Environmental Literacy Plans: Maryland and Rhode Island

As we continue to await the introduction of the No Child Left Inside Act, tremendous progress on environmental literacy for K-12 students is being made across the country! Here is a brief look at two of the most recent developments:

MARYLAND PASSES ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY GRADUATION REQUIREMENT

The Maryland No Child Left Inside Coalition is thrilled to announce that after years of hard work by hundreds of organizations and thousands of individuals, the State Board of Education voted unanimously last week in favor of language establishing a strong, clear environmental literacy graduation requirement to ensure all public school students receive a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary environmental education. This vote cements Maryland as the first state in the nation to approve such a requirement, a credit to Governor O’Malley, the Partnership for Children in Nature, the MDNCLI Coalition, state board members, and State Superintendent Nancy Grasmick.

While many states, including Maryland, have had environmental literacy standards within the curriculum, this new graduation requirement mandates that every public school system in the state now provide a multidisciplinary environmental education program infused with current curricular offerings, and aligned with environmental literacy standards.

Passage of the new graduation requirement has generated considerable media buzz, including this live interview on Fox News Sunday morning (you must rewind 2:25 to view the entire clip). To see more media coverage and read more about Maryland’s new graduation requirement, click here.

RHODE ISLAND ANNOUNCES ITS ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY PLAN

Rhode Island is now among the first states in the nation to formally complete an

Environmental Literacy Plan, opening the door for potential federal funding that will help to

equip teachers with the skills, knowledge, and confidence needed to integrate critical environmental

and science learning into their curricula. The announcement of the Plan’s completion was made on June 20 by the Rhode Island Environmental Education Association (RIEEA) and Rhode Island Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Deborah A. Gist at an event held in an outdoor classroom

developed at the Old County Road School in Smithfield. View television coverage of the event here: http://www2.turnto10.com/news/2011/jun/23/environmental-education-50558-vi-29848/

To view Rhode Island’s plan, click here.