Methodology for Evaluating the Influence of Schools’ Sustainability Education Programs on Their Communities

The article presents an evaluation methodology for assessing influences of sustainability education schools on their communities. School and its community form a complex open system in which sustainability education influences flow at multi-directions in complex feedback loops that cannot be measured directly. In order to isolate and identify the specific flow of sustainability education influences from schools to their communities, a unique methodology was developed. The evaluation framework characterizes the system by employing a set of 12 indicators, indicative variables, and data sources. The assessment process is based on inter validation between the 12 indicators, in a way that allows the non direct measurements to provide a valid evaluation of the sustainability influence of schools on their communities.