FieldSTEM® is our signature model designed to help classroom teachers, schools and school districts implement equitable environmental and sustainability education. This teaching and learning model engages students, educators, administrators and community collaborators in building a scientifically literate citizenry prepared and inspired to make balanced decisions for sustainable communities. When taught with fidelity, FieldSTEM is career connected, locally relevant, integrated, field-based education.
FieldSTEM projects engage students in the practices that prepare them for the Washington science, math and ELA assessments. They also support students in the development of critical thinking and civic engagement in the social sciences including Since Time Immemorial, economics, geography, civics, employability skills and technology, which are not formally assessed by the state of Washington.
Our professional development model demonstrates and embeds research-based instructional practices that encourage educators toward continual improvement in FieldSTEM delivery. Our FieldSTEM Implementation Continuums, at the classroom, school and district level, identify components of FieldSTEM implementation and provide indicators for three levels of implementation: 1. Exploring, 2. Emerging, and 3. School of Excellence. To learn about upcoming professional development opportunities, please see our events calendar.
We are leading the FieldSTEM movement in Washington by connecting the natural resource, agriculture, and environmental sectors to education and providing businesses with tools to effectively engage students in career connected learning that will help them attain employment and thrive in future jobs. By collaborating with marginalized communities including rural, low-income, and Tribal communities, we promote diverse and inclusive models of learning that lead to equity, one of our core values. At the same time, we are helping to bridge the gap between major workforce needs that go unmet in the natural resource, agriculture, and environment sectors, and student perception that there are no jobs available in their communities.
Our resources and tools include customizable, integrated curriculum guides and performance tasks that are designed by education experts and aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). As we serve more educators, schools, and districts throughout the state, we are continually developing and refining our tools and resources to meet teacher needs.
To learn more about implementing FieldSTEM in your classroom, school, or district, please contact our Associate Director of Columbia Basin & Coast Region, Megan Rivard, at [email protected]; or our Associate Director of Puget Sound Region, Molly Griffiths, at [email protected].
Shelton School District
Why FieldSTEM | 01/03/2021
Puyallup School District
Overview and the Importance of FieldSTEM | 01/03/2021
Kalama School District
2018 FieldSTEM Leadership Institute | 07/03/2018
Chewelah School District
FieldSTEM Leadership Institute | 07/03/2018
PEI is committed to inclusivity and to modeling inclusive practices in our work. This includes actively expanding the diversity of our staff and board and inviting others to participate with us as we work to build a more equitable landscape for learning so that all of Washington’s students see themselves as part of the solution to building sustainable communities.
PEI operates on the deeply-felt principle that high-quality K-12 education is a right for all students, not a privilege for a few. We believe that locally relevant, career connected, environmental and sustainability education leads to equality and social justice. To that end, we focus our efforts on public school districts and schools, and we often work with resource-strapped schools with high populations of marginalized and underrepresented students. We work with some of the smallest and most remote school districts such as Cape Flattery, Colfax and Naselle-Grays River. We also work with several of our state’s Tribal Nations, collaborating with educators at Tribal schools to develop and embed Indigenous values and traditions in natural resource management education.
To ensure accessibility to FieldSTEM, we seek funds to support our work so that our workshops are low-cost to educators, and so we can compensate educators for their time, travel and other expenses they may incur while attending our workshops. Furthermore, we offer our FieldSTEM guides, frameworks and units for free on our website, and when we do print and bind our guides, we don’t charge educators beyond our direct cost.
To effectively build sustainable communities in Seattle, Longview or Colton, Washington, students today need to understand and participate in conversations that incorporate the dynamic global exchange of knowledge and information. Students who are literate in multiple disciplines and comfortable balancing the pros and cons of decisions among them will be highly valued community members and employees.
FieldSTEM fosters knowledge, skills and abilities beginning in the pre-kindergarten classroom by integrating study around meaningful topics. Integration is an effective approach to learning as it helps students develop expertise in the important role interrelationships play in the real world.
Sustainable communities are built on strong social and economic systems that steward the environmental system
s that support them. Career connected learning (CCL) is an initiative developed through partnerships between educators, workforce development professionals and employers seeking articulated pathways describing how the knowledge, skills, and abilities a student gains in pre-K-12 schooling articulates with the needs to successfully become employed or move into post-secondary programs (certifications, Associate, Bachelor, Masters, and Doctoral degrees).
