Dear Educator/Administrator,

We request that you – or the appropriate district staff-person – complete the voluntary Environmental Literacy Indicator Tool (ELIT) by November 15, 2019 to provide important information about activities related to district-wide environmental literacy curriculum and planning activities in your state.

SURVEY LINK: Follow this link to the ELIT questionnaire: https://bwet.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6Vhu2JrZxUpSOCF

The Environmental Literacy Indicator Tool (ELIT) is a federally directed effort to collect information from the Mid-Atlantic region every two years to monitor the status of environmental literacy efforts at a district level. The collected data will help the Chesapeake Bay Program Education Workgroup support local efforts to implement strategies that support students’ environmental literacy. In support of the Pennsylvania Literacy Plan, all school districts, charter, and private schools across the commonwealth are invited to participate.

The ELIT takes an average of about 60-90 minutes to complete, which includes the time to obtain needed information about district-wide activities.  A .pdf version of the survey is attached to this email, enabling review of the questions ahead of time. This should help you collect the necessary information and/or identify the right staff person to complete the 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.

Thank you for taking the time to complete this questionnaire. If you have any concerns, please contact Tamara Peffer (tpeffer@pa.gov).