Bay Area
Serving Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Solano Counties

EE Evaluation Resources

Welcome to the Bay Area CREEC program evaluation page. The following resources complement the resource database created by the Bay Area Environmental Education Evaluation Learning Community (2004). Of special note, this site provides a directory of evaluation and research professionals interested in working with environmental education organizations. The page also includes the following resources:

  • Directory of evaluation and research professionals
  • Links to websites with EE-specific evaluation resources and research
  • General program evaluation resources including how to- guides and a sample of data collection tools
  • Bay Area Learning Communiy Professional Development Resources


Directory of Evaluation and Research Professionals

Based on the increased interest and quest among EE providers to document program strengths, areas for development and outcomes, the Learning Community solicited basic information from evaluation professionals to create a directory of consultants interested in working with Bay Area EE organizations. For more information on any listing, please contact the consultants.


Websites with EE-specific Evaluation Resources and Relevant Research

The websites below are a sample of online resources with in-depth evaluation information including evaluation planning guides as well as EE research and professional development opportunities.

Applied Environmental Education Program Evaluation Online Course http://eetap.org/html/online_ee_courses.php This 10-week online EETAP course is designed to assist environmental educators and natural resource professionals in evaluating their education programs.

Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education - Outdoor and Environmental Education Research http://www.aeoe.org/resources/research/index.html The Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education (AEOE) provides links to many environmental education research studies including California specific studies as well as links to annotated bibliographies and EE research journals.

Environmental Education and Training Partnership http//eetap.org Environmental Education and Training Partnership (EETAP), a national leader in the delivery of environmental education training, is funded through the United States Environmental Protection Agency through a cooperative agreement with the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. This site offers a variety of resources including information on building organizational capacity, improving communications, diversity, leadership, and collaboration. Visit "Activities," "Resources,"and "Environmental Literacy" for valuable evaluation resources.

Innovation Network: Transforming Evaluation and Social Change http://www.innonet.org/index.php?http://www.innonet.org/index.phpsection_id=109&;content_id=565 is a nonprofit organization working to share planning and evaluation tools and know-how. They provide consulting, training, and online tools for nonprofits and funders.  They also provide free on-line tools and resources.

My Environmental Education Evaluation Resource Assistant http://meera.snre.umich.edu/ My Environmental Education Evaluation Resource Assistant (MEERA), is a web-based program evaluation resource tool to help environmental educators and program directors plan and learn more about program evaluation. The site is divided into three core sections: EE Evaluation Resources, Planning and Evaluation, and Examples. A searchable database of EE evaluation reports and case studies focused on specific outcomes are in development.

North American Association for Environmental Education http://www.naaee.org The North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) offers a fee-based resource review [www.naaee.org/programs-and-initiatives/resource-review/] to evaluate program curriculum and materials. The process includes self-review based on the Guidelines for Excellence, an independent review, certification (if qualified), and inclusion in the National EE Directory. NAAEE's site also includes a variety of publications [www.naaee.org/publications/publications-descriptions] pertaining to evaluation including case studies on diversity and using logic models.

Place-based Education Evaluation Collaborative www.peecworks.org/ The Place-based Education Evaluation Collaborative (PEEC) is a partnership between multiple organizations and the PEEC website includes descriptions, data collection tools, and reports by PEER Associates, an evaluation consulting firm that conducts most of PEEC's evaluation. In addition, there are about 300 evaluation tools and resources of relevance to the broad environmental education community (including, for instance, the Bay Area Learning Community database). Visit PEEC's website for examples of surveys, various evaluation methods, and evaluation reports.

The Journal of Environmental Education http://www.heldref.org/jenve.php
The Journal of Environmental Education is a peer-reviewed resource that includes recent research in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities with an emphasis on best practices related to EE programming and evaluation as well as reviews of recent books and educational materials. The journal is available (in print and online) by paid subscription.

General Program Evaluation Information and How-To Guides

In addition to the resources noted in the resource database, below are some program evaluation resources for environmental education professionals.

Domroese, M.C. and Sterling, E.J. (1999). Interpreting Biodiversity A Manual for Environmental Educators in the Tropics http://cbc.amnh.org/center/programs/interppi.html Developed by the American Museum of Natural History Center for Biodiversity and Conservations, this manual outlines the design of an environmental interpretation program, covering exhibit design, interpretive presentations, community outreach activities, and evaluation methods. See chapter 5 for information specific to how to evaluate your initiatives.

Diamond, J. (1999). Practical evaluation guide: Tools for museums and other informal educational settings. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press. Diamonds presents the basic principles needed to design, implement and present an evaluation project. The clearly and simply written guide gives you the tools needed for studying the behavior and learning of people in informal educational settings, including how to plan an evaluation, evaluate evaluators, perform visitor observations, conduct interviews, design questionnaires, sample audiences, analyze qualitative and quantitative data, write reports, and more.

Empowerment Evaluation http://eevaluation.blogspot.com
This site is an Empowerment Evaluation Blog designed by Dr. David Fetterman, Director of Evaluation in the School of Medicine at Stanford University and the founder of Empowerment Evaluation.

Evaluation Exchange http://gseweb.harvard.edu/~hfrp/eval.html
Harvard Family Research Project's evaluation periodical, The Evaluation Exchange, addresses current issues facing program evaluators of all levels, with articles written by the most prominent evaluators in the field. Designed as an ongoing discussion among evaluators, program practitioners, funders, and policymakers, The Evaluation Exchange highlights innovative methods and approaches to evaluation, emerging trends in evaluation practice, and practical applications of evaluation theory. It goes out to its subscribers free of charge four times per year. Subscribe online for a free email subscription.