Our work has always connected students to actual questions, problems, issues, and opportunities that employed people in their community are facing – we engage students in the real work of the community. CCL at PEI is the intentional support we provide educators to ensure that the work students do in the classroom is meaningful in the community outside the classroom.
At all levels, engaging students in the work of their community gives them a “seat at the table” by strengthening their knowledge and skills and empowering their voice in their communities. Our FieldSTEM Model, when implemented with high-impact field experiences at every grade level, builds the knowledge, skills and abilities of students pre-K-12 toward jobs in the natural resource, agriculture, environmental, and outdoor recreation sectors.
Download our Career Connected Learning Teaching Materials and Resources and our Career Connected Learning Research and Reports.
Just as no two individuals are the same, no school, school district or community is the same as any other. We celebrate this diversity at PEI. Our FieldSTEM Model is designed to be a framework for research-based inclusive educational practices. When PEI works with educators, there is always space to make sure that the product or practice is locally relevant, designed to connect to the individuals and the community – the place – where it will be implemented.
The places in which we live, the history of the land and people, influence the communities of today. PEI encourages students to learn about the land, the reasons that people settled, how that settlement led to past and current practices and to ask, “Are these current practices culturally, economically and ecologically sustainable?” PEI encourages students to explore the economic engines in their communities, the organizations, agencies, and industries that drive the employment, to learn how the local economy is interrelated to the ecosystem and the diverse perspectives and cultures of the citizens. When students are engaged in answering real questions, solving real problems and issues and capitalizing on real opportunities, they are more likely to meet the standards that our educational systems use to measure success.
Why take students outdoors to learn? The reasons are many and varied. In the 1970s children spent twice as much time outdoors as they do today. How this affects us is increasingly understood as medical professionals see the impacts on human health of increased sedentary time indoors. We incorporated field-based time as one of the critical components of our FieldSTEM Model for two reasons:
If our education system does not work to build an understanding of and appreciation for natural systems and how they are impacted by and sustain our social and economic systems, our communities will not be sustainable.
Read research related to the importance of field-based learning.
Our strength is in building educator capacity to get students outdoors, meeting state standards while learning and contributing to meaningful work in their own community. Our work:
We provide diverse entry points for initial workshops, tailoring the workshop to the community and then offering ongoing support to educators. We are not a “one and done” workshop model. We work with teachers, schools, and districts committed to improving instructional practices through FieldSTEM. Because our materials and frameworks encourage the integration of core subjects around locally relevant storylines, we engage educators in this process, encourage ongoing collaboration and facilitate grade-level planning efforts. This work helps teachers understand how to meet multiple standards at once in meaningful ways for students and embeds best instructional strategies to help educators improve instruction including formative and performance assessment using science notebooking, culturally responsive teaching practices, social-emotional learning (SEL) strategies, and practical measures.
To learn about and register for our upcoming professional learning opportunities, please visit our calendar. If you’re interested in learning more about how PEI can support you or your organizational staff, please contact us.
PEI offers workshops specifically for nonformal educators to:
Nonformal educators come from a broad range of organizations and agencies—from fish hatcheries to conservation districts to city governments—that have an interest in supporting environmental education. We can support nonformal educators to offer effective student learning and enhanced classroom instruction by providing meaningful learning opportunities. Our workshops are activity-based and model best practices in formal education instructional practices. We strengthen the connection between formal and nonformal education to benefit the broader field of environmental and sustainability education.
To learn more about upcoming events, workshops and institutes, visit our calendar.
If you’re interested in learning more about how PEI can support you or your organizational staff, please fill out the contact form.
We partner with school and district administrators to customize professional learning to meet district goals while meeting local employment needs and opportunities. We help educators, pre-K-12, embrace the power of integrating as an efficient way to meet standards and engage students in meaningful work. We are not a “one-and-done” workshop model; we work with teachers, the community, and administration to support ongoing FieldSTEM implementation.
