Environmental Literacy Indicator Tool

Attachment 1:

Environmental Literacy Indicator Tool (ELIT)

Environmental Literacy Indicator Tool

Start of Block: Branching Question

LEA-Type On behalf of which type of local education agency are you responding? (select one)

• Charter school(s)

• Public school district

• Private school

• Other - please describe

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Important Tips before You Begin the ELIT

• We recommend that you enter the answers online during one sitting. Due to security settings on some computers, your system may not retain previously entered responses between two different sessions.

• We recommend that you preview the Environmental Literacy Indicator Tool (ELIT) before completing it online. Download an Adobe .pdf version of the survey at this link: 2019ELIT.pdf. We recommend you first make note of your responses within this “offline” document to answer the questions accurately, including consulting with colleagues as needed.

• Use the online survey to enter and submit your formal responses.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OMB Control Number: 0648-0753, Expiration Date: xx/xx/20xx

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 15 minutes for entering data into the survey instrument and 45 minutes to review instructions, search existing data sources, and gather the data needed to complete the survey. This results in a total of 60 minutes per response. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other suggestions for reducing this burden to Shannon Sprague, NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office, 410 Severn Avenue, Suite 207, Annapolis, MD 21403.

Responses are voluntary, but are not confidential. Information will be treated in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (5 USC 552).

Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, no person is required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act, unless that collection of information displays a currently valid OMB Control Number.

Introduction

This is a volunteer survey. The purpose of the Chesapeake Bay Program's Environmental Literacy Indicator Tool (ELIT) is to help local and state schools systems collect important information that will help advance the implementation of environmental education efforts in schools in the mid-Atlantic region.

This tool, the data collected, and related efforts supporting environmental education in the region are in direct support of the Environmental Literacy Goal and Outcomes of the new Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement (signed 6/19/14).

Environmental Literacy Goal: Enable every student in the region to graduate with the knowledge and skills to act responsibly to protect and restore their local watershed.

Environmental Literacy Planning Outcome: Each participating Bay jurisdiction should develop a comprehensive and systemic approach to environmental literacy for all students in the region that includes policies, practices and voluntary metrics that support the environmental literacy Goals and Outcomes of this Agreement.

Student Outcome: Continually increase students’ age-appropriate understanding of the watershed through participation in teacher-supported, meaningful watershed educational experiences (MWEE

Definition 2014.pdf) and rigorous, inquiry-based instruction, with a target of at least one meaningful watershed educational experience in elementary, middle and high school depending on available resources.

Sustainable Schools Outcome: Continually increase the number of schools in the region that reduce the impact of their buildings and grounds on their local watershed, environment and human health through best practices, including student-led protection and restoration projects.

The underlying principles of the outcomes and the resulting elements of this tool are founded on research-based best practices in the field of environmental education. The results from these data collection efforts will provide valuable information to states and the Chesapeake Bay Program Education Workgroup about how best to support local efforts to create and implement comprehensive strategies to support student environmental literacy. It will also be used by major funding partners, including the NOAA Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) Program and the Chesapeake Bay Trust, to inform funding priorities and decisions. Therefore, accurate reports of both accomplishments and gaps are important.

Please complete the four sections of the Environmental Literacy Indicator Tool: Section I: Environmental Literacy Planning

Section II: Student Participation in Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs) Section III: Environmental Education Improvement Efforts

Section IV: Feedback on ELIT

If you have questions about this tool, please contact: Shannon Sprague, Co-Chair

Chesapeake Bay Program Education Workgroup NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office [email protected]

410.267.5664

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Please complete this contact information before you begin completing the ELIT survey. Please select your state from the drop-down list below:

▼ Delaware ... West Virginia

Please select your school district or local education agency (LEA) from the dropdown list.

▼ Allegany County Public Schools ... Other

You selected Other for school district. Please specify:

Please select your school district or local education agency (LEA) from the dropdown list.

▼ Appoquinimink School District ... Other

You selected Other for school district. Please specify:

Please select your school district or local education agency (LEA) from the dropdown list.

▼ Barbour County School District ... Other

You selected Other for school district. Please specify:

Please select your school district or local education agency (LEA) from the dropdown list.

▼ Accomack County Public Schools ... Other

You selected Other for school district. Please specify:

Please select your school district or local education agency (LEA) from the dropdown list.

