Att_ECLSKsupportingpartA

EARLY CHILDHOOD LONGITUDINAL STUDY
KINDERGARTEN CLASS OF 1998-99 PHASE IV

IMT/OMB Clearance Package

Prepared by:
National Center for Education Statistics

June 2006

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part
A

Page
JUSTIFICATION ............................................................................................
A1.

Need for Data Collection ....................................................................
A1.1
A1.2
A1.3

A2.

Purposes and Uses of the Data............................................................
A2.1
A2.2

A3.
A4.
A5.
A6.
A7.
A8.
A9.
A10.
A11.
A12.
A13.
A14.
A15.
A16.

Publication Plans.................................................................
Project Schedule..................................................................

A-1
A-1
A-1
A-2
A-5
A-6
A-10
A-13
A-15
A-16
A-16
A-17
A-17
A-22
A-25
A-28
A-32
A-35
A-35
A-36
A-36
A-36
A-38

Approval for Not Displaying the Expiration Date for
OMB Approval ...................................................................................
Exceptions to the Certification Statement...........................................

A-38
A-38

COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL
METHODS ......................................................................................................

B-1

A18.
B

Eighth Grade Study .............................................................
Spring Field Test .................................................................

Use of Improved Information Technology………………………… .
Efforts to Identify Duplication............................................................
Collection of Data from Small Businesses .........................................
Consequences of Less Frequent Data Collection................................
Special Circumstances ........................................................................
Public Comment and Consultations Outside the Agency ...................
Payments to Respondents ...................................................................
Assurance of Confidentiality ..............................................................
Sensitive Questions.............................................................................
Estimated Response Burden ...............................................................
Annualized Cost to Respondents ........................................................
Annualized Cost to the Federal Government......................................
Reasons for Program Changes ............................................................
Publication Plans and Project Schedule..............................................
A16.1
A16.2

A17.

Request for Clearance .........................................................
Study Overview...................................................................
Circumstances Necessitating Collection of Information.....

A-1

B1.

Statistical Design and Estimation .......................................................
B1.1
B1.2
B1.3

Introduction .........................................................................
Sampling .............................................................................
Analytical Subgroups and Sample Sizes.............................

iii

B-1
B-1
B-1
B-2

TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)

Part
B1.4
B2.

Data Collection Procedures ................................................................
B2.1
B2.2

B3.

Tracking the Sample ...........................................................
Eighth Grade Study .............................................................

Methods for Maximizing Completion Rates.......................................
B3.1
B3.2
B3.3
B3.4

Page
B-2
B-3
B-3
B-3
B-5

Working with Schools.........................................................
Student Assessments ...........................................................
Parent Interviews.................................................................
Hard-Copy Instruments .......................................................

B-5
B-6
B-7
B-9

Individuals Responsible for Study Design and Performance..............

B-10

JUSTIFICATION OF THE ECLS-K QUESTIONNAIRES ...........................

C-1

B4.
C

Sample Weights and Standard Error Calculations ..............

C1.
C2.

Introduction.........................................................................................
Eighth Grade Data Collection.............................................................
C2.1
C2.2
C2.3
C2.4
C2.5

C3.

Eighth Grade Data Collection.............................................................
C3.1
C3.2

C4.

ECLS-K Student Interview .................................................
ECLS-K Parent Interview ...................................................
School Administrator Questionnaire...................................
Teacher Questionnaire ........................................................
Special Education Teacher Questionnaire...........................

Student-Level Information from Teacher ...........................
Student-Level Information from Students...........................

Research Questions for the Early Childhood Longitudinal
Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) ...............................................

REFERENCES ................................................................................................

iv

C-1
C-2
C-2
C-6
C-17
C-21
C-26
C-28
C-28
C-28

C-29
C-39

TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)

List of Appendixes
Appendix

Page

A

Spring 2007 Grade 8 Student Questionnaire

B

Spring 2007 Parent Interview

C

Spring 2007 School Administrator Questionnaire

D.1

Spring 2007 English Teacher Questionnaire

D.2

Spring 2007 Mathematics Teacher Questionnaire

D.3

Spring 2007 Science Teacher Questionnaire

D.4

Spring 2007 Teacher Background Questionnaire

E.1

Spring 2007 Special Education Teacher Questionnaire A

E.2

Spring 2007 Special Education Teacher Questionnaire B

List of Tables
Table
A-1

Number of Completed Student Questionnaires by Method of Completion .....

A-12

A-2

Number of Completed Teacher Questionnaires by Method of Completion ....

A-13

A-3

Federal agency consultants ..............................................................................

A-18

A-4

Other organization consultants ........................................................................

A-20

A-5

Phase IV Technical Work Group member list .................................................

A-21

A-6

Phase IV Content Review Panel member list ..................................................

A-22

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)

List of Tables (continued)
Table

Page

A-7

Respondent burden chart .................................................................................

A-33

A-8

Study costs per year .........................................................................................

A-35

A-9

Critical project milestones ...............................................................................

A-38

List of Exhibits
Exhibit
A-1

Advance Letter to Parents................................................................................

A-26

A-2

Parent Consent Form .......................................................................................

A-27

A-3

NCES Affidavit of Nondisclosure ...................................................................

A-29

A-4

Confidentiality Pledge .....................................................................................

A-30

vi

PART A. JUSTIFICATION

A1.

Need for Data Collection

A1.1

Request for Clearance
The Early Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K) is a major study of

school children sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) within the U.S.
Department of Education. Clearances for ECLS-K were granted in 1996 for the kindergarten data
collection (OMB No. 1850-0719), in 1998 for the first grade to fifth grade data collections (OMB No.
1850-0750), and for the spring 2006 field test data collection with eighth and tenth grade students and
their teachers (OMB No. 1850-0750). The ECLS-K is being conducted by Westat with the Educational
Testing Service (ETS) and Windwalker Corporation as subcontractors, under contract to the U.S.
Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, (ED-04-CO-0059).
At this time, NCES requests a clearance from OMB to conduct the full-scale study of the
ECLS-K in the spring of eighth grade (2007), which would involve in-school administration of
questionnaire and assessment forms to students, collection of questionnaires from teachers and
administrators, and interviews with parents of the ECLS-K.

A1.2

Study Overview
The following is a summary of the design, sample, and measurement methods planned for

the data collection period. More detailed information is provided at later points in this submission. Copies
of all instruments and descriptions of the measurement protocols are included in the appendixes.
Design. The design of this phase of the ECLS-K calls for two waves of data collection in
spring of eighth and tenth grade. Multiple methods of data collection will be used in this study, including
(1) small group assessments and self-administered questionnaires of the sampled students, (2) telephone
or in-person interviews with the primary parent/guardian (usually the mother), and (3) self-administered
questionnaires collected from the sampled school administrators and teachers (regular and special
education) of the sampled students.

A-1

Sample—Eighth Grade Study. The ECLS-K sample for the spring 2007 eighth grade data
collection will consist of students eligible (e.g., were not out of the country, deceased, etc.) after the fifth
grade data collection, regardless of their fifth grade response status. The fifth grade sample included base
year (i.e., kindergarten) respondents and a supplemental sample of first graders who were not enrolled in
kindergarten during the base year and so had no prior chance of being sampled. The base year students
were selected randomly within a sample of schools located within the boundaries of a geographically
representative, demographically heterogeneous sample of 100 primary sampling units (PSUs).
In previous rounds of the ECLS-K, the most important issue was the method of dealing with
students who moved out of the school in which they were originally sampled because locating and
conducting interviews with these students and their schools and teachers had important study
implications. For eighth grade, all movers will be followed without any subsampling to ensure that the
final sample is sufficiently large for analysis. Further discussion of the eight-grade sample can be found in
section B.1, Statistical Design and Estimation.
Eighth Grade Data Collection. The eighth grade data collection includes direct student
assessments, which involves collecting students’ height and weight, administering student questionnaires,
parent interviews, school administrator and teacher questionnaires (both regular classroom and special
education teachers). This data collection also involves a small pilot study for testing the functionality of
the direct student assessment. Unlike Phase III, self-administered paper and pencil questionnaires will be
the mode of data collection for the student assessment while computer-assisted interviewing (CAI) will be
the mode of data collection for the parent interview. The student assessments and school administrator
and teacher questionnaires will be collected using self-administered paper questionnaires.

A1.3

Circumstances Necessitating Collection of Information
The critical importance of high-quality, equitable education for the continued development

and prosperity of the country is a very high priority on the national agenda. Parents, educators, and
policymakers are reconsidering the ways children are taught in schools and are looking for more effective
approaches to education.

