The Environmental Education Endorsement (EEE) is a specialty area that teachers may elect to take within a college coursework towards a Masters degree or Rank One certification or as an extended area of study, followed by design, execution, and reporting on the success of a skill-specific learning unit.  MSU currently offers an endorsement in Reading and Writing Specialist Endorsement attached to a Master of Arts in Education. 

The proposed EEE will have a similar structure.  The EEE is relevant to grades P-12 and all subject area Program of Studies.  Students seeking the Fifth-Year, MA in Education, MA Teaching, or the Rank I in elementary, middle grades, or secondary education may complete the EEE.  Other certified teachers and students in the M.A.T program are also eligible for this endorsement.  These courses may be taken as the Content/Specialization of the M.A. and Fifth-year programs, and the Professional Area of the Rank-I program.  Upon completion of the required coursework, EEE-students are required to complete the implementation and summation of a 40-hour EEE learning unit and pass a multiple-choice exit examination covering the principles of the environmental education as defined by North American Association of Environmental Education (NAAEE).

The EEE is guidelines have been developed by the NAAEE as part of the National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education.  The guidelines were developed following extensive review and discussion among teachers, education administrators, environmental scientists, curriculum developers, university faculty members, and staff from education and natural resources departments.  The development of the guidelines was funded by the Environmental Protection Agency through the Environmental Education and Training Partnership. The NAAEE guidelines have been endorsed and adopted by National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). Therefore, all of the NAAEE guidelines for the Environmental Education Endorsement address NCATE requirements.