Evaluation data and resources

Main self-evaluation tool

Instructional Resource Self-Evaluation Tool (IRSET)

The Instructional Resource Self-Evaluation Tool (IRSET) supports the review of instructional resources with explicit learning objectives (e.g., field studies) and without explicit learning objectives (e.g., songs, stories, mealtimes). It has three themes: Contexts and Settings for Learning, Content and Integration, Instruction and Pedagogy.

Outdoor School

Related resources

• Talk Science Primer: In this guide, the authors describe the benefits of discussion and offer specific examples of how educators can support productive talk.
• Social-Emotional Learning Routine: This social-emotional learning sequence is designed to integrate with the activities you’re already planning on doing, rather than as a standalone social-emotional learning activity.
• Metacognition: In this guide to using a metacognitive (thinking about thinking) approach, the author offers specific strategies and example questions for incorporating metacognition into your teaching practice.
• Narrow Questions: These two short guides describe the differences between “broad” and “narrow” questions and offer examples of each.
• Broad Questions: These two short guides describe the differences between “broad” and “narrow” questions and offer examples of each.
• BFF (Best Friends Forever) Questions: This list contains questions that you can use to encourage wonder, exploration, discussion, and reflection in a variety of contexts.
• Learning from Science Investigations: Chapter 7 in Ready, Set, SCIENCE! (full-text PDF available as a free download) focuses on how to support student learning in science investigations, for example by creating meaningful problems and supporting students in constructing and defending explanations.
• Instructor Support for Guiding Explorations: This tool offers specific questions and discussion prompts you can use to support students in making observations, developing explanations, and more!
• Exploratory Investigation: This lesson plan guides students through an investigation of observable natural phenomena. The instructor chooses a basic topic (e.g., where fungi live), and students develop questions, make observations, and discuss how their investigation could be improved in the future.
• Discussion Map: The discussion map offers a broad structure (and specific teacher prompts) for guiding students through investigations of the natural world.
• Using Positive Interdependence (Nancy Frey and colleagues, ASCD): This chapter from Productive Group Work focuses on how to support students in seeing their success in a group as intrinsically linked to the success of others in their group. The authors offer specific strategies/routines and examples.
• Group Work That Works (Emelina Minero, Edutopia): This article offers tips for ensuring that group work meaningfully engages all students rather than just a few, extroverted students.
• A Comprehensive Guide to 21st-Century Skills (Jenna Buckle, Panorama Education): his guide describes what 21st-century skills are, why they are important, and how to support their development.
• Deep Dive: Differentiation Strategies and Examples Grades 6-12: These handbooks provide extensive information about differentiation, including misconceptions about differentiation, a process for planning differentiated lessons, and many examples of differentiation strategies. Though the handbooks are not specific to outdoor education, many of the strategies apply to instruction at outdoor school.
• Deep Dive: Differentiation Strategies and Examples Grades 3-5: These handbooks provide extensive information about differentiation, including misconceptions about differentiation, a process for planning differentiated lessons, and many examples of differentiation strategies. Though the handbooks are not specific to outdoor education, many of the strategies apply to instruction at outdoor school.
• Universal Design for Learning Guidelines (CAST): Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an approach to teaching that uses research about how people learn to optimize learning for everyone, not just those with exceptional needs. The guidelines focus on using multiple modes of engagement, representation, and action and expression.
• Three Tips to Make Any Lesson More Culturally Responsive: In this article, Hammond says, “In reality, culturally responsive teaching is less about using racial pride as a motivator and more about mimicking students’ cultural learning styles and tools. These are the strategies their moms, dads, grandmas, and other community folks use to teach them life skills and basic concepts long before they come to school and during out-of-school time.” She then offers three tips for how to transform lessons to do this.
• Multiple Intelligences Theory: Widely Used, Yet Misunderstood (Youki Terada, Edutopia): Have you ever thought (or heard someone else wonder): “Wasn’t the theory of multiple intelligences debunked?” This article provides an overview of how the theory of multiple intelligences has been misunderstood and misused in education. It also offers a “Do” and “Don’t” list to support evidence-based application of the theory when teaching.
• How to Teach Nature Journaling (John Muir Laws and Emilie Lygren): This comprehensive guide to teaching nature journaling includes 31 journaling activities you can do with students! Each activity offers teaching notes, discussion prompts to guide your conversations with students, and follow-up activities, among many other resources. Throughout, the authors describe how the use of words, pictures, and numbers contributes to deeper observations.
• What is Differentiated Instruction? Examples of How to Differentiate Instruction in the Classroom (Cathy Weselby, Resilient Educator): This article describes differentiated instruction and offers four approaches to differentiating instruction (content, process, product, learning environment).
• I Notice, I Wonder, It Reminds Me Of: This exploration routine guides students through making deep observations of natural objects. On pages 14-15, the authors describe how this activity supports students in connecting their own experiences and perspectives to what they are observing during a field experience. There is also a video available showing the activity in action!
• Twenty Differentiated Instruction Strategies and Examples (Marcus Guido, Prodigy): This list offers practical examples of what it could look like to use instructional approaches that meet the needs of a wide range of learners.
• The Culturally Responsive-Sustaining STEAM Curriculum Scorecard: This curriculum scorecard is designed to help you determine how culturally responsive your curriculum is, within four major areas: Representation, Social Justice, Teacher's Materials, and Materials/Resources.
• How to Differentiate Instruction (Liana Loewus, Education Week Teacher): This article highlights two videos describing strategies for differentiating instruction for diverse learners.