With board representation from the Association of Washington School Principals (AWSP), the Washington State School Directors’ Association (WSSDA), and the Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA), in alliance with the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and regional educational service districts, and as a member of the Governor’s STEM Education Innovation Alliance and a participant in the Washington STEM Networks, we work strategically across the state to further effective educational practice. We are committed to formally aligning our state’s educational reform efforts with local ecological, economic and social systems so that all students know about and have the skills to be employed in local STEM jobs.
We offer consulting and planning expertise to school and district teams:
Partners from AWSP, WASA, WSSDA, and OSPI also work with PEI to understand and support the roles and responsibilities that various leaders have in the successful implementation of sustainable programming.
We invite administrators to join our professional learning network to help us understand how we can better support schools and districts in this work so that all teachers can offer all students the opportunity to learn through integrated, career connected, locally relevant field-based projects.
PEI welcomes participation in our expert-designed, NGSS aligned, experiential workshops and institutes. We aim to increase educators’ knowledge, skills and confidence in taking students outdoors to learn locally relevant, real-world science that is connected to careers in environmental science, natural resources and agriculture sectors.
Join Pacific Education Institute for this virtual six-part workshop series focusing on bringing nature journaling to your classroom! Educators who attend all six sessions will receive 14 STEM Clock Hours
Thank you for your interest! Please visit our Training & Workshop Event Calendar to see offerings in your region. Questions about future workshops may be directed to [email protected].
Interested participants may register for workshops by following the links embedded in our promotional fliers and on our Training & Workshop Event Calendar. Connect with the Regional Coordinator for additional information about registration.”
You can visit our Teaching Resources page for free downloadable copies of our guides, performance tasks, curricular units, and more. To order hard copies of our resources, please contact us at 360-705-9294 or [email protected].
To connect with your local FieldSTEM Coordinator, please contact Megan Rivard, Associate Director of Columbia Basin & Coast Region, at 253-271-9546 or [email protected], or Molly Griffiths, Associate Director of Puget Sound Region, at [email protected].
We are an OSPI-approved provider for Washington State Continuing Education Clock Hours. Most of our workshops meet the criteria for STEM clock hours. If you have questions about clock hours, please contact Rachel Drummond, Program Coordinator, at [email protected].
We would be honored to meet with you at your school. Please contact Megan Rivard, Associate Director of Columbia Basin & Coast Region, at 253-271-9546 or [email protected], or Molly Griffiths, Associate Director of Puget Sound Region, at [email protected] to schedule a meeting.
If you would like to schedule a presentation to explore ways your organization can collaborate with us, please contact Megan Rivard, Associate Director of Columbia Basin & Coast Region, at 253-271-9546 or [email protected], or Molly Griffiths, Associate Director of Puget Sound Region, at [email protected] to schedule a meeting.
PEI workshops include FieldSTEM® guides for educators providing frameworks for how to implement rigorous, integrated, outdoor field experiences with students. Our guides are aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and are available for free download.
Field Investigations helps teachers develop and implement locally relevant opportunities to engage students in core subject instruction using natural settings—a framework that increases students’ problem solving abilities and motivation to learn science.
FieldDesign: Engineering Design for Field-Based Applications K-5 is a meaningful platform to engage students in engineering with a real problem to solve so they applying their research and analytical skills to understand situations in a deeper way.
FieldDesign: Engineering Design for Field-Based Applications 6-12 is a meaningful platform to engage students in engineering with a real problem to solve so they applying their research and analytical skills to understand situations in a deeper way.
Designing High Impact Field Experiences are some of the most meaningful learning opportunities a student will have throughout his or her educational career. This book guides educators to consider learning goals, locations and partners, activities, adjacent lessons and logistics that will help maximize the positive impact of a field experience.
Fostering Outdoor Observation Skills guides teachers to develop observation skills with students by observing the “book of nature.”
FieldSTEM Science Notebooks is a supplement for implementing notebooks to promote the development of ELA and math skills, scientific reasoning and social competency.
Project-Based Learning Model provides resources and examples through an 8-step model.
Schoolyard Biodiversity is targeted to elementary and middle schools. These guidelines teach educators how to engage students in the investigation of biodiversity in their own schoolyard using field investigation methodologies.
