Progress Report

August 21, 2026

We kicked off Year 2 of the Washington Outdoor Schools Learning Network this week. During this meeting, we reviewed the goals of the network, revisited the Spring 2026 Collective Evaluation results, and reflected on lessons learned and key takeaways from Year 1. In small groups, we discussed plans for adaptive management as we head into the Fall season.

Our graduate students shared their plans for more in-depth research on Outdoor Schools in the state. Julie Ostrem, a Ph.D. student at Clemson University, will be exploring practices and approaches that lead to social-emotional learning (SEL) outcomes, as well as teacher perceptions of if these SEL competencies are transferred back to the classroom. Margaret Donnan, a M.S.student at Virginia Tech, will be exploring practices and approaches that lead to systems thinking outcomes within Outdoor School participants. Pilot testing and data collection for these research projects will begin this Fall.

Lastly, we discussed potential topics for upcoming network meetings. Ideas ranged from effective training, in-depth discussions of program elements and approaches, collaborating with teachers, districts, and tribes, communicating the value of Outdoor School to funders and other stakeholders, operations, logistics, recruitment, accreditation, applying research to practice, and more!

If you have an idea, want to present, or have a suggested guest speaker for an upcoming meeting, please reach out to Kelley (kelleyan@vt.edu).

July 1, 2026

We are nearing the end of our first full year of the Washington Outdoor Schools Learning Network. What an exciting and productive year it has been. We kicked-off this network in August 2025, and since then have held seven virtual network meetings and have grown the network to 50 active participants representing 26 Outdoor School providers across the state.

Fifteen Outdoor School providers participated in the Spring 2026 Collective Evaluation, collecting a total of 5,429 valid student surveys from 109 public schools and 36 school districts. Each site received a confidential evaluation report that detailed their outcomes achievement and a comparison of their outcome scores to the network (or peer) average. This report highlighted program strengths and opportunities for growth.

On June 16 and 17, we convened 26 network members from 17 Outdoor School providers at Waskowitz Outdoor Education Center for our first annual Summer Retreat. During this retreat, we presented the state-wide evaluation results, explained how to interpret their individual evaluation reports, and worked together to identify possible programmatic adjustments to improve student outcomes. Each site is now working to complete an Adaptive Management Plan, which they will implement and evaluate in their next season of programming.

We look forward to growing this network over the next year and will continue meeting virtually about every six weeks. If you conduct overnight Outdoor School programming for 5^th or 6^th grade students in Washington state and would like to learn more about joining the network, please reach out to the research team at kelleyan@vt.edu.

April 30, 2026

Have you every wondered if pre-program and post-program activities are actually beneficial for students? Check out our most recent meeting recording where we discussed the experiential learning cycle and heard from network members who shared their experiences creating and implementing these types of activities. You can also find all meeting slides in our shared resources folder.

Our next meeting will be held in person on June 16 and 17 at Waskowitz Outdoor Education Center for our WOSLN Summer Retreat! At this meeting, we will discuss the results of the state-wide evaluation, identify possible programmatic adjustments to improve student outcomes, and develop adaptive management plans. You will have the opportunity to connect with other network members, discuss successes and challenges, and work together to develop new and innovative ideas to improve Outdoor School across the state. We hope to see you there!

March 20, 2026

In our most recent network meeting, we were joined by guest speaker Lauren Duffy, department head and professor of recreation, park, and tourism management from Penn State University, who discussed her work on generational shifts. Together we learned how major events, technology, individualism, and pace of life shape generations and contribute to generational differences. Much of the meeting focused on understanding Gen Z and how we can effectively collaborate and manage this new generation entering the workforce. Lauren posed the following questions and provided actionable insights for each:

1. How do I motivate and support Gen Z staff and colleagues?
2. How do I communicate most effectively with Gen Z?
3. How do I provide feedback to Gen Z?
4. How do I support and build relationships with Gen Z colleagues?
5. How do we recruit and retain Gen Z staff?

You can find the meeting recoding on our meetings landing page.

February 6, 2026

In our first meeting of the new year, we talked about creating a healthy organizational culture. This culminated in a brainstorming session where we shared ideas for enhancing feelings of autonomy, competence, relatedness, and meaningfulness in the workplace, along with some structural ‘hygiene’ factors that shouldn’t be overlooked.