• Strategies for Helping Students Build on Their Ideas (BEETLES): This short handout provides tips for giving opportunities for students to construct their own understanding of the phenomena you observe during an outdoor activity. For more on learner-centered instruction, check out the resources associated with the Constructing Understanding professional learning session, especially Canned Spiel vs. Facilitating Students' Descriptions and Connections.
• A Guide for Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning: This guide describes why interdisciplinary learning is important, outlines frameworks for implementing interdisciplinary learning into your teaching, and provides examples of what those frameworks look like in practice.
• Learner-Centered Instructional Methods (Mia MacMeekin): This poster offers 28 instructional methods that are learner-centered
• Deep Dive: How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School (National Research Council): If you are interested in reading research about how people learn, this book is for you! A PDF copy of the full text is downloadable for free.
• Understanding By Design (Ryan Bowen, Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching): This teaching guide provides an overview of “backwards design,” where instructors think about the goals of an instructional activity and work backwards from there to develop the activity itself (rather than the common approach of using an activity as the starting point for curriculum design).
• Using Tools and Frameworks to Support Activity Design: Chapter 4 (page 19) in Creating Effective Outdoor Science Activities provides an overview of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Appendices B (page 48), C, and D have deeper dives on Crosscutting Concepts, Disciplinary Core Ideas, and Science and Engineering Practices that form the basis for the NGSS.
• Nine Ways to Plan Transformational Lessons: Planning the Best Curriculum Unit Ever (Todd Finley, Edutopia): In this short article, the author offers strategies for planning lessons based on research about teaching strategies and learning strategies.
• Toward More Equitable Learning in Science: Expanding Relationships Among Students, Teachers, and Science Practices: In this chapter from Helping Students Make Sense of the World Using Next Generation Science and Engineering Practices, the authors describe how educators can use a focus on science practices to explore and support the diverse ways that students make sense of scientific ideas.
• The Learning Cycle Explained (BEETLES): The Learning Cycle is a model that structures a learning activity based on research about how people learn. This two-page overview of the Learning Cycle outlines each phase and describes what the teacher might be doing during that phase. For more on the Learning Cycle, check out the resources associated with the Teaching and Learning professional learning session, especially Applying the Learning Cycle Lens to Outdoor Instruction.
• Oregon Department of Education standards: Oregon’s state education standards define what students should be able to do at various points throughout their school experience. This website links to standards for different disciplines. The Mindsets and Behaviors standards are hiding within the website but are extremely relevant to outdoor school. The Ethnic Studies and Tribal History/Shared History standards are available from the Social Studies landing page.
• Curriculum Development for Nonformal Education (Anna Otto, 4-H Center for Youth Development): This article provides considerations for preparing for curriculum development, developing curriculum, and evaluating curriculum.
• Oregon Senate Bill 439: This legislation outlines the basic legal requirements for outdoor school programs supported by Measure 99 funds.
• What’s in our Backpack?: This list of handy outdoor education equipment/materials is broken into two lists: one of basic items that will be useful in almost any outdoor education setting and one of “swanky” items that could be nice to have.
• Learning Frameworks: Phenology: Phenology (the study of seasonal impacts on organisms) offers many opportunities for engaging students in learning about their environment. This brief describes why phenology is important and contains a “phenology wheel” that includes 10 cyclical rhythms of the natural and social world.
• Focusing on the Strengths of Outdoor Science Learning Experiences (BEETLES): Chapter 1 (page 7) in Creating Effective Outdoor Science Activities describes how using “nature realia” offers opportunities for engaging students in intriguing, exciting activities that take advantage of the natural assets of a site.
• Ecosystem Literacies and Exploration Guides: In this guide, find tips for exploring five types of ecosystems/features that you might interact with during outdoor school (streams and ponds; intertidal/rocky shore; under logs and rocks; bushes, shrubs, and grasslands; plants). The guide offers observation techniques, safety considerations, and particular ideas students might explore with that ecosystem/feature.
• Ecoregions of Oregon Map: This map shows the 65 (!) ecoregions in Oregon and provides a brief summary of each one.
• Tribal History/Shared History (Oregon Senate Bill 13): The Oregon Tribal History/Shared History lesson plans and Educator Toolkit support the integration of accurate, historical and contemporary Indigenous knowledge and perspectives into the school curriculum.
• Critical Orientations: Indigenous Studies and Outdoor Education Online Course: This free, self-paced online course supports outdoor educators in engaging with culturally responsive incorporation of Indigenous studies concepts into outdoor education curriculum and programming.
• Group Agreements for Science Discussions: In this lesson, students discuss group agreements that will support their and their classmates’ discussions and participation in outdoor learning. The Instructor Support section (beginning on page 9) describes how group agreements can support students’ outdoor learning experiences and offers example group agreements.
• Environmental Education and Indigenous Knowledge: There are many ways to engage with, learn about, and understand the natural world. In this webinar, Dr. Bang offers ideas for questioning your assumptions, thinking about other ways of knowing and learning about something, and shares some example activities.
• Social-Emotional Learning at Outdoor School: What might it look like to support students’ social-emotional learning at outdoor school? Our recorded webinar and Social-Emotional Learning and Outdoor School document are intended to provide an overview of social-emotional learning as well as practical tools for supporting it before, during, and after outdoor school.
• How Can Educators Teach Critical Thinking?: In this article, Dr. Willingham provides an overview of research on critical thinking - especially about “general” vs. domain-specific critical thinking - as well as tips for teaching students to think critically.

