The big benefits of outdoor credit recovery programs

“We’re not just earning credits here,” says Adam Kunz, EdD. “What we’re trying to do is create something that connects students to learning, connects students to joy, connects students to what school probably was at some point in their life.”

Dr. Kunz is the assistant superintendent at Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) in Saint Paul, Minnesota. His district offers high school students who have failed or missed classes the opportunity to recover credits through innovative experiential learning programs. One of them is a summer program developed by Wilderness Inquiry, a nonprofit that aims to create access to nature for everybody — through outdoor adventures. Since 2013, Wilderness Inquiry has partnered with teachers, National Park Service education rangers from the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, and outdoor leaders to help students in Saint Paul and Minneapolis earn credits through hands-on learning and exploration in their local parks.

The partnership with Wilderness Inquiry launched in 2021, as SPPS was navigating the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on education. “COVID had an unbelievable impact on success rates in Saint Paul Public Schools,” says Dr. Kunz. “We needed to think about student learning and credit recovery in different ways because we had kids who, for almost two years, may have learned something, but their report card said they didn’t. We’re still digging out of that.” 

SPPS is not alone: In an ongoing study looking at the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. public K-12 education, the National Center for Education (NCE) found that 22% of high school and secondary public school students were behind for their grade at the end of the 2023-2024 school year. 

Research has highlighted the negative impacts of COVID-19 on the mental health and well-being of young people. This is especially true for teenagers who were vulnerable and marginalized before the pandemic, such as those from low-income families and those with special education needs. These students faced greater risk of falling through educational gaps due to the abrupt withdrawal from the predictable and stabilizing routines of school, social activities and outdoor play, as well as from the support of teachers, counselors and friends.

Students learn about fur trade history at Historic Fort Snelling with Stephen Walker, a National Park Service ranger. Photo courtesy of Nora West for Wilderness Inquiry.

While attendees of the Wilderness Inquiry program come from every high school in the SPPS district, over 90% of attendees are students of color. The program serves a high number of recent immigrants, English-language learners, and students who are participating in Early Intervention Programs. 

Summer school is optional, says Dr. Kunz, so getting students to sign up for and then attend credit recovery programs can be a challenge. However, Wilderness Inquiry’s credit recovery program has more than doubled its enrollment since its launch because of increasing interest.

In Wilderness Inquiry’s program, students earn two credits each in English language arts (ELA) and human geography through nature-based learning. They also make big gains in social-emotional learning, discover jobs in the outdoors and form a connection with nature — all while learning about the history, cultures and economies that developed in their own backyard.

Tracy Larson, Wilderness Inquiry’s education and day program manager, says the program leans heavily on partnerships to bring diverse perspectives and energy to the curriculum. Planning starts as early as December, with the district, teachers and education rangers working together to outline learning goals and map them to experiences — a process that would be a heavy lift for one organization. 

“A key aspect of this is to have dedicated teachers at the district that believe in outdoor, experiential learning and want to connect with kids and foster social-emotional development,” she explains. “The Park Service brings a hyper place-based expertise, a depth of plant, animal and ecosystem content related to their national park, and then we’re able to get the students into canoes for a hands-on experience that teaches them about paddling together, challenging themselves, and how to safely engage in the outdoors.”

During the summer of 2024, Wilderness Inquiry ran two 8-day credit recovery sessions, each one including about 30 students. At the beginning of the program, Wilderness Inquiry asked students to take a survey reflecting on their social-emotional learning (SEL) outcomes. When asked about outdoor-based SEL capacities — including well-being and connection in the outdoors and support for the environment — many students reported having no access to nature. The survey revealed that most students entered the program “emerging,” or scoring lower than their peers, in their core SEL capacities, which include self-management, contribution, positive identity and academic self-efficacy.

Here’s the good news: Studies show that outdoor learning improves social competencies and academic performance, including motivation to learn. For youth, memorable experiences in nature can also increase feelings of well-being, calm and safety. Moreover, nature may provide more health benefits for youth from lower-income communities than for those from higher-income communities. “I see it all the time in outdoor credit recovery,” says Larson. “The kids that have the least will make the biggest gains when they get access to the outdoors and to rich learning opportunities.”

