NOAA’s Education Program
Review and Critique
John W. Farrington and Michael A. Feder, Editors
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by Contract No. DG133R07CN0261 between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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Suggested citation: National Research Council. (2010). NOAA’s Education Program: Review and Critique. Committee for the Review of the NOAA Education Program. J.W. Farrington and M.A. Feder, Editors. Board on Science Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
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COMMITTEE FOR THE REVIEW OF THE NOAA EDUCATION PROGRAM
JOHN W. FARRINGTON (Chair),
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
JAMES M. COLEMAN,
Coastal Studies Institute, Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
JANET HUSTLER,
Partnership for Student Success in Science (PS3), Synopsys, Inc.
KIM A. KASTENS,
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University
GORDON KINGSLEY,
School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology
KEVIN KLOESEL,
College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences, University of Oklahoma
FRANCES LAWRENZ,
Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota
GEORGE L. MATSUMOTO,
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
BRETT D. MOULDING,
Utah Partnership for Effective Science Teaching and Learning
FRANK E. MULLER-KARGER,
College of Marine Science, University of South Florida
LAURA MURRAY,
Center for Environmental Science, University of Maryland
RAJUL PANDYA,
University Cooperation for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO
CRAIG STRANG,
Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley
CLARICE YENTSCH,
Oceanographic Center, Nova Southeastern University
MICHAEL A. FEDER, Study Director
CLAUDIA MENGELT, Senior Program Officer
REID SCHWEBACH, Program Officer
HEIDI A. SCHWEINGRUBER, Deputy Director,
Board on Science Education
REBECCA KRONE, Program Associate
PATRICIA HARVEY, Senior Program Assistant (until July 2009)
WUNIKA MUKAN, Program Assistant (until December 2009)
MIRIAM QUINTAL, Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellow (until June 2009)
BOARD ON SCIENCE EDUCATION
HELEN R. QUINN (Chair),
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Stanford University
PHILIP BELL,
Learning Sciences, University of Washington
WILLIAM BONVILLIAN,
Washington, DC, Office, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
JOHN BRANSFORD,
Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Washington
ADAM GAMORAN,
Center for Education Research, University of Wisconsin–Madison
JERRY P. GOLLUB,
Natural Sciences and Physics Departments, Haverford College
JANET HUSTLER,
Partnership for Student Success in Science (PS3), Synopsys, Inc.
FRANK KEIL,
Morse College, Yale University
BRETT D. MOUDLING,
Utah Partnership for Effective Science Teaching and Learning
CARLO PARRAVANO,
Merck Institute for Science Education, Merck & Co., Inc.
SUSAN R. SINGER,
Department of Biology, Carleton College
JAMES P. SPILLANE,
Department of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University*
CARL E. WIEMAN,
Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative, University of British Columbia
WILLIAM B. WOOD,
Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder
MARTIN STORKSDIECK, Director
HEIDI A. SCHWEINGRUBER, Deputy Director
MICHAEL A. FEDER, Senior Program Officer
MARGRET HILTON, Senior Program Officer
REID SCHWEBACH, Program Officer
THOMAS E. KELLER, Program Officer
REBECCA KRONE, Program Associate
KELLY DUNCAN, Senior Program Assistant
PATRICIA HARVEY, Senior Program Assistant (until July 2009)
WUNIKA MUKAN, Program Assistant (until December 2009)
Acknowledgments
The committee and staff thank the many individuals and organizations who assisted us in our work, without whom this study could not have been completed. First, we acknowledge the support of staff in the Office of Education of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), who made themselves readily available to us and provided detailed information about the agency’s education activities and its overarching priorities. They were quick to respond to requests for information, contacted other NOAA staff to help field requests, and were persistent in obtaining the information requested by the committee. Louisa Koch, director, and Christos Michalopoulos, assistant director, were especially helpful.
Individually and collectively, committee members benefited from discussions and presentations by the many individuals who participated in our four fact-finding meetings. We are grateful to each of the presenters: Glen Alexander, education coordinator, Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve; Eric Bolt, warning coordination meteorologist, National Weather Service; Leon Cammen, director, National Sea Grant College Program; Clarice Fackler, national education liaison, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries; Ron Gird, outreach program manager, National Weather Service; Jennifer Hammond, director, Teacher at Sea Program; Molly Harrison, national education coordinator, National Marine Fisheries Service; Atziri Ibanez, national education coordinator, National Estuarine Research Reserve System; Paula Keener-Chavis, director of education programs, Ocean Exploration and Research Program; Louisa Koch, Office
of Education; Michiko Martin, national education coordinator, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries; Laurie McGilvray, chief, National Estuarine Research Reserves; Christos Michalopoulos, Office of Education; Seaberry Nachbar, program manager, B-WET California; Frank Niepold, climate education coordinator; Jacqueline Rousseau, director, Educational Partnership Program; Sharon Walker, education director, National Sea Grant College Program; and Marci Wulff, Corals Program specialist, Coral Reef Conservation Program.
