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2007 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES: 2007)

OMB: 1850-0768

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NHES:2007

Request for

IMT/OMB Review

August 30, 2006

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Section Page

PART A: JUSTIFICATION 1

Request for Clearance 1

Introduction 1

A.1. Circumstances Necessitating Collection of Information 10

A.2. Purposes and Uses of the Data 14

A.3. Use of Improved Information Technology 15

A.4. Efforts to Identify Duplication 16

A.5. Collection of Data from Small Businesses 25

A.6. Consequences of Less Frequent Data Collection 25

A.7. Special Circumstances 26

A.8. Public Comment and Consultations Outside the Agency 26

A.9. Payments to Respondents 34

A.10. Assurance of Confidentiality 35

A.11. Sensitive Questions 38

A.12. Estimated Response Burden 39

A.13. Annualized Cost to Respondents 41

A.14. Annualized Cost to the Federal Government 41

A.15. Reasons for Program Changes 41

A.16. Publication Plans and Project Schedule 41

A.17. Approval for Not Displaying the Expiration Date for OMB Approval 51

A.18. Exceptions to the Certification Statement 51

PART B. DESCRIPTION OF STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY 53

B.1. Statistical Design and Estimation 53

B.2. Survey Procedures 88

B.3. Methods for Maximizing Response Rates 95

B.4. Tests of Procedures and Methods 97

B.5. Individuals Responsible for Study Design and Performance 109

PART C: JUSTIFICATION OF NHES:2007 QUESTIONNAIRES 111

C.1. Screener 111

C.2. School Readiness and Parent and Family Involvement in Education Interview 118

C.3. Adult Education for Work-Related Reasons Interview 138

C.4. PFI Reinterview 149

References 151

Appendix A: Screener, School Readiness and Parent and Family Involvement in Education Interview, Adult Education for Work-Related Reasons Interview, and PFI
Reinterview A-1

Appendix B: Respondent Materials B-1

Appendix C: Details About Sample Size Requirement C-1

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

Table 1. Estimated response burden for NHES:2007 40

Table 2. Race/ethnicity distribution of completed interviews in NHES:2003: Actual counts and percentages compared to counts and percentages expected without oversampling in the high minority stratum: 2003 62

Table 3. Screener response rates and ever refusal rates, by incentive group: 2003 65

Table 4. Expected numbers of sampled telephone numbers and completed Screeners, and expected residency and Screener unit response rates, by stratum: 2007 73

Table 5. Percentage of telephone households with eligible children, by age/grade group: CPS 2003 80

Table 6. Expected number of screened households in NHES:2007, by household composition: CPS 2003 81

Table 7. Expected number of adults sampled for AEWR interviews, by number of adults and presence of eligible children in household: 2007 82

Table 8. Expected numbers sampled and expected numbers of completed interviews in the telephone sample for NHES:2007 83

Table 9. Comparison of expected number of persons sampled for extended interview in NHES:2007 to the numbers sampled in previous survey administrations 85

Table 10. Comparison of expected numbers of completed interviews in NHES:2007 to the numbers completed in previous survey administrations 86

LIST OF EXHIBITS

Exhibit Page

Exhibit 1. Topics addressed in surveys conducted under the National Household Education Surveys Program and years administered 2

Exhibit 2. NCES Affidavit of Nondisclosure 36

Exhibit 3. Westat Confidentiality Pledge 37

Exhibit 4. NHES 2007 schedule of major activities 51

Exhibit 5. NXXType codes 58

Exhibit 6. Key design features of the NHES:2007 nonresponse bias evaluation 68

Exhibit 7. Overview of the sampling scheme for selecting adults based on household composition 79

LIST OF EXHIBITS-Continued

Exhibit Page

Exhibit C-1. Item-by-item description of the NHES:2007 Screener 116

Exhibit C-2. Item-by-item description of NHES:2007 School Readiness Interview and Parent

and Family Involvement in Education Interview 127

Exhibit C-3. Item-by-item description of NHES-2007 Adult Education for Work-Related Reasons

Interview 143

This page is intentionally blank.

PART A: JUSTIFICATION

Request for Clearance

This request is for clearance to conduct the 2007 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES:2007), including household screening, three topical surveys, and a reinterview for one topical survey. NHES:2007 includes a nonresponse bias study that involves in-person followup with households that do not respond to the survey by telephone. In addition, NHES:2007 will include a small supplemental sample of likely homeschooling families in order to examine whether such families respond to the survey at different rates than the population as a whole. The request for clearance reflects previous discussions with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) about the use of respondent incentives and a study of potential nonresponse bias in the NHES data.

NHES:2007 data collection will involve the screening of approximately 67,997 households and conducting interviews for three topical surveys. The total screening number includes a national random-digit-dial sample (62,000 Screeners), an address sample in 30 primary sampling units (PSUs) nationwide (5,235 Screeners), and a supplemental sample of known homeschooling families (762 Screeners). The topical surveys for NHES:2007 are the School Readiness Survey (SR), the Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey (PFI), and the Adult Education for Work-Related Reasons Survey (AEWR). Because of the overlap in content areas and populations for the SR and PFI surveys, they have been incorporated in a single instrument (see page 9 for further information). The reinterview will incorporate a limited number of items from the PFI survey, addressing important policy questions and testing new items including school choice, the identification of children’s schools using a school look-up function, tutoring, television viewing, and factors affecting parent participation. A total of 1,250 cases will be sampled for the reinterview at about two week intervals, beginning about three weeks after the start of data collection, with a target of 1,000 completed reinterviews.

Clearance is requested by November 15, 2006, so that the training of data collection staff may begin in mid-December and data collection may begin in early January 2007.

Introduction

The National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES) was developed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to collect information on important educational issues through random digit dial (RDD) telephone surveys of households in the United States.