A-2

Much of the public discussion on education has focused on the early years, children’s
development and learning during the early childhood period from birth to age eight, their preparation for
formal school, the first school experience, and the progress they make over the first years of school. A
number of factors have contributed to the research and policy focus on children’s early school
experiences. These include (1) the focus on eliminating the achievement gap among various subgroups of
children by No Child Left Behind; (2) the changing nature of children’s preschool and early school
experiences; (3) the increasingly diverse population of children entering school and the demands this
places on schools; and (4) the expanding role that schools are expected to play in supporting and
nurturing development and learning.
Vital to efforts to improve schools and the education of all the nation’s children is a research
and data collection program that increases the understanding of the dynamics of school achievement,
particularly of those factors that lead to the differential success of important groups of children during the
elementary and secondary school years. Yet at present no national database permits a thorough study of
children’s transition into school and their progress through secondary school.
One of the gaps in the NCES student data is descriptive and longitudinal information on
students in kindergarten through high school. This type of data is not currently collected by NCES
longitudinal and cross-sectional data collections. To date, NCES longitudinal collections, which provide
the most comprehensive look at students, have not focused on the entire span of elementary through
secondary school. The center’s cross-sectional surveys do not collect data that allow researchers to
examine students as they progress through school.
To provide a comprehensive and reliable data set that can be used to inform policies related
to the entire spectrum of kindergarten to secondary school education, NCES is conducting the ECLS-K
Phase IV.
This study is being undertaken in compliance with the mandate stated in section 404 of the
National Education Statistics Act of 1994 (20 U.S.C. 9003):
“The duties of the Center are to collect, analyze, and disseminate statistics and
other information related to education in the United States and in other nations,
including...conducting longitudinal studies, as well as regular and special
surveys and data collections, necessary to report on the condition and progress
of education.”

A-3

The ECLS-K was launched at a time when U.S. schools and the families, teachers, and
administrators who participate in them are facing unprecedented challenges and tasks. Powerful historical
forces—including immigration, differential fertility rates of cultural groups, a dramatic increase in the
number of women in the workforce, and significant changes in family structure—have produced an
increasingly diverse population of children entering school.
These children differ from each other and from past school-entering cohorts not only in
language, cultural background, and family composition but also in the diversity in family experiences and
the multiplicity of preschool educational and care arrangements. These influences have shaped children’s
development prior to school entry as children enter kindergarten with different skills, knowledge, and
experiences. Coinciding with this increase in the diversity of students is the emergence of a broad national
debate about how schools should respond to the challenges posed by the nature and extent of such
diversity.
At the same time, educational leaders have mobilized substantial support for new and more
ambitious goals for the nation’s schools, goals that speak both to issues of equity and quality. These goals
include a view of learning that goes well beyond basic skills and includes such skills as conceptual
understanding and associated competence in inquiry and problem solving; establishing standards that will
identify what all students should know and be able to do, including children with a wide array of learning
or other disabilities; providing preprimary and after-school care; coping more effectively with children’s
alarming susceptibility to conduct disorders and involvement in an array of related antisocial, aggressive,
and violent behaviors; and using schools as the central agents for achieving an ambitious agenda of public
health and social service initiatives. These reforms have significant implications for school management,
teacher training, instruction, student, teacher and school performance assessment, and school-family
connections.
The ECLS-K aims to provide a data set that researchers can use to answer policy relevant
research questions in elementary and secondary education, defined as kindergarten through tenth grade.
Clearly the combination of an increase in the diversity of children’s preparation for school and ever more
ambitious goals presents schools with difficult, if not daunting, challenges. Little is known, however,
about how schools are coping with these challenges or how children from different backgrounds progress
through school. The ECLS-K will provide vitally needed empirical evidence to inform the ongoing debate
about how to achieve the essential goals of schooling in the context of a rapidly changing society.

A-4

Approximately 23,500 children enrolled in about 1,000 kindergarten programs during the
1998-99 school year were selected for participation in the main study. NCES has collected data on this
kindergarten cohort twice during the kindergarten and the first grade year (once with a subsample), once
in the spring of third and fifth grade and will continue to collect data in the spring of eighth, and, possibly,
the tenth grade. Data will also be collected from parents, school administrators, and teachers in an effort
to discover the variations in experiences that affect learning.
To prepare for this ambitious undertaking, NCES has designed questionnaires that capture
factors that influence learning and assessment instruments that measure cognitive (e.g., language and
quantitative skills) growth in students from the elementary through the secondary grades. These
assessments must be sensitive to the different curricula taught in schools throughout the United States.
Noncognitive status must also be accurately measured, because noncognitive factors also affect how
children learn. Therefore, social skills (e.g., the ability to interact with teachers and peers), emotional
status (e.g., temperament, antisocial behavior), and physical characteristics (e.g., height and weight) will
also be measured.

A2.

Purposes and Uses of the Data
The ECLS-K is intended to be a general purpose data set that is designed to serve two

purposes: descriptive and explanatory. On the one hand, it will provide descriptive data on a national
basis of (1) children’s status at entry into kindergarten and at different points in their elementary and
secondary school careers, (2) children’s transition into school and into the middle and secondary grade
levels, and (3) children’s school progress through the tenth grade. On the other hand, it will provide a rich
data set that will enable researchers to test hypotheses about how a wide range of family, school,
classroom, community, and individual variables affect success in school.
Ultimately, the ECLS-K data set will be used by policymakers, educators, and researchers to
reconsider the ways in which children are educated in our nation’s schools and to develop more effective
approaches to education. Policy issues that can be studied by the ECLS-K Phase IV include the
identification of school characteristics associated with achievement; the association of parent involvement
on adolescents' achievement and development; the transition of different groups of students (e.g., gender,
racial and ethnic, and socioeconomic status groups) from elementary school to middle and high school.
The ECLS-K Phase IV will gather information on adolescents' values and goals, social capital available to

A-5

sample members to examine factors that may influence risk and resiliency, and catalogues their schooling
experiences and school programs.

A2.1

Eighth Grade Study
During the spring of 2007, NCES plans to again collect data from children, parents, schools

and teachers. The spring study of eighth grade students will be the seventh major point of data collection
in the ECLS-K. The spring-eighth grade data collection will involve the entire fifth grade ECLS-K sample
of students. Longitudinal research enables researchers to examine each child’s development across the
span of several years and examine how events at one time point affect experiences at the next. For
example, the ECLS-K will be able to address how children’s opportunities to learn in the early grades
differ across classrooms and schools and what the consequences of those differences are for children’s
later development. The ECLS-K will also be able to address how family sociodemographic variables and
processes are related to children’s later success in school.
Longitudinal data will also provide information about children’s growth over time, taking
into account their different developmental levels early in the kindergarten year. One can expect
considerable individual variability in the rate of growth during the later school years. Large differences
are likely in the amount of academic knowledge that students bring to kindergarten depending on their
family educational support system. These differences at school entry are often maintained if not increased
in some areas (e.g., the well-known phenomena of early and late readers). Information collected during
the eighth grade will be used to compare children’s socioemotional and cognitive skills to not only their
skills at entry into kindergarten but also at later points in time.
The data collected in the spring-eighth grade study will advance knowledge about three
central topics:
1.

Eighth grade data will help complete the picture of achievement from the
elementary through the end of the middle school years. Different cognitive and
socioemotional levels in the early years of schooling can be analyzed for their strength
in predicting development, skills, and achievement in adolescence. In addition, school
achievement (measured by comparing children’s skills at varying points in time) can
be linked to outside factors such as parental influences and family processes, school
and classroom characteristics, and other environmental constructs.

A-6

2.

Eighth grade data, used in conjunction with third and fifth grade data, will aid in
describing various types of school instruction in the later elementary and middle
grades. These data will inform researchers about the instructional practices, content
coverage, time on task, and methods of providing feedback experienced by different
groups of children across the elementary and middle school grades.

3.

Information collected in the parent and school interviews will help researchers better
understand the interaction of school, home, and neighborhood contexts. For
example, spring-eighth grade data, together with the data collected at other time
points, will allow analysts to explain how parental involvement in children’s
education affects school performance over the course of the elementary and middle
grades. Interactions between parents and schools will also be covered.

These topics are covered in the instruments developed for the spring 2007 eighth grade
follow-up study. Some of the items in each instrument are identical to items used in the fifth grade
instruments. These items will enable NCES and researchers to draw longitudinal conclusions by linking
the eighth grade and fifth grade kindergarten data. Some items are new, as they will be more appropriate
for the eighth grade cohort.
The content of the student assessments and the questionnaires are discussed below.
Student Assessments. A new direct cognitive assessment will be used in the spring-eighth
grade data collection effort. The assessment measures the cognitive domains of reading, mathematics, and
science using grade-appropriate items that will provide identical, individual-level scale scores for all
students. Some items of the eighth grade assessment are the same as those in the fifth grade instrument.
While the structure of the eighth grade assessment battery differs from the previous assessments in that it
will be administered in small groups using self-administered paper and pencil instruments, it will continue
to be an adaptive two-stage test with a routing test followed by a specific ability level test. The cognitive
assessment battery will require about 65 minutes on average to complete (including time for instructions
and transitions). In addition, the assessment will include a self-administered socioemotional questionnaire
and measures of the students' heights and weights.
Student Questionnaires. In addition to collecting data from the school administrators on the
availability of various foods in schools, the U. S. Department of Agriculture is interested in conducting a
special study of children’s nutritional habits by collecting data on the children’s food purchasing and
consumption habits in school and at home. Major sources of the items include two CDC/Division of
Adolescent and School Health Surveys, the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey and the School
Health Programs and Policies Survey, as well as the California Children’s Healthy Eating and Exercise

