Educator Feedback & Opinions

Randi Korn and Associates, Inc. completed a multi-phase evaluation of Project WILD from 1998-2000. The work by Korn and Associates included surveying, observing, and interviewing students and teachers to determine how Project WILD is utilized in classrooms and non-formal settings.

Educators nationwide gave highest marks to Project WILD for its educational value, level of involvement by students, and overall quality. Ease of use, capacity for modification to meet student needs, and ability to connect the activities to their curriculum were also motivating factors for using the program with students (each of these criteria had a mean rating of 6 on a 7-point scale).

The following feedback was received by educators for the 1998-1999 school year:

Educators who used Project WILD each reached an average of 88 students. Sixty percent of trained educators use Project WILD more than four times per year.

Non-classroom educators were most likely to use Project WILD seven or more times per year; classroom educators tended to used Project WILD four to six times per year.

Seventy percent of educators selected specific activities for their students because the content corresponded with the curricula. Eighty-three percent of these educators connected Project WILD with their science curriculum.

The activity type most frequently used was animal/nature observations (59%), followed by physically challenging games (47%), and writing/reading/discussion activities (34%).

Seventy-two percent of educators now using Project WILD have been using the program for three or more years. Sixty percent of educators surveyed do not use any other wildlife programs.

The majority of educators became involved in Project WILD for professional development (53%) or because they believed in the values and ideology of the program (51%).

Randi Korn and Associates, Inc. reviewed 452 questionnaires from randomly selected educators trained in Project WILD throughout the U.S. and completed telephone interviews with 18 former users of the program.

Based on the evaluation done by Korn and Associates, the Project WILD and Project Wild Aquatic K-12 Aquatic Curriculum and Activity Guides were revised in 2000. The conceptual framework was updated, a Learning Framework was developed, new activities were developed to eliminate conceptual gaps, and subject area standards were developed.