Links and Documents
NOAA's Office of Education
NOAA's Office of Education (OEd), in conjunction with the NOAA Education Council, coordinates education activities across NOAA and oversees the implementation of the NOAA's Education Plan and Policy. These efforts help to ensure that NOAA's education programs and activities are based on NOAA science and support the agency's crosscutting priority of promoting environmental literacy. OEd also works with external partners to promote environmental literacy efforts that directly benefit the NOAA mission.
NOAA's Education Strategic Plan is updated on a periodic basis. The solicitation for public comment on NOAA's draft Education Strategic Plan for 2008 has now closed. The Office is currently operating under the 2004 plan while awaiting final approval of the 2008 draft document.
National Environmental Literacy Assessment Final Report
The National Environmental Literacy Assessment is a baseline study of middle school students' understanding of the environment. Completed over the last 18 months, this study documents how much middle school students in the United States currently understand about the environment. It was conducted by North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) with support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Environmental Education and NOAA?s Office of Education. Posted September 2008.
Revolutionizing Earth System Science Education for the 21st Century: Report and Recommendations from a 50-State Analysis of Earth Science Education
This study analyzed K-12 Earth science standards and frameworks of all fifty states plus the District of Columbia, to determine how well each state's standards address the following six Earth science content and pedagogical criteria:
- Content related to atmosphere, weather, climate, and the ocean;
- Environmental literacy principles and applications;
- Earth considered as a dynamic, interactive system;
- Earth examined through the perspective of space-age tools;
- Use of 21st century technologies in Earth science research; and
- Application of inquiry-based approaches to teaching and learning about Earth science
The study was conducted by TERC on behalf of NOAA's Office of Education