A-7

Practices Survey. The instrument was developed by USDA for use with the fifth grade data collections
and is appropriate for use with eighth graders.
The student-level food purchasing and consumption questionnaire includes items on the
purchase of various food and drinks at school (e.g., snack foods, soda) that adolescents can buy at school
and the types food and drinks (e.g., fruits/vegetables, milk) consumed at home, at school, at restaurants,
and other places in the last week.
The student level questionnaire will also collect information on the students' school
experiences and extracurricular activities, family and peer relationships, general health and health
behaviors, civic attitudes, and expectations for the future. The student questionnaire is expected to take 20
minutes to complete.
Prior to field testing, the questionnaire was pilot tested to ascertain the amount of time it
would take eighth graders to complete it. Two sets of pilot timing tests were conducted with the eighth
grade student questionnaire that was included in the previously submitted OMB package (October 2005).
The first timing test was conducted with 7 eighth grade students (4 girls/3 boys) and found that the eighth
grade questionnaire took an average of 29 minutes and 34 seconds to complete, with times ranging from
about 20 minutes to over 38 minutes. With consultation from a member of the Content Review Panel and
other subject matter experts, the student questionnaire was shortened and a second pilot timing test was
conducted. The second timing test of the eighth grade student questionnaire included 7 girls and 2 boys.
The results indicated that the revisions were effective in shortening the administration time of the 8th
grade student questionnaire by six minutes. Further modifications were implemented to shorten the
administration time. In addition, the Content Review Panel, an advisory group to the ECLS-K, reviewed
the revised student questionnaire. Several measures in the student questionnaire were modified or
replaced based on recommendations of the ECLS-K Content Review Panel prior to field testing. As a
result, the student questionnaire was modified substantially from the version included in the previously
submitted OMB package (October 2005) prior to field testing.
Teacher Questionnaires. The approach for collecting information from the teachers will be
similar to that used in the fifth grade; that is the teacher most knowledgeable of the adolescent's
performance in each of the core academic subjects (i.e., language arts, mathematics, and science) provides
the information relevant to each student’s classroom environment, instruction in the core academic
subjects, and the professional background of the core academic teacher. For example, the mathematics

A-8

teacher completes a questionnaire with items specific to the mathematics instruction that the adolescent
received during the school year while the language arts teacher completes a questionnaire with items
specific to the language arts instruction.
Eighth grade teachers will also be asked to complete individual ratings scales for each of the
sampled students in their classroom. The ratings scales will contain items about the adolescents' skills in
areas of language and literacy, mathematics, and science, the adolescents' social skills and behaviors; and
information about placements and special services that each adolescent may receive. These data can be
used to supplement the direct assessments administered to the sampled eighth graders. In doing so, a
picture of adolescents' skills over time will begin to develop and tentative conclusions can be drawn about
adolescents' progression in school.
Adolescents' special education teachers/service providers will also be asked to complete
questionnaires for students with disabilities, defined as having an Individual Education Program (IEP).
These questions will be useful in examining special education curricula and the services being received
by adolescents with disabilities.
Parent Interviews. A parent interview will be administered to all parents/guardians of the
children in the ECLS-K study. The parent instrument will ask about family structure, family literacy
practices, and parental involvement in school. Parents will also be asked to report on their children’s level
of physical functioning, health, and disability status. Because it will have been three years since family
information was collected, the parent interview will also include updating the household composition,
family income, education levels, and other demographic indicators. The parent interview was not field
tested because it includes the same types of questions that have been fielded in the earlier rounds of the
ECLS-K as well as other NCES studies (e.g., NHES, ELS:2002, NELS:88).
School Administrator Questionnaire. The questionnaire will be completed by the school
administrator in the school attended by the students in the study. The School Administrator Questionnaire
includes a broad range of questions about the school setting, policies, and practices, at the school level
and in the eighth grade, and questions about the principal and the teaching staff. These items will help
researchers understand the state and nature of students attending today’s schools throughout the nation.
Comparisons can be made between students attending various types of schools, including public, private,
and parochial and rural, urban, and suburban schools. In addition, the school administrator will be asked
to provide with basic information about the school, including grade levels, school type (public or private),

A-9

length of school year, and attendance record-keeping practices. Data from this questionnaire can be
merged with data from the student and teacher questionnaires and student assessments. Linking these data
will allow researchers to determine the degree by which educational outcomes of various student groups
are associated with the differences in the schools that the students attend. The questionnaire is similar to
that administered in the previous ECLS-K data collections. Consequently, it was not included in the
spring 2006 field test.
A2.2

Spring 2006 Field Test. In spring 2006, a large-scale field test was conducted to test the

student direct assessments and questionnaires, teacher questionnaires, and data collection procedures prior
to the national study. A purposive sample of middle and high schools representing different levels of
urbanicity from 40 school districts across 5 states (MD, VA, PA, NC, & OH) was selected to participate
in the field test. Of the 40 school districts approached, 19 (47%) refused to participate. There were 164
schools with 8th and 10th grade classrooms in the 21 participating school districts. Of these, 81 (49%)
refused to participate. An additional 31 schools were unable to participate because they did not provide
school information before the deadline of the school recruitment phase of the field test. This resulted in a
purposive sample of fifty-two schools.
The sampled schools included public, private, and Catholic in districts and dioceses not
participating in the national study. A sample of approximately 3,900 students (1,800 eighth grade students
and 2,100 tenth grade students) was selected purposively to participate in the field test. All participating
students completed a direct assessment that included a reading subtest and either a math or science
subtest. In addition, the heights and weights of the eighth graders were measured to evaluate the need for
privacy screens during the measurement. Eighth grade students were also asked to complete a 20-minute
questionnaire on various topics including their experiences in school, their activities, friends, and diet.
During the spring 2006 field test, student assessment data from 1,525 eighth grade students
and 1,838 tenth grade students were collected (about 15 percent and 14 percent, respectively of the field
test participants were not assessed because they were either absent on the assessment day or did not have
parent consent). These data are currently being processed and analyzed and will be used to finalize the
student assessments for the spring 2007 eighth grade and spring 2009 tenth grade data collections.

A-10

One-hundred and seventy-four eighth grade teachers also participated in the spring 2006
field test. Teachers completed a questionnaire on their classroom environment, instruction practices in the
core academic subjects, and professional background. Teachers also completed individual ratings scales
on a student in their classroom. The ratings scales contained items about the adolescents' skills in areas of
language and literacy, mathematics, or science (depending on the class the teacher taught), the student's
social skills and behaviors; and information about educational placements and special services that the
student might receive.
In addition, the field test included an experiment to test the feasibility of offering eighth
grade students and teachers the opportunity to complete the questionnaires via the Internet. Web versions
of the questionnaires were made available on a secure web site where students and teachers accessed with
a unique user name and password. A subset of eighth grade students participated in the student
questionnaire web experiment; approximately 870 students were assigned to complete the student
questionnaire on the web, while approximately 760 students were assigned to complete it on paper. All
174 participating eighth grade teachers were assigned to complete the questionnaires via the web (n=58),
paper copy (n=59), or had a choice of either web or paper (n=57).
Eighth grade students and teachers participating in the field test were asked to complete a
short debriefing questionnaire on their opinions of their participation in the field test, such as the quality
and appropriateness of the field test materials, the effectiveness of the monetary incentives, and their
opinion on the mode in which they were asked to complete the questionnaires (i.e., web or paper). Eighth
grade students that completed the student questionnaire were asked about the mode in which they
completed the questionnaire, the time it took to complete the questionnaire, the clarity of the items.
Eighth grade students that didn’t complete the student questionnaire were asked why they did not
complete the questionnaire and what could be done to encourage them to complete it. The teacher
debriefing questionnaire asked similar questions to the student debriefing questionnaire.
Based on preliminary results of the field test data, students can complete the questionnaire in
the spring 2007 eighth-grade data collection. Participating field test students reported that the
questionnaire took an average of 21 minutes to complete. They generally provided answers to all
questionnaire items and reported that the questions were not difficult to understand. The student
questionnaire proposed for the spring 2007 eighth grade data collection is included in the appendix.

A-11

The results of the field test also suggested that the student questionnaire would yield a higher
response rate if it were offered in paper form. Only 106 of the 870 (12%) students completed the student
questionnaire over the Internet, while almost 500 of the 760 (66%) students completed and mailed in the
paper version of the questionnaire (see table A-1). The most frequent reasons web-assigned students gave
for failing to complete the questionnaire were computer or Internet connection problems, such as
computer “crashing,” loss of Internet connection, too slow Internet connection, or misplacement of user
name, password, or URL address. As a result, the recommended approach for administering the student
questionnaire using a self-administered paper form during the assessment session for the spring 2007
eighth grade data collection.
Table A-1.—Number of Completed Student Questionnaires by Method of Completion
Method of Completion

Student Questionnaires

Web

Paper

Totals

106

497

603

Based on preliminary results of the field test data, the teacher questionnaires are also feasible
to administer in the spring 2007 eighth grade data collection. Participating field test teachers reported that
the questionnaire took an average of 20 minutes to complete. They reported that the questions were
appropriate for the classes they taught and were not difficult to understand. The teacher questionnaires
proposed for the spring 2007 eighth grade data collection are included the appendix.
Similar to the results found with the student questionnaire, the field test also suggested that
the teacher questionnaire would yield a higher response rate if it were offered in paper form. Across the
four questionnaires, only 93 teacher questionnaires were completed over the Internet, while 189 paper
teacher questionnaires were completed and mailed (see table A-2). The completion rate for teachers who
were assigned to the web (79% for the teacher background questionnaire) was similar to that for teachers
who were assigned to paper (81% for the teacher background questionnaire). However, differences were
seen for the teachers who were given a choice of completing the questionnaires on either paper or the web
(n=57). Of these teachers, only 7 percent completed the teacher background on the web, while 81 percent
completed it on paper. Of the teachers who were given a choice and completed a debriefing questionnaire,
77 percent reported that it was easier or more convenient to complete the questionnaire on paper. As a
result, the teacher questionnaire will be administered in paper form for the spring 2007 eighth grade data
collection.

