction, composting, and recycling [PRC Section 42645 (a)]. 
• The OE&E shall develop and implement a unified education strategy on the environment for K-12 schools [PRC Section 71300 (c)]. 
• The OE&E, in cooperation with the above listed agencies and The Resources Agency, shall develop education principles for the environment for K-12 pupils by July 1, 2004. The principles shall be incorporated in materials developed in criteria for textbook adoption in the four core academic areas. The principles will be aligned with the Academic Content Standards and be used to direct state agencies and align state agency EE programs and materials [PRC Section 71301 (a)].
• The education principles will be used to develop a model environmental curriculum, aligned with academic content standards and submitted to the Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission for review by July 1, 2005. The secretaries for Cal EPA and The Resources Agency shall review and comment by January 1, 2006. Next the model curriculum will be submitted to the State Board for its approval [PRC Section 71302 (a)].

• PRC Section 71303 (d) (3) directs the CDE to "explore implementation" of subsection (d) regarding the posting of the approved model curriculum on the CDE Internet site and maintaining an on-line questionnaire on its Internet site from its baseline resources dedicated to this purpose. If funding is not available from that source, then funding may be provided to the Department, pursuant to appropriation by the Legislature, under PRC Section 71305 (Environmental Education Account accessible only by the Secretary for Cal EPA).
• PRC Section 42647 states that the California Integrated Waste Management Board may enter into an interagency agreement with the CDE or other state agencies to implement Chapter 4 of the PRC (commencing with Section 71300) and Ed. Code Sections 33541 and 51226.4. 

• The California Guide to Environmental Literacy (CGEL) is being reviewed by CDE Administration. If approved, it will be published in Fiscal Year (FY) 2004-05 and disseminated primarily through the CREEC Network. It will provide recent research in EE, and act as a valuable tool for planning and implementing standards-based, high-quality environmental education in schools across the state. This practical guide will highlight the environment-based approaches taken by teachers in urban, suburban, and rural schools in each of the core disciplines. Each CREEC Coordinator will receive rollout materials for regional workshops.
• The Environmentality Challenge Project - Some 3,500 classrooms participated in Fy 2003-04. The Grand Prize winning class attended a spectacular Tenth Anniversary Celebration at Disneyland. Special thanks to all of the CREEC Coordinators who helped to promote this exemplary statewide environmental education project.

• The State and Consumer Services Agency revised its Interagency Agreement (IA) with CDE to limit the services of the CREEC Network in the School Energy Efficiency (SEE) Program to the central valley. The five CREEC Regional offices selected for the SEE Program have been organizing professional development opportunities regarding energy conservation education in collaboration with experts in public and private utilities, as well as local community organizations. The SEE Program offers a variety of educational resources to teach students about energy and provides technical support to assist schools with energy-efficient facility upgrades. The funding for this IA, which originated from the California Public Utility Commission, will be extended through December, 2004. Additional information is available at www.scsa.ca.gov/energy_education.htm.

• The original compendia documents are posted on the CDE website at www.cde.ca.gov/cilbranch/oee (note: the CDE recently overhauled their website and I have not been able to find this page! I will post an updated link when I find it - webmaster). Here it is: http://www.cde.ca.gov/pd/ca/sc/oeeintrod.asp Data from the three most recently published compendia is accessible through the searchable resource directory at www.creec.org. Only three compendia may be purchased from the CDE Press at 1-800-995-4099 (prices range from $7.00 to $17.00 plus tax, shipping, and handling): EE Compendium for Water Resources; EE Compendium for Integrated Waste Management and Used Oil; and EE Compendium for Communities: A Review of Curricula on Natural and Built Environments.
• Two compendia are being simultaneously revised by combining curricula from Air Quality (Atmosphere/Global Warning) and Energy Resources. Staff from the CDE and Air Resources Board are currently soliciting new state partners to provide additional funding. So far, K-12 curricula have been collected from throughout the United States that addresses the aforementioned topics and a new conceptual matrix, with standards correlations, has been completed. The completion date of this project is unknown.