News From Here and There: Massachusetts
The Environmental Education Advocate - Summer 1998
The following information is provided to you as a service of the National
Environmental Education Advancement Project (NEEAP). We encourage you to use it and
please credit the National Environmental Education
Advancement Project where appropriate.
In Massachusetts, the Secretary’s Advisory Group in Environmental Education
(SAGEE) is working hard to promote environmental literacy through workshops and
distribution of the publication “Benchmarks on the Road to Environmental
Literacy.” SAGEE is also working on environmental education literacy beyond the
secondary level. A paper discussing environmental literacy beyond the secondary level,
“Environmental Higher Education in Massachusetts: Past, Present and Future”, has
been developed. A subcommittee is in the process of identifying environmental programs at
junior colleges, four year colleges, and universities in the Commonwealth.
Many of the curriculum used state-wide such as Project WILD/WILD AQUATIC and Project WET
are developing companion documents which help teachers identify how activities relate to
the Environmental Benchmarks, the Massachusetts Curriculum Standards and the accompanying
assessment standards. SAGEE is also helping coordinate activities among Project WILD,
Project WET and Project Learning Tree to make the programs more accessible to teachers.
The Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs has a major watershed
initiative underway and SAGEE is helping coordinate watershed education activities,
programs and initiatives in the Commonwealth. Since many agencies and organizations have
excellent programs but are not necessarily working together even within the same
watershed, plans are underway to hold a meeting to bring together groups doing watershed
education with the Watershed Team Leaders to share ideas and resources.
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