▼ Abington Heights School District ... Yough School District

You selected Other for school district. Please specify:

What is your primary job title/responsibility? (please select the title that most closely matches your job)

• District-level superintendent

• District-level assistant superintendent

• District-level director of curriculum/instruction/education

• District-level curriculum supervisor/coordinator

• District-level STEM supervisor/coordinator

• District-level business administrator

• School principal

• School assistant principal

• Classroom teacher

• Other, please describe:

Does your LEA have a staff lead or team responsible for coordinating sustainable schools efforts?

• Yes

• No

• I don’t know

Please remember that you are completing the ELIT on behalf of a school district, not just one school.

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Section I: Environmental Literacy Planning

Environmental Literacy Planning Outcome: Each participating Bay jurisdiction should develop a comprehensive and systemic approach to environmental literacy for all students in the region that includes policies, practices and voluntary metrics that support the environmental literacy Goals and Outcomes of this Agreement.

State departments of education and local education agencies play an important role in establishing expectations and guidelines, and providing support for the development and implementation of environmental education programs within their schools. To ensure that every student in the region graduates with the knowledge and skills to act responsibly to protect and restore their local watershed as called for in the Chesapeake Watershed Agreement, environmental education should be embedded into the local curriculum and Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEE Definition

2014.pdf) should occur at least once during each level of instruction (elementary, middle, and high school).

In the development of plans and the delivery of programs, local education agencies can also benefit from partnerships with environmental education organizations, natural resource agencies, universities, businesses, and other organizations that have a wealth of applicable products and services as well as a cadre of scientific and professional experts that can complement the classroom teacher’s strengths and heighten the impact of environmental instruction both in the classroom and in the field.

Section 1-2 The following questions are intended to help assess the current capacity of your school division/local education agency (LEA) to implement a comprehensive and systemic approach to environmental education.

Please review the following elements (a-f) and, using the scale below, make a determination about your LEA's capacity to address them.

1. An established program leader for environmental education (providing effective, sustained and system leadership). This need not be a full-time position.

• Not in Place

• Fully in Place: Program leader is in place to design, implement, and/or monitor EE program

Comments?

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2. Environmental education is infused into appropriate disciplinary areas within the curriculum.

• Not in Place

• Partially in Place: EE is represented in some LEA curricula (science, social studies, math, reading, etc.) or initiatives (STEM, Service Learning, etc.)

• Fully in Place: EE is fully embedded in the curriculum across all relevant PK-12 LEA curricula and initiatives

Comments?

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3. Regular communication among staff responsible for environmental education curriculum and program implementation

• Not in Place

• Partially in Place: Appropriate staff meet periodically and/or share information about environmental education curriculum and programs

• Fully in Place: Appropriate staff meet regularly to design, implement, and/or monitor environmental education curriculum and programming for students

Comments?

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4. A support system in place that enables teachers and administrators to engage in high quality professional development in content knowledge, instructional materials, and methodology related to environmental education

• Not in Place

• Partially in Place: PD in environmental education is offered periodically to teachers and/or administrators

• Fully in Place: PD in environmental education is provided regularly for all relevant teachers and administrators

Comments?

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5. A documented plan to ensure opportunities for all students to engage in meaningful watershed educational experiences (MWEEs) at the elementary, middle and high school levels

• Not in Place

• Partially in Place: LEA has a plan to provide MWEEs in one or two grade bands (elementary, middle, and high)

• Fully in Place: LEA has a plan to provide MWEEs at least once in each grade band (elementary, middle, and high)

Comments?

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6. Established community partnerships for delivery of environmental education, including implementation of MWEEs

• Not in Place

• Partially in Place: Partners are offering environmental education programs in schools, but these are not coordinated with the LEA

• Fully in Place: Partners are working with LEA to coordinate delivery of environmental education programs in support of a LEA environmental education plan or priorities

Comments?

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Section II: Student Participation in Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences

Environmental Literacy Student Outcome: Continually increase students’ age-appropriate understanding of the watershed through participation in teacher-supported, meaningful watershed educational experiences and rigorous inquiry-based instruction, with a target of at least one meaningful watershed educational experience in elementary, middle and high school depending on available resources.

All four of these components are required for the experience to qualify as a Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE) (for a more detailed definition, see MWEE Definition 2014.pdf):

Issue definition:

Students identify an environmental question, problem, or issue and explore through background research and investigation.

Outdoor field experiences:

Students participate in one or more outdoor field experience sufficient to collect the data required for answering the research questions and informing student actions.

Stewardship and civic action:

Students participate in an action project during which students take action to address environmental issues at the personal or societal level.

Synthesis and conclusions:

Students analyze and evaluate the results of their investigation of the issue and synthesize and communicate results and conclusions.

