Integrating Planetary Health and Environmental Justice Into High School Construction Career Education: A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Ecosystem Justice Translator
Stanford University
Summary
This study tests whether a new educational curriculum can help high school students in construction career programs better understand how building design affects community health and environmental justice. The study compares two approaches: (1) a new "Community-Centered Design" curriculum that uses the Ecosystem Justice Translator (EJT) software tool, which helps students see connections between construction decisions, energy efficiency, nature exposure, and health outcomes in different neighborhoods; versus (2) the traditional construction career curriculum that focuses on technical skills. Students aged 14-18 enrolled in construction career programs will be randomly assigned to one of these two groups. Over 6 months, the intervention group will learn to use the EJT tool and apply environmental justice concepts to construction projects. Researchers will measure how well students understand connections between construction, environment, and health at the start, middle, and end of the program, and again 6 months later. The goal is to determine if integrating environmental justice and health concepts into construction education improves students' awareness of how their future work can help or harm community health, particularly in disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Eligibility
- Age range
- 14–18 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria: * Age 14-18 years at enrollment * Current enrollment in a participating construction career pathway program (minimum 2nd semester) * Ability to participate in 6-month curriculum during regular CTE class periods * Written informed consent from parent/guardian for participants under 18 years * Written assent from student participant * Ability to complete assessments in English (with accommodations as needed) Exclusion Criteria: * Prior participation in a formal environmental justice or planetary health curriculum within the past 12 months * Expected inability to complete s…
Interventions
- BehavioralCommunity-Centered Design Curriculum with EJT
6-month (24-week) Community-Centered Design curriculum integrating the Ecosystem Justice Translator (EJT), delivered during regular CTE class periods (\~4 hours weekly). EJT is a web-based computational system with four modules: (1) Community Voice Equity Translation using large language models; (2) Ecosystem Service Health Integration linking InVEST models with epidemiological dose-response functions; (3) Environmental Justice Investment Prioritization; (4) Uncertainty, Bias, and Risk Quantification. Curriculum structure: Weeks 1-4 planetary health foundations; Weeks 5-10 EJT training; Weeks 11-18 community engagement projects; Weeks 19-24 capstone design. Students work in teams of 3-4 on authentic community challenges.
- BehavioralTraditional Technical Curriculum
Standard construction career curriculum per California CTE Model Curriculum Standards delivered over 24 weeks (\~4 hours weekly). Content includes: building codes and permitting, construction safety (OSHA 10 certification), blueprint reading and CAD, materials science and selection, basic carpentry and framing techniques. Equal contact hours to intervention arm without explicit health equity, environmental justice, or planetary health content. Control participants offered access to EJT curriculum materials after study completion (waitlist control design).
Location
- Stanford UniversityStanford, California