Photo Point Monitoring: Using Technology in Field Investigations to Monitor Change Over Time is intended to provide formal and nonformal educators a tool to bring technology into outdoor experiences and field investigations.
Landscape Investigation Guidelines challenges K-12 students to integrate science and social science inquiry by applying spatial thinking, which mirrors scientists’ practices as they make decisions that impact natural resources on landscapes.
Sustainable Tomorrow demonstrates how to apply systems thinking and problem solving tools employed by natural resource managers using lessons from Project Learning Tree (PLT), Project WILD and Project WET.
Technology for Field Investigations provides tools for educators to engage students in designing and conducting their own field investigations mirroring the practices of professional scientists.
Our ELA and math performance tasks use environmental problems or issues as the context while students apply age-appropriate math or English language arts (ELA) skills of reading, writing and researching to complete the work. Performance tasks are tailored to assist educators in integrating locally relevant, complex texts with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Common Core while providing frameworks for constructing meaningful field experiences for students. Included are examples of teacher-created locally relevant performance tasks.
We are in the process of translating all our ELA performance tasks to Spanish. We have completed all of our K-5 tasks, with more to follow.
We have also edited several of our original ELA performance tasks to align with the format of the SBAC. These SBAC practice tasks provide specific instructions for administration and SBAC scoring rubrics. Click on the SBAC Practice Tasks Introduction link to learn more about how to utilize these practice tasks in your classroom.
Please Note: we are currently having technical issues with some of our Performance Tasks. If you have any issues finding or downloading the task you want, please email Katie Hatam at [email protected].
Check out all of PEI’s additional thematic units of study that can be integrated into any classroom. To determine which will work best in your classroom, we encourage educators to explore the curricular units below.
“Making Forest Connections” below correlates the WA Forest Education K-12 Learning Framework to education standards, activities and resources.
PEI is an access point for three widely recognized national environmental education programs. Through hands-on interdisciplinary activities, K-12 students investigate environmental concepts, problems or issues encouraging them to make informed decisions. These activity guides are available mostly through workshops. Visit each program’s website for more information.
Using the forest as a “window to the world,” Project Learning Tree inspires and empowers students. The program easily adapts to meet local needs such as local investigations, service learning projects and partnerships with community-based resource professionals. PLT is the environmental education program of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. PEI sponsors PLT in Washington and serves as the State Coordinator.
Visit the National PLT website or learn about Washington PLT here.
Administered national by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA), Project WILD is an interdisciplinary conservation and environmental education program that focuses on wildlife and habitat. It aims to assist students of ay age in developing awareness, knowledge, skills, and commitment to result in informed decisions, responsible behavior, and constructive actions concerning wildlife and the environment.
Project WILD is based on educational standards, developed by scientists and reviewed and field-tested by educators.
PEI is the Western Washington sponsoring agency.
PEI offers professional learning workshops to support teachers’ implementation of Project WILD.
Reach out to [email protected] to learn more!
Visit the National Project WILD website.
project WET: Water Education Today is dedicated to solving critical environmental challenges by teaching the world about water. They do this by providing hands-on, science-based water education resources to formal and non-formal educators around the world. These resources encourage responsible environmental stewardship and promote meaningful action to address environmental challenges, climate change, social justice, and sustainability.
PEI is project WET’s Western Washington sponsoring agency.
Mission: Advancing water education to understand global challenges and inspire local solutions.
PEI offers professional learning workshops to support teachers’ implementation of project WET.
Reach out here to learn more!
Visit the National Project WET website.
These standards include Tribal Sovereignty, NGSS, Common Core and Environment and Sustainability Education (ESE). These learning standards reflect basic education defined by the Washington State Legislature (RCW 28A.150.210). As required by state law, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) develops the state’s learning standards (RCW 28A.655.070) and oversees their assessment for state and federal accountability purposes.
The 2015 legislature passed SB5433 requiring the inclusion of Tribal sovereignty curriculum be taught in all schools. The use of the curriculum has been endorsed by all 29 federally recognized Tribes and is available from OSPI’s Office of Native Education.
The Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) program’s purpose is to support academic success and life-long learning, and to develop a responsible citizenry capable of applying knowledge of ecological, economic, and socio-cultural systems to meet current and future needs. Environmental education is a mandatory area of study in Washington, required by WAC 392-410-115.
