Classroom Resources On Energy Issues And The Environment

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The High Stakes of Stakeholder Engagement: A Plea for Careful Planning from Public Agenda

Alison Kadlec
Feb 1, 2012

This post was written for the 20 community colleges participating in Completion by Design, a five-year Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation initiative that aims to significantly increase completion rates for low-income students under 26. As a “National Assistance partner” for Completion by Design, Public Agenda provides direct assistance to the colleges to help them build capacity for solutions-oriented dialogue among faculty, staff and administration. Here, Public Agenda's Alison Kadlec discusses best practices for authentic internal stakeholder engagement. While the post is geared toward Completion by Design planning teams, the principles are useful for any authentic engagement process.

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You Can't Do It Alone: A New Guide to Creating Sustainable Change in Education Reform

Allison Rizzolo
Jan 24, 2012

Far too often, throughout our work in the education field, we've seen even the most earnest and promising ideas from experts and reformers for improving schools and ramping up student learning met with confusion, anxiety or even anger from teachers, parents, students or community members.

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Classroom Resources On Energy Issues And The Environment

What do we know for sure about climate change? What kind of fuels should we be using, and how should we be using them? What kinds of behavior changes could improve our economic and political security while slowing global warming? What can Congress do about it?

Check out these resources for teachers, students and other concerned citizens to learn more about energy issues and the environment:

Our quiz, Facts, Myths & What Most Americans Know About Energy, is a quick way to get students thinking about the facts as we consider changes in the ways we power our world.

"Who Turned Out The Lights? Your Guided Tour to the Energy Crisis", by Public Agenda's Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson, a humorous but very serious, easy-to-read guide to energy and environmental issues, helps citizens join the debate on how to fuel our future.

Share your ideas on ways of creating a better future: high school and college students may wish to discuss energy and environmental issues on the Who Turned Out The Lights and Public Agenda Facebook pages, and on our Twitter feeds @TheEnergyBook and @PublicAgenda. Note to teachers, parents and students: students should observe the usual precautions regarding identity and personal safety online.

Public Agenda's public opinion survey on energy issues - The Energy Learning Curve™ - is a good discussion-starter for high school and college students studying the decisions now facing federal, state and local governments regarding energy and the environment.

Our Fast Facts About Energy section has charts and graphs with some eye-opening facts about how we find, produce and make energy, and the challenges we face now and in the future.

Our issue guide on The Environment and our Citizen's Survival Kit Guide to Climate Change summarize the issues and can be used as guides for classroom discussions. The Survival Kit also takes a look at some proposed solutions and pros and cons for different public policy choices.

High school and college students may benefit from a related video and pdf, "Facing The Challenges Of Climate Change: A Guide For Citizen Thought And Action."

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