Conservation Profiles

As Environment/Ecology Advisor for the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Dr. Patricia Vathis (Patti) has a big job, one that might be daunting to many people. Patti serves as the Department’s curriculum environment and ecology education specialist for all of the public and charter schools in Pennsylvania. She is available to public schools throughout the state, as well as to outside constituencies, serving as a facilitator in educating educators on environment and ecology, and providing guidance and advice on how to structure curriculum.

The Office of Environment and Ecology was formed in 1983, with co-funding provided by the Departments of Education and Environmental Protection. At that time, the two agencies recognized the need for a cooperative effort toward environment and ecology education. As Patti states, "We were charged with informing anyone who was interested – schools, churches, organizations and the community at large – sort of a "birth-to-death" audience." As the role of the office evolved, it became clear that environment and ecology deserved a place in the formal education of Pennsylvania’s students. "These issues are very much a part of our everyday lives. So many people in Pennsylvania have a true love for the environment, a love that they want to promote and share with children."

Currently, environment and ecology are a part of the curriculum studied by many students, but the process is fragmented. Each school district determines how and what content should be taught. National curriculum models, such as Project Learning Tree, Project WET and the latest, Project Food. Land and People, are available to and used by educators throughout Pennsylvania, but the state is lacking in academic standards for a consistent, rigorous, measurable approach to teaching environment and ecology. That is about to change.

In 1999, Chapter 4 was adopted by the State and is now regulation. Chapter 4 requires school districts to provide for the attainment of academic standards in eleven disciplines, to address growing concern that children are leaving school unprepared for an increasingly complex world. The standards define what students need to know, and allow schools to clearly measure each student’s progress. The academic standards were developed by more than 350 Pennsylvanians, including parents, environment, business and community leaders, educators, school administrators and Department of Education staff.

The standards are not a statewide curriculum; rather, they provide a baseline from which school districts should develop their own curriculum that contains local goals and objectives that meet the State’s mandated standards. To date, two of the eleven sets of standards have been approved by the State Board of Education: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Mathematics. Two additional sets of standards, including those for Environment and Ecology, are in the final stages of the approval process.

As part of her many responsibilities, Patti has had a lead role in the development of academic standards for Environment and Ecology Education, working on the standards writing committee. Once these standards are formally adopted by the State Board of Education, Pennsylvania will be the first state in the nation to have a separate set of K-12 environment and ecology standards. Her goal, she states, is that "every child educated in our schools has the same opportunities for learning this content area."

In her 15 years with the Department of Education, Patti has seen a marvelous turn in support for this content. The Department of Education has been entirely supportive. "Secretary Hickock has allowed us to do everything we need to in creating the entire set of standards." Yet, she also points to the support provided by conservation districts and others who have taken a stake in the issue, stating that she has never been in this alone.

In her career, Patti has been involved in education and curriculum design on a number of levels, from elementary school through higher education. When she began her work in environment and ecology, Patti was struck by the support she received from "non-formal" educators – the people in the community, like conservation district staff, who were working and interested in teaching children and teachers about these issues. That admiration continues today. "Conservation districts, and especially their field staff, have a true gift for sharing what they know with young people. They also take what they know and help teachers to form good classroom curriculum. They can feel good that what they do makes a difference."

Patti has been called a great friend to conservation districts throughout the state. According to Rich Gulyas, Education Coordinator with the Bradford County Conservation District, "Patti has been a real leader in statewide conservation district efforts to promote effective environmental education. It is astounding how much time and leadership we have received from her, in spite of her very busy schedule. She is truly dedicated to high quality environmental education in Pennsylvania."

According to Patti, the friendship is mutual. "We have been able to assist them with certain resources to help them meet their educational obligations; in return, they have been valuable asset to us in meeting our objectives in educating teachers." Kathleen Banski, Education Director of the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, notes that "Patti has enhanced the partnership between conservation districts and the Department of Education. She has taken every opportunity to include conservation district staff in training workshops, recognizing the link between local conservation district programs and statewide educational priorities."

For example, conservation district staff provide the expertise to "train the trainer" in Pennsylvania’s pilot of nationwide models, such as Project Food, Land and People, which stresses the interdependence of agriculture and society. Conservation districts were a natural choice as facilitators, according to Patti, because of their inherent responsibility toward and involvement with local agriculture and environmental resources.

Patti notes that conservation districts have many outstanding educational programs, and that they have demonstrated tireless effort and enthusiasm in developing the proposed environment and ecology academic standards. To date, 27 conservation districts have offered to take what they know to help train teachers in the proposed standards-based curriculum. For the conservation districts, this means preparing standards-based program outlines for the Department of Education’s Food, Land and People program, so that they can assure a consistent approach to educating educators. "These outlines are more formal and time consuming, compared with what they have had to provide in the past. That means more work on their part, in addition to everything else they do in their communities."

Over the last 15 years, Patti has grown deeply passionate about the need for academic standards in environment and ecology, content which spans economic, cultural, political and social structures, as well as natural processes and systems. "The challenge still lies in getting people to understand the interconnectedness of everything we do," she said. "If you can’t eat the food, drink the water or breathe the air, you cannot survive. By changing how we educate children, we are changing the future. Not every child will grow up to be a scientist, but they will grow up to be an adult. We have to ensure that these future adults are ready to make the right decision about the world in which they live."