EE 2000 Moves Forward-
Evaluation of the EE 2000 Program

AN EVALUATION OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION ADVANCEMENT PROJECT'S ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION 2000 PROGRAM (1997)

Masters Thesis by Michelle Kirk

As a result of the success of the Demonstrations State Project, a collaborative partnership developed between the National Environmental Education Advancement Project (NEEAP) and a number of national partners enabled this program to continue on a larger scale as the Environmental Education (EE) 2000 program. In 1997, an evaluation of the effectiveness of the EE 2000 program was conducted by NEEAP graduate assistant, Michelle Kirk. This research is contained in a thesis titled  ". In 1997, an evaluation of the effectiveness of the EE 2000 program was conducted by NEEAP graduate assistant, Michelle Kirk. This research is contained in a thesis titled  "An Evaluation of the Implementation Of the National Environmental Education Advancement Projects' Environmental Education 2000 Program".  This document can be obtained from the library at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.  Following is an  abstract of this research.

The purpose of this second study was to review and evaluate the implementation of NEEAP's EE 2000 program, and to evaluate the success of the nine EE 2000 states in achieving their first year objectives for developing a comprehensive state environmental education program. A single case, embedded case study evaluation was conducted using a series of questionnaires, reports and documentation.

EE 2000, coordinated by the NEEAP, is a five-year collaborative effort of national organizations and teams of state EE leaders which centers around state capacity building for environmental education. Nine states participated in the first year of EE 2000: Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Results of the evaluation indicate that all nine states made progress towards their five year goals and achieved many of their first year objectives. Each state experienced success in developing components of a comprehensive state EE program. Commonalties in terms of goals, successful strategies, success factors and barriers were identified. Each of the states can serve as a model for states facing similar situations. Of the ten services provided by NEEAP during 1996, those which provided one-on-one contact between state team leaders and with the NEEAP staff were rated the most highly used and effective services. All services were recommended to be continued in Years Two-Five of EE 2000. All of the states indicated that the services contributed to their EE 2000 efforts. The states unanimously agreed that being part of a national effort was critical to their success during 1996.