ELIT Survey Invitation

The Environmental Literacy Indicator Tool (ELIT) is a federally-directed effort to collect information from all public Local Education Agencies (LEAs - aka districts) in the Mid-Atlantic region every two years to monitor the status of environmental literacy efforts at a district level.

In Pennsylvania, we invite public LEAs and private schools across the entire Commonwealth to participate in the survey. 

The collected data provides critical information about district-wide environmental literacy curriculum and planning activities across Pennsylvania. Results help the Pennsylvania Department of Education and Chesapeake Bay Program Education Workgroup most effectively support local efforts to implement strategies that support students’ environmental literacy while working to meet education and careers-related goals embedded in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement.  These student- and district-related goals are applied across the Commonwealth.

We request that you – or the appropriate district staff-person – complete the ELIT by November 20, 2026.

Follow this link to the ELIT questionnaire: ELIT 2026 Or copy and paste the URL below into your internet browser: https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8914150/ELIT-2026

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: PDF of ELIT Questions

If your district has previously completed the ELIT, you can look up and view past answers here – search for documents labeled Response Summaries.

These past responses can allow you to simply update any information changes since past ELIT surveys (2024, 2022, 2019, or 2017).

Who should complete the ELIT for your district? Only one person per LEA should complete the ELIT. The best respondent is someone who works at the district-level and is most familiar 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, principals, or staff from just one school or grade-range would have difficulty completing these questions.

An editable Workbook of the ELIT questions (to complete before submitting the data) is also available here: Workbook of ELIT Questions (Word format)

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

Tamara E. Peffer, Environmental Literacy and Sustainability Content Advisor
Executive Director, PA Advisory Council on Environmental Education
PA Department of Education, Bureau of Curriculum, Assessment, and Instruction
tpeffer@pa.gov; 717-772-0842

Elise Trelegan, Coordinator
Chesapeake Bay Program Education Workgroup  
NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office
elise.trelegan@noaa.gov; 204-628-4507