This summer, students spent a day with Owámniyomni Okhódayapi. The nonprofit organization is leading the “The Falls Initiative,” which aims to restore land adjacent to Owámniyomni (the Dakota name for a Minneapolis waterfall also known as “St. Anthony Falls”) to a place of healing, education and cultural connection. Students participated in simulated tribal land treaties, gaining insight into how they were negotiated and interpreted — and how culture and identity are informed by a sense of place.

Student capturing a bumble bee on bergamot at Spring Lake Regional Park. Photo courtesy of Nora West for Wilderness Inquiry.

For another experience, Great River Greening, a land restoration nonprofit, invited the students to take part in a pollinator study at a prairie restoration site in Dakota County Parks. Students spent a day capturing bees in Tupperware containers, carefully noting what flowers they were on and taking them to staff to be identified, counted and marked. “At first, the students were terrified — they’d say, ‘Oh, I don’t want to touch bees,’” laughs Johnna Austin, education specialist for Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. “Then, they got comfortable, and it became a race. They were like, ‘I’ve got 15 bees!’”

Austin says that one of the benefits of the credit recovery program is introducing the students to an urban national park, which is right in their backyard — unlike Yellowstone or Glacier National Parks, which may be harder to visit.

“It’s refreshing to get out of the classroom and explore,” she says, “but it’s also about feeling safe there, trying new things, seeing what you like and growing new skills.”

At the Carl W. Kroening Nature Center, students learned about the different streams and storm drains that impact the Mississippi River and floodplain forests, as well as water quality testing. At the time, the rain-swollen Blue Earth River had breached the Rapidan Dam in Mankato, Minnesota. Students got to simulate the flood using a water table, connecting what they were learning to a current event and its environmental and community impacts. “For a lot of kids, learning science or math in the classroom, where it’s not applied to something in the real world, feels useless,” says Larson, “When students are able to put their hands in an experience, that’s when it clicks, and they say, ‘Oh, that’s why that matters.’”

Austin adds that these experiences also introduce students to a variety of outdoor jobs and volunteer opportunities, reinforcing that their voice matters. “We always tell them, these parks are yours — your taxes paid for them,” Austin says. “If something spoke to you, if you care about it, get involved. It’s inspiring. It gives them a path forward but it also helps protect these places for future generations.” 

On the last day of the Outdoor Credit Recovery Program, the students had another opportunity to reflect on their skills and capacities, and the survey revealed that their growth in SEL skills was above the national benchmark.

A student learns about human impact on the environment by working with teacher Jenna Sheridan to test the turbidity of their school’s tap water and compare it to Mississippi River samples. Photo Courtesy of Nora West for Wilderness Inquiry.

One hundred percent of students surveyed made significant gains in the core competencies of SEL, particularly in the areas of self-management (100%), positive identity (76%) and contribution (82%). 

Seventy-six percent of students surveyed made gains in outdoor SEL areas. When asked to describe their relationship to nature, they used words like relaxing, peaceful, love and important. One student wrote, “I feel so good being in touch with the nature because it helps a lot with mental health. I really never liked being outside, but now I enjoy looking at nature and listening to the birds sing or talk.”

Also significant: 94% of students surveyed reported satisfaction with the program. When asked if they’d recommend the outdoor credit recovery course to other students, they said yes — because it was fun and informative: “Definitely way better than school, makes you want to treat the world differently.”

These numbers and the student testimonies make the case for wider adoption of outdoor credit recovery, and Larson says she’s thinking about how Wilderness Inquiry can share the framework they’ve created. “We’ll never be able to scale at the speed that the education system needs,” she explains. “So how can we spread awareness? It’s going to have to be about teaching the partnership model, pedagogy and tools, so that more schools can adopt similar programs.” 

Larson and Dr. Kunz both acknowledge that funding is a big challenge in replicating experiential learning programs like outdoor credit recovery. “COVID brought unprecedented funding through the American Rescue Plan,” Dr. Kunz says. “That funded what we do during the summers, and not only the creativity, but also things like social workers, reading interventions and more teachers. I can’t imagine summer school without that holistic student support, so now it’s figuring out, how do we continue to make it happen?”

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