On the following pages, please describe the participation of your school district's elementary, middle, and high school students in MWEEs in the 20xx-20xx school year.

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Elementary School

For each grade level, please indicate student participation in MWEE programs during the 20xx-20xx school year.

A complete MWEE program includes: 1) Issue Definition, 2) Outdoor Field Experience, 3) Stewardship and Civic Action, and 4) Synthesis and Conclusions (MWEE Definition 2014.pdf)

A system-wide MWEE is in place for students in this grade

Some schools or classes in this grade participate in MWEEs

No evidence that students in this grade participate in a MWEE

Kindergarten 1st grade 2nd grade 3rd grade 4th grade 5th grade

● ● ●

● ● ●

● ● ●

● ● ●

● ● ●

● ● ●

Please describe the system-wide MWEE programs that are in place to reach all elementary school students (i.e., grade, description of unit, partnerships, etc.).

We are interested in learning more about other environmental education programs that have the potential to be expanded into full, system-wide MWEEs. These may include existing field trips, sustainable school efforts, service learning programs, or MWEEs that are offered only to some students in the district.

Please describe any existing efforts that fit this description for elementary school students, including the grade level(s) reached, partners, and a short program description.

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Middle School

For each grade level, please indicate student participation in MWEEs during the 20xx-20xx school year.

A complete MWEE program includes: 1) Issue Definition, 2) Outdoor Field Experience, 3) Stewardship and Civic Action, and 4) Synthesis and Conclusions (MWEE Definition 2014.pdf).

A system-wide MWEE is in place for students in this grade

Some schools or classes in this grade participate in MWEEs

No evidence that students in this grade participate in a MWEE

6th grade 7th grade 8th grade

● ● ●

● ● ●

● ● ●

Please describe the system-wide MWEE programs that are in place to reach all middle school students (i.e., grade, description of unit, partnerships, etc.).

We are interested in learning more about other environmental education programs that have the potential to be expanded into full, system-wide MWEEs. These may include existing field trips, sustainable school efforts, service learning programs, or MWEEs that are offered only to some students in the district.

Please describe any existing efforts that fit this description for middle school students, including the grade level(s) reached, partners, and a short program description.

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For each high school course, please indicate student participation in MWEEs during the 20xx-20xx school year.

A complete MWEE program includes: 1) Issue Definition, 2) Outdoor Field Experience, 3) Stewardship and Civic Action, and 4) Synthesis and Conclusions (MWEE Definition 2014.pdf).

System-wide, a MWEE is included in this course

Some schools or classes include a MWEE in this course

No evidence that students in this course participate in a MWEE

U.S. Government / Civics	● ● ●
Geography	● ● ●
Economics	● ● ●
Algebra I	● ● ●
Geometry	● ● ●
Algebra II	● ● ●
Language Arts	● ● ●
Literature	● ● ●

Other Graduation Requirement Course(s) (indicate course(s))

● ● ●

Other Elective Course(s) (indicate course(s))

● ● ●

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High School

Please indicate which of the following are required high school courses (i.e., every student must take the course in order to graduate).

• Biology

• Chemistry

• Physics

• Earth or Environmental Science

• History

• U.S. Government / Civics

• Geography

• Economics

• Algebra I

• Geometry

• Algebra II

• Language Arts

• Literature

• Health and/or Physical Education

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Please describe the system-wide MWEE programs that are in place to reach all high school students (i.e., grade, description of unit, partnerships, etc.).

We are interested in learning more about other environmental education programs that have the potential to be expanded into full, system-wide MWEEs. These may include existing field trips, sustainable school efforts, service learning programs, or MWEEs that are offered only to some students in the district.

Please describe any existing efforts that fit this description for high school students, including the grade level(s) reached, partners, and a short program description.

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Section III: Continuous Environmental Education Improvement Efforts

What are the strongest elements of your environmental education program for students and/or teachers? How do you know that this has been effective?

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What are the greatest challenges related to establishing/implementing your environmental education program?

What are your highest priority needs for improving your environmental education programs? Please rate how much of a need each of the items below is for your LEA.

