EE Certification - Application Components

Each of the following pieces will be evaluated as a whole by a panel of reviewers to determine if the competencies reflected are sufficient for certification as a Professional Environmental Educator in Texas. The length of time needed for the applicant to complete the components will vary from person to person. There is no deadline for initial applications.

A brief description of each component and a summary of the competencies expected follow. (For a complete listing of the competencies expected of a Professional Environmental Educator in Texas, please go to Competencies. The Competencies are modified from the North American Association for Environmental Education Project for Excellence, Guidelines for the Initial Preparation of Environmental Educators.)

Resume
Please provide a standard professional resume with vitae. Attach a copy of your diploma(s) or transcript for verification. Be sure to include the following competencies:

Competency Theme 3: Professional Responsibility

• Document professional development you’ve participated in, professional journals you subscribe to, and organizations associated with ee that you are an active member of or provide volunteer services to.
• Document real-world environmental education opportunities you have participated in.

Two Letters of Reference
Please provide two letters of professional reference. Be sure your letters of reference document the competencies below.

Competency Theme 3: Professional Responsibility

• Develop a relationship with a mentor, advisor or others and document how this relationship has impacted your professional growth.

Environmental Literacy Test
Download a copy of the Environmental Literacy Instrument. Applicants are expected to complete the items with greater than 80% accuracy to be certified. The Environmental Literacy Instrument can be completed with use of textbooks or other resources. (Applicants need not be experts in every environmental field to be professionals, but they do need to know where to get factual, scientifically-based information.) The Review Panel may ask for a list of your references if responses are significantly different from expected responses.

Competencies Worksheet
Download a copy of the Competencies Worksheet. Many of the items included on the Worksheet cover a variety of competencies and can be completed with short answer or simple lists. The Review Panel will utilize a rubric for evaluating each section of the Worksheet. For a copy of the rubrics provided to the Review Panel, go to Competencies Worksheet Rubrics. The Review Panel may ask for a list of your references if responses are significantly different from expected responses.

Computer-generated Product
This can be anything – even one of the other application components!

Competency Theme 4: Planning and Implementing EE

• Demonstrate proficiency with computer-based technologies by displaying, analyzing or communicating environmental information.

Lesson Plan or Instructional Program Outline
Informal educators often do not use formal lesson plans, but usually create program outlines for a specific teaching purpose. Either can be submitted in the application packet, as long as it demonstrates proficiency in the competencies listed. The applicant may choose to submit more than one lesson plan or instructional program outline. If the applicant can demonstrate proficiency in one of the competencies listed below during the videotaped instruction, the applicant does not need to include it in the lesson plan or instructional program outline.

The Review Panel will utilize a rubric for evaluating proficiency in the competencies listed under each theme below. For a copy of the rubrics provided to the Review Panel, go to Lesson Plan/Instructional Program Outline Rubrics.

Competency Theme 2: Foundations of EE

• Provide examples of ways ee is an interdisciplinary field and integrates knowledge from across disciplines.

Competency Theme 3: Professional Responsibilities

• Document how you use ee to meet the TEKS and address education reform goals.
• Use materials that present a range of differing viewpoints and interpretations.

Competency Theme 4: Planning and Implementing EE

• Apply theories of cognitive and social development by creating an instructional plan for a particular group.
• Write a lesson plan with a goal of cross discipline integration.
• Describe how a lesson meets relevant conceptual framework and standards.

Competency Theme 6: Assessment and Evaluation

• Correlate expected learner outcomes with NAAEE’s “Environmental Education Learner Outcomes, K-12.”
• Link assessment to stated learner outcomes.
• Develop and use a variety of strategies for assessing learner outcomes, formative and summative.
• Develop appropriate formative and summative tools.

Video of Instruction
Competencies listed below must be demonstrated during instruction of a group. The applicant may choose any ee program and audience.

Competency Theme 3: Professional Responsibilities

• Model responsible, respectful and reasoned behavior during instruction.
• Model inquiry process and include investigations in an appropriate manner.

Competency Theme 5: Fostering Learning

• Demonstrate instructional practices that engage students in taking responsibility for their own learning.
• Instruct with sense of importance and excitement of the content.
• Provide opportunities for experiences that increase learners’ awareness of and enthusiasm for nature and human-designed environment.
• Incorporate opportunities for the learner to have first-hand experience exploring the world around him/her.
• Demonstrate instructional techniques that encourage learners to ask questions and explore a variety of answers.
• Demonstrate ways to encourage flexibility, creativity and openness considering the interpretations that influence conclusions learners draw.
• Implement management techniques that foster independent and productive group work.
• Blend a variety of instructional methods and activities to meet instructional objectives. Make smooth transitions from one to another.
• Relate concepts directly to students’ experiences. Use illustrative material that is relevant to the learner and geographical area.

Competency Theme 6: Assessment and Evaluation

• Use means for engaging learners in setting their own expectations for achievement.
• Make objectives and other expectations clear to students at the outset of activity or instruction.

Competencies listed below may be demonstrated during instruction of a group or documented in the lesson plan/instructional program outline.

Competency Theme 1: Environmental Literacy

• Employ the investigative process. Document sources and methodology.

Competency Theme 3: Professional Responsibilities

• Model techniques for presenting differing viewpoints and identifying bias in information sources.
• Implement at least one strategy that learners can use to explore different perspectives, form their own opinions, and explain their beliefs.

Competency Theme 4: Planning and Implementing EE

• Model appropriate methods for learners in an instructional setting and describe alternative methods for engaging learners with differing backgrounds, ages, etc.
• Select ee materials and strategies that are developmentally appropriate for a designated grade level. Adjust these to respond to individual differences among learners.
• Organize ee instruction to accommodate different approaches to learning.
• Tailor instructional approaches to respond to varying cultural perspectives and use them as an educational resource.
• Incorporate a variety of tools in ee program and instruct students in safe and proper use.
• Demonstrate concern for learner safety in the design, plan and implementation of instruction.
• Use setting for ee instruction appropriate to subject matter and available resources.
• Implement instruction that first links content to learners’ immediate surroundings and then expands to a larger context.

Competency Theme 6: Assessment and Evaluation

• Implement appropriate performance-based assessments.
• Use techniques to assess learners’ baseline understandings and skills at the beginning of programs or activities. Modify instruction to meet needs of students based on assessment.

The Review Panel will utilize a rubric for evaluating proficiency in the competencies listed under each theme. For a copy of the rubrics provided to the Review Panel, go to the section "Video of Instruction" rubrics.