A-12

Table A-2.—Number of Completed Teacher Questionnaires by Method of Completion
Method of Completion
Teacher Questionnaires

Web

Paper

Totals

Background

50

94

144

English

18

36

54

Math

12

34

46

Science

13

25

38

93

189

282

Totals

Furthermore, feedback from students and teachers who participated in the spring 2006
ECLS-K field test indicates that a monetary incentive is important to secure participation. Sixty-eight
percent (197 out of 289) of students reported on the field test debriefing questionnaire that the $30
incentive affected their decision to participate in the field test. Eight-nine percent (257 out of 289) of
students reported that they still would have participated if the incentive was only $15. For teachers, 43%
(57 out of 134) reported that the $30 incentive affected their decision to participate in the field test. In
addition, 77% of the teachers (101out of 132) a monetary incentive would be important to secure their
participation if they were asked to complete questionnaires on multiple children.

A3.

Use of Improved Information Technology
Where feasible, available technology will be used to improve data quality and reduce

respondent and school burden.
The ECLS-K parent will be conducted using computer-assisted interviewing (CAI). Using
CAI will increase data collection efficiency by permitting data preloads, on-line editing, and complex
question branching—all of which also reduce respondent burden with faster interviews and eliminate the
need to recontact respondents for missing data. Field interviewers will conduct interviews with parents

A-13

without telephones by making in-person visits to complete interviews. The CAI system has important
features that will improve the quality of the data and reduce the burden on respondents, as follows:
Initial Contact: The CAI system will guide the ECLS-K field interviewer in making
contact with the parent at the address provided or with the adolescent at the school and
will offer prompts to identify the correct respondent.
Skip Patterns: The CAI system automatically guide interviewers through the
complex skip patterns in the parent interviews, reducing respondent burden and the
potential for interviewer error and shortening the questionnaire administration time.
This will be especially important when interviewing parents of twins, where a large
number of questions must be repeated for the second child.
Copying Responses: The CAI system will be programmed to copy responses from
one instrument to another to prevent unnecessary repetition of questions and to aid in
respondents’ recall. For example, information from the same interview that is
provided by the respondent earlier in the interview may be useful later in the interview
and this can be displayed on the screen at the relevant section to assist the respondent.
Finally, and most importantly, information from the previous wave of data collection
can be copied to the subsequent wave and verified, eliminating the need to collect the
data again.
Time Intervals: The CAI system also provides automated time and date prompts that
are very useful in longitudinal studies to assist respondents in remembering specific
time periods. In the current wave, the interview can also provide the specific time
frame for the interval between the previous and the current wave of data collection, to
help respondents recollect information without repeating what they had given at the
previous data collection period.
Receipt Control: The CAI system will provide for automatic receipt control in a
flexible manner that will be used to produce status reports that allow ongoing
monitoring of the survey’s progress.
The use of a CAI system for the ECLS-K is critical because of the difficult skip patterns that
are created with complex survey instruments and because of the longitudinal nature of the data collection
in which the same respondent is interviewed over repeated time periods. Each subsequent data collection
point will be able to make use of information obtained at an earlier data collection, thereby reducing
respondent burden and interview time. Without CAI, these would be difficult instruments to administer
over repeated measurement periods, and respondent burden would be increased.

A-14

The contractor will also use a computer-based data management system for managing the
sample. The sample management system uses data transmission and networking technology to maintain
timely information on respondents in the sample, including contact, tracking, and case completion data.
This system will be particularly important as children move from school to school. The use of sample
management technology will maximize tracking efforts and hence the response rates.

A4.

Efforts to Identify Duplication
The ECLS-K will not be duplicative of other studies. The kindergarten through fifth grade

data collections have focused attention on the educational programs and early childhood experiences of
children and on the ways in which children’s health, family, and school experiences interact to affect their
chances of succeeding in school. The eighth grade through tenth grade data collections will bridge the gap
between studies of early childhood and studies of adolescent growth. It will allow researchers and policy
makers to examine the continuity of the growth of a cohort of children and relate their growth to
variations of their home and schooling experiences.
Furthermore, while a few studies have focused on children’s early learning environments
(e.g., the Office of Policy and Planning’s National Transition Study) or on understanding the structure of
elementary schools (e.g., Schools and Staffing Survey) or have sought to evaluate specific programs (The
Longitudinal Evaluation of School Change and Performance; Chapter 1: Prospects Study), they either do
not provide the longitudinal student-level data that are needed to study the relationships between the
school experience and student outcomes and growth or are concerned primarily with only certain
segments of the student population.
Studies of adolescents, such as the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:
88), the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS: 2002), and the National Longitudinal Study of
Adolescent Health (Add Health), can be used to examine adolescents’ experiences and transitions in the
middle and high school years. While the study of children born to women in the National Longitudinal
Surveys of Youth (NLSY) can provide information on children’s transition from elementary to middle
school, but to do so researchers must compile information on children born in several different years (e.g.,
Magnuson, 2005) and, even then, the information available is more limited. It does not collect
information from children’s teachers or schools, for example.

A-15

A literature search was conducted to identify and review research studies with the same
study purpose and goals as the ECLS-K. To be included in the search the research had to be (1) a surveybased study of a fairly large population, (2) longitudinal in design, and (3) focused on children’s cognitive
development in the elementary, middle, and secondary grades. Although similar studies were found, they
were generally confined to limited geographic areas (e.g., Baltimore, Maryland, and Greensboro, North
Carolina), and related studies conducted on the national level (e.g., Prospects, Children of the National
Longitudinal Survey of Youth [NLSY Child Supplement]) were not based on probability samples of
kindergartners. Prospects began with first graders and targeted Title 1 recipients. NLSY79’s Child
Supplement is based on the children of female sample members of a household-based 1979 sample of 14to 21-year-olds. NELS: 88 and ELS: 2002 begin with students in the middle and high school grades.

A5.

Collection of Data from Small Businesses
Private, not-for-profit, and proprietary elementary and middle schools may be drawn into the

sample. To reduce the perceived burden, the contractor will provide assistance to these facilities as
needed. These proprietary and nonprofit facilities will also benefit from the study’s other burden-reducing
strategies (e.g., instruction kits, toll-free help lines, and prepaid business return envelopes), which were
designed for all types of facilities.

A6.

Consequences of Less Frequent Data Collection
One of the main goals of the ECLS-K is to measure change in children’s cognitive growth

and noncognitive status, as well as changes in the contextual variables (i.e., school, classroom, family,
and community factors) that affect growth. To measure change, baseline information must be collected
and compared to data collected in periodic followups that are linked to the rates of change for school
children and their environments.
For the kindergartners, beginning-of-the-year data collection was needed to obtain baseline
data on children prior to their exposure to the influences of the school. Through direct and indirect
assessments, the baseline study provided measures of the skills, attributes, and knowledge of children as
they entered school for the first time. The data collected at the end of the year were used to examine
changes in children after they have experienced nearly a year of kindergarten. A similar approach was

A-16

used in first grade. In fall of first grade, followups were administered to children in 30 percent subsample
of the schools. This data collection was used to examine changes between the end of kindergarten and the
beginning of first grade, after a summer break. In the spring of first grade, followup instruments were
administered to the full sample, as well as any children who were added to the sample via freshening (see
section B1.1 for more information on freshening). This data collection was used to examine changes
between the end of kindergarten and the end of first grade.
Additional data collections were completed in the spring of third and fifth grades. After fifth
grade, followup instruments will be administered in the spring of eighth grade and, possibly, in the spring
of the tenth grade. This frequency of data collection is linked to the rate of change that is expected for
children of this age and the desire to capture information about children as critical events and transitions
are occurring, rather than measuring these events retrospectively. Without data collection followups, the
study of children’s cognitive and social development through the secondary school is impossible.

A7.

Special Circumstances
No special circumstances apply to this information collection.

A8.

Public Comment and Consultations Outside the Agency
NCES has sought consultation with a range of outside agencies over the life of the ECLS-K.

A brief chronology of these efforts follows.
Consultations with Federal Agencies. During the early development of the ECLS-K (prior
to design contract award), NCES staff met with representatives from a wide range of Federal agencies
with an interest in the care and well-being of children. The goal of this activity was to identify policy and
research issues and data needs. See table A-3 for the representatives consulted.

