Education Project Evaluation Criteria
Time of The Ground
The requirements for the project start date for education projects are different from those in habitat and species projects as documented measurable outcomes can be achieved as soon as an educational event (that includes some form of assessment) has occurred. As a result, projects where learning has occurred will meet this requirement.
Locally Appropriate
For an education project to be locally appropriate, the content of the learning must relate to regional habitat or species either on or off-site. This ensures that the content of the education will be applicable to the learners locally. The education project does not need to relate to an active habitat or species project in the application. To recognize the value of immersive learning, education projects that include in-habitat learning activities will earn more points.
Topics such as geology and recycling are not relevant to the certification, so they are not considered locally appropriate. Throughout the project, only locally appropriate material will be considered. If the only information provided for the plan, materials, evaluation, etc. pertains to another topic (such as recycling), points will not be awarded. If the project contains both relevant and irrelevant information, only the relevant content will be scored.
Formal learning projects have an additional requirement for the project to be considered locally appropriate – they must map to academic standards. A specific academic standard must be listed. An example of a specific academic standard would be Next Generation Science Standard 2-LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and diversity. General alignment with topics such as STEM would not count, so such projects are best entered as awareness projects instead.
Project Goals / Conservation Education Objective
Applicant understandingSee the Conservation or Conservation Education Objective section. The primary difference for education project types is terminology of the application question. For education projects, the applicant is asked to provide the learning goals (conservation education objectives) of the project.
Community Need
Applicant understandingEducation projects are most valuable to learners if they provide specific value by addressing a need in the community. For example, if there aren’t outdoor learning spaces at local schools or a scout group has certain activities needed to earn a badge/patch, proving the learning space or activity meets these identified needs.
As employees are generally members of the community in which they work, community needs can be anecdotally determined by employees. However, the best way to ensure that projects address the biggest community needs or provide the most value to the community is to engage an external group or utilize reports generated by such groups. For example, working with local teachers to determine what would be of most value will help ensure that a formal education project best meets the needs of the community.
Points for this criterion are awarded if the community need or value is described as well as how it was identified. Projects that are engaging external stakeholders/resources can be awarded the maximum points for the criterion. Documentation can be uploaded, but it is not required to earn points.
Conservation Impact
Applicant understandingSome conservation education projects have benefits beyond the scope of the education project and also contribute to habitat and species projects. Any direct contribution to a program’s habitat or species project is therefore extending the impact of the education project beyond learners and to the conservation projects themselves.
To make this connection a description of the way(s) in which the education project supports a habitat or species project in the program must be included. The level of support of a conservation project is classified as either contributing to the conservation project or being integral to the conservation project. If the corresponding habitat/species project would not be viable without the education project, the education project can be considered integral to the conservation project. For example, if the only formal vegetation monitoring for a grassland project is students conducting vegetation surveys every year, the education project’s monitoring contribution would be integral to the grassland project.
Planning
Applicant understanding
Documentation requiredAs with all project types, planning plays an important role in education projects. A plan outlines information about the project, including more than one of the following aspects: what is being done, when and where it occurs, who the audience is. The strongest plans are those that are developed with the input of external experts (e.g. teachers, education professionals, conservation professionals) and that include an overall strategy (e.g. informed by conservation context, community needs, corporate goals).
Uploading a cohesive plan can earn points for this criterion. The incorporation of a strategy and/or external input can earn additional points. A plan must be uploaded as documentation to earn points for this criterion.
Appropriate Materials & Equipment
Applicant understandingDocumentation requiredMaterials and equipment can support or even be integral to education projects. Needs for materials and equipment will vary depending on the project, so these are not required, but the value of materials and/or equipment are recognized through this criterion. Materials are generally printed or electronic written resources such as curricula, lesson plans, interpretive materials, etc. Equipment includes tools or components that are used to implement the project, such as nets, microscopes, water quality kits, etc.
The materials/equipment must be appropriate to the project activities and the audience in order to earn points. The maximum points for materials can be awarded if the written materials are not only tailored to address the education objective (e.g., educating about birds and nesting), but also deliberately tailored to the learning level of a specific audience (e.g. 4th graders).
Samples of written/graphic materials must be uploaded as documentation to earn points for the materials criterion. If the project uses equipment documentation is recommended though not required, but a description of how specific equipment or tools are used for the project must be included in the application to earn points for the equipment criterion.
Evaluation
Applicant understandingDocumentation requiredEvaluating an education project is important to assess the success of the project and to determine ways to improve it over time. Education projects are required to have some form of assessment or evaluation.
The assessment can focus on the actual learning and/or the project logistics. Assessing changes to a learner’s knowledge or behavior provides insights into the content and delivery of the material, while assessment of project logistics provides insight into the logistics and overall experience.
For both knowledge/learning and implementation/logistics, an informal assessment can earn points if it sufficiently addresses the topic. An informal assessment, such as an oral survey and hand count can earn some points. A more formal or structured assessment, such as feedback forms that are administered to learners, can earn the maximum points.
Although assessment can be done for both knowledge/learning and implementation/logistics, they are separate criteria and scored individually. Supporting documentation is needed to earn points for each type of evaluation. Examples of documentation include email correspondence or meeting minutes recording the outcomes of informal assessments or the results of formal feedback forms that were administered and recorded.
Evaluation
Applicant understandingDocumentation requiredEvaluating an education project is important to assess the success of the project and to determine ways to improve it over time. Education projects are required to have some form of assessment or evaluation.
The assessment can focus on the actual learning and/or the project logistics. Assessing changes to a learner’s knowledge or behavior provides insights into the content and delivery of the material, while assessment of project logistics provides insight into the logistics and overall experience.
For both knowledge/learning and implementation/logistics, an informal assessment can earn points if it sufficiently addresses the topic. An informal assessment, such as an oral survey and hand count can earn some points. A more formal or structured assessment, such as feedback forms that are administered to learners, can earn the maximum points.
Although assessment can be done for both knowledge/learning and implementation/logistics, they are separate criteria and scored individually. Supporting documentation is needed to earn points for each type of evaluation. Examples of documentation include email correspondence or meeting minutes recording the outcomes of informal assessments or the results of formal feedback forms that were administered and recorded.
Assessment of Evaluation Results
Just as with habitat and species projects, outcomes from assessment of education projects can be used to improve the project in the future. Points are earned by describing how the evaluations are used to inform future management. Maximum points for this criterion will be awarded if both learning and logistics evaluation results are used to inform future management.