Evaluation Tool

[Jim Parry]

ANN ARBOR - In recent years, Michaela Zint, an associate professor of
environmental education and communication at the University of
Michigan, found herself fielding an increasing number of calls from
fellow environmental educators. All expressed a similar concern: how
to evaluate their programs.

Environmental educators - whether K-12 teachers or instructors
working for government agencies or non-profit organizations
including universities ‘ expressed a strong need for information to
assess the quality of their programs.

These evaluations have become more important for environmental
education programs as budgets shrink at funding agencies and
foundations. As the cuts occur, there is more pressure on
environmental educators to prove their programs are worth the
investment and making a difference. In fact, many agencies and
foundations now do not fund programs unless they incorporate
evaluation.

Reflecting on her colleagues’ needs, Dr. Zint initiated a project to
develop a web-based tool to assist and empower environmental educators
in conducting their own evaluations. The result was ‘My Environmental
Education Evaluation Resource Assistant ‘ or MEERA, the latest version
of which was launched this month. The site ‘s URL is www.meera.snre.umich.edu.

Whether you are an environmental educator or just interested in the
process of evaluation, this site provides guidance on all aspects of
evaluating a program, including about how evaluation can help you
improve your program, said Dr. Zint, who has appointments in the
School of Natural Resources and Environment and School of Education at
the University of Michigan.

Funded by and in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency and the U.S. Forest Service, MEERA enables visitors to learn
about different types of evaluations; helps them choose an appropriate
evaluation; guides them through the evaluation process step-by-step;
and offers suggestions and insights from a number of sample
environmental education program evaluations.

Early reviews of the site have been favorable. One environmental
educator, Kimberly Benson from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration stated: ‘I find the site to be inviting,
understandable, and manageable.’

[MEERA] offers a great clearinghouse of resources and guidelines for
[Environmental Education] program evaluation and it really serves a
need. There isn’t anything else like this available on the internet,’
said Rainey Kreis, an environmental educator at the University of
Wisconsin-Stevens Point. ‘Plus, it’s a free resource.’

MEERA’s visitor traffic recently spiked after U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's Environmental Education Division asked potential
applicants of their Environmental Education Grant Program to visit the
site for guidance on project evaluation. All grant applicants must
include an evaluation plan as part of their proposal which explains
how they will ensure their project meets the goals, objectives,
outputs, and outcomes of the project.

The Forest Service also aims to make MEERA an important part of its
efforts to improve conservation education program evaluation agency-
wide. The agency is currently undertaking an initiative to provide
capacity building assistance to field practitioners, and plans to
incorporate MEERA into its popular More Kids in the Woods internal
funding initiative next year.

Before MEERA existed, environmental educators and others interested
in evaluation had to locate, search and choose from a large number of
evaluation resources. MEERA simplifies that process. The site
contains carefully selected and reviewed evaluation resources. MEERA
also indicates whether the resource is most appropriate for educators
with little, intermediate or advanced evaluation skills. MEERA also
includes a database of sample environmental education program
evaluations that offer insights from those who conducted these
evaluations.

Site visitors’ comfort level with conducting evaluation is important.
When faced with the prospect of evaluation, many feel intimidated and
overwhelmed. MEERA addresses those concerns by being easy to navigate,
providing links to additional information and resources and suggesting
handy tips and warnings about common pitfalls. MEERA breaks down the
daunting work of evaluation into manageable pieces, thereby making it
possible for environmental educators of every skill level to conduct
quality evaluations of their programs.

Dr. Zint believes that MEERA is well on its way to becoming the most
commonly used evaluation resource by environmental educators. Through
word of mouth alone, the site has had more than 1,500 unique visitors
per month from more than 60 countries.

About the School of Natural Resources and Environment:
The School of Natural Resources and Environment's overarching
objective is to contribute to the protection of the earth's resources
and the achievement of a sustainable society. Through research,
teaching, and outreach, faculty, staff, and students are devoted to
generating knowledge and developing policies, techniques and skills to
help practitioners manage and conserve natural and environmental
resources to meet the full range of human needs on a sustainable
basis.

About the School of Education:
The School of Education’s mission is to contribute visibly and
effectively to improving the quality of education across the lifespan
through research, and through the professional programs the School
designs, delivers, and studies.
The School, currently engaged in redesign of its teacher preparation
program, aims to develop professional education that will prepare
novices to do the complex relational, psychological, social and
intellectual work of teaching, while studying these efforts and
disseminating systematic evidence about effective teacher education.

Links: www.meera.snre.umich.edu