A-17

Table A-3.—Federal agency consultants
Diane Schilder
Government Accounting Office

Tom Bradshaw
Doug Herbert
National Endowment for the Arts

Cindy Prince
Emily Wurtz
National Education Goals Panel

Jeffrey Thomas
National Endowment for the Humanities

Andy Hartman
National Institute for Literacy

Patricia McKee
U.S. Dept. of Education
OESE Compensatory Education Programs

Mary Queitzsch
Larry Suter
National Science Foundation

Cathie L. Martin
U.S. Dept. of Education
OIE

Michael Ruffner
Bayla White
Brian Harris-Kotijen
Office of Management and the Budget

Scott Brown
Louis Danielson
Glinda Hill
Lisa Holden-Pitt
Kristen Lauer
Marlene Simon-Burroughs
U.S. Dept. of Education
OSEP

John Endahl
Jeff Wilde
Joanne Guthrie
Victor Oliviera
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture

Lisa A. Gorove
U.S. Dept. of Education
OUS, Budget Service, ESVA

A-18

Table A-3.—Federal agency consultants (continued)
Don Hernandez
U.S. Dept. of Commerce
Bureau of the Census
Marriage and Family Statistics

Elois Scott
U.S. Dept. of Education
OUS, PES, ESED

Tim D’Emillio
U.S. Dept. of Education
OBEMLA

Richard Dean
U.S. Dept. of Education
OVAE, Adult Literacy

Naomi Karp
Dave Malouf
Ivor Pritchard
Marsha Silverberg
U.S. Dept. of Education
IES

Jeff Evans
Sarah Friedman
Christine Bachrach
Peggy McCardle
U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services
NICHD
Center for Population Research

Pia Divine
Esther Kresh
U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children, Youth, and Families

Martha Moorehouse
Anne Wolf
U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services
Office of Assistant Secretary for Planning &
Evaluation
Children and Youth Policy

Gerry Hendershot
John Kiley
Michael Kogan
U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services
NCHS

Katrina Baum
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Department of Justice

Lisa Hudson
U.S. Dept. of Education
NCES

A-19

Other Organizations Consulted. After the design contract was awarded, NCES and its
contractor consulted several other organizations (see table A-4) that have an interest in the care, wellbeing, and education of young children. The goal of this activity was again to identify policy and research
issues and data needs.
Table A-4.—Other organization consultants
Mary Jo Lynch, Ph.D.
American Library Association
Office of Research and Statistics
Keith W. Mielkek, Ph.D.
Children’s Television Workshop
Lynson Bobo
Project Associate
Resource Center on Educational Equity
Council of Chief State School Officers
Evelyn Moore
Erica Tollett
National Black Child Development Institute

Susan Bredekamp
Barbara Willer
National Association for the Education of Young
Children
June Million
Sally McConnell
Louanne Wheeler
National Association of Elementary School Principals
Thomas Schultz
Director, Center for Education Services for Young
Learners
National Association of State Boards of Education

Organizations Funding Supplemental Studies to the ECLS-K. Several of the early
government consultations have resulted in interagency agreements funding supplemental studies.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Services and the U.S.
Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs are continuing to support supplemental
and design enhancements to the ECLS-K. The USDA Economic Research Services is funding data
collection from children regarding dietary habits, parents and teachers regarding children’s physical
activity and families food sufficiency status, as well as measuring children’s height and weight at each
data collection point. The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs is
funding the development and administration of a questionnaire for special education teachers about
sampled children with disabilities they teach. The U.S. Department of Education, Planning and
Evaluation Services; Office of Educational Research and Improvement; and Office of Bilingual Education
and Minority Languages Affairs contributed to the study to collect information on and maintain the
sample sizes of low-income children and language minority children. The National Institute of Child and
Human Development contributed to the study to collect information on the skills and knowledge of a
sample of children in fall-first grade.

A-20

Technical Work Group. In preparation for Phase IV, NCES assembled a work group to
provide review and comment on the issues related to the identification of issues to guide development of
the survey instruments. The ECLS-K Technical Work Group for contextual issues (see table A-5) met in
January 26, 2005, in Washington, DC.
Table A-5.—Phase IV Technical Work Group member list
J. Lawrence Aber
New York University

Karl Alexander
Johns Hopkins University

Lynn Addington
American University

David Burkam
University of Michigan

Theresa Austin
University of Massachusetts-Amherst

Kristin Moore
Child Trends

George Farkas
Penn State University

Judith Torney-Purta
University of Maryland, College

Martha Thurlow
University of Minnesota
Institute on Community Integration Park

Russell Rumberger
University of California, Santa Barbara

Content Review Panel. In addition to the Technical Review Panel, a Content Review Panel
was convened to review each of the direct assessment domains for curricular relevance and item validity
(see table A-6). The ECLS-K Content Review Panels discussed each domain of the direct assessment
domains over conference calls in late January 2006. The Science CRP conference call took place on
January 18th, 2006; the Mathematics CRP conference call took place on January 20th, 2006; the
Reading/Language Arts CRP conference call took place on January 20th, 2006; and the Social-Emotional
CRP conference call took place on January 25th, 2006.

A-21

Table A-6.—Phase IV Content Review Panel member list
Mathematics
Hyman Bass
University of Michigan
Andy Porter
University of Madison-Wisconsin
Stephen Pape
Ohio State University
Sally Atkins-Burnett
University of Toledo
Reading/Language Arts
Vera Gutierrez-Clellan
San Diego State University
Yvonne Goddard
University of Michigan
Michael Kamil
Stanford University
Sally Atkins Burnett
University of Toledo

A9.

Science
Russ Conner
Cranbrook Kingswood School, MI
Patricia Dung
Los Angeles Educational Partnership/Los Angeles
Unified School District
Christine O’Sullivan
Consultant for NAEP, TIMSS, etc.
Sally Atkins-Burnett
University of Toledo
Socioemotional
Sally Atkins-Burnett
University of Toledo
Hill Walker
University of Oregon
Kathryn. Wentzel
University of Maryland
Paula Allen-Meares
University of Michigan

Payments to Respondents
Of vital importance to longitudinal studies is obtaining high response rates. Given the

repeated data collection periods and variety of respondents, maintaining high response rates and
minimizing sample attrition are important factors in the success of a longitudinal study such as the
ECLS-K. It is more critical for the eighth grade follow-up of the ECLS-K, because of the purposive
subsampling of movers in the previous rounds to contain the costs associated with following all movers
and the change in schools from elementary to secondary. Obtaining high response rates for all three
groups of respondents, students, parents, and school staff, will be a challenge. Although parents and
students will be familiar with the ECLS-K from their previous participation, most schools and teachers
will not be familiar with the study. Even for parents and students, 3 years will have passed since they
were last interviewed. Moreover, the students now that they are adolescents may be less compliant than
they were as grade school children. For these reasons, incentives are expected to be an important element
in obtaining target response rates for Phase IV data collection activities.

A-22

Existing research suggests that the use of incentives can be especially effective in
longitudinal studies with ongoing burden. The “Symposium on Providing Incentives to Survey
Respondents”, sponsored by OMB and the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics
(COPAFS) held in October 1992, considered a number of incentive-related issues including their
influence on response rates and nonresponse bias. The symposium participants recommended that OMB
“seriously consider the use of incentives” for surveys that targeted difficult respondent populations,
including surveys that are part of longitudinal panels. The use of incentives can increase response rates
and reduce the number of contacts required to produce a complete thereby resulting in cost savings to
projects.
Incentive Plan. Parents will receive a token $2.00 for returning a consent form. In previous
rounds parents have been enthusiastic about the study and a relatively small incentive will likely be
effective. Students, teachers, and schools, however, must be convinced that the study has important and
worthwhile goals and that the data about the students will make a significant contribution to the
understanding of early childhood education. Obtaining high response rates and minimizing sample
attrition is an overriding goal of longitudinal studies. Maintaining the high cooperation rates achieved in
the spring 2004 wave of data collection is of the utmost importance for ensuring that the sample sizes for
the eighth grade data collection are of sufficiently large in size to study various groups of students (e.g.,
racial and ethnic groups, socioeconomic level, etc.). Because some reluctance on the part of students is
expected, students will receive a $15 incentive after the student questionnaire and direct assessments are
completed. Providing incentives to adolescents for participating in surveys has been successfully used in
other studies such as ELS: 2002 to ensure high cooperation rates. Indeed the use of incentives for sample
members in ELS: 2002 provides clear evidence of their effectiveness. Both in an experiment conducted
during the first follow-up field test and during the national study where some schools did not allow the
payment of cash incentives, students receiving cash incentives had significantly higher response rates than
students who did not receive incentives.
While NCES will strive to persuade teachers of the importance of the study, NCES also
recognizes that unusually high levels of burden on teachers could have an adverse impact on participation
rates. In addition to completing questionnaires, teachers are asked to be data collectors, recording their
observations of their eighth grade students on teacher rating scale forms. On average, teachers will spend
approximately 20 minutes completing rating scale forms. This estimate is based on the assumption that
each rating scale form will take 10 minutes to complete and that teachers will average one to three
students (10 minutes per two students per teacher equals 20 minutes or 0.33 hours).

