Incremental infusion works to increase the capacity of school districts and teachers to incorporate environmental literacy into the core academic experience of California’s TK–12 students. This process helps school districts achieve their missions because environmental literacy supports learning goals within and across subject areas. We focus on integrating environmental literacy into existing instructional plans, professional learning programs, and student assessments rather than burdening educators by requiring them to teach another subject.
Curriculum and Instruction
As a result of integrating California’s Environmental Principles & Concepts (EP&Cs) into the new History–Social Science, Science, Health, and Arts Frameworks, the EP&Cs were also included in the required criteria for publishers. In 2017 publishers included the EP&Cs in new history–social science instructional materials, and as of November, 2018 the State Board of Education approved 29 K–8 science programs that include EP&Cs.
Professional Learning
The Initiative partners with the California Subject Matter Project, a statewide network for teacher professional learning, to provide teachers with intensive professional learning workshops, curriculum resources, and a series of webinars weaving environmental content and connections to the EP&Cs into multiple subject areas.
The Initiative is working with the California Science Project, the California Global Education Project, and the California History–Social Science Project on intensive summer institutes for teachers. Additionally, the California History–Social has dedicated multiple issues of its Current Context newsletter to environmental literacy.
In 2018, the Initiative forged a partnership with the California Association of Science Educators that focuses on climate literacy resources for elementary, middle, and high school students in collaboration with Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Initiative partners have also presented workshops on the EP&Cs and environmental literacy at every statewide rollout for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the new History–Social Science Frameworks.
Assessment
The EP&Cs are now included in the California Science Test Blueprint and will be integrated into the assessment of student progress in fifth and eighth grades, as well as in high school.