NHES was developed by NCES to complement its institutional surveys. This program is the principal mechanism for addressing topics that cannot be addressed in institutional data collections. By collecting data directly from households, NHES enables NCES to gather data on a wide range of issues, such as early childhood care and education, children’s readiness for school, parent perceptions of school safety and discipline, before- and after-school activities of school-age children, participation in adult and continuing education, parent involvement in education, and civic involvement. NHES uses RDD and computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) and has been conducted by Westat, a social science research organization, in the winter and spring of 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2003, and 2005. As shown in exhibit 1, each administration has included more than one topical survey.

Exhibit 1. Topics addressed in surveys conducted under the National Household Education Surveys Program and years administered

Survey topics	NHES survey administration
Survey topics	1991	1993	1995	1996	1999¹	2001	2003	2005
Early childhood education/program participation								
Adult education								
School readiness					
School safety and discipline		
Parent and family involvement in education							
Civic involvement					
After-school programs and activities			²			³		
Household and library use				

¹NHES:1999 was a special end-of-decade administration that measured key indicators from the surveys fielded during the 1990s. See text below for further explanation.

²These items were only asked about children in kindergarten through grade 3.

³The NHES:2001 survey about after-school programs and activities (ASPA) also included before-school programs.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES), 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2001 and 2003.

The first test of the NHES design was a large field test conducted in the fall of 1989. This effort, which included the screening of about 15,000 households, included surveys on the following two topics: school dropouts (interviews were conducted with adult household respondents and 14- to 21-year-old youths) and early childhood education (interviews were conducted with parents/guardians^¹ of 3- to 5-year-olds). The design of the field test and the results of the field test data collection activities are described in an Overview of the NHES Field Test (Brick et al. 1992).

The following sections provide more detailed information on the topical areas addressed in the full-scale NHES administrations and the survey populations associated with each topic.

Early Childhood Education/Program Participation

The nonparental care and education of preschool children has been an important recurring topic for NHES and was the subject of the 1991 Early Childhood Education Survey (ECE-NHES:1991) and the Early Childhood Program Participation Surveys of 1995, 2001, and 2005 (ECPP-NHES:1995, ECPP-NHES:2001, and ECPP-NHES:2005). In addition, selected items about nonparental care were included in the 1999 Parent Survey (Parent-NHES:1999). The ECPP surveys have provided cross-sectional, national estimates of participation in early care and education programs for children in varying age groups, depending on the specific research questions addressed in a given survey. Estimates can be computed for White, Black, and Hispanic children and for subgroups composed of 2- to 3-year age groups or two to three grades in school, depending on the survey year.^² In addition, the surveys were designed to support the analysis of change in early childhood care and education over time.

In ECE-NHES:1991, 13,298 parents of children ages 3 through 8 and 9-year-olds in first or second grade completed interviews about their children’s early childhood education, including participation in nonparental care by relatives, nonrelatives, or in center-based programs (including Head Start). They also answered questions about early school experiences, including delayed kindergarten entry and grade retention, and activities children engaged in with parents and other family members inside and outside the home. For ECPP-NHES:1995, the population was expanded to include children newborn through third grade. Parents of 14,064 children from birth through third grade were asked detailed questions about their children’s participation in nonparental care and education programs. Other items captured information about early school experiences of school-age children and home and out-of-home family activities with children. ECPP-NHES:2001 focused on children from birth through age 6 who were not yet enrolled in kindergarten; interviews were completed with parents of 6,749 children. In addition to obtaining the same in-depth information on relative care, nonrelative care, center-based program participation, and participation in Early Head Start and Head Start, questions designed to capture continuity of care, parents’ perceptions of the quality of care, and reasons for choosing parental over nonparental care were included. ECPP-NHES:2005 was the fifth collection for this topic. Interviews were conducted with parents of 7,209 children from birth through age 6 and not yet enrolled in kindergarten. Like previous NHES surveys on this topic, in-depth information was collected about relative care, nonrelative care, center-based program participation, and participation in Early Head Start and Head Start, as well as family activities and emerging literacy and numeracy.

Information on early childhood care and program participation for preschool children was also gathered in Parent-NHES:1999, which collected data on key indicators that had been measured in previous NHES collections in order to provide the U.S. Department of Education (ED) with end-of-decade estimates for important education issues. Parent-NHES:1999 was administered to parents of 24,600 children from birth through grade 12, including parents of 6,939 infants, toddlers, and preschoolers for whom information was collected on nonparental care by relatives, nonrelatives, and in center-based programs. Detailed information about children’s health and disability status and parent and family characteristics has also been obtained in all NHES ECPP surveys, as well as in Parent-NHES:1999.

Adult Education

Adult educational activities capture the interest of educational researchers and policymakers interested in the phenomenon of learning over the lifetime. Adult Education Surveys were conducted in 1991, 1995, 1999, and 2005 (AE-NHES:1991, AE-NHES:1995, AE-NHES:1999, AE-NHES:2005); the Adult Education and Lifelong Learning Survey was administered in 2001 (AELL-NHES:2001); and the Adult Education for Work-Related Reasons Survey was conducted in 2003 (AEWR-NHES:2003). Each of the surveys provided cross-sectional, national estimates of educational participation for noninstitutionalized persons 16 years and older who were not enrolled in grade 12 or below and not on active duty in the U.S. armed forces, as well as estimates for White, Black, and Hispanic adults. The 1995 and 2001 surveys provided estimates for adults who did not have a high school diploma or its equivalent. The surveys were also designed to permit the analysis of change over time in educational participation.

In the 1991, 1995, 1999, 2001, and 2005 administrations, respondents were asked about their participation in basic skills courses, English as a second language (ESL) courses, postsecondary credential (degree or diploma) programs, apprenticeships, work-related courses, courses taken for personal development or personal interest. In addition, AELL-NHES:2001 obtained information about informal learning at work, and AE-NHES:2005 obtained information about informal learning for personal interest. Sample sizes for these surveys ranged from 6,697 to 19,722 depending on the survey year and the specific analytical goals for each collection. Adults participating in programs or courses provided details about those programs or courses, such as subject matter, duration, cost, location and sponsorship, and employer support. In AE-NHES:1991 and AE-NHES:1995, adults who had not participated in selected types of adult education were asked about their interest in educational activities and the barriers to participation in educational activities that they perceived. A battery of personal background, employment, and household questions was also asked in each adult education survey.