A-23

Without remuneration for their role as data collectors, ECLS-K teachers would be subject to
unusually high levels of burden. Given the unusual burden of the ECLS-K and experience in other schoolbased, longitudinal studies with high institutional and respondent burden, NCES knows that remuneration
enhances response rates. Therefore, NCES recommends remuneration as an effective tool for helping
teachers understand that NCES appreciates their role as data collector. It is for the role of data collector
that NCES will remunerate participating teachers. During the spring 2007 eighth grade data collection,
teachers will receive $25 with the questionnaires they are being asked to complete. This is the approach
used in Grade 5. The grade 5 experience during Phase III demonstrates the importance of respondent
incentives for teachers. Response rates for teacher questionnaires increased from the 62 to 63 percent
range achieved in third grade to 78 to 80 percent in fifth grade. These rates were higher than in any
previous years of the ECLS-K and are likely attributable to the higher incentives employed in fifth grade.
Furthermore, feedback from teachers who participated in the spring 2006 ECLS-K field test indicates that
for 75% of the teachers a monetary incentive is important to secure teacher participation if teachers are
asked to complete questionnaires on multiple children. The school administrator questionnaire is viewed
as burdensome by administrators and requires significant followup to achieve acceptable response rates.
To encourage completion, thereby increasing response rates; school administrators will also receive $25
with their questionnaire.
Schools will be offered an honorarium depending on the number of sampled students in the
school as burden increases with the number of students in the school. The honorarium will be mailed to
the school after all data collection activities are completed in the spring. Schools with one to four students
will be offered $50 honorarium; schools with five to ten students will be offered $75 honorarium; and,
schools with ten or more students will be offered a $100 honorarium.
In the ECLS-K, payment to respondents is primarily to defray the time and expense required
by their participation in the study. With the exceptions of remuneration for teachers and school personnel
complying with their role of data collector, the ECLS-K will comply with the guidelines of 5 CFR
1320.6.
In summary, the remuneration plan for the ECLS-K study of eighth graders is as follows:
1.

Parents will receive a token $2 with the advance package.

2.

Students will receive $15 upon completion of the student interview and direct
assessments.

A-24

A10.

3.

Teachers and school administrators will receive $25 in their questionnaire package.

4.

Schools will receive a $50, $75, or $100 honorarium, depending on the number of
sampled students enrolled, after all spring data collection activities are completed.

Assurance of Confidentiality
The ECLS-K Phase IV plan for ensuring the confidentiality of the project conforms with the

following federal regulations; the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), Privacy Act Regulations (34 CFR
Part 5b), the Hawkins-Stafford Amendments of 1988 (P.L.100-297, the National Education Statistics Act
of 1994, the U.S. Patriot Act of 2001, the Computer Security Act of 1987, NCES Restricted Use Data
Procedures Manual, and the NCES Standards and Policies.
All respondents who participate in research under this clearance will be informed that the
information they provide is and will be kept confidential and that their participation is voluntary. All
respondents receive an introductory letter that explains NCES’s and the contractor’s adherence to
confidentiality (see Exhibit A-1). The parent consent form also includes an explanation of NCES’s and
the contractor’s adherence to confidentiality (see Exhibit A-2). This responsibility to provide
confidentiality will also be conveyed to state, district, and other school officials at the time their
cooperation is sought.
During any personal or telephone interviewing, respondents will be asked if they received
the introductory letter. If the respondent does not recall the letter, the interviewer will summarize the key
elements of the confidentiality assurances; namely, no data will be released that links the respondent to
his/her responses; participation is voluntary; and there is federal statute that provides protection from
disclosure (42 USC 242m, section 308d).
All data collection staff must read and sign the contractor’s professional ethics statement as
well as the Affidavit of Nondisclosure required by NCES. In addition, all contractor staff including data
collection staff with access to individual identifying data are required to submit personal screening
documents in compliance with ACS Directive (OM:5-101).

A-25

Exhibit A-1. Advance Letter to Parents
Dear parent/guardian
As you may remember, you and your child have been participating in the Early
Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K) since your
child was in kindergarten. The ECLS-K is sponsored by the National Center for
Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education’s, Institute of
Education Sciences and conducted by Westat. The early rounds of the ECLS-K have been
so informative that NCES would like to follow the ECLS-K children into middle and
high school.
The study is currently gearing up to follow the sampled children for another round of data
collection in the 2006-2007 school year. During this round, the children will be assessed
at their schools to measure their academic growth. They will also be asked to complete a
short questionnaire that asks them about topics such as schoolwork, participation in
school activities, and snacks available at school. Their English and math or science
teachers will be asked to provide information about their classroom behaviors and
performance. As in previous rounds, we will call you for a telephone interview.
It is important that each and every child continue to take part so that the study will
accurately describe the experiences of kindergarteners in the United States as they grow
and move through elementary school and into middle and high school. The study to date
has been very successful because of the cooperation and participation of the children,
parents, schools, and teachers. Enclosed is a newsletter with information about the study,
as well as some interesting study findings. You can find further information and results
from the study at the government’s web site at http://nces.ed.gov./ecls/kindergarten.asp.
Before we can proceed with the study, we need your permission for your child to
continue to participate in the ECLS-K. Please complete the enclosed permission form,
including telling us the school your child will attend in the fall, and return it to us in the
enclosed envelope. All information collected during the study is confidential. No
information about an individual parent or child will be included in any reports. No names
will be released in any public files or reports. Since the school will not get any of the
information about your child, participation will not affect your child’s grades or progress
in school.
You and your child are very important to the success of the ECLS-K. If you need to get
in touch with us, please call us toll-free at 1-800-750-3517, fax us at 1-800-750-3574, or
send an email to [email protected].
Sincerely yours,

Karen Tourangeau
Project Director
«C_ID»

A-26

Exhibit A-2. Parent Consent Form
Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class 1998-99 (ECLS-K)
Parent Consent Form
You and your child are being asked to take part in the newest round of data collection for the Early
Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class 1998-99 (ECLS-K). The ECLS-K, sponsored by the
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of
Education Sciences and conducted by Westat, follows a nationally representative sample of children from
kindergarten into middle and high school.
The collection of information in this study is authorized by Public Law 107-279 Education Sciences
Reform Act of 2002, Title I, Part C, Sec. 151(b) and Sec. 153(a). Participation is voluntary. Two dollars
for you is enclosed with this mailing. Your child will receive a check for $15.00 as a thank-you for
participating. You may skip questions you do not wish to answer; however, we hope that you will answer
as many questions as you can. Your responses are protected from disclosure by federal statute
(PL 107-279 Title I, Part C, Sec. 183). All responses that relate to or describe identifiable characteristics
of individuals may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable
form for any other purpose, unless otherwise compelled by law. Data will be combined to produce
statistical reports. No individual data that links your name, address, telephone number, or identification
number with your responses will be included in the statistical reports. If you have any questions or
concerns about confidentiality or your rights in this research study, call Elvira Germino-Hausken at
1-202-502-7352.
I have read the letter and the information above. I freely agree to take part, and allow my child to continue
to participate, in the ECLS-K study in middle and high school. I know that data about me, my child, and
my family will be released only as described.
NAME OF CHILD:

ID:

Signature of parent/guardian

Date

Print your name:

First

Middle

Last

SCHOOL INFORMATION
Please provide the information below about the school your child will attend in the 2006-2007 school
year.
SCHOOL NAME:
SCHOOL ADDRESS:
CITY:
TELEPHONE NUMBER: (

STATE:

ZIP CODE:

)

A-27

After data collection, confidentiality is fully protected through the use of passwordprotected data files and the coding of responses so that no one individual respondent can be identified
(specifically or by deduction) through reported variables in the public access data files. NCES monitors
the conduct of the contractor to ensure that the confidentiality of the data is not breached. A separate
locator database for the sample members is maintained in a secure location.
In addition, the contractor will conduct a thorough confidentiality analysis of the ECLS-K
data when preparing the public-use files. This analysis will ensure that NCES has fully complied with the
confidentiality provisions contained in PL 100-297. To protect the privacy of respondents as required by
PL 100-297, respondents with high disclosure risk will be identified and data that can potentially be used
to identify those respondents will be masked.
All contractor staff members working on the ECLS-K project or having access to the data
(including monitoring of interviews and assessments) are required to sign the NCES Affidavit of
Nondisclosure (exhibit A-3) and a Confidentiality Pledge (exhibit A-4). Notarized affidavits are kept on
file by the contractor, and documentation is submitted to NCES quarterly.
During the course of data collection, interviewers will be equipped with laptop computers,
which store any necessary preloaded data as well as the information collected during the course of the
interviewing for that round. The interviewers will be instructed to keep the computers and any hard-copy
case materials in a secure place in their homes when they are not being used. When the interviewer is out
working, she is instructed to keep all materials and the computer in her possession at all times. When
driving a car to or from her appointments, the computer and all materials will be locked out of sight, so as
not to provide an inviting opportunity for burglary. The interviewers will be instructed both to transmit
the case and to mail the hard-copy materials on the same day the case is completed.
The laptop configuration will also be designed with security and confidentiality
considerations in mind. In order to access any of the applications, the interviewer must enter a projectspecific password and her interviewer identification, both of which are checked against encrypted
versions of the same data; if the password or interviewer identification is entered incorrectly, the
interviewer is “locked out” of the application. In addition to the database design described above, in
which data identifying persons or places are kept in separate files from the survey data items, all data files
will be encrypted on the computer hard disk.