The committee also benefited from the contributions of NOAA staff and staff from partnering agencies who participated in our two site visits, including Tom Ackerman, director of teaching and training and student leadership, Chesapeake Bay Foundation; Jamie Baxter, program director, Chesapeake Bay Trust; Lisa Emanuelson, volunteer monitoring coordinator, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary; Ellen Fondiler, project manager, Hilton Bialek Biological Science Habitat; Dawn Hayes, education and outreach coordinator, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary; Doug Levin, habitat specialist/education coordinator, Chesapeake Bay Office; Sacha Lozano, MERITO program coordinator, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary; Paul Michel, sanctuary superintendent, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary; Seaberry Nachbar, program manager, California B-WET; Kenton Parker, education coordinator, Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve; Kevin Schabow, education specialist, Chesapeake Bay Office; Shannon Sprague, environmental literacy manager, Chesapeake Bay Office; and Elena Takaki, program manager, Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
The committee also benefited from presentations by other experts knowledgeable about the ocean, atmosphere, climate, and environmental education policy and federal interagency groups. Thanks to Daniel Barstow, president, Challenger Center for Space Science Education; Jim Brey, education program director, American Meteorological Society; Sue Cook, education director, Consortium for Ocean Leadership; Roberta Johnson, director, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research; Jill Karsten, co-chair, U.S. Climate Change Science Program Education Interagency Working Group; Gerry Lieberman, president, State Environmental Education Roundtable; Frank Niepold, cochair, U.S. Climate Change Science Program Education Interagency Working Group; Jeffrey Reutter, advisory panel member, Ocean Research Resources Advisory Panel; Lisa Rom, cochair, National Science Technology Council Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology; and Jill Sanders, president, National Association of Marine Laboratories.
The committee is also grateful to the panel of experts that made presentations on issues of diversity and broadening participation in fields critical to NOAA’s mission. Thanks to Deidra Gibson, assistant professor,
Hampton University; Reza Khanbilvardi, professor, City University of New York; Roger Levin, managing research scientist, American Institutes for Research; Ramon Lopez, professor, University of Texas at Arlington; Eric Riggs, associate professor, Purdue University; and Larry Robinson, professor, Florida A&M University.
The committee benefited from the contributions of the authors of four papers whose work informed this report. Ann Brackett, an independent consultant, reviewed several external evaluations of K-12 education projects in NOAA and wrote a summary and critique. Bill Clune, Voss-Bascom professor at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, applied a common logic model across NOAA’s education programs and discussed inefficiencies, redundancies, and implementation challenges in each component of the general model as applied to NOAA education programs. Roger Levin, managing research scientist at the American Institutes for Research; Raquel Gonzalez, doctoral student at the University of Maryland, College Park; and Carmen Martínez-Sussman, doctoral student at the University of California, Santa Cruz, synthesized the research on issues of diversity and broadening participation in fields critical to NOAA’s mission. Lynn Tran, specialist at the Lawrence Hall of Science, synthesized the research on the teaching and learning of ocean, climate, and atmospheric science.
Many individuals at the National Research Council (NRC) assisted the committee. The Ocean Studies Board and Board on Atmospheric Science and Climate of the Division on Earth and Life Studies provided essential guidance regarding the composition of the study committee. From the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Heidi Schweingruber and Martin Storksdieck offered valuable suggestions at our committee meetings, as well as providing helpful comments on drafts of the report. We thank Kirsten Sampson Snyder, who shepherded the report through the NRC review process, Christine McShane, who edited the draft report, and Yvonne Wise for processing the report through final production. We are grateful to Patricia Harvey, who arranged logistics for the first four committee meetings. Finally, we thank Wunika Mukan for her able assistance in arranging the final committee meeting and in preparing numerous drafts and revisions of the report.
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We thank the following individuals for their review of
this report: Janet Carlson, Executive Director’s Office, Biological Sciences Curriculum Study, Colorado Springs, CO; Inés Cifuentes, Education and Career Services, American Geophysical Union; Frank Kudrna, Director’s Office, Kudrna and Associates; Cathryn A Manduca, Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College; Richard A. McCray, Department of Astrophysics, University of Colorado, Boulder; Vera Michalchik, Center for Technology in Learning, SRI International; William S. Spitzer, Programs, Exhibits, and Planning, New England Aquarium; Elizabeth K. Stage, Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley; and Quinton L. Williams, Department of Physics, Atmospheric Science and Geoscience, Jackson State University.
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. Michael E. Martinez, Department of Education, University of California, Irvine, and W. Carl Lineberger, Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, oversaw the review of this report. Appointed by the NRC, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the author and the institution.
Tables, Figures, and Boxes
TABLES
4.1 |
Education Programs and Supporting Offices, |
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4.2 |
Education Program Activities, |
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5.1 |
Summary of Evidence on Evaluation Practices, |
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5.2 |
Focus of Evaluation Questions in 18 NOAA Program Evaluation Reports, |
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5.3 |
Common Logic Model for NOAA Instructional Programs, |
FIGURES
1.1 |
NOAA 2008 organization chart, |
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2.1 |
Relationship among science, environmental education, and NOAA education, |
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2.2 |
Ph.D.s in atmospheric and ocean sciences earned by U.S. citizens and permanent residents, |
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3.1 |
Federal 2006 education budget, |
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3.2 |
NOAA education and outreach budget, 2005-2008, |
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3.3 |
NOAA 2007 budgets for education, |
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4.1 |
NOAA offices and sites around the country, |
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4.2 |
Portfolio balance, |
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5.1 |
Bennett TOP model, |
BOXES
1.1 |
Communication and Extension Activities, |
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1.2 |
NOAA’s Definitions of Education, Outreach, Communication, and Extension, |
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1.3 |
NOAA Line Offices, |
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1.4 |
Education Mandates, |
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3.1 |
Environmental Literacy and Workforce Development Outcomes, |
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3.2 |
“NOAA Science” in the Education Strategic Plan, |
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3.3 |
North American Association for Environmental Education Guidelines for Initial Preparation of Environmental Educators, |
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3.4 |
Guidance for Developing Successful Postdoctoral Programs, |
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4.1 |
Science on a Sphere, |
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4.2 |
Initiatives Focused on Diversity, |
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5.1 |
Formative and Summative Evaluation, |
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5.2 |
Notable Evaluation Strengths, |
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5.3 |
Notable Evaluation Weaknesses, |