Research

=__Research and Evaluations of Place-based Education Programs__=

**Finding True North: A Portrait of Two Schools in Rochester, New York**
In this study Woodfin (2004) evaluates two schools, Genesee and World of Inquiry School 58. Both of these schools have worked under the Expeditionary Learning Schools (ELS) program, which is a national school reform organization, since the early 2000s.

As part of the ELS program the schools are committed to project-based, experiential learning, which is very much in the context of place-based education. The students’ learning revolves around projects in their community. One such project involved saving the aqueducts of their city, Rochester, from being permanently filled. The students researched the subject and worked toward a final professionally bound book appealing to the city to reconsider their plans for the aqueducts. The school achieved // real // results as the city awarded their efforts by appropriating $350,000 to come up with alternate proposals. Other culminating final projects take the form of field guides, children’s books and films.

Some of the successful, innovative practices include: 1) Unifying school activities (e.g. weekly, whole-school meetings; understanding of, and commitment to, the ELS program; use of a common vocabulary.) 2) Teacher Support (e.g. demanding hiring process; transitional support from transitional to ELS program; initial training in program components; collaborative work; professional development, and; support with resources from ELS program ).

The success of the above factors is evidenced by extremely low teacher attrition and teacher satisfaction with the running of the programs. Additional evidence success comes from student contentment with the program and the fact that they express disappointment and angst at the prospect of leaving their schools to continue to middle and high school. The reinforcing proof of success is the high achievement on national assessments. Finally what ensures and maintains the high quality standards of this program is that the administration refuses to be satisfied with their schools success, but maintains to seek new ways of improvement.

Summary
 The LIONS program is an NSF-funded program co-ordinated by a local ecology center in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Coulter (2008) describes that this program was designed to provide students rich science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)-related place-based experiences in an out of school setting. The program was structured in partnership with the Missouri Botanical Garden, MIT, the Environmental Systems Research Institute, and incorporate expertise from American Forests (urban forestry), the Jane Goodall Institute (service learning), and PEER Associates (program evaluation). The program worked with partners in local public school districts and two private schools.

 There are interesting learnings from the challenges the LIONS program faced. Since it was conceived as an "out of school" project, teacher-partners were not identified until after funding was secured and the program was beginning to be implemented. The program managers then had repeated problems identifying "science leaders" from elementary and middle schools in the main partner districts -- many participants eventually recruited did not feel comfortable teaching science. In addition, year-to-year attrition of teachers from the program was significant. In the second year of the program, these challenges were addressed through extensive teacher training (one full week of intensive professional development).

Findings
 LIONS outcomes were measured through teacher and student surveys at the beginning and end of their involvement in the program. The program has encountered administrative challenges with this, as they are often not notified until several weeks after a student left the program (or even the school). The surveys were therefore supplemented with focus group interviews of teachers and students. These surveys showed the following outcomes:


 * Increased teacher enthusiasm for teaching STEM disciplines
 * High levels of student engagement
 * Increased value in project-based learning perceived by teachers
 * Growing impact on in-class teaching practice
 * Desire for more professional development in both STEM and pedagogy

**Funding **
 Grant from the National Science Foundation Academies for Young Scientists program. See our Funding Sources page for more information on current potential sources of funding for PBE programs.

**Summary **
 In this article Powers (2004) describes that the Place-Based Education Evaluation Collaborative (PEEC) is evaluating place-based education models and whole school improvement in order to invest in their development. Four programs were analyzed based on their strengths and challenges: Two were whole school improvement models (CO-SEED and the Sustainable Schools Project (SSP), and two were professional development programs (Community Mapping Program (CMP) and A Forest for Every Classroom (FFEC). Teacher practices were also evaluated in each program.

**Findings **
Process strengths
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Programs that had community partners, especially due to ability to provide resources, funding and facilities.

High quality program staff
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Demonstrated skills in process facilitation, teaching, child development, curriculum planning, and meeting management as well as more practical skills such as mapping with geographic positioning systems, gardening, computer skills and forestry practices.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Successful programs had specific staff with the role of facilitating community organizations and the teachers who implement the PBE programs.

Program sustainability
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Most were confident that the programs would have ‘staying power’;
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Summer institutes promote ongoing, sustained relationship with community organizations which allows for consistency of relationships with the community and promotes confidence on behalf of the organizations that working with schools is beneficial.