A-28

In the event of a hardware failure in the field, the home office will swap the interviewer’s
laptop. The contractor will maintain a supply of “hot spares,” i.e., laptop computers loaded with all
necessary ECLS-K software, which require only the specific interviewer’s identification and assignment
before being sent out.
All mailing—of laptops, hard-copy case materials, or diskettes—will be done using Federal
Express, which has a sophisticated tracking system designed to locate any misdirected packages.
Finally, all CAPI applications will have an audit trail of the case data on the hard disk. This
is so that if the main data files are corrupted, the data can be reconstructed from the audit trails.

A11.

Sensitive Questions
The ECLS-K is a voluntary study, and no persons are required to respond to the

questionnaires or to participate in the assessments. In addition, respondents may decline to answer any
question in the instruments. This voluntary aspect of the survey is clearly stated in the advance letter
mailed to respondents and the study brochure, and it is stressed in interviewer training.
The following describes the general nature of the eighth grade instruments.
School Administrator Questionnaires. These are not of a sensitive nature and should not
pose a problem to respondents.

A-29

Exhibit A-3. NCES Affidavit of Nondisclosure

AFFIDAVIT OF NONDISCLOSURE

(Job Title)

(Date of Assignment to NCES Project)

(Organizations, State or local agency or
instrumentality)

(NCES Database or File Containing Individually
Identifiable Information)

(Address)
I, ____________________________________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that when given access to
the subject NCES database or file, I will not
(i)

use or reveal any individually identifiable information furnished, acquired, retrieved or
assembled by me or others, under the provisions of Section 406 of the General Education
Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1221e-1) for any purpose other than statistical purposes specified in
the NCES survey, project or contract;

(ii)

make any disclosure or publication whereby a sample unit or survey respondent could be
identified or the date furnished by or related to any particular person under this section can be
identified; or

(iii)

permit anyone other than the individuals authorized by the Commissioner of the National
Center for Education Statistics to examine the individual reports.
____________________________________
(Signature)

(The penalty for unlawful disclosure is a fine of not more than $250,000 (under 18 U.S.C. 3559 and 3571)
or imprisonment for not more than 5 years, or both. The word “swear” should be stricken out
wherever it appears when a person elects to affirm the affidavit rather than to swear to it.)
State of ____________________
County of ____________________________________
Sworn and subscribed to me before a Notary Public in and for the aforementioned County and State this
_____________________________________ day of _____________________________________ 2006.
___________________________________
(Notary Public)

A-30

Exhibit A-4. Confidentiality Pledge
EMPLOYEE OR CONTRACTOR’S ASSURANCE OF CONFIDENTIALITY OF SURVEY DATA
Statement of Policy
{Contractor} is firmly committed to the principle that the confidentiality of individual data obtained through {Contractor} surveys must
be protected. This principle holds whether or not any specific guarantee of confidentiality was given at time of interview (or self-response), or
whether or not there are specific contractual obligations to the client. When guarantees have been given or contractual obligations regarding
confidentiality have been entered into, they may impose additional requirements which are to be adhered to strictly.

Procedures for Maintaining Confidentiality
1.

All {Contractor} employees and field workers shall sign this assurance of confidentiality. This assurance may be superseded by
another assurance for a particular project.

2.

Field workers shall keep completely confidential the names of respondents, all information or opinions collected in the course
of interviews, and any information about respondents learned incidentally during field work. Field workers shall exercise
reasonable caution to prevent access by others to survey data in their possession.

3.

Unless specifically instructed otherwise for a particular project, an employee or field worker, upon encountering a respondent
or information pertaining to a respondent that s/he knows personally, shall immediately terminate the activity and contact
her/his supervisor for instructions.

4.

Survey data containing personal identifiers in {Contractor} offices shall be kept in a locked container or a locked room when
not being used each working day in routine survey activities. Reasonable caution shall be exercised in limiting access to survey
data to only those persons who are working on the specific project and who have been instructed in the applicable
confidentiality requirements for that project.
Where survey data have been determined to be particularly sensitive by the Corporate Officer in charge of the project or the
President of {Contractor}, such survey data shall be kept in locked containers or in a locked room except when actually being
used and attended by a staff member who has signed this pledge.

5.

Ordinarily, serial numbers shall be assigned to respondents prior to creating a machine-processible record and identifiers such
as name, address, and Social Security number shall not, ordinarily, be a part of the machine record. When identifiers are part of
the machine data record, {Contractor's Manager of Data Processing} shall be responsible for determining adequate
confidentiality measures in consultation with the project director. When a separate file is set up containing identifiers or linkage
information which could be used to identify data records, this separate file shall be kept locked up when not actually being used
each day in routine survey activities.

6.

When records with identifiers are to be transmitted to another party, such as for keypunching or key taping, the other party shall
be informed of these procedures and shall sign an Assurance of Confidentiality form.

7.

Each project director shall be responsible for ensuring that all personnel and contractors involved in handling survey data on a
project are instructed in these procedures throughout the period of survey performance. When there are specific contractual
obligations to the client regarding confidentiality, the project director shall develop additional procedures to comply with these
obligations and shall instruct field staff, clerical staff, consultants, and any other persons who work on the project in these
additional procedures. At the end of the period of survey performance, the project director shall arrange for proper storage or
disposition of survey data including any particular contractual requirements for storage or disposition. When required to turn
over survey data to our clients, we must provide proper safeguards to ensure confidentiality up to the time of delivery.

8.

Project directors shall ensure that survey practices adhere to the provisions of the U.S. Privacy Act of 1974 with regard to
surveys of individuals for the Federal Government. Project directors must ensure that procedures are established in each survey
to inform each respondent of the authority for the survey, the purpose and use of the survey, the voluntary nature of the survey
(where applicable) and the effects on the respondents, if any, of not responding.
PLEDGE

I hereby certify that I have carefully read and will cooperate fully with the above procedures. I will keep completely confidential all
information arising from surveys concerning individual respondents to which I gain access. I will not discuss, disclose, disseminate, or provide
access to survey data and identifiers except as authorized by {Contractor}. In addition, I will comply with any additional procedures established
by {Contractor} for a particular contract. I will devote my best efforts to ensure that there is compliance with the required procedures by
personnel whom I supervise. I understand that violation of this pledge is sufficient grounds for disciplinary action, including dismissal. I also
understand that violation of the privacy rights of individuals through such unauthorized discussion, disclosure, dissemination, or access may
make me subject to criminal or civil penalties. I give my personal pledge that I shall abide by this assurance of confidentiality.
________________________________
Signature

A-31

Teacher Rating Scale Forms. This information could be regarded as sensitive, because the
teacher is asked to assess each sampled student’s ability to exercise self-control, interact with others,
resolve conflict, and participate in group activities. Other questions ask about the student’s problem
behaviors and his/her learning disposition (e.g., curiosity, self-direction, and inventiveness). Because
schools often emphasize different skills and concepts, teachers will also be asked to rate student’s
performance in the curricular areas and domains that are included in the cognitive assessments (e.g.,
language skills, quantitative skills, and knowledge of the physical, social, and biological worlds).
The purpose of the teacher rating scale of students is both to extend the range of domains
assessed (e.g., by gathering information about socioemotional development and adaptation to school) and
to deepen our understanding of domains that are being tapped in multiple ways (e.g., by gathering
information on cognitive development that will complement and confirm results of the direct assessment).
Teacher assessments of students’ skills will provide several kinds of information. First, teachers will
supply information about student’s social skills (including ability to exercise self-control, interact with
others, resolve conflict, and participate in group activities); problem behaviors (e.g., fighting, bullying,
arguing, anger, depression, low self-esteem, impulsiveness, etc.); and learning dispositions (e.g.,
curiosity, self-direction, and inventiveness). In addition, teachers will be asked to provide information
about the subject-specific cognitive skills and development of students, including both expressive and
receptive aspects of language development, quantitative skills, and knowledge of the physical, social, and
biological worlds.
Direct Cognitive Assessments and Questionnaires. The direct cognitive assessments are
essential in determining students’ performance levels at the time they enter school and changes in their
performance as they progress through school. Because schools often use different standards in their own
assessments of students, a uniform set of assessment instruments and procedures is needed for the
ECLS-K.
The items to be included in the direct cognitive assessments are not themselves sensitive in
nature. However, direct assessments of students do raise certain concerns about the assessment
procedures to be used. Of primary concern is the length of the assessments. The cognitive assessments are
designed to be administered within a 60-minute time period, on average.
NCES has developed instruments appropriate to the ages of the students, and the contractor
will make every effort to staff field assessors who have prior experience in working with adolescents to

A-32

conduct the direct assessments. Issues specific to working with adolescents will also figure prominently in
assessor training. The collection of information from students will be collected with active parent consent.
Students may not be questioned about the eight sensitive topics identified in the Protection of Pupil
Rights Act (PPRA). Every effort will be made to avoid questions that fall into these sensitive subject
areas. Items for which it must be determined whether in OMB's interpretation they fall under the PPRA
have been marked with an asterisk, and will be deleted if OMB judges them to be sensitive items within
the PPRA definition.
Parent Questionnaires. Several topics that will be addressed in the parent questionnaire are
sensitive in nature. Questions about parent income, child-rearing practices, parental discipline, parents’
judgments about their children’s academic skills and abilities and parents’ marital satisfaction will be
included in the parent questionnaire.
Prior research indicates that each of these topics is correlated with student achievement and
helps to predict children’s preparedness for and success in school. Collecting data on these topics will
allow researchers to go beyond descriptive analyses of children’s performance by variables, such as
race-ethnicity and sex. Researchers will be able to test hypotheses about how a wide range of family
variables affects early success in school. It is, therefore, important to include questions on the sensitive
topics listed above in the parent questionnaires.
Results from previous rounds of data collection showed that there were very low levels of
missing data in the parent interviews. Thus, although there were sensitive items in the questionnaire,
parents were willing to provide the required information.

