Maryland is first state to make environmental literacy a graduation requirement
7/6/2011
Maryland now requires that high school students be "environmentally literate" before graduating, Education Week reports. This new requirement, passed by the Maryland board of education recently, makes the state the first in the nation to create such a rule.
School districts must now develop coursework for students that meets state regulations in terms of environmental literacy. They must also create ways to assess students' mastery of the environmental concepts to determine their eligibility for graduation. The plans must be approved by the state school superintendent, the news source reports.
This action comes at a time when children worldwide are experiencing nature less than they are experiencing man-made games and technology. A British study of 109 primary-aged school children found that the children were able to recognize Pokemon characters more easily than they could identify common plants and animals.
The requirement also follows the board's decision last summer to implement more environmental education in the school curriculum. The previous vote did not clarify whether environmental literacy would be a requirement for graduation, but this year's vote was decisive.