The state’s K-12 Integrated Environmental and Sustainability Learning Standards describe what students should know and be able to do at each grade level.
OSPI and E3 Washington led the development of the Washington State Environmental and Sustainability Literacy Plan. PEI participated on the steering committee.
Sustainable Design Project is a statewide interdisciplinary project bringing industry, business, community and higher education partners together with K-12 students to design sustainable solutions to real-world challenges. PEI participated on the steering committee.
These are the national K–12 science standards. Standards set the expectations for what students are expected to know and be able to accomplish. The NGSS were developed by states to improve science education for all students. Washington State adopted NGSS in 2013. NGSS shifts classroom instruction from a traditional model of teaching content to an expectation that students meet performance expectations that weave science practices and cross-cutting concepts with content (disciplinary core ideas).
Washington formally adopted the Washington State K-12 Learning Standards (Common Core State Standards) for English language arts and mathematics. Assessments for these standards are currently in place.
The Smarter Balanced Assessment System is a key part of implementing the Common Core State Standards and preparing all students for success in college and career. Developed in collaboration with K-12 teachers and higher education faculty, these new assessments provide an academic check-up and are designed to give teachers better information to help students succeed.
To achieve our vision of scientifically literate citizens making balanced decisions for sustainable communities, we collaborate with leaders from diverse sectors to set policy that ensures all students in Washington receive integrated, locally relevant, career connected, field-based learning.
Collaborating with OSPI, the Association of Educational Service Districts, E3 Washington, IslandWood and Washington Green Schools, we are helping secure state support for effective implementation of the state science standards with a focus on climate science. The Climate Science Proviso passed in 2018, securing 4 million dollars to help ensure that all students receive climate science education through the public school system. In less than one year – with leadership from OSPI and the University of Washington – the educational service districts and community-based organizations such as PEI have launched the resulting state-level network, ClimeTime, which has already engaged teachers across the state to improve delivery of important climate-related learning. In the 2019 session, the Climate Science Collaborative is working to secure ongoing funding to support this work.
In October 2018, with partner E3 Washington, we launched the project Educating for A Green Economy (EGE). This project grew out of PEI’s work to pass SSB5285 which called for a workforce study to help uncover reasons why our natural resource, environmental and outdoor recreation sectors are underrepresented in the state employment data. The Workforce Study, led by the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board, published Outdoor Industry Jobs report in October 2018. This report finds that the current data used to make decisions about employment prospects, especially in the agriculture, natural resource, environmental and outdoor recreation sectors are inadequate.
Our Executive Director sits on several councils and Board that help guide Washington State Policy including the Governor’s STEM Innovation Alliance, OSPI’s NEXUS team, The Department of Natural Resources Natural Areas Program Advisory Council and E3 Washington’s Board of Directors.
Decades of academic research and studies have proven the effectiveness of PEI’s programs. Search through our bibliography of supporting publications here.
PEI provides opportunities for school districts to meet state expectations for Common Core subjects of reading, writing, and math; and the Next Generation Science Standards for science.
PEI supports educators in enhancing science achievement through rigorous environmental science education.
PEI empowers educators to provide rich learning experiences for students using the outdoors as a classroom.
Through FieldSTEM, educators provide opportunities for students to conduct local field investigations, applying reasoned judgement and problem-solving skills.
Working closely with environmental science, natural resource, and agricultural businesses in regions across our state, PEI encourages educators to connect what students are learning in the classroom to what’s happening in the real world.
PEI demonstrates the effectiveness of the FieldSTEM framework through accountability and performance measures.
Join PEI’s 2024 FieldSTEM Celebration this September to celebrate the people and organizations bringing FieldSTEM to life throughout our state.
When: Thursday, September 26th from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Where: Lacey Community Center, 6729 Pacific Ave., Lacey
What: Dinner, awards ceremony, silent auction, activities and celebration!
