National Report Cards on Environment Attitudes, Knowledge and Behavior
Survey research is an important component of NEEF's work. It serves both to inform other NEEF programs such as Business, Health and Conservation Education, as well as indicate areas where NEEF and/or other organizations may wish to begin new initiatives.
Since the inception of its annual National Report Card on Environmental Attitudes, Knowledge and Behavior, NEEF has commissioned Roper Starch Worldwide to conduct this survey of adult Americans. The results of the survey are widely distributed by NEEF to educators, policy makers, business executives and the media to help America's leaders, and the general public, better understand what Americans know about the environment and how that knowledge relates to their attitudes and daily actions. On occasion, NEEF commissions Roper Starch Worldwide to conduct surveys on knowledge, attitudes and behavior on specific issues such as its 1999 report on Safe Drinking Water.
The Ninth Annual National Report Card (May 2001), Lessons from the Environment, shows that 95 percent of adult Americans endorse environmental education in the schools. However, everyday actions by adults in support of the environment are showing a slight fall-off, and environmental "illiteracy" remains widespread.
The National Report Card was launched in 1992 by Times Mirror Magazines in collaboration with Roper Starch. Times Mirror commissioned each of the first four years of the survey, and NEETF took over the project in 1995. This survey is the only longitudinal data available on what Americans know and think about important environmental issues.
As the results of the most recent surveys make clear, Americans lack the basic knowledge and are unprepared to respond to the major environmental challenges we face in the 21st century. Helping to prepare people of all ages to understand their role in addressing those issues is an important part of NEEF's mission. The National Report Card is made possible by the generous support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Environmental Education and Phillips Petroleum Company.
View Report Cards available for downloading from NEEF.