AEWR-NHES:2003 was the first administration of an NHES survey focusing specifically on work-related education and training. Information was collected from 12,725 adults on participation in four types of formal educational activities in the previous 12 months: college and university degree or certificate programs for work-related reasons; vocational/technical school diploma or degree programs for work-related reasons; apprenticeships; and formal work-related courses. In addition, adults were asked about participation in less formal learning activities related to a job or career. The interview included questions about reasons for participation and the outcomes of participation. Employer support for educational activities was also a key area of interest in this survey. A new series of items developed for this survey addressed factors associated with participation or nonparticipation in work-related adult education activities.

AEWR-NHES:2007 will collect current information on participation in adult education for work-related reasons. In addition to providing cross-sectional, national estimates, AEWR-NHES:2007 will provide the ability to measure change in participation over time.

School Readiness

The School Readiness Survey was conducted in 1993 (SR-NHES:1993); a subset of key items was also included in Parent-NHES:1999. Adopting a broad approach to assessing children’s readiness for entering school, the survey encompassed a range of items related to learning. Parents of 10,888 3- to 7-year-olds who were in second grade or below and children age 8 and 9 who were still in first or second grade completed interviews about their children’s developmental accomplishments and difficulties, including emerging literacy and numeracy, center-based program participation, educational activities with family members, and health and nutrition status. Parents of children in elementary school were also asked about school adjustment, early school experiences, and feedback from teachers on children’s school adjustment. Information about family stability and other risk factors was collected along with parent and household characteristics. SR-NHES:1993 provided cross-sectional, national estimates for the population of interest, for White, Black, and Hispanic subgroups, and for preschoolers (children ages 3 to 5 and not yet in kindergarten) and students in early elementary grades (K-2).

School Readiness items addressing emerging literacy and numeracy were also administered to parents of 3,631 preschoolers in Parent-NHES:1999, parents of 3,150 preschoolers in ECPP-NHES:2001, and parents of 7,209 preschoolers in ECPP-NHES:2005.

While some items from the SR survey have been included in subsequent NHES collections, SR-NHES:2007 will be the second NHES survey focusing specifically on School Readiness. The survey will provide current cross-sectional estimates as well as providing the ability to measure change over time.

School Safety and Discipline

In 1993, NHES included the School Safety and Discipline Survey (SSD-NHES:1993). Interviews were conducted with parents of 12,680 students in grades 3 through 12 and with 6,504 youth in grades 6 through 12. Parents and youth were asked about the school learning environment, discipline policy, safety at school, victimization, availability and use of alcohol and drugs, and alcohol and drug education. Youth were also asked about peer norms for achievement and behavior in school and substance use. The survey addressed parents’ contributions to their children’s learning environment through questions about parental expectations for academic achievement and good behavior at school, parental efforts to educate and protect their children, and parental involvement in the school. Parent and family characteristics were also collected. SSD-NHES:1993 provided national estimates of the topics above for the full population of interest, for White, Black, and Hispanic children, and for children in grades 3 through 5, 6 through 8, and 9 through 12.

Parent and Family Involvement in Education and Civic Involvement

The Parent and Family Involvement in Education and Civic Involvement Survey was conducted in 1996 (PFI/CI-NHES:1996). Key family involvement items were incorporated in Parent-NHES:1999 as well, and NHES:2003 included a survey focusing specifically on parent and family involvement (PFI-NHES:2003). PFI/CI-NHES:1996 focused on parents’ participation in educational activities at home as well as participation in various capacities at the programs or schools their children attended. The population of interest was children age 3 through 12th grade; interviews were conducted with parents of 20,792 sampled children. Questions for 19,581 children who attended school or a center-based program addressed specific ways the family was involved in the school/program, communication with teachers and other school practices to involve families, and parent involvement with children’s homework. Parents of all children responded to questions about parent and family involvement with their children in educational activities outside of school. Children’s contact with nonresidential parents and the involvement of those parents with school was also captured. An additional topic for parents of preschoolers was support and training received for parenting.

The civic involvement of parents of students in grades 6 though 12 and that of the students themselves, as well as a separate random sample of adults, was addressed in PFI/CI-NHES:1996 and in two other 1996 surveys, the Youth Civic Involvement Survey (YCI-NHES:1996) and the Adult Civic Involvement Survey (ACI-NHES:1996). The topic of community service was expanded for inclusion in the end-of-decade 1999 Youth Survey (Youth-NHES:1999). Questions related to the diverse ways that parents and other adults may socialize children for informed civic participation. The surveys were intended to provide an assessment of the opportunities that youth have to develop the personal responsibility and skills that would facilitate their taking an active role in civic life, such as through exposure to information about politics or national issues, through discussion of politics and national issues, and by the example of adults who participate in community or civic life. Questions about attitudes that relate to democratic values and knowledge about government were also included. In Youth-NHES:1999, special emphasis was placed on the opportunities youth had for participation in community service and the extent of school efforts to support youth community involvement.

PFI/CI-NHES:1996 and Parent-NHES:1999 provided cross-sectional, national estimates of the topics described above for all children in the population of interest, for White, Black, and Hispanic children, for preschoolers, and for 3-grade groupings. YCI-NHES:1996 (8,043 interviews) and Youth-NHES:1999 (7,913 interviews) provided national estimates for 6th through 8th graders and 9th through 12th graders. ACI-NHES:1996 (2,250 interviews) provided estimates that could be used to compare adults in households without children age 3 through 12th grade to adults in households with children in this age/grade range.