Our first data collection season for the collective evaluation has officially kicked-off and we have over 14 Outdoor School sites participating. Data collection will run through late May of this year. In early summer, we will be sharing an aggregate evaluation report that explores the extent to which Outdoor Schools are achieving the seven identified outcomes. Each participating site will also receive a confidential personalized evaluation report. These baseline data will help each site identify strengths and opportunities for growth. Throughout the course of the network, we will be learning about evidence-based practices, brainstorming new ideas, and sharing resourcesthat will help to improve programs across the state.

December 8, 2025

Since the Network Kick-Off in August, we have been busy connecting, learning, and finalizing the student survey for broader implementation.

In October, we held two network meetings where we shared the results of a nation-wide study on principles for better environmental education and discussed ideas for putting these principles into practice. We just held our last network meeting of 2025 where we chatted all about evaluation to prepare for upcoming data collection.

In our third round of pilot testing, we worked with seven Outdoor Schools across Washington state and collected over 650 survey responses from 5th and 6th grade students. We now have the student survey finalized and will start collecting data with Outdoor Schools across the state in Spring 2026. Each participating organization will be meeting with our team to talk through the evaluation protocol before implementation. If you are interested in using this survey and are not a WOSLN member, please get in touch with us so we can provide the necessary guidance.

A big thank you to these organizations who participated in the final round of pilot testing:

• YMCA Camp Colman
• YMCA Camp Orkila
• YMCA Camp Seymour
• North Cascades Institute
• NatureBridge
• IslandWood
• Waskowitz Outdoor Education Center

Thank you to all the WOSLN members for your active participation. We look forward to reconvening in the new year!

August 18, 2025

We are excited to announce the launch of the Washington Outdoor Schools Learning Network! We held the Kick-Off Meeting on August 14, provided an overview of the project, and discussed current Outdoor School programmatic challenges. In total, 37 participants and collaborators were in attendance from 22 Outdoor Schools and one public school district. We have published the meeting recording and slide deck for your reference. We are planning our next meeting, which will be held in late September or early October, where we will present the results from an unprecedented national study of environmental education field trip programs. We hope to see you there!

June 3, 2025

We are making great progress on developing an outcomes survey for fifth and sixth grade participants of Outdoor School programming in Washington! Following the Outcomes Development Workshop held in January, we developed a suite of draft outcomes and associated measures. These were sent out to workshop participants and other engaged stakeholders to provide further feedback. We then revised these outcomes and drafted a pilot survey.

This survey is being pilot tested with five Outdoor Schools in Washington. A big THANK YOU to these organizations for participating in the pilot:

• OSPREY Camp at Camp Solomon Schechter
• Camp Fire Samish Camp Kirby
• Islandwood
• NatureBridge
• North Cascades Institute

We are eagerly awaiting the remaining pilot test data and plan to have a finalized participant outcomes survey for implementation in Fall 2025. Check back soon as this survey will be made publicly available for broader use.

January 30, 2025

We had an amazing time meeting and learning with engaged stakeholders at the Washington Outdoor Schools Outcomes Development Workshop, hosted in Carnation, WA at Camp River Ranch on January 16th-17th, 2025. This 2-day workshop had 39 participants representing Outdoor Schools, public schools, various engaged organizations such as the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), the Washington School Principals Education Foundation (WSPEF), and others. We focused on identifying and refining a suite of outcomes that Outdoor Schools in Washington are aspiring to achieve with their 5th-6th grade student participants. The workshop was informed by the results of a state-wide survey effort to elicit initial ideas for these student outcomes. After the meeting, the research team further refined the ideas generated at the meeting and developed a draft of the outcomes we intend to measure in the upcoming evaluation effort. If you are interested in providing feedback on these draft outcomes, please complete this survey by February 14th, 2025.

Thanks to all who have been engaged thus far, and we look forward to the continued partnership!

Dec. 12, 2024

In November, we sent out an invitation to over 2,000 stakeholder contacts to respond to a survey eliciting opinions on the outcomes that Outdoor Schools should achieve for fifth and sixth grade participants. We have now closed the survey and begun to analyze the data in preparation for the in-person outcomes development workshop in Carnation, WA, January 16-17, 2025.

In total, we received 512 valid responses. Sixty-two percent of respondent were affiliated with public schools in Washington (i.e., principals, administrators, and teachers); 19% were affiliated with Outdoor Schools (i.e., directors, managers, coordinators, educators), and the remaining 28% were other identified stakeholders including employees of local education associations, foundations, universities and agencies, as well as parents of fifth and sixth grade students.

The results of this survey will form the foundation of our discussions during the January outcomes development workshop. Stay tuned for a debrief of the workshop and the resulting identified participant outcomes.