Research on environmental literacy in students and adults has often used ratings of high and low to indicate the extent of one's environmental literacy. Such ratings miss the nuances that a continuum could provide. This study uses a contextual perspective on environmental literacy which includes such a continuum to examine the relationship between level of environmental literacy and patterns of environmental issue identification. Based on responses from the Teacher Environmental Literacy Assessment, informal educators and teachers were placed along a continuum from functional to critical. Interviews were analysed to discern differences and find patterns in issue identification at three levels. In general, educators with a cultural or critical literacy provided more complex explanations of issue identification and proposed system-level action more often. Implications of differences at each level and in transition zones are discussed.