PFI-NHES:2003 focused on children and youth in kindergarten through 12th grade and addressed school experiences, family participation in schools, school practices to involve and support families, family involvement in schoolwork, and family involvement outside of school. Homeschooling parents were asked about their reasons for choosing and resources for implementing homeschooling. The involvement of nonresidential parents was also addressed, when applicable. In addition, information was collected on the child’s or youth’s health and disability status, and child and parent demographic characteristics. A total of 12,426 interviews were completed with parents of eligible children and youth. PFI-NHES:2003 provided current national, cross-sectional estimates for the population of interest and provided the ability to examine change over time.

PFI-NHES:2007 will repeat the collection of information on parent and family involvement in their children’s education, and will provide both cross-sectional estimates and the opportunity to measure change over time.

After-School Programs and Activities

The ways that parents arrange for supervision and enrichment during the out-of-school hours for children who are enrolled in kindergarten through introduced as a topic in Parent-NHES:1999. (ECPP-NHES:1995 included questions about whether care arrangements and programs occurred before school, after school, or both, but that survey did not collect information about after-school activities). In 1999, parents of 12,396 children in kindergarten through eighth grade reported on their children’s participation in care by relatives, nonrelatives, and in center-based programs, as well as their participation in after-school activities arranged to provide adult supervision. The 2001 Before- and After-School Programs and Activities Survey (ASPA-NHES:2001), collected detailed information from parents of 9,583 children in kindergarten through eighth grade about the before- and after-school arrangements in which their children participated, including care by relatives or nonrelatives in private homes, before- or after-school programs in centers and in schools, activities that might provide adult supervision in the out-of-school hours, and children’s self-care. Items also addressed continuity of care arrangements, parental perceptions of quality, reasons for choosing parental care, and obstacles to participation in nonparental arrangements. The child’s health and disability status and characteristics of the parents and household were also collected. Both Parent-NHES:1999 and ASPA-NHES:2001 provided cross-sectional, national estimates of participation in various types of arrangements for children in the population of interest as well as for White, Black, and Hispanic children, and for those in kindergarten through fifth grade and sixth through eighth grade. In addition, these data can be used to examine change in participation over time.

NHES:2005 addressed after-school programs and activities for children in kindergarten through eighth grade; because there was little variance observed in before-school activities in ASPA-NHES:2001, it was decided to focus on after-school activities in NHES:2005. Interviews were conducted with parents of 11,684 children in these grades. Information was obtained on participation in relative care, nonrelative care, center- or school-based programs, self care, and after-school activities. In addition, information on the child’s health and disability status and characteristics of the parents and household was also collected.

Household and Library Use

The Household and Library Use Survey of 1996 (HHL-NHES:1996) examined public library use by household members. This brief survey was administered to every household screened in 1996. The items tapped the ways that household members used public libraries (e.g., borrowing books, attending lectures, attending story hours) and the purposes for using public libraries (e.g., for school assignments, enjoyment, work-related projects). In addition, demographic and educational information was collected about each household member. HHL-NHES:1996 provided cross-sectional, national estimates of household characteristics and library use for all households in the United States as well as estimates by state.

NHES:2007 Surveys

As noted above, NHES:2007 includes three surveys: The School Readiness Survey (SR), the Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey (PFI), and the Adult Education for Work-Related Reasons Survey (AEWR). These three surveys are repeated administrations of topics described above, and thus will provide current cross-sectional, national estimates as well as provide for the measurement of change over time. In addition, a brief PFI reinterview will be used to test a number of new items. The instruments are described in detail in Part C of this document and appear in appendix A.

Experts in the field of school readiness are interested in the experiences of children in the early school years as well as the experiences of preschoolers, and the substantive interests include parent and family involvement as well as measures of children’s experiences and developmental status. Likewise, experts in parent and family involvement in education are interested in preschoolers as well as school-aged children. Due to the overlap in the populations of interest and the measures of interest, the SR and PFI surveys share a single instrument, with specific paths and items designated for children of various ages.

A.1. Circumstances Necessitating Collection of Information

NCES has as its legislative mission the collection and publication of data on the condition of education in the Nation (the National Education Statistics Act of 1994, P.L. 103-382, October 20, 1994 (20 USC 9001)):

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.

NHES is specifically designed to support this mission by providing a means to investigate educational issues that cannot be adequately studied through the Center’s traditional, institution-based data collection efforts. For example, young children are cared for in many types of informal or formal settings and some children are cared for only in their own homes. As a result, no institutional sample frame is available to assess the school readiness of young children. Similarly, adults participate in educational activities through a wide variety of settings including traditional schools, businesses, community organizations, and religious organizations. Again, no institutional sample frame is suitable for studying the wide range of adult education. The NHES surveys conducted from 1991 through the present afford the opportunity to track change over time in several important educational domains that are of interest to policymakers and researchers. For example, information about children’s emerging literacy and numeracy collected in NHES surveys is germane to the No Child Left Behind Act.

Many issues that are central to assessing the condition of education in the United States can be measured adequately only by a household-based survey conducted at regular intervals. Other studies dealing with similar topics differ in crucial ways from NHES (see section A.4 for details about those studies). In particular, none of them measure the topics of interest at specific, planned intervals, so changes over time cannot be studied effectively.

School Readiness

School readiness is a major concern of developmental and educational researchers and has been a focus in several federally funded large-scale studies, such as the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) and the Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES). It was also studied in other major large-scale studies like the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Early Child Care Network (2004), and was the focus of a number of smaller scale studies of at-risk populations (e.g., Fantuzzo and McWayne 2002; Fantuzzo, Sekino, and Cohen 2004). According to U.S. Department of Education estimates, as many as one-third of children entering kindergarten have difficulties adapting to school (West, Denton, & Germino-Hausken 2000), and, according to some reports, as many as one-half of kindergartners have problems that interfere with learning and/or classroom functioning, a chief concern being children’s aggressive behaviors and inability to regulate behavior (Rimm-Kaufman, Pianta, and Cox 2000).

