Indiana Department of Education Announces New Climate Change Education Framework in Partnership with Purdue

INDIANAPOLIS – In partnership with the Purdue Climate Change Research Center (PCCRC) and Purdue University College of Science, the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) today announced the state’s new Climate Change Education Framework. The Indiana Climate Change Education Framework offers easily accessible and scientifically curated instructional resources to educators interested in infusing their curriculum with information about climate change.

“Providing educators access to high-quality and evidence-based climate change facts and resources is critical to creating more academic opportunities for our students to become informed citizens, grounded in science,” said Indiana State Superintendent Dr. Jennifer McCormick. “I am grateful for our partnership with Purdue and for the involvement of educators from across our state. Their dedication, support, and work will have an impact on generations of students to come.”

The Indiana Climate Change Education Framework originated out of a need expressed by Indiana educators to include more focused climate change teaching within their current classroom instruction. Collaborating in the fall of 2020, IDOE and Purdue partners began curating resources that assist educators with teaching climate change while intersecting with existing Indiana Academic Standards for science. To guide this process, the team pulled from the published work of Purdue professors Dan Shepardson and Andrew Hirsch that outlines five critical climate change topics that provide a strong scientific foundation for continued learning. During a two-day virtual workshop, IDOE and Purdue staff worked with Indiana educators to identify relevant state academic standards and associated learning resources aligned with the five climate change concepts to create an efficient and accessible framework from which educators all across the state could pull.

“People have heard a lot of misinformation about climate change over the years, so it’s important for teachers to be able to find trusted, scientifically accurate materials,” said PCCRC Director Jeff Dukes. “We were excited to partner with IDOE to help teachers find helpful resources based on solid science.”

Coinciding with Indiana’s new Climate Change Education Framework, IDOE and Purdue partners created #INClimateEd. Individuals interested in continuing the climate change conversation socially are encouraged to use #INClimateEd, and tag @EducateIN, @PurdueCCRC, and @PurdueSOS on Twitter.