NCSE's deputy director Glenn Branch discussed ways of supporting local schools in improving their coverage of climate change with the Climate Fwd: newsletter of The New York Times (September 2, 2020). He warned, "it's complicated," citing the decentralized nature of American public education, but offered a few suggestions. In the short term, he recommended supporting individual teachers — who, as a NCSE/Penn State survey revealed (PDF), are often not prepared to teach climate change effectively — by expressing encouragement and organizing "funding for climate-related professional development, instructional materials or field trips, possibly through a parent-teacher organization." In the long term, he recommended preparing to be involved in the next revision of state science standards, such as are underway now in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas.