Children’s lack of readiness for entry into formal schooling leads to difficulty adjusting to school, poorer achievement in school and eventually increased probability of school dropout, all of which are costly to the child and to society (Fox, Dunlap, and Cushing 2002; La Paro and Pianta 2000). Nevertheless, compensatory early childhood programs, such as Head Start, have demonstrated that it is feasible to intervene and facilitate the transition to formal schooling and maintain gains for the duration of the program (Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF 2003). Hence, over the past few decades the need has arisen to understand the components of school readiness, to understand how different emerging competencies are related to each other and to school adjustment, to identify children who would benefit from early intervention efforts, and to measure the effects of those interventions (Wesley and Buysse 2003).

Typically, school readiness is thought to include the following dimensions: (1) physical well-being and motor development; (2) social and emotional development; (3) approaches to learning; (4) language development; and (5) cognition and general knowledge. In a recent integrative review of the neurodevelopmental, socio-emotional and school readiness literatures, Blair (2002) has added that children’s emotionality and emotion-related functioning influence neurophysiological maturation and the interconnections among the neuronal structures that underlie emotion and higher order cognition.

Of the above dimensions, there is abundant literature supporting the role of children’s cognitive abilities in school readiness (for a review see Bickham et al. 2001), in particular executive functions (e.g., Zelazo, Carter, Reznick and Frye 1997) and preliteracy (e.g., Hart and Risley 1999; Whitehurst and Lonigan 1998; Jordan, Snow and Porche 2000). In the last two decades, however, it has become more apparent that as important as these aspects are for school readiness and early success in school, other areas of development are equally important (NICHD Early Child Care Network 2004; Zill and West 2001) and that children’s school readiness is multifaceted and has its origins in the child, the child’s environment, and the child-environment interaction.

A host of environmental factors have been identified as contributors to school readiness, including socioeconomic status, parental marital status, parental education, and exposure to violence (Goodman and Gotlib 1999; Harden et al. 2000; Schwartz and Proctor 2000). The SR-NHES:1993 results indicated that risk factors such as low maternal education, single-parent family status, and non-English maternal language were associated with fewer reported developmental accomplishments and more developmental difficulties, and center-based program participation (in daycare centers and preschools) was associated with higher levels of cognitive developmental accomplishments (Zill et al., 1995).

SR-NHES:2007 takes a broad approach to collecting information on the school readiness and early school experiences of young children, focusing on the measures suitable for collection in a survey of parents. Data on parent reports of children’s developmental status, center-based program participation and preschool enrollment, family-child learning activities, measures of health and disability, and child and family characteristics will provide a rich source of data for multi-faceted analysis.

Parent and Family Involvement in Education

Much of the research on parental involvement in children’s education supports the supposition that involvement promotes academic success (e.g., Barnard 2004; Epstein and Sheldon 2002; Sheldon 2002). Parent involvement has been largely conceptualized as occurring on two fronts: at home and at school. At home, parents’ involvement includes participating in educational activities such as helping with homework or engaging in educational activities; some scholars conceptualize certain restrictions, such as monitoring television viewing and internet access as forms of parent-school involvement (Dauber and Epstein 1993; Muller 1995). At school, researchers often regard a broad spectrum of parent behaviors as parental-school involvement such as participation in activities within the classroom, becoming actively involved in policy making, attending sporting events and so on (Dunst 2002; Epstein and Sheldon 2002; Lewis and Forman 2002)

Research findings indicate that statistically significant differences exist in the relationships between parent involvement and student achievement according to the students’ race/ethnicity and family income, as well as according to how achievement was measured, type of involvement, and whether it was reported by the student or parent (Desimone 1999; Zellman and Waterman 1998).^³ Nord (1998a) reported that students with involved fathers had higher grades, enjoyed school more, and were less likely to repeat a grade or to be suspended or expelled.

A number of demographic and family characteristics have been found to be associated with parent and family involvement in children’s education. Among these findings are lower levels of participation among those in families with nontraditional family structure (Lee 1993), maternal full-time employment (Muller 1993), and lower parent education (Stewart 1999). School characteristics are also associated with family involvement, with greater levels of participation among families of children in private versus public schools and small versus large schools (Vaden-Kiernan and Chandler 1996).

PFI-NHES:2007 addresses many of the issues above, including parent and family involvement in their children’s schools, homework, and education and activities at home. Nationally representative estimates will permit cross-sectional analysis and the examination of change over time.

Adult Education for Work-Related Reasons

Participation in work-related adult education has become increasingly important in our nation’s economy and the lives of individuals in the workforce. Several factors have led to an increased demand for work-related adult education, including the shift in the labor market from a manufacturing economy to a service- and information-based economy, the growth of technology, and a general increase in job-skills requirements (Creighton and Hudson 2002). The confluence of an aging workforce, declining job stability, and continuing industry demands for a more flexible workforce have resulted in considerable emphasis on the importance of the training of workers already in the labor force (Dougherty 2003). Many economists studying the labor market believe that new technology has had a very significant effect on the demand for highly educated workers (Bassi 1999). Out of necessity, workers are adapting their skills and knowledge to meet the needs of today’s changing workplace. The growth of knowledge and technology has meant that much of what adults learned five years ago is now obsolete or at least modified in content or meaning (McDonald 2001). These workers require training and education to achieve and maintain success in their career fields. Consequently, adult education for work-related reasons (AEWR) is the fastest growing area of practice in the field of adult education. Continuing education has been recognized as having at least as much importance as initial professional preparation in producing a reflective, problem-solving, well-rounded jobholder (McDonald 2001). Examination of work-related learning has recently become an important component of several educational studies and increasingly the focus of important public policy (Lengermann 1996 and Imel 1998).