Professional development (PD) /

No need _{2 3 4 5 6}

1

High need 7

resources for facilitating student action

● ● ● ● ● ● ●

PD / resources for facilitating outdoor field experiences

● ● ● ● ● ● ●

PD / resources for using the schoolyard / community as an outdoor learning space

● ● ● ● ● ● ●

PD / resources for supporting student-centered

● ● ● ● ● ● ●

issue investigations

Interdisciplinary curriculum planning / writing and standards alignment

● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Partnership with environmental education providers or other community resources

● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Instructional technology use for indoor and outdoor investigations

● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Support from Superintendent and / or Central Office departments

Funding for transportation

● ● ● ● ● ● ●

● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Funding for programming and supplies

● ● ● ● ● ● ●

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Section VI:

Feedback on ELIT

***NOTE: After you click "Next" on this screen, you will not be able to return to view any previous answers.

Do not move past this page until you are satisfied with all of your previous answers.

Suggestions Do you have any suggestions for improving the design and/or functionality of the ELIT survey?

End of Block: ELIT Questions Start of Block: End of Survey

THANK YOU for completing this survey! Please click on the SUBMIT button below to complete the survey. After you submit the survey, you will see a summary of your entered responses. Click on the Adobe symbol to download a PDF and save a copy of your data.

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Attachment 2: Email Invitation and Reminder ELIT Survey Invitation Email

Text may be slightly modified by distributing State Education Agencies to personalize messages to

respondents.

Dear [NAME], The Environmental Literacy Indicator Tool (ELIT) is a federally-directed effort to collect information from all public school districts in the Mid-Atlantic region every two years to monitor the status of environmental literacy efforts at a district level. The results from these data help the Chesapeake Bay Program Education Workgroup most effectively support local efforts to implement strategies that support students’ environmental literacy.

We request that you – or the appropriate district staff-person – complete the Environmental Literacy Indicator Tool (ELIT) by [DEADLINE] to provide important information about activities related to district-wide environmental literacy curriculum and planning activities in your state. The results from these data help the Chesapeake Bay Program Education Workgroup most effectively support local efforts to implement strategies that support students’ environmental literacy.

Follow this link to the ELIT questionnaire: [Link] Or copy and paste the URL below into your internet browser: [URL]

The ELIT takes an average of about 60 minutes to complete, which includes the time to obtain needed information about district-wide activities. To review the questions ahead of time to help you find the information or identify the right staff person to complete the survey, click here: [link to PDF of survey]

Who should complete the ELIT for your district? Only one person per district should complete the ELIT. The best respondent is someone who works at the district-level and has most familiarity with environmental education activities across the district. If your district does not have a position similar to an environmental education coordinator, consider a science curriculum coordinator or similar role. Teachers or individuals familiar with just one school or grade-range would have difficulty completing these questions.

To review the questions ahead of time to help you find the information or identify the right staff person to complete the survey, click here: [link to PDF of survey]

Thank you for taking the time to complete this questionnaire. If you have any concerns, please contact either of the contacts below:

Name, State Education Agency [signature block]

Shannon Sprague NOAA Environmental Literacy Manager [signature block]

ELIT Survey Reminder Email

Text may be slightly modified by distributing State Education Agencies to personalize messages to respondents.

Dear [NAME], This is a friendly reminder that we need feedback on the Environmental Literacy Indicator Tool (ELIT) from all public school districts in [STATE NAME]. We have not yet received a response from your district, and want to encourage your district to complete this survey.

The ELIT is a federally-directed effort to collect information from all public school districts in the Mid- Atlantic region every two years to monitor the status of environmental literacy efforts at a district level. The results from these data help the Chesapeake Bay Program Education Workgroup most effectively support local efforts to implement strategies that support students’ environmental literacy.

We request that you – or the appropriate district staff-person – complete the ELIT about district- wide environmental literacy curriculum and planning activities by [DEADLINE].

Follow this link to the ELIT questionnaire: [Link] Or copy and paste the URL below into your internet browser: [URL]

The ELIT takes an average of about 60 minutes to complete, which includes the time to obtain needed information about district-wide activities. On the first page of the survey, you can download a complete copy of the questions to aid you in finding the needed information.

Who should complete the ELIT for our district? Only one person per district should complete the ELIT. The best respondent is someone who works at the district-level and has most familiarity with environmental education activities across the district. If your district does not have a position similar to an environmental education coordinator, consider a science curriculum coordinator or similar role. Teachers or individuals familiar with just one school or grade-range would have difficulty completing these questions.

To review the questions ahead of time to help you find the information or identify the right staff person to complete the survey, click here: [link to PDF of survey]

Thank you for taking the time to complete this questionnaire. If you have any concerns, please contact either of the contacts below:

Name, State Education Agency [signature block]

Shannon Sprague NOAA Environmental Literacy Manager [signature block]