Green Schoolyards Indicators: Statewide Analysis
Data Last Updated - June 2024
OVERVIEW OF THE INDICATORS SHOWING INVESTMENTS IN SCHOOLYARD GREENING AND ON-SITE OUTDOOR EDUCATION
Purpose and Overview
Video Overview for the schoolyard greening data indicator page
The Children and Nature Network has defined schoolyard greening to be the inclusion of nature filled elements in school grounds such as outdoor classrooms, native gardens, stormwater capture, nature play areas, vegetable gardens, trails, trees and micro forests, water features, and more. According to Sharon Danks at Green Schoolyards America, Green Schoolyards (or living school grounds) are therefore rich outdoor environments that strengthen local ecological systems, provide hands-on learning resources that lead to academic achievement, and foster a wide range of play and social opportunities while enhancing health and well-being.
The purpose of the data indicators on this segment of the district indicators is to show high level data on the current status of different aspects of schoolyard greening - in particular gardens and schoolyard forests - across California’s TK–12 school districts.
Key Questions
PRIMARY (CORE) QUESTION: Which school districts across California have made investments in green schoolyard elements such as school gardens and schoolyard forests, and/or which districts have made investments in utilizing schoolyard greening for educational purposes?
Additional questions include, but are not limited to the following:
Which districts are utilizing their gardens for garden based or food systems education?
Which districts have hired staff to coordinate garden and/or garden-based education programs?
Are there any patterns emerging for who has implemented gardens and garden-based education programs in terms of scale or equity?
Are there schoolyard forests in areas where there is high heat now or projected in the future?
Data Methodology
DATA SET OVERVIEW AND COLLECTION METHODOLOGY: The data for these indicators is a mix of publicly available data, and data validated from an individual survey sent out to every school district.
Publicly Available Data Methods: The data below was collected in collaboration with UC Berkeley's Data Discovery program. The UC Berkeley Data Discovery teams searched through district websites, local news articles, and other publicly available sources to identify evidence of each indicator.
Data Validation Survey Methods: Since it is likely that not all investments are publicized, the data collected was also made available on the website and sent to each district's Superintendent and Chief Business Officer (CBO) for validation. Additional information given by district representatives through the validation form was added to the dataset as it was received.
STATEWIDE VISUALS AND FINDINGS
Garden Visualizations Walkthrough.webmThis video provides a walkthrough of how to utilize the interactive visuals on this page. It includes how to use the filters in order to compare the investments in green schoolyards by geographic areas, as well as scale and equity factors.
Green Schoolyard Visuals and Findings
The visualization below shows the total number of districts (yellow bar) compared to the number of districts showing the following evidence of green schoolyards:
Presence of a garden on at least one school site in a school district (red)
Evidence of garden based education in at least one school in a school district (blue)
Evidence of food systems education (for example agriculture programs, nutrition programs including where food comes from, etc.) in at least one school in a school district (teal)
At least one staff member with a job title/description related to coordinating garden programs, not landscape maintenance (orange)
Evidence of a schoolyard forest (such as multiple trees planted as shade in an area that students can access) on at least one school site in a school district (green)
The filters on the right can be used to sort the data by region, county, size of district, average percent unduplicated students, and average pollution burden. As the filters are used, the total number of districts will change to reflect the total number in that filtered group to allow for comparison against the indicators of a green schoolyard in that filtered group.
Key Takeaways:
Approximately 50% of school districts (475 districts) in the state show evidence of having school gardens at at least one school in their district.
322 districts (~34% of all districts) show evidence of some form of school garden activities:
~30% of the districts in CA (281 districts) show evidence of garden based education.
~14% of the districts in CA (133 districts) of districts show evidence of food systems education.
~9.8% of the districts in CA (92 districts) have evidence of both garden based and food systems education.
Because 50% show evidence of a school garden and 34% show evidence of garden based education activities, we can assume around 16% of districts with gardens are either not utilizing their gardens for education or are not communicating those programs to the public.
90 districts (only around 10% of all districts) have a dedicated garden coordinator at either the district or site level (note this is about 20% of the 322 districts who have school gardens). It is important to note that garden coordinator positions are sometimes held by parent or teacher volunteers and may not be listed as a staff position.
50 districts (around 5% of all districts) have evidence of schoolyard forests. Note, that while this initiative did collect published evidence of schoolyard forests, more detailed data can be found as part of the California Schoolyard Tree Canopy Equity Study by Green Schoolyards America.
Green Schoolyard Visuals and Findings: Distribution by Region
In the visualization below, you can see the data broken down by CA County Superintendent (CCS - formerly CCESSA) Region (see the map below for details). The filter to the right of the pie chart allows the following indicators to be selected:
School Gardens: Presence of a garden on at least one school site
Garden Based Education: Evidence of garden based education in at least one school
Food Systems Education: Evidence of food systems education (for example agriculture programs, nutrition programs including where food comes from, etc.) in at least one school
Garden Coordinator: At least one staff member with a job title/description related to coordinating garden programs, not landscape maintenance
Schoolyard Forest: Evidence of a schoolyard forest (such as multiple trees planted as shade in an area that students can access) on at least one school site
Changing the filter will change the pie chart to show the total number of districts with evidence of that indicator within the region. Hovering over each section of the pie chart will show more details about the region such as the total number of districts, average pollution burden percentile, and average % unduplicated students.
