Eligibility

Teachers, administrators, and students from New Jersey public schools and in-state approved private schools for students with disabilities are eligible to attend/participate in Climate Change Learning Collaborative events/opportunities and use services provided by the Climate Change Learning Collaborative.

Teachers from New Jersey public schools and in-state approved private schools for students with disabilities are eligible to receive a stipend for attending/participating in Climate Change Learning Collaborative events/opportunities outside contractual hours and substitute teacher coverage reimbursement for attending/participating in Climate Change Learning Collaborative events/opportunities during contractual hours. Teachers will be required to complete a post-event/opportunity survey to receive a stipend, substitute teacher coverage reimbursement, or school bus reimbursement.

Grant Funding

The Ramapo College of New Jersey Climate Change Learning Collaborative is funded by a grant from the New Jersey Department of Education. This material and any opinions, results, conclusions, or recommendations expressed within are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the New Jersey Department of Education nor constitute an endorsement thereof.

CCLC Assigned Counties

Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, and Warren

Grant Goals & Objectives

Goals

The overarching goals of this grant program are to:

• Further increase the number and content-area diversity of New Jersey K-12 educators serving students from eligible LEAs prepared to teach high-quality, standards-based climate change education.
• Continue to build out a statewide network to assist LEAs in implementing the NJSLS supporting climate change education through the existing regional CCLCs

Objectives

• Professional Development Events: The Ramapo College of New Jersey CCLC, including its CBO partners, will provide professional development (PD) events that will assist educators and administrators with the implementation of the NJSLS supporting climate change education.
• Experiential Learning Opportunities: The RCNJ CCLC, including its CBO partners, will provide experiential learning opportunities (ELOs) for educators and ELOs for students.
• Professional Learning Communities: The RCNJ CCLC will facilitate one grade-banded climate change education professional learning community (PLC) for teachers in grades 9-12 to support the development of teacher-led learning opportunities across the state.
• Instructional Materials: The RCNJ CCLC will assist educators and administrators in identifying and developing high-quality, standards-based, interdisciplinary instructional materials (e.g., project-based unit plans, teaching tools, and activities).
• Technical Assistance: The RCNJ CCLC will provide technical assistance related to their climate change education initiatives.
• Evaluation Strategies: The RCNJ CCLC will assist in developing evaluations to assess student learning related to climate change and utilizing self-assessment tools to determine progress towards full implementation of the NJSLS supporting climate change education.
• Community of Practice: The RCNJ CCLC will facilitate and participate in a community of practice among the regional CCLCs.
• CBO Partnerships: RCNJ has partnered with three CBOs (City Green, Great Swamp Watershed, NJ School of Conservation) that are engaged in place-based, in-person environmental education in their assigned counties to support the development of locally focused and justice-focused PD events, ELOs, and PLCs.
• LEA Partnerships: The RCNJ CCLCs will partner with the LEAs in their assigned counties that receive the FY 2026 Climate Literacy for Community Resilience Continuation (CLCR) grant and grantees of any other FY 2026 NGOs administered by the Program Office.
• Student Advisory Board: The RCNJ CCLC will create and convene a student advisory board for their assigned counties to gather end-user feedback on CCLC-LEA partnership activities and provide students with a platform to continue to learn and share information about climate change as it relates to their schools and communities.
• Network Development: RCNJ will provide educators and administrators within their assigned counties with multiple opportunities to network, collaborate, and innovate with fellow educators and the CBO partners to foster the development of a statewide climate change education support network.
• Promotion: The RCNJ CCLC will promote their services to recruit and engage educators and administrators in their assigned counties.
• Culminating Event: The RCNJ CCLC wukk plan and coordinate a CCLC-wide culminating event at the end of the project period to showcase the work completed by the CCLC and partner educators and students.