Brief Overview
Closing the Achievement Gap: Using the
Environment as an Integrating Context for Learning

Using the Environment as an Integrating Context for learning (EIC), defines a framework for education: a framework for interdisciplinary, collaborative, student-centered, hands-on, and engaged learning. EIC, a term coined by the State Education and Environment Roundtable, encompasses the educational practices that the group believes should form the foundation of environment-based education in America's schools. This framework has begun to transform curricula in a growing number of schools across the United States and may have the potential to significantly improve K-12 education in America.

This report, prepared by the State Education and Environment Roundtable, is the story of the schools, teachers, and students who are involved in implementing EIC. It presents the results of a nationwide study; and describes the major concepts and assumptions underlying EIC; describes a range of successful EIC-based programs across the United States; identifies the major characteristics of successful EIC programs; and, analyzes the implications of EIC-based education for student learning and instruction.

EIC-based learning is not primarily focused on learning about the environment, nor is it limited to developing environmental awareness. It is about using a school's surroundings and community as a framework within which students can construct their own learning, guided by teachers and administrators using proven educational practices. EIC-based programs typically employ the environment as a comprehensive focus and framework for learning in all areas: general and disciplinary knowledge; thinking and problem-solving skills; basic life skills, such as cooperation and interpersonal communications; and, last but not least, understanding of one's relationship to the environment - community and natural surroundings.

"Closing the Achievement Gap" reports the evidence gathered from the study of the 40 selected schools, indicates that students learn more effectively within an environment-based context than within a traditional educational framework. This evidence comes from site visits, interviews, survey results, and gains on both standardized test scores and GPAs.

The observed benefits of EIC-based programs are both broad ranging and encouraging. They include:

By providing a comprehensive educational framework, instead of traditional compartmentalized approaches, EIC significantly improves student performance throughout the curriculum and enriches the overall school experience.

Go to Executive Summary of "Closing the Achievement Gap"
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