A12.

Estimated Response Burden
The estimated respondent burden for the eighth grade national collection is summarized here

and in table A-7. Note that table A-7 has been modified from the version included in the previously
submitted OMB package (October 2005) to only include burden hours for the spring 2007 eighth grade
data collection (i.e., hours attributable to the concluded spring 2006 field test have been removed from the
table).

A-33

Table A-7.—Respondent burden chart
Eighth grade followup

A-34

Respondent type
Spring-Eighth Grade Main
Study (Spring 2007)
Spring School Administrator
Questionnaires (SQ)
Spring Classroom Teacher
Questionnaire (TQ)
English Questionnaire
Science Questionnaire
Math Questionnaire
Teacher Background
Questionnaire
Spring Special Education Teacher
Questionnaire (SP)
Questionnaire A
Questionnaire B
Spring Student Questionnaire
Spring Parent
Interview
Study Total

Sample N

Response rate/
selection rate

Number of
respondents

Hours per
instrument

Number of
instruments per
respondent

Total hours

Total number of
instruments

0.50

1

1,203

2,405

2,801
1,400
1,400

.25
.25
.25

4
4
4

2,729
1,365
1,365

10,916
5,458
5,458

.90

5,602

.167

1

936

5,602

708

.90

637

708
708
12,129

0.90
0.90
0.90

637
637
10,916

.083
.167
0.34

1
2
1

53
213
3,711

637
1,274
10,916

12,129

0.85

10,310

0.75

1

7,732

10,310

34,0191

NA

29,8702

NA

NA

19,307

52,976

2,829

0.85

2,405

6,224

.90

5,602

3,112
1,556
1,556

.90
.90
.90

6,224

NA Not applicable
1 Total Sample N represents the total sample size of respondents, with no duplication on the number of listed instruments each respective respondent is asked to complete.
2 Total Number of respondents represents the total number of respondents, with no duplication on the number of listed instruments each respective respondent is asked to complete.

The spring-eighth grade data collection includes direct cognitive assessments with students,
student self-administered questionnaires, parent interviews, regular classroom teacher self-administrated
questionnaires, classroom teacher rating scales of students, special education teacher self-administrated
questionnaires, special education teacher ratings scores of students (receiving services), and school
administrator self-administered questionnaires. The total number of respondents (school administrators,
teachers, students, and parents) without duplication included in the estimate is 29,870. The teacher,
parent, student, and school administrator respondent burden translates into a cost amount of $294,224 for
16,576 hours. 1 The time students will spend completing the assessments has not been included in the
estimated burden, nor has the time teachers and school personnel will spend serving as data collectors
because these respondents are being remunerated for their time spent on these activities.
A13.

Annualized Cost to Respondents
There are no costs to the respondents to participate beyond the time needed to answer the

questionnaires, for teachers to collect assessment data, and for the students to participate in the cognitive
assessments. These costs are summarized in the previous section describing respondent burden.
A14.

Annualized Cost to the Federal Government
This information collection activity has been developed in performance of NCES contract

ED-04-CO-0059/0009. The period of performance for the ECLS-K, including the field test, and national
study, runs from August 2005 through December 2007. The total cost to the government for contractor
and subcontractor costs is $13,952,703. This cost covers one eighth grade data collection, one eighth and
tenth grade field test, and the design enhancements. Table A-9 provides the costs by year.

Table A-8.—Study costs per year

1

Year

Amount

2005

$2,790,541

2006

$9,766,892

2007

$1,395,270

An hourly rate of $17.75 was used to translate teacher, parent, student, and school administrator response time into a dollar amount. This rate is
based on the National Compensation Survey. See U.S. Department of Labor (2004). National Compensation Survey: Occupational Wages in
the United States: July 2003. Washington, DC: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Available online at http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/sp/ncbl0658.pdf.

A-35

Any changes in the cost of the information collection to the government resulting from the
field test experience will be reported to OMB in memoranda describing the changes and their rationale.

A15.

Reasons for Program Changes
This submission requests data collection approval for the eighth grade follow-up main study.

The response burden chart (table A-7) has been modified from the version that was previously submitted
in October 2005 due to the results of pilot testing of the instruments, modifications suggested by the
Content Review Panel and other instrument reviewers, and results of the Spring 2006 field test.

A16.

Publication Plans and Project Schedule

A16.1

Publication Plans
In addition to the delivery of the data to NCES, the contractor will produce a restricted-use

file and a public-use file, with codebooks and user manuals. All data will be merged to the child level.
These files will include all instrument variables and any relevant associated variables, such as composites
or scores. These variables will be in the format of the Electronic Code Book (ECB), and a record layout
will be provided so that analysis packages other than SAS/PC and SPSS/PC could be used (e.g., analysis
packages for the Macintosh).
The ECB allows users to browse through the different data files, creating lists of variables
for further analysis. These variables may either be examined as code book items (including full variable
descriptions with unweighted frequencies) or may be used to subset other variables. The ECB software
also writes out SAS and SPSS code to read in the data files, should the user want to conduct further
analyses using either statistical package. The ECB will be delivered with a user’s guide that provides
details on the contents of the data files, hardware/software needs and considerations, ECB features,
installation procedures, and step-by-step descriptions of how to use the ECB.
In addition to the public-use and restricted-use files, a public-use longitudinal file will be
provided. This public-use data file combines data from the kindergarten and first grade, third grade, fifth

A-36

grade, and eighth grade years. It will contain cross-year weights so that analysts can examine children’s
growth and development between kindergarten and eighth grade. To streamline the file, certain discreet
pieces of data, such as the household roster that lists all household members and their relationship to the
sampled child, are not included on the file. Instead, composite variables summarizing these data will be
added to the file.
The data file user’s manual will include an introduction to the purpose and scope of the
ECLS-K, as well as how the ECLS-K fits in the overall picture of NCES/U.S. Department of Education
data collection efforts; a description of the ECLS-K design and questionnaires; information about
sampling and weighting; a discussion of the data collection effort; a review of the data preparation
activities, including coding and editing and the systems that supported that work; a guide to the layout of
the data file and to the layout of the codebook; and an explanation of any anomalies or pitfalls that users
may encounter while using the data.
NCES understands the legal and ethical need to preserve the confidentiality of the ECLS-K
survey data, and, with the contractor, has extensive experience in developing public use data files that
meet the government’s requirements to maintain individual confidentiality. The researchers have
experience on other surveys meeting the standards set forth in “Statistical Standards for Maintaining
Confidentiality.” A variety of masking strategies will ensure that individuals may not be identified from
the public data files. These strategies include omitting key identification variables such as name, address,
telephone number, school name and address, and state or ZIP Code from the public use file; collapsing
categories or developing categories for continuous variables to retain information for analytic purposes
while preserving confidentiality; and “topcoding” continuous variables. 2
The confidential, restricted-use file will be a superset of the public-use file. That is, the
restricted-use file will contain all variables, including variables that have been changed for confidentiality
reasons.
Other ECLS-K Phase IV reports or publications include the detailed methodological reports
(one for the field test and full-scale study) describing all aspects of the data collection effort and
psychometric properties of the assessment instruments.

2

Topcoding refers to the process of recoding outlier values to some acceptable end value. For instance, everyone with a personal income higher
than $100,000 may be recoded to $100,000 to eliminate the outliers.

A-37

A16.2

Project Schedule
The schedule for the ECLS-K is demanding. Table A-10 details the critical project

milestones.
Table A-9.—Critical project milestones

Start of 8th grade data collection
End of 8th grade data collection

A17.

September 1, 2006
August 19, 2007

Approval for Not Displaying the Expiration Date for OMB Approval
No exemption from the requirement to display the expiration date for OMB approval of the

information collection is being requested for the ECLS-K.

A18.

Exceptions to the Certification Statement
No exceptions to the certification statement identified in item 19, “Certification for

Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions,” of OMB Form 83-I apply to the ECLS-K.

A-38