Environmental Literacy Planning

Progress

Recent Progress: Increase

In 2024, 302 local education agencies (LEAs)—44% of the total—were represented in the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Environmental Literacy Indicator Tool (ELIT), which measures the degree of environmental literacy preparedness among school districts across the watershed:

19% of respondents self-identified as “well-prepared” to put a comprehensive and systemic approach to environmental literacy in place.
57% of respondents self-identified as “somewhat prepared” to put a comprehensive and systemic approach to environmental literacy in place.
25% of respondents self-identified as “not prepared” to put a comprehensive and systemic approach to environmental literacy in place.

The survey was distributed to all LEAs within five jurisdictions (Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia), but in West Virginia, it was only distributed to the eight LEAs in the watershed.

Outlook: On Course

The 2024 ELIT shows that the majority of LEAs are somewhat prepared to implement high-quality environmental education and the proportion of well-prepared LEAs has increased 2% from the previous survey. While about 56% of the total local education agencies did not report to the ELIT, those districts that did report represent 74% of public elementary, middle and high school students that live in the region. When looking only at data from districts that responded in both 2022 and 2024, there is a stronger indication of increased preparedness. There, the proportion of well-prepared districts increased by 6 percentage points and the number of unprepared districts fell by the same amount. These positive trends suggest that this outcome is on course.

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Over the past five years, data collected for this metric has revealed an overall consistency in preparedness levels. In 2022, there was a 3% dip in the proportion of well-prepared LEAs in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 2024 survey, though, the percentage of well-prepared districts increased by 2%, rebounding to almost 2019 levels, while the proportion of somewhat prepared districts rose 4% to above 2019’s. While preparedness levels have largely stayed steady over the last four cycles of data gathering, there was substantial evidence in 2024 that districts are improving the infrastructure elements measured in this indicator. The jurisdiction with the largest percentage of well-prepared districts is Maryland, followed by Virginia, Delaware, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. However, low response rates in Pennsylvania and West Virginia limit the generalizability of state patterns.

For more details on jurisdiction-specific preparedness, download the full 2024 ELIT survey results.

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Downloads:

‍Data (.xlsx) ‍Methods (.docx) ‍Image (.png)

Local education agencies and state departments of education play critical roles in supporting, developing and implementing in-school environmental literacy programs. The Chesapeake Bay Program’s Education Workgroup connects natural resource agencies, nongovernmental organizations, businesses, colleges and scientific and professional experts to help education agencies develop and deliver programs that impact environmental instruction in the classroom and the field. A concerted effort toward environmental literacy and education will form the foundation of an informed and active population that can understand and respond to complex environmental problems.

Learn About Factors Influencing Progress

Management Strategy

To achieve this outcome, Chesapeake Bay Program partners have committed to:

Supporting school districts in their efforts to incorporate locally appropriate environmental practices, content and learning opportunities into their operations and curricula.
Using data and information to strategically and equitably direct resources toward district-level environmental literacy planning and implementation.
Ensuring state and regional understanding of our environmental literacy progress, gaps and opportunities.

Monitoring and assessing progress toward the outcome will occur through the Environmental Literacy Indicator Tool (ELIT).

As part of the Chesapeake Bay Program’s partnership-wide implementation of adaptive management, progress toward this outcome was reviewed and discussed by the Management Board in May of 2020.

Download Management Strategy (.pdf)

Logic & Action Plan

Chesapeake Bay Program partners have committed to taking a series of specific actions that will support the management approaches listed above.

Ongoing

Offering trainings and technical assistance focused on using the school district toolkit, state-developed environmental literacy plan templates and standards frameworks to create a continuum of environmental literacy opportunities for students.
Providing technical and financial assistance to support school districts with the integration and implementation of MWEEs and sustainability efforts into appropriate grade-level curriculum.
Regularly convening state and regional environmental literacy partners around key issues and evidence-based best practices through the Mid-Atlantic Environmental Literacy Network, the Bay Program Education Workgroup and the Workforce Action Team.
Working with school districts every two years to collect data and information through the Environmental Literacy Indicator Tool (ELIT).
Creating reports, data visualizations and progress indicators with information collected through ELIT and elsewhere to inform policy and resource allocation decisions.
Encouraged the development of local networks that include school district(s), environmental education providers, and local community groups to provide in-school and out-of-school opportunities to foster youth engagement.

Recently Completed

2024

Increased opportunities for school districts and their partners to connect on school district-level environmental literacy planning including network development and sustainability.
Used the Regional Outdoor Learning network and associated state networks to increase collaboration, share best practices and refine and advance shared priorities.

2023

Used state working groups, the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Education Workgroup and the Principals’ Staff Committee to convene partners and high-level leaders around key issues of environmental literacy.

2022

Worked with regional and national organizations and funders to raise the visibility of and funding toward our environmental literacy efforts.

Learn About Logic & Action Plan

Participating Partners

The Fostering Stewardship Goal Implementation Team leads the effort to achieve this outcome.

Participating partners include:

State of Delaware
State of Maryland
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Commonwealth of Virginia
District of Columbia
Chesapeake Bay Commission
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Park Service
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
U.S. Forest Service
U.S. Geological Survey
Delaware Association for Environmental Education
Maryland Association for Environmental Education
Pennsylvania Association for Environmental Education
Virginia Association for Environmental Education
Cacapon Institute
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Experience Learning
Stroud Water Research Center