AEWR-NHES:2007 will be the seventh time that national data have been collected about the participation of adults in various types of educational activities through the NHES survey system, and the second time that NHES has focused specifically on work-related education and training. Taking a broad approach, the survey will obtain information on a wide range of educational activities taken for work-related reasons, including college and university degree and certificate programs; vocational diploma, degree, or certificate programs; apprenticeships; formal work-related courses from a variety of sources; and informal learning related to a job or career. As in the past, information about instructional providers, intensity of participation, reasons for participating, outcomes of participation, and forms of employer support will be collected. Also, information will be gathered on distance learning through various technologies.

AEWR-NHES:2007 will provide current estimates of interest to researchers examining the role of employers in supporting or providing college degree programs, vocational or technical training, and professional development. The survey will address an important area in which adult education is evolving, the use of distance education for adult learning and the types of technology employed. Finally, the collection of information about informal learning will fill a gap in existing adult education research.

AEWR-NHES:2007 will allow for detailed analysis of the population in 2007, as well as enable analysts to examine differences between NHES:2003 and NHES:2007 estimates. Like the SR and PFI data, the AEWR data will be available for public use in 2008.

A.2. Purposes and Uses of the Data

The data collected in NHES:2007 will fill gaps in existing data collection systems and provide NCES with the capability to monitor trends in educational activities and experiences. These data will be used by NCES to prepare and publish descriptive reports on parent and family involvement in education, school readiness, and adult education for work-related reasons. These reports are described in section A.16.2.

The data from NHES:2007 will be made available for public use following the removal of all identifying information, such as telephone numbers or names. Data files will be prepared in accordance with NCES standards for protecting the confidentiality of survey participants. The NHES:2007 data will be a rich and current resource for educational researchers and policymakers.

A.3. Use of Improved Information Technology

The NHES interviews will be conducted using Westat’s computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) system. The most important features of the CATI system for NHES are the following:

Sampling: The CATI will be programmed to identify eligible household members and sample respondents for interviews. The use of online sampling eliminates the need for separate screening and interviewing calls, reducing survey cost and respondent burden.
Scheduling: The CATI scheduler will be used to route telephone numbers to interviewers, maintain a schedule of callback appointments, and reschedule unsuccessful contact attempts to an appropriate day and time.
Skip Patterns: The CATI system will automatically guide interviewers through the complex skip patterns in the questionnaire, reducing the potential for interviewer error and shortening the questionnaire administration time.
Avoiding Redundancy: The CATI system will be programmed to avoid redundancy across intra-household interviews where possible. For example, when two children with the same parents are sampled in a household, the parent characteristics series and household information items will be asked only once.
Receipt Control: The CATI 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.

CATI is very efficient when more than one topic is covered in a survey system, and when on-telephone sampling of household members is required, as it is with NHES:2007. The use of CATI for NHES:2007 is also critical because of the difficult skip patterns that are created with complex survey instruments. Each interview collects specific sets of information depending on characteristics of the subject that are not known prior to data collection. Without CATI, these would be difficult instruments to administer, especially by telephone.

The NHES:2007 instruments have been programmed in Blaise, a computer-assisted interview processing tool for the Windows operating system. A key advantage of using Blaise is that this “out of the box” system will support surveys across different modes, including CATI, Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI), and Computer-Assisted Data Entry (CADE). This multimode feature is important to the future of NHES because it will facilitate future efforts to increase response rates through alternative methods of data collection.

A.4. Efforts to Identify Duplication

During the design of NHES:2007, extant research studies in the topical areas of interest were examined in an effort to avoid duplication. Consultations with government agencies and experts in the field, electronic searches, and literature reviews were used to identify existing studies in these areas. The following sections describe extant surveys on the topics covered by the NHES:2007 and highlight where NHES and the extant surveys overlap and where they differ.

A.4.1. Studies on Topics Included in the SR Interview

SR-NHES:2007 will provide important estimates of a broad range of topics related to school readiness such as child development, home activities, child health and disabilities, and community networks. While each of the studies presented below includes overlapping issues, none address all of the topics included in SR for a nationally representative sample of preschool children, and many are older studies that are not scheduled for repetition.

The Cost, Quality, and Child Outcomes in Child Care Centers Study (1993-1997) examined the influence of typical center-based child care on children’s development during the preschool years and as they moved into elementary school.
Current Population Survey (CPS), October School Enrollment Supplement (annually since 1967) provides basic data on school enrollment and some specific information on educational topics that change from year to year. Questions on disabilities, grade retention, and tuition have been included.
Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) (2000-2007) provides detailed information on the early years of children, including topics such as health care, child care, and education. Specifically, the study is interested in gaining insight into how children’s neighborhoods, families, health care, and early childhood program participation influence variations in developmental outcomes.
Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) (2000-2004) provides descriptive data on a national basis of children’s developmental status at school entry, their transition into school, and their progression through fifth grade. This data set enables researchers to study how a wide range of family, school, community and individual variables affect early success in school.
The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (1998) provides descriptive data on a birth cohort of mostly unwed parents and their children over a 5-year period. Data on child health and development and in-home assessments of child wellbeing were collected. The study also addresses welfare reform, the role of fathers and the effects of policies on family formation.
Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) (1997-2006) is conducted in order to gain data on (1) the cognitive, social, emotional and physical development of Head Start children; (2) the characteristics, well-being, and accomplishments of families; (3) the observed quality of Head Start classrooms, and (4) the characteristics and opinions of Head Start teachers and other program staff.
The National Household Education Surveys Program, School Readiness Survey (1993) focused on the development, enrollment, school adjustment, and family activities of children from age 3 through second grade. In 1993, 10,888 interviews were conducted with parents of children from age 3 through second grade.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care (1991-2005) investigates how variations in child care relate to children’s development. The study also seeks to determine how children’s experiences in child care and family environment affect their cognitive, emotional, and social development.
The National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) (1994, 1996, 1998, continuing at two-year intervals) is a long-term study conducted to monitor the social, emotional and behavioral development and well being of Canada’s children as they grow from infancy to adulthood. The survey provides data for use in research on children’s development and their adjustment to school in Canada.
National Survey of America’s Families (NSAF) (1997, 1999, 2002) provided a comprehensive look at the overall well-being of adults and children in the United States. The study focused on differences between low- and high-income families and children, and examined variables such as health, children’s education, child care, nonresidential parent/father, employment and earnings, welfare participation, and demographic information.
National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) (1987-1988, 1992-1994; 2001-2002) was conducted in three waves. Wave I contained questions on children’s school experiences and child care arrangements. Wave II included items on children’s behavior problems, educational expectations, activities with children, involvement with the child’s school, preschool participation, and school readiness. Wave III followed up on children from the households included in the previous waves. Children of parents originally surveyed were adolescents or young adults in this wave.
Panel Survey of Income Dynamics (PSID) (1968-2003) Child Development Supplement (1997, 2002-2003) gathered data on aspects of economic and demographic behavior and social issues. The Child Development Supplement collected data from a variety of sources including parents, teachers, and children in order to evaluate the impacts of factors such as maternal employment patterns, family structure changes, and poverty on children’s cognitive/academic, emotional/mental, social and physical development.
Survey of Income and Program Participation (1984-2005) is a multipanel longitudinal survey of adults, measuring their economic and demographic characteristics over a period of 2½ to 4 years. The SIPP focuses on income, labor force information, and participation in federal, state, and local programs; however, topical modules are added to collect data on a wider variety of issues. The topical module on child care contains basic information on child care arrangements for children during the time respondents are at work or school. Questions concern the main type of arrangement used, type and location of second major arrangement, and changes in arrangement in the last 12 months. Data are gathered on each child under age 15 living in the sampled household.