In 2024, we recognize the following individuals and organizations who have supported our FieldSTEM work in this last year and beyond:
The 2024 FieldSTEM Teacher of the Year is Robin Driver of Eisenhower High School. For the past three years, Robin has been the lead teacher for PEI’s Youth Engaged in Sustainable Systems (YESS) program, a six-week opportunity during the summer for students to earn high school credit and a stipend while gaining ecological restoration skills. Yakima School District is one of the earliest adapters of this program, with Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group as their main partner.
“Robin is always thinking ahead toward the next step,” says PEI’s Green Jobs Coordinator Chelsea Trout. “This program is something she puts her whole self into. She’s great with her students and it helps to work with someone who sees this as a passion project. She is also someone we look to for help with other workshops.”
Ida Nason Aronica Elementary School was intentionally designed for outdoor learning with input from a broad swath of community members, including students. “Our community really came together,” says former Principal Joanne Duncan. “Kids drew picture of what a day at school would look like, and they wanted outdoor time.”
Teachers at Ida Nason strive to embody the qualities they want students to learn like flexibility, curiosity, and resilience. “Those are core values that we try to model every day,” says Duncan. “We emphasized that it’s okay to try something and it’s also okay if it doesn’t work. The staff really embraced that. We know that as we learn, the students learn.”
Ida Nason has implemented place-based outdoor learning across grade levels with support from PEI coordinators and materials. Their campus includes a pocket forest, pond, school garden and multiple spaces for students to sit and explore nature.
PEI celebrates Tumwater School District’s commitment to getting every student outdoors for field-based, career-connected learning. The district may hold the record for the most community partners engaged, especially if we include their Youth Engaged in Sustainable Systems (YESS) program. K-12 students have gained firsthand experience of geology, performed water quality testing, studied macroinvertebrates in the field, and explored wild food traditions in their region – all with support from multiple state agencies, the City of Tumwater, local conservation groups, and a regional college.
This is a beautiful example of FieldSTEM in action with teachers leading the charge with full administrative support.
FieldSTEM Community Collaborator of the YearCollaboration is key at MCFEG. They coordinate efforts to protect and restore wild fish populations and habitat with state and federal agencies, tribes, local conservation organizations and more. Education is also an essential aspect of their work and they have been a strong partner of PEI’s YESS program from the beginning.
“MCFEG is the main community partner for our Yakima YESS program,” says Green Jobs Coordinator Chelsea Trout. “They are great to work with because their YESS program is nearly self-sustaining with little support from PEI, and considerable support from existing relationships with other agencies and organizations. They are great team players, year-round, always looking to expand.”
Representative Reeves is a working mom, former foster youth, and small business owner who advocates for working families, educators, veterans, and building an economy that works best for all of us. Outside of the Legislature, Reeves is a community & economic development, equity & inclusion, and organizational development consultant.
FieldSTEM ChampionMark Doumit is best remembered as a tireless champion of Washington forests and the driving force behind the state’s landmark Forests & Fish Law that supports salmon habitat and recovery efforts and preserves more than 60,000 miles of streams running through 9.3 million acres of private and public forestland. A former small tree farmer, Doumit served in the Washington State Legislature from 1997 through 2006 before leaving public office to become to lead the Washington Forest Protection Association (WFPA) as executive director. In that role, he advocated for private forest landowners who manage 4 million acres of woodlands. When he passed away unexpectedly in 2021, it wasn’t just his accomplishments people spoke about; it was his warmth, humor, generosity of spirit, and down to earth approach to the often dry world of legislation
But many may not realize that he also played a central role in PEI’s founding, recognizing the importance of education in protecting forests in future generations.
Event Sponsors
We build community connections between schools, local organizations, agencies and the natural resources industries of our state. These connections give students a chance to build a sense of place, explore local career opportunities and develop the critical thinking skills needed for our next generation of decision-makers who will consider ecosystems, community and economic tradeoffs.
We also empower teachers to embed career connected learning into their classroom units and create opportunities for students to engage in field-based science and engineering. When community partners work with PEI and teachers, they help create awareness of promising jobs in the community and clarify the types of skills a student needs to be hired. Career connected learning helps students plan for a successful future and it helps local businesses look forward to a skilled and inspired workforce. A win-win for communities!
If you would like to talk with us about collaborating to bring locally relevant, career connected, outdoor STEM learning in your region, please contact us.
