LEVERAGING PARTNERSHIPS TO IMPROVE TEACHER SELF-EFFICACY IN TEACHING CLIMATE SCIENCE.

This presentation highlights and demonstrates the ability of a partnership of high school educators, scientists, and climate science educators from government and nonprofit organizations to transform curricula and student engagement in environmental and climate science education. Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) partnered with the Paleontological Research Institute (PRI), Anacostia Watershed Society, and the NASA Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI) to enhance the Environmental Literacy and Teaching efficacy of our high school science educators and students.

These partnerships each focused on different strategies and contents to foster environmental literacy. The partnership with PRI yielded multiple professional development opportunities for teachers and administrators and was anchored by a Meaningful Watershed Educational experience (MWEE) founded by a B-Wet grant from NOAA that gives students the opportunity to collect and analyse climate data throughout the school year. The partnership with the Anacostia Watershed Society brings freshwater mussels into the classroom and gives students the opportunity to engage with their local environment by collecting and analyzing data about how mussels affect their river ecosystems and in environmental restoration activities. Finally, the partnership with NASA CCRI brings the collection and analysis of NASA remote sensing and station data to the classroom by giving a teacher experience with working with NASA scientists on a primary research project that is then translated into the district's science curricula. We analyze the effectiveness of these partnerships using student performance data and student and teacher self efficacy data. We present case studies of student achievement in the classroom and in climate science research endeavors beyond the classroom, including STEM Fair projects and presentations at scientific meetings.