Taken together, there are many important differences, both substantive and methodological, between these studies and SR-NHES:2005. While these surveys examine issues of interest in SR, none of them collects data on the full range of issues for a nationally representative population of children from age 3 through second grade.

In some cases, much of the content of interest is included in an extant study, but the desired population coverage is lacking. For example, ECLS-B collects comprehensive information, but is limited to children born in 2001. As a result, it does not address the entire population of interest. Similarly, the Cost, Quality, and Child Outcomes in Child Care Centers Study; NICHD Study of Early Child Care, ECLS-B, and ECLS-K examine cohorts over a period of years, and therefore do not cover the entire population of interest. In other cases, the substantive content of the studies is limited relative to SR goals. For example, the Current Population Study addresses issues such as preschool enrollment and has collected data on disability and home activities in the past, but does not collect the detailed information sought in SR-NHES:2007.

Finally, some of these studies are dated (e.g., the Cost, Quality, and Outcomes Survey, 1993-1997l NSAF, 1997, 1999, 2002) and are not scheduled to be conducted again. As a result, they cannot provide current cross-sectional estimates or repeated measurements of key indicators of children’s educational experiences during different time periods. SR is uniquely suited to this purpose.

In summary, none of the current and planned surveys meet all of the goals for SR-NHES:2007. That is, no single study satisfies the following requirements for content and methodological procedures:

Collects information about preschoolers and children in kindergarten through second grade;
Defines the population of interest as all children in the nation in the age range of interest;
Selects a sample of sufficient size to generalize to the population;
Selects a sample with sufficient representation of racial/ethnic minorities to permit analysts to produce reliable estimates for these groups;
Provides current, national, cross-sectional estimates; and
Collects data on the population and measures of interest at different points in time.

A.4.2. Studies on Topics in the PFI Interview

PFI-NHES:2007 is composed of items measuring children’s experiences in and out of school, the activities they engage in, and parents’ involvement in their education and after-school. These include questions on school characteristics, student experiences, and family involvement in and out of school including school decision-making. The studies listed below cover several of the topics addressed in the PFI-NHES:2007 survey. However, they are not as comprehensive in terms of addressing all of the topics in the PFI for a nationally representative sample of the population of interest, i.e. children enrolled in kindergarten through twelfth grade.

