NCSE research on climate change education featured in The New York Times

Hurricane

NCSE and its research were prominently featured in "What Do America's Middle Schools Teach About Climate Change? Not Much," a lengthy article on climate change education in The New York Times (November 1, 2022).

Citing the 2014-2015 NCSE/Penn State national survey (PDF) of climate change education, the article observed, "Around half of middle school science teachers either don’t cover the subject or spend less than 2 hours a year on it," which NCSE's Deputy Director Glenn Branch characterized as inadequate.

The article also discusses the treatment of climate change in state science standards, citing "Making the Grade?" — the 2020 study by NCSE and the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund — according to which, "Half the states earned a B+ while 10 states, including Florida and Texas, got a D or worse."

Two recipients of NCSE's Friend of the Planet award were quoted or mentioned in the article: Frank Niepold, the senior climate education program manager at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network.

Glenn Branch
Short Bio

Glenn Branch is Deputy Director of NCSE.

branch@ncse.ngo