Elementary Teacher Survey

Please follow the sections below to take this brief survey about environmental education in elementary schools across San Diego County. Your feedback will help us learn the best ways to improve environmental programs for all students in our region. This survey will take 5-7 minutes to complete, and you will receive a FREE lesson plan, or money off our curriculum products for your sharing your time and thoughts with us about this important research.

Section 1: Background (3 Questions)

Question Title

* 1. What grade level(s) do you currently teach?

Pre-K

Kindergarten

1st Grade

2nd Grade

3rd Grade

4th Grade

5th Grade

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 2. How many years have you been teaching?

0–2

3–5

6–10

11–20

20+

Question Title

* 3. How many students are in your current classroom?

Fewer than 20

20–25

26–30

More than 30

Section 2: Environmental Education Experience (5 Questions)

Question Title

* 4. How confident do you feel in your ability to teach environmental or sustainability topics?

Not confident

Somewhat confident

Moderately confident

Very confident

Not confident

Somewhat confident

Moderately confident

Very confident

Question Title

* 5. How often do you include environmental or sustainability topics in your teaching?

Never

A few times per year

Monthly

Weekly

Question Title

* 6. Where do you currently find lesson plans or resources for environmental education? (Select all that apply)

District-provided curriculum

Online websites

Books

Colleague recommendations

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 7. Which of the following does your school currently offer, and how often?

	Weekly	Monthly	Few Times Per Year	Never
In-class environmental lessons	In-class environmental lessons Weekly	In-class environmental lessons Monthly	In-class environmental lessons Few Times Per Year	In-class environmental lessons Never
After-school environmental clubs	After-school environmental clubs Weekly	After-school environmental clubs Monthly	After-school environmental clubs Few Times Per Year	After-school environmental clubs Never
Summer or seasonal environmental programs	Summer or seasonal environmental programs Weekly	Summer or seasonal environmental programs Monthly	Summer or seasonal environmental programs Few Times Per Year	Summer or seasonal environmental programs Never
Outdoor or field-based environmental learning	Outdoor or field-based environmental learning Weekly	Outdoor or field-based environmental learning Monthly	Outdoor or field-based environmental learning Few Times Per Year	Outdoor or field-based environmental learning Never
Volunteer or service-learning projects	Volunteer or service-learning projects Weekly	Volunteer or service-learning projects Monthly	Volunteer or service-learning projects Few Times Per Year	Volunteer or service-learning projects Never

Question Title

* 8. What motivates you to teach (or want to teach) environmental education?

Section 3: Access & Equity (6 Questions)

Question Title

* 9. What outdoor spaces are available for student learning at your school? (Select all that apply)

School garden

Outdoor classroom area

Playground or open field

Nearby park or nature area

None of the above

Question Title

* 10. How safe and accessible are outdoor spaces around your school for student learning?

Very unsafe

Somewhat unsafe

Safe

Very safe

Very unsafe

Somewhat unsafe

Safe

Very safe

Question Title

* 11. What barriers affect student participation in environmental education activities? (Select all that apply)

Lack of outdoor space

Unsafe neighborhood

Extreme weather or air quality

Transportation limitations

Program or field trip costs

Language barriers

Lack of disability accommodations

Limited before/after-school care

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 12. Are there certain student groups in your school with limited access to environmental education?

Yes, low-income students

Yes, English learners

Yes, students with disabilities

Unsure

Question Title

* 13. How would you rate your school’s access to environmental education opportunities compared to others in your district or county?

Much lower

Slightly lower

About average

Slightly higher

Much higher

Much lower

Slightly lower

About average

Slightly higher

Much higher

Question Title

* 14. What kinds of environmental activities are most popular or effective for your students?

Section 4: Curriculum & Policy (5 Questions)

Question Title

* 15. Does your school or district have formal environmental or sustainability goals?

Yes

Unsure

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* 16. Are you aware of any state or district standards requiring environmental education in PK–5?

Yes

Unsure

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* 17. How well does your teaching align with those environmental education standards?

Not at all

Slightly

Moderately

Closely

Not at all

Slightly

Moderately

Closely

Question Title

* 18. How supportive are your administrators and district leaders of environmental education initiatives?

Not supportive

Somewhat supportive

Moderately supportive

Very supportive

Not supportive

Somewhat supportive

Moderately supportive

Very supportive

Question Title

* 19. What policy changes or additional support would make it easier to teach environmental topics in your classroom or school?

Section 5: Capacity, Time, and Resources (5 Questions)

Question Title

* 20. How much time per week do you currently dedicate to environmental education?

0–30 minutes

31–60 minutes

61–90 minutes

More than 90 minutes

Question Title

* 21. How feasible are the following types of environmental education activities at your school?

	1	2	3	4	5
Classroom-based lessons	Classroom-based lessons 1	Classroom-based lessons 2	Classroom-based lessons 3	Classroom-based lessons 4	Classroom-based lessons 5
After-school clubs	After-school clubs 1	After-school clubs 2	After-school clubs 3	After-school clubs 4	After-school clubs 5
Field trips or outdoor learning experiences	Field trips or outdoor learning experiences 1	Field trips or outdoor learning experiences 2	Field trips or outdoor learning experiences 3	Field trips or outdoor learning experiences 4	Field trips or outdoor learning experiences 5
Summer/ break-time camps/programs	Summer/ break-time camps/programs 1	Summer/ break-time camps/programs 2	Summer/ break-time camps/programs 3	Summer/ break-time camps/programs 4	Summer/ break-time camps/programs 5
Volunteer or service-learning projects	Volunteer or service-learning projects 1	Volunteer or service-learning projects 2	Volunteer or service-learning projects 3	Volunteer or service-learning projects 4	Volunteer or service-learning projects 5

Question Title

* 22. What types of resources would make it easier to teach environmental education? (Select all that apply)

Ready-to-use lesson plans

Cross-curricular or modular materials

Outdoor activity guides

Professional development

Partnerships with local environmental organizations

Question Title

* 23. How helpful would a centralized online curriculum bank of environmental lessons be for you?

Not helpful

Slightly helpful

Moderately helpful

Very helpful

Not helpful

Slightly helpful

Moderately helpful

Very helpful

Question Title

* 24. Do you currently have access to teacher networks or local organizations that support environmental education?

Yes, multiple

Yes, one or two

Unsure

Section 6: Family & Community Support (4 Questions)

Question Title

* 25. How involved are families in environmental education activities at your school?

Not involved

Somewhat involved

Moderately involved

Very involved

Not involved

Somewhat involved

Moderately involved

Very involved

Question Title

* 26. How important is community support to the success of environmental education programs?

Not important

Slightly important

Moderately important

Very important

Not important

Slightly important

Moderately important

Very important

Question Title

* 27. What additional support from families or community partners would help strengthen environmental education in your classroom or school?

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* 28. Would you or any teachers at your school be interested in participating in a Green Explorers Club case study program?

No, not at this time

Yes, please contact me at:

Question Title

* 29. Please enter an email address to receive your FREE curriculum code! Learn more about Green Explorers Club in this short video, and thank you for taking this survey! We really appreciate your thoughtful participation.

We will email you shortly with a code for a free lesson plan on our website, or $15 off a project box or class pack of your choice! To learn more about this research study, please visit https://www.greenexplorersclub.com/research