Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.49
Liaison Ryan Todd
Submission Date March 1, 2021

STARS v2.2

California State University, Sacramento
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 4.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution conduct an assessment of the sustainability literacy of its students?:
Yes

Which of the following best describes the literacy assessment? The assessment is administered to::
The entire (or predominate) student body, directly or by representative sample

Which of the following best describes the structure of the assessment? The assessment is administered as a::
Standalone evaluation without a follow-up assessment of the same cohort or representative samples

A copy of the questions included in the sustainability literacy assessment(s):
A list or sample of the questions included in the sustainability literacy assessment or the website URL where the assessment tool may be found:
Here is a sample of some questions included in the ASK report:
What is the most common cause of pollution of streams and rivers?
1 = Dumping of garbage by cities.
2 = Surface water running off yards, city streets, paved
lots, and farm fields.
3 = Litter near streams and rivers.
4 = Waste dumped by factories.
5 = Don't know

Many economists argue that electricity prices in the U.S. are too low because...
1 = They do not reflect the costs of pollution from generating the electricity
2 = Too many suppliers go out of business
3 = Electric companies have a monopoly in their service area
4 = Consumers spend only a small part of their income on energy
5 = Don’t know

Which of the following is the most commonly used definition of sustainable development?
1 = Creating a government welfare system that ensures universal access to education, health care, and social services
2 = Setting aside resources for preservation, never to be used
3 = Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
4 = Building a neighborhood that is both sociodemographically and economically diverse
5 = Don’t know

A brief description of how the literacy assessment was developed and/or when it was adopted:
The goal of the ASK report is to understand students prior knowledge of sustainability and their behaviors. The questions for the ASK report are included in the Stinger Sustainability Survey which is based on a study done at the Environmental and Social Sustainability lab at Ohio State University.

A brief description of how a representative sample was reached (if applicable) and how the assessment(s) were administered :
A representative sample of undergraduate students was randomly selected via the Office of Institutional Research. The assessment was given online through email in a multiple choice quiz format within a period of 3 weeks.

A brief summary of results from the literacy assessment(s):
The results of the assessment showed the students to answer approximately 50.2% of questions correctly. Students on average had more knowledge about social sustainability and the least knowledge in economic sustainability. More detailed results can be seen in the ASK report PDF below.

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the sustainability literacy assessment is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.