Evaluators Institute http://www.evaluatorsinstitute.com/ Held annually in January, April, and July, the Evaluators Institute offers an array of short professional development courses and certification for evaluators. Course topics range from basic evaluation skills to qualitative and quantitative methods to needs assessment to participatory and outcomes-based evaluation. These courses are intended for professionals with some evaluation experience.

EvaluationWiki.org http://www.evaluationwiki.org/wiki/index.php?Main_page
Founded in September of 2006 by Evaluation Resource Institute (ERI), EvaluationWiki’s mission is to create a compendium of evaluation-related knowledge.

National Marine Sanctuaries Education Project Evaluation On-line Guide.  http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/education/evaluation/
This guide includes sections on how to plan, design, implement an evaluation project whether you are conducting it yourself or with an outside evaluator.  

Outcomes Measurement Resource Network by United Way of American http://national.unitedway.org/outcomes United Way has focused on outcomes based evaluation. Distinguish between outputs and outcomes and learn more from the Outcome Measurement Resource Network. The website offers information, downloadable documents, and links to resources related to measuring program and community outcomes.

Taylor-Powell, E. (1998) Program Development and Evaluation. Questionnaire Design - Asking questions with a purpose. University of Wisconsin Extension. Cooperative Extension. PDF This guide provides an overview of survey design including information on types of questions and overall survey design.


A Sample of Evaluation Data Collection Tools

In addition to the surveys and protocols on the resource database, below is sample of data collection tools that have been used in recent studies and by members of the Bay Area Environmental Education Learning Collaborative. By no means comprehensive, these data collection tools are presented to help environmental education professionals consider the focus and scope of their evaluations and see what others in and outside of EE are using to formally document information on program implementation, activities, and outcomes.

Student, Teacher, and Parent Surveys exploring the impact of Outdoor Education Experience Download PDF Review the student, teacher and parent surveys used by the American Institute for Research AB 1330 study titled The Effects of Outdoor Education Programs for Children in California.

An Evaluator's Tool Kit: Sample Forms, Matrices, and Checklists for Collecting and Using Good Information http://www.ed.gov/inits/americareads/resourcekit/MakingInfo/title2.html See a variety of evaluation tools including tools for getting started and form to plan an evaluation on this United States Department of Education website.

EarthScore: Your Personal Environmental Audit and Guide. Lafayette, CA: Morning Sun Press. The Green Consumer (2002). http://home.ix.netcom.com/~jdhowell This personal audit tool is to determine an individual's magnitude on their local environment and provides a plan for setting goals to reduce this impact. This audit is base on a computer software program called EnviroAccount that tallies up impact points that approximate an individual's impact on the environment based on pollution, use of nonrenewable resources, and degradation of ecological systems.

Ecological Footprint Survey. Redefining Progress (2002). http://www.myfootprint.org/ The Ecological Footprint Quiz is a personal behavior audit tool that estimates how much productive land and water an individual needs to support what they use and what they discard. After answering 15 questions people will be able to compare their Ecological Footprint to what other people use and to what is available on this planet.

Environmental Education Evaluation Learning Community Evaluation Tools.
 http://www.peecworks.org/PEEC/PEEC_Inst/S006D6299-006D692F This is a matrix of 75 evaluation tools compiled by Bay Area Environmental Education Learning Community in 2004.  From this link you can access most of the tools. 

Nature Deficit Disorder Survey. National EE week Partner Sidwell Friends School in Washington D.C. (2005) http://www.eeweek.org/survey.htm Richard Louv, author of The Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder has coined the term "nature-deficit disorder." To find out if his students were experiencing "nature deficit disorder" Dave Wood, an 8th grade teacher at National EE Week Partner Sidwell Friends School in Washington D.C., compiled a survey and asked his students to take it after reading the New York Times article Growing Up Denatured.

Stewardship Ethic Survey Restoring America's Estuaries (2006) Download PDF In conjunction with NOAA and three member organizations including Save The Bay (San Francisco), Restoring America's Estuaries (RAE) piloted a national stewardship ethic survey in 2006. Results are available on the RAE website [www.estuaries.org] beginning in January 2007.

Evaluation Learning Community Resources 2007

March: Partnership Synergies
Inspirational Speaker David Fetterman
Empowerment Evaluation PPT by Fetterman

Evaluation Panel
ESF Executive Summary Report 

May: Building Program Evaluation Capacity
Inspirational Speaker-Headlands Institute:
The Long Road to Cultural Competency

Focus Group Workshop:
Crissy Field Center Workshop Power Point Roberts
Focus Group Data Analysis Roberts
Focus Group Protocols Roberts
Focus group Fundamentals Roberts
Focus Group Web Resources Roberts

Designing Tools Workshop:
The Power of Observation Cheslock

Peer Cluster Model Workshop:
Peer Cluster Intro Workshop

 October: Building Regional Capacity--Focus on Cultural Competency
Building Blocks of Cultural Competence in the Region:
Cultural Competence

Focus on Stakeholder Input:
Stakeholder Involvement by Naomi Torres

Using an Assessment Tool to Measure Cultural Competency
Organization Assessment for Multicultural Development
Specialists in Cultural Competence

December: Empowerment Evaluation and Our Learning Community Results
Empowerment Evaluation by Fetterman



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