Program Challenges (External & Internal)
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Lack of time to devote to change in the midst of extra-curricular pressures;
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Too much time creating and preparing for the project than actually engaging in it (whereas it is much simpler to learn from the textbook albeit perhaps less effective) may warrant change in the design of the particular PBE programs.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Note:
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">A whole school improvement model, rather than programs on a class-by-class basis, may improve challenges by making planning more efficient;
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Evaluators suggest development of part-time positions dedicated to PBE planning;
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Professional development models seem more effective at providing the students specific practical skills to participating students;

Teacher Practice improvements
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Increases in use of local place and resources;
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Teaching more depth;
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Increase of interdisciplinary teaching;
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Increased relevance of material to students;
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Teacher collaboration within and between schools;
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Teaming;
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Teacher leadership;
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Stronger curriculum planning skills;

Emergent Findings of Benefits of Place-Based Education Programs:
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">PBE beneficial for students with special needs;
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Impact on motivation and engagement of students;
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">More independent working;
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Better relationships between youth and adults;
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Sensory activities;
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Students learn better when it is for a purpose;
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Retention of information and knowledge;
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Change in student behavior and attitude;
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Increased turnout of after-school activities.

=Promise of Place=

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Summary
<span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">The [|Promise of Place website] is a public-private partnership of several nonprofit organizations and place-based education projects that works to consolidate information about place-based education and promote its advantages. They summarize the research on PBE outcomes in terms of the impact on students, teachers, and community ([]):

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Findings**
Student Motivation and Achievement
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Increased enthusiasm for learning motivated by increased relevance to students' daily life
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Increases in standardized test scores and GPA across subject areas
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Improved classroom behavior, pride and ownership in academic work, self esteem, social skills, and problem solving skills

<span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">As the principal of [|an elementary school involved in a PBE environmental education program] explains: “One thing we know is that kids’ writing is much more interesting, complex, and detailed if they’ve had rich experience…The current first grade has about a third of the kids who didn’t have kindergarten here and in general it is breathtaking the difference in the academic achievement.” – Principal, CO-SEED Young Achievers School

Teacher Motivation and Growth
 * Increased excitement due to developing original curriculum and increased engagement with students
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Increased use of local resources for teaching and learning
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Better collaboration with other educators -- across subject areas and institutions
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Increased professional growth and greater desire to participate in additional PBE training opportunities

<span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">School and Community Improvement <span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Place-based education projects have a large variety of tangible positive impacts on the schools in which they are located and their surrounding communities. Examples profiled on this wiki include: > >
 * Collecting, analyzing, and presenting local economic data to community businesses
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Building stronger connections between students and individual community members through mentoring
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Creating cement animal track imprints in an educational display at a new National Forestry building

<span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Learn More <span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">The Promise of Place research summary includes [|a bibliography] of key PBE research findings and [|searchable database] of PBE research.

Commentary
The above programs demonstrate that there are many benefits to be enjoyed from Place-Based Education programs such as increased engagement, increased motivation and relevancy to name a few. However, in order for these programs to work, teacher support is required through training and provision of resources including funding but also staff dedicated specifically to planning and organizing activities. Programs also seem to function best when teachers collaborate and work with the understanding that the PBE program must be applied. In other words, there must not be an option of whether or not a teacher might apply these programs on a classroom-by-classroom basis, but rather there needs to be a //unified effort// in order to enjoy the full benefits of these programs. It also appears beneficial to get the students on board by informing them about the program and its purposes. Furthermore, it seems helpful to create activities/rituals that unify the students and get them to believe in the purposes of the program: This allows students to understand that they are all commonly working toward a high quality education and a successful future. This also helps in the execution of the program. Thus, PBE seems to offer many benefits, however it must be implemented correctly and with sufficient teacher support in order to function properly.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">References
<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Coulter, B. (year unknown, probably 2008). //<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">LIONS: Making after school spatial //<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">. Retrieved July 26, 2010 from http://www.scdhec.gov/gis/presentations/ESRI_Conference_08/educ/papers/pap_1062.pdf

Powers, A.L. (2004). An evaluation of four place-based education programs. //<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The Journal of Environmental Education, 35 // <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">(4), 17-30.

Promise of Place. (2010). //Research.// Retrieved July 26, 2010 from http://promiseofplace.org/Research_Evaluation/research.

Woodfin, L. (2004). Finding true north: A portrait of two schools in Rochester, New York. // Schools: Studies in Education, 6 // (2), 187-206.