What is EIC? The purpose of EIC in Georgia is to implement the Environment as an Integrating Context (EIC) for Learning Model as an educational framework in 14 schools over a five-year period. An EIC coordinator with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Division provides the schools with professional learning opportunities, funding and technical support throughout the school improvement process. The Georgia State Board of Education approved the EIC Model Program to address the underperformance of K-12th grade students on standardized Science measures. In 2008, a study of the effectiveness of the EIC Model on student achievement, classroom behavior, and school attendance will be published and used as a foundation for application in at-risk Georgia schools. Using the Environment as an Integrating Context (EIC) for improving student learning is based on research by the State Education and Environment Roundtable (SEER), which indicates that students do better on standardized tests when they learn by doing environment-based investigations in their own community. EIC teachers use six "best teaching practices." In Georgia, EIC is a school improvement initiative of Georgia Department of Education in partnership with: Environmental Education Alliance of Georgia Environmental Protection Division State Education and Environment Roundtable University of Georgia and with financial support from: Captain Planet Foundation Environmental Education and Training Partnership (EETAP) Improving Teacher Quality State Grants Title II, Part A of the No Child Left Behind Act EIC Students in Action... Earning Summer Jobs, Improving the Community When the 9th grade teachers at Stewart-Quitman High School gave their students the opportunity to earn summer jobs, Justin Burston, Sadie Flintroy, Jasmine Green, and Shaneka Jordan jumped at the chance. They attended class, made good grades and were on their best behavior. They wrote reports on the community organizations where they wanted to work, and were interviewed by representatives of those organizations. For six weeks, Shaneka worked at Florence Marina State Park, Sadie worked at Providence Canyon State Park, and Jasmine and Justin worked at Westville, a living history village. Their activities ranged from sweeping floors, to greeting visitors, to teaching younger students. They earned their first paychecks and learned what employers expect in the work place, while discovering more about the natural and historical features that make Stewart County unique. Photo: Shaneka Jordan shares her internship experiences with the Captain Planet Foundation, the project’s funder. Legislating Georgia’s State Amphibian Four three years the students in EIC teachers, Marilyn McLean and Ruth Pinson’s 4th grade classes at Armuchee Elementary in Rome, learned how the green tree frog population in Georgia is declining because of a loss of habitat. In science lessons they studied the amphibian, and in social studies lessons they learned how a bill becomes a law. They raised awareness about the issue by working with local elected officials to write a bill establishing the Green Tree Frog as Georgia’s State Amphibian. In April 2005 the students hard work paid off when Governor Sonny Perdue signed the bill into law. Photo: Armuchee students on the steps of the Georgia Capitol with Senator Preston Smith.