Main self-evaluation tool

Cultural Responsiveness Self-Evaluation Tool (CRSET)

The CRSET supports outdoor school programs in becoming more culturally responsive. It has three themes: Equity, Diversity, Inclusion.

Outdoor School

Related resources

• Culturally Responsive Curriculum Scorecard: This scorecard is for you, youth, parents, educators, administrators, and advocates to collaboratively evaluate STEAM curricula.
• Toolkit of Resources for Engaging Families and the Community as Partners in Education Part 3: Building trusting relationships with families and the community through effective communication: This toolkit provides practical strategies for cross-cultural communication. The toolkit is formatted to support facilitation of the activities for groups but is also useful for personal reflection if used outside of a group training context. We encourage you to think specifically about where cross-cultural communication occurs outdoor school specifically. (As written, the toolkit is not specific to outdoor education.)
• Toolkit of Resources for Engaging Families and the Community as Partners in Education Part 1: Building an understanding of family and community engagement: This toolkit provides reflection questions and activities for examining personal beliefs and biases about community and family engagement. The toolkit is formatted to support facilitation of the activities for groups but is also useful for personal reflection if used outside of a group training context. We encourage you to think specifically about how your personal beliefs and biases shape family and community engagement at outdoor school specifically. (As written, the toolkit is not specific to outdoor education.)
• Community Engagement: Guidelines for Excellence Key Characteristic 3 - Collaborative and Inclusive: On pages 38-45, this document offers dozens of strategies for building inclusive collaborations in environmental education, including indicators for developing strategic partnerships and valuing and incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion. For a deeper dive into principles and practices of community engagement, explore other sections of the document!
• How Can We Develop Culturally Specific Programs to Engage Youth of Color?: In this article, the author describes qualities of effective culturally specific programs and explains why this type of program can be useful. While not specific to outdoor education, many of the obstacles described in the article apply to students’ participation in outdoor school (e.g., lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate services).
• How to Differentiate Instruction: This article highlights two videos describing strategies for differentiating instruction for diverse learners.
• Examining Equitable and Inclusive Work Environments in Environmental Education: Perspectives from the Field and Implications for Organizations: This report describes shortcomings of thinking about equity, diversity, and inclusion as an issue of “providing access to all.” According to the authors, “This “access-for-all” narrative negates the need to prioritize these communities that have been, and continue to be, largely excluded in [environmental education]” (pg. 3). The report offers considerations for operationalizing equity, diversity, and inclusion in ways that address systemic barriers to participation.
• Diversity – The Dangerous 9-Letter Umbrella: In this short article, the author describes the dangers of relying too heavily on the word “diversity” when thinking about the work that needs to be done to include marginalized communities.
• Toolkit of Resources for Engaging Families and the Community as Partners in Education Part 2: Building a cultural bridge: This toolkit provides reflection questions and activities for identifying family and community strengths. The toolkit is formatted to support facilitation of the activities for groups but is also useful for personal reflection if used outside of a group training context. We encourage you to reflect on the role of family and community strengths at outdoor school specifically. (As written, the toolkit is not specific to outdoor education.)
• Color Blindness (Learning for Justice): This short professional development article focuses on how being race-blind (e.g., “I don’t see color when I look at my students.”) can undermine culturally responsive teaching.
• Tale from the Field: How We Changed Our Hiring Practices (page 50 in the BEETLES Guide for Program Leaders): Please see the Internal Organizational Activities tab (in the Equity section above) for additional resources on hiring practices.
• The State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations: This report discusses the findings of a study of three types of environmental institutions: 191 conservation and preservation organizations, 74 government environmental agencies, and 28 environmental grantmaking foundations.