Summary of Findings:
There is a fairly even distribution of districts with evidence of school gardens across the state, with a smaller total number in regions 6 and 10. This may be due, in part, to the climate and water availability in those regions.
When comparing the total number of districts in each region to the districts with gardens, there is somewhat more variation, with Region 10 at ~37.5% and Region 4 at ~67%
There are fewer districts with evidence of garden based education, with a range of 55 districts in Region 6 and 118 in Region 7.
Although Region 7 has the largest number of districts with evidence of garden based education, when comparing against the total number of districts in the region, Region 4 has the highest percentage ( 46.59%) and Region 11 has the lowest percentage (18.99%).
There are even fewer districts with food systems education, with a range of ~8% to ~22% depending on region; however, it can be difficult to distinguish between garden education and food systems education unless the district has an agriculture program. Because of this, these numbers may be higher.
The variation between regions is more pronounced for evidence of garden coordinators. While there are 79 districts in Region 11 with garden coordinators, this only represents ~4% of the districts in that region. On the other hand, Region 1 has 90 districts with garden coordinators, representing ~18% of their districts. Overall, we see far fewer districts with evidence of garden coordinators than districts with evidence of gardens.
While this initiative did collect published evidence of schoolyard forests, more detailed data can be found as part of the California Schoolyard Tree Canopy Equity Study by Green Schoolyards America.
Green Schoolyard Visuals and Findings:
Map of Districts with Evidence of School Gardens
The map below shows the districts with evidence of school gardens on at least one school site within the district. The filters to the right can narrow down the results in terms of scale, equity indicators, and other investments.
Summary of Findings:
From the map, it's evident that California has reached a tipping point, with approximately half of the state's districts showing evidence of school gardens on at least one site. These districts are spread across California, though disparities remain apparent. Specifically, counties bordering southern Nevada, such as Mono, Inyo, and San Bernardino, show a concentration where evidence of school gardens is notably lacking. However, there is still significant work needed to ensure that every district and every school in California has access to school gardens. This effort is crucial not only to provide educational opportunities but also to protect and shield these green spaces from the impacts of climate change.
Green Schoolyard Visuals and Findings:
Scale and Equity Comparison at the County Level
The visualization below shows a county-level summary of multiple variables related to scale and equity compared to the number of school districts who have evidence of school gardens. The variables are as follows:
x-axis: Average percent of unduplicated students across all the schools/districts in each county (equity indicator)
y-axis: Average pollution burden percentile for each county (equity indicator)
size of bubble: Total student enrollment across all schools/districts in each county (scale indicator)
color of bubble: Percent of districts with evidence of school gardens in at least one site (compared to the total number of districts in each county).
The average lines designate the average pollution burden percentile and average percent of unduplicated students across all of the counties.
Summary of Findings:
The counites with less than average pollution burden tend to be smaller, indicating that the population density in the larger counties may be contributing to the pollution burden in those areas.
The upper right quadrant represents our students with the greatest need (above average pollution burden and above average % unduplicated. 18 counties fall within this quadrant and the majority of the counties (~66%) have evidence of school gardens in 50% or fewer of their districts.
These results indicate that more support could be needed to bring school gardens to the counties with high need in order to provide better learning environments for our historically marginalized students while helping to reduce pollution burden by increasing the green space on campus.
Green Schoolyard District Level Data
Below, you can find the data for individual school districts across the state. The data are filterable by region, county, and district name using the dropdown lists to the right of the visualization. Districts with evidence of an indicator show the following colored bars:
Presence of a garden on at least one school site (red)
Evidence of garden based education in at least one school (blue)
Evidence of food systems education (for example agriculture programs, nutrition programs including where food comes from, etc.) in at least one school (teal)
At least one staff member with a job title/description related to coordinating garden programs, not landscape maintenance (orange)
Evidence of a schoolyard forest (such as multiple trees planted as shade in an area that students can access) on at least one school site (green)
Blanks in the columns designate that we were unable to find public evidence of the indicator(s).
ACTION RECOMMENDATIONS
ACTION RECOMMENDATIONS:
Education Leaders: Identify schools in your region that have adopted schoolyard greening practices, and/or on-site outdoor learning in gardens and outdoor classrooms. If your school has already made these investments, or if you are a leader able to provide support to others, reach out to schools in your region and build a network of educational leaders who are prioritizing green schoolyards and on-site outdoor education.
Grassroots Campaign Organizers: Use the data to gain buy-in with leaders in your region to prioritize schoolyard greening and on-site outdoor education. Identify schools in your region that have made these investments and are running programs, and learn more about the actions they have taken and what could be replicable in your context. Partners may be able to help school communities who have not yet gotten started, and help those that have to take their efforts to the next level.
Policy Makers: Prioritize schoolyard greening infrastructure and education based policy and funding allocations so that all students have access to high quality green schoolyard spaces, and opportunities to do on-site outdoor learning.