California students consistently perform below the national average on standardized tests in a variety of subjects.

From the inception of the State Education and Environment Roundtable in 1995, its state members have been deeply interested in the potential of environment-based education programs to improve academic achievement, attain school improvement goals and influence how young people learn to live successfully in American society and the world at large. SEER has designed several studies to: identify innovative, successful environment-based programs; analyze and report on their effectiveness; and, describe their common educational practices.

This paper reports on a project which investigates the impact of systemic environmental education (EE) programs on student achievement on EE-based integrated tests and standardized tests in math, language arts, and listening. Systemic environmental education programs are defined by curriculum designed to align and integrate subjects around real world environmental contexts. To assess environmental literacy knowledge and skills, integrated EE-based tests for Grade 8 were administered to students in participating schools, and the results were compared to students' scores on standardized tests.

The observed benefits of EIC [Environment as an Integrating Context] programs are both broad-ranging and encouraging. They include: better performance on standardized measures of academic achievement in reading, writing, math, science, and social studies; reduced discipline and classroom management problems; increased engagement and enthusiasm for learning; and greater pride and ownership in accomplishments.

Elementary students have limited opportunities to learn science in an outdoor setting at school. Some suggest this is partially due to a lack of teacher efficacy teaching in an outdoor setting. Yet the research literature indicates that outdoor learning experiences develop positive environmental attitudes and can positively affect science achievement. Research also suggests that frequent outdoor learning experiences, implemented by a trained teacher in a familiar setting, like a schoolyard, can result in greater engagement and science achievement for students.