• Oregon Equity Lens: This policy brief describes how an equity lens can inform education policy and budgeting. On page 3, the brief outlines several questions that outdoor school programs might ask themselves as they engage with specific communities. (The questions are not specific to outdoor school, but most of them can be applied easily to thinking about an outdoor school program.)
• Developing Culturally Responsive Approaches to Serving Diverse Populations: A Resource Guide for Community-Based Organizations: This handbook includes information about conducting needs assessments (see page 15) and includes links to many additional resources for engaging with diverse populations. The handbook does not focus on outdoor education specifically, but many of the ideas can be applied to outdoor school.
• Learning for Justice: Learning for Justice provides social justice and anti-bias resources for educators. Check out the Self-Guided Learning Section (in the Professional Development tab) for a wide range of resources about fostering positive classroom culture, engage communities, and more!
• Four Practices to Promote Equity in the Classroom: In this article, the author offers suggestions for explicitly acknowledging equity in instruction.
• e Culturally Responsive-Sustaining STEAM Curriculum Scorecard: This curriculum scorecard is designed to help you determine how culturally responsive your curriculum is, within four major areas: Representation, Social Justice, Teacher's Materials, and Materials/Resources. From the Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools at NYU.
• Toolkit to Mitigate Bias in Recruitment and Hiring: This toolkit provides dozens of specific strategies for mitigating bias in job descriptions, interviews, and more.
• Leaking Talent: How People of Color Are Pushed Out of Environmental Organizations: This report describes perspectives of employees of color in environmental organizations about internal policies and practices that support/hinder their work and affect their desire to remain in their positions.
• Examining Equitable and Inclusive Work Environments in Environmental Education: Perspectives from the Field and Implications for Organizations: (The Lawrence Hall of Science and Youth Outside) The authors of this report offer seven key considerations for advancing equity and inclusion in environmental education organizations.
• Toolkit of Resources for Engaging Families and the Community as Partners in Education: Part 1: Building an understanding of family and community engagement toolkit provides reflection questions and activities for examining personal beliefs and biases about community and family engagement. It includes a section on how cultural lenses influence interactions with others. Formatted to support group facilitation or personal reflection (not specific to outdoor education.)
• Guide for setting ground rules: In this short article, the author shares thoughts about setting ground rules for discussions about social justice, including consideration of how ground rules can sometimes privilege the already-privileged.
• Why aren't there more Black people in Oregon? A hidden history: In this video, scholar and author Walidah Imarisha shares histories of Black communities in Oregon and offers thoughts on how these histories provide context for present-day decisions.
• Organizational change processes: This resource collection from Racial Equity Tools includes dozens of tools and case studies for shifting organizations towards more equitable and inclusive practices.
• Deepening Commitments: Working Toward Equity and Inclusion When Connecting Youth to the Outdoors: This case study of a 7-month cultural relevancy series includes useful information for considering organizational culture and offers examples of equity, diversity, and inclusion projects taken up by several environmental education organizations. See it and other resources on the Justice Outside webpage.
• Critical Orientations: Indigenous Studies and Outdoor Education online course: This course supports outdoor educators in engaging with culturally responsive incorporation of indigenous studies concepts into outdoor education curriculum and programming. While outdoor school programs in Oregon serve 5th and 6th-grade students, this course's content applies broadly to all outdoor and experiential education.

Main self-evaluation tool

Special Education and Accessibility Self-Evaluation Tool (SEASET)

The SEASET supports reflection on policies and practices that affect how accessible outdoor school programs are for students with disabilities. It has three themes: Collaboration and Compliance, Facility and Program, Teaching and Learning.

