Project
WILD curriculum materials undergo a thorough review, testing,
and evaluation process. The purpose is to develop well-conceived,
tested, current, and effective instructional resources of
the highest quality that meet the needs of educators and students.
As a result, Project WILD meets the accepted criteria for
environmental education and provides educators with materials
that support national, state, and district standards in science,
mathematics, language arts, social studies, and expressive
arts.
Listed
below are different strategies Project WILD employs to maintain
its commitment to quality.
The conceptual
framework for Project WILD was developed through a rigorous
process to ensure its accuracy, balance, and educational
validity. It was critiqued and reviewed by more than 500
professionals.
All Project WILD
materials are reviewed by science, curriculum, education,
and environmental experts for educational soundness,
balance, and content accuracy.
All materials
are pilot tested by classroom teachers to ensure that stated
instructional objectives are met, to evaluate grade level
appropriateness, and to assess the quality of the activity
and student involvement.
Activities for
the Project WILD Activity Guides (K-12 Guide and Aquatic
Education Guide) were written by teachers; school administrators;
university faculty members; wildlife professionals; and
representatives of private environmental, youth, community,
and conservation groups in a series of regional writing
conferences. After hundreds of activities were developed
and after stringent review, evaluation, field testing in classrooms
all over the U.S., and refinement, final selections were
made, and the guides produced.
- Suggestions and
Evaluation
We encourage and
welcome suggestions for revisions to the existing Project
WILD Activity Guides. Each year's printing will accomodate
suggested revisions, when possible.
Each participant
in a Project WILD workshop is asked to complete a participant
survey form. According to an ongoing analysis of these evaluation
forms, 99% of our participants report that the workshops
were either good or excellent.
A comparative
study (based on a field test of the Project WILD Activity
Guides in urban, suburban, and rural areas by over 6,000
students) showed that students in all areas acquired knowledge,
skills, and an appreciation of wildlife when their teachers
used Project WILD activities.
Project WILD has
earned the endorsement of organizations including the California
Board of Education, the National Council for the Social
Studies, and the International Association of Fish
and Wildlife Agencies.
Project WILD has
received numerous awards including the 1984 Conservation
Education Award from the Wildlife Society, a 1991 President's
Environmental and Conservation Challenge Award for Education
and Communications, and recognition from the North American Association
for Environmental Education and the National Wildlife Federation.
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