Outdoor School

Related resources

• The Difference Between Accommodations and Modifications (Understood): This article offers examples of what accommodations and modifications look like in different contexts (e.g., in the classroom, in music/art/PE class). It also includes a video of educators explaining the difference between accommodations and modifications.
• What is Differentiated Instruction? Examples of How to Differentiate Instruction in the Classroom (Cathy Weselby, Resilient Educator): This article describes differentiated instruction and offers four approaches to differentiating instruction (content, process, product, learning environment).
• Universal Design for Learning: Creating a Learning Environment that Challenges and Engages All Students (IRIS Center, Vanderbilt University): This self-paced online course explores aspects of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), including specific sections on incorporating UDL into the curriculum and curriculum design.
• Instructional Resource Self-Evaluation Tool (OSU Extension Service Outdoor School): This tool is designed to support the review, development and improvement of the range of instructional resources that make up curriculum used in Oregon’s outdoor school programs.
• Beyond IEPs and 504 Plans: Why You Should Consider Asset-Based Accommodations (Jules Csillag, Noodle): This article offers suggestions for using students’ strengths to guide accommodations.
• Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (Massachusetts Department of Education): This two-page document summarizes Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). The second page includes a table with specific examples of what PBIS looks like at various levels of implementation. This article is associated with the more comprehensive Guidebook for Inclusive Practices document from the Massachusetts Department of Education.
• Inclusion Resources Database (Inclusive Schools Network): This resource database includes resources organized into categories like Culturally Responsive Instruction, Inclusion Basics, and Student Engagement. There’s a specific category dedicated to Social Inclusion.
• Assistive Technology in Action (PACER’s National Parent Center on Transition and Employment): This video series (4-6 minutes per video) highlights specific examples of how assistive technology can support students with exceptional needs.
• Possible Classroom Accommodations For Specific Difficulties (adapted from the publication called, “How to Get the Best Education For Your Chronically or Seriously Ill Child” by Phoenix Children’s Hospital): This list offers potential accommodations for students who struggle with impulsiveness, mood, socialization, and other challenges.
• Common Accommodations and Modifications in School (Amanda Morin, Understood): This article provides dozens of examples of accommodations students might receive in the classroom. Many of them are directly applicable to outdoor school settings.
• Equal Access: Universal Design of Physical Spaces (Sheryl Burgstahler, University of Washington): This article offers guidelines about a range of issues that affect how people with exceptional needs interact with a physical space, such as entrances and routes of travel, fixtures and furniture, and information resources and technology.
• Using Measure 99 Funds to Support Students with Exceptional Needs (OSU): Information about allowable and prohibited outdoor school expenses can inform discussions between outdoor school providers and district special education teams as districts/ESDs determine what to request in their outdoor school applications. Please see the Governance and Management tab above for additional resources about IEP and Section 504 teams.
• OSU Extension Service Outdoor School Budget Categories and Fiscal Policies (OSU): OSU
• Communicating About People with Disabilities (National Disability Rights Network): This short article offers suggestions for writing, reporting, and speaking to or about people with disabilities.
• Etiquette for Working with Students with Disabilities (Best Colleges): This guide offers some general tips for working with students with disabilities as well as etiquette for specific disabilities (e.g., blindness and visual impairments, cognitive disabilities). Note: Though the introduction section of this guide focuses on college students, many of the tips are relevant to children and adults.
• Special Education Toolkit [for Families] (FACT Oregon): The resources in this document - geared towards parents/guardians - may be useful as you interact with families to support their children at outdoor school. See, for example, the one-page, person-centered profile on pages 12-13.
• Special Education Acronyms: This list includes many of the acronyms you might read or hear related to supporting students with exceptional needs.
• Comparison of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504), and The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (Iowa Department of Education): This table compares requirements, definitions, accommodations, and more between three major laws that outline protections for people with exceptional needs.
• Thirty-five Years of Progress in Educating Children With Disabilities Through IDEA: This document provides a history of special education services in U.S. schools, with a particular focus on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
• Student Access: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (document download; Oregon Department of Education): In this document, the Oregon Department of Education provides information about who is protected under Section 504 and what protections they have under the law. The document also includes sample 504 meeting checklists, discrimination complaint forms, and a comparison of Section 504, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The document mentions outdoor school as a specific example on page 10, saying, “A school district may be found to be engaging in illegal disability discrimination if the district:...Does not make necessary arrangements for a child with a disability to attend a field trip, outdoor school, or other similar school activity.”