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1997) began as an offshoot of the National Survey of Youth, Cohort 1979 (NLSY79) and is made up of all children born to NLSY79 female respondents. The Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth makes assessments of each child and obtains other demographic and developmental information. These data includes information on child-parent interaction, attitudes towards schooling, and health and substance use.
Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) (2000-2004) provides descriptive data on a national basis of children’s developmental status at school entry, their transition into school, and their progression through fifth grade. This data set enables researchers to study how a wide range of family, school, community and individual variables affect early success in school.
Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 monitors the transition of a national sample of tenth graders as they move through high school and on to postsecondary education or enter the work force. This study focused on identifying school attributes that determine achievement, parent and community involvement in student achievement and factors influencing students to drop out of school.
Family Involvement in Education: A National Portrait (1998) examined how schools, parents, and employers work together to improve education. The study focused on how parents feel about their opportunities to be involved in their children’s schooling, how and what schools communicate to parents about students’ learning, additional educational resources parents value, before- and after-school arrangements, and parents’ views on program quality and desirable program features.
Hand in Hand National Parent Survey (1995) was part of a larger initiative called “Hand in Hand: Parents, Schools, Communities United for Kids,” a national campaign to build and strengthen partnerships to improve the education of all children. The study included items about parents’ opinions about the importance of their involvement at home, at school, and with their children’s homework. Questions were also asked about school meeting attendance, the frequency with which parents spoke to teachers, involvement in homework, and barriers to involvement.
National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (1990, 1992, 1994, 2000) provides information about transition periods between middle school and high school and from high school into postsecondary education or into the work force. Students were asked questions about their experiences at home, in school and at work. Topics also included the process of dropping out of secondary school, how schools helped disadvantaged students, and the academic performance of minority students.
The National Household Education Surveys Program, Parent and Family Involvement in Education and Civic Involvement Survey (1996), Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey (2003) addressed multiple aspects of parent and family involvement, including family experiences with schools, schoolwork outside of school, and non-school family activities. Parents and guardians answered questions about their children from age 3 through 12th grade in 1996 and about children in kindergarten through 12th grade in 2003. Information was also collected on children’s school or center-based early childhood programs.
The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (1994, 1996, 2001) is a school-based study of health-related behaviors of adolescents in grades 7-12. It was designed to explore the causes of those behaviors, with an emphasis on the influence of social context.
The National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) (1994, 1996, 1998, continuing at two-year intervals) is a long-term study conducted to monitor the social, emotional and behavioral development and well being of Canada’s children as they grow from infancy to adulthood. The survey provides data for use in research on children’s development and their adjustment to school in Canada.
National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 Cohort (1997-2003) collects information on the processes of moving from school to work among youth in the U.S. and to identify strengths and weaknesses in these processes. A particular goal is to identify the causes of difficulties some youths have in making the school-to-work transition.
National Survey of America’s Families (NSAF) (1997, 1999, 2002) obtained social and economic information about children in low-income households (with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level). Also the survey obtained similar data on children in higher-income households, as well as adults under age 65 (with and without children).
The National Survey of Parents of Public School Students (1998) collected information on the opinions of parents of public school children regarding the importance of parental and federal involvement in education. The survey also collected information about parents who may quality for Title 1 services.
Panel Survey of Income Dynamics (PSID) (1968-2003) Child Development Supplement (1997, 2002-2003) gathered data on aspects of economic and demographic behavior and social issues. The Child Development Supplement collected data from a variety of sources including parents, teachers, and children in order to evaluate the impacts of factors such as maternal employment patterns, family structure changes, and poverty on children’s cognitive/academic, emotional/mental, social and physical development.
Prospects: The Congressionally Mandated Study of Educational Growth and Opportunity (1991-1996) was initiated in 1988 under Congressional mandate as an assessment of Chapter I (formerly Title I) programs. This nationally representative longitudinal study was designed to assess the impacts of Chapter I programs on school performance and compare students with “significant participation” in Chapter I programs to comparable children who were not receiving services.
Survey of Family and School Partnerships in Public Schools, K-8 (1996) provided information on the ways that schools are engaging parents in their children’s education and the extent to which parents are responding to the opportunities for involvement that schools provide. The survey addressed the following issues: the kinds of communication schools establish to provide parents with information, the kinds of activities schools sponsor that are designed to inform parents about their children’s school performance, volunteer activities schools make available to parents, and the extent to which parents are included in decision making regarding school issues.
Survey of Adults and Youth (1998, 2001, 2004) monitored youth access to parent and community resources and focused on parent/child relationships, supervised after-school activities, conflicts between work and family commitments and educational expectations and achievement in school. The first wave sample for Round 1 consisted of 15,571 adults and 7,778 youth.

There are many important differences, both substantive and methodological, between these extant studies and the PFI-NHES:2007. All the extant surveys included some items on children's educational experiences and development. However, unlike the PFI, many of the studies focused on the educational experiences of a limited grade range of children (National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, Hand in Hand National Parent Survey, Family Involvement in Education: A National Portrait, ECLS-K, and NLSY97). Also, many studies were not nationally representative of children in grades K through 12 in the United States, either because they were non-US studies (National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth-Canadian) or because they included only children in public schools (National Survey of Parents of Public School Students, Survey of Family and School Partnership in Public Schools, K-8 and Prospects). Some surveys, while focused on education, were not designed to examine parent and family involvement in education in detail (PSID, CDS, and NSAF).

The PFI-NHES:2007 will gather data about approximately 14,150 children enrolled in kindergarten through 12thgrade. The inclusion of a wide age range of children will extend the parent involvement literature by providing data on parent and family involvement and school practices from early childhood through late adolescence. The PFI-NHES:2007 will examine parent and family involvement in the school, involvement in schoolwork at home, other features of the home environment that may support learning and success in school (family activities and rules), and home schooling. Finally, an important purpose of the PFI-NHES:2007 is to monitor the progress and change in family involvement and compare the results over time.

Finally, many of the studies noted above took place over 7 years ago (e.g., Hand in Hand National Parent Survey 1995, National Survey of Parents of Public School Students 1998, Prospects 1991-1996, Survey of Family and School Partnerships in Public Schools, K-8 1996) and are not scheduled to be repeated. As a result, they provide neither current cross-sectional estimates nor the ability to measure change over time, as does NHES.

None of the extant surveys fulfills the same objectives as the PFI-NHES:2007, which are:

To provide data on a nationally representative sample of children;
To include children from kindergarten through 12th grade;
To include children in both public and private schools and children who are home-schooled;
To cover a range of parent and family involvement items both in schools and homes;
To provide current, national, cross-sectional estimates; and
To measure parent and family involvement at regular intervals in order to monitor changes.

A.4.3. Studies of Adult Education for Work-Related Reasons

The AEWR-NHES:2007 interview is primarily composed of items related to adult educational activities. This includes topics such as college or university degree or certificate programs; vocational or technical diploma, degree, or certificate programs; apprenticeship programs; work-related courses; and informal learning for work-related reasons. Employer support and distance education are important aspects of participation addressed in AEWR. Several other national surveys have incorporated questions on topics similar to those proposed for the AEWR interview; however none fulfills the same objectives and some are outdated.

Adult Education and Training Survey (AETS) (1984, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1998, and 2003) is intended to provide information on the education and training experiences of adult Canadians.
American Society for Training and Development: National HRD Executive Survey (1998) collects information from a variety of organizations on the nature of their human resources development expenditures, practices, and outcomes. It is designed to build an extensive database of comparative information from large and small, as well as public and private, companies.
American Society for Training and Development (ASTD): Tools for Benchmarking and Continuous Improvement Survey (1999) gathers data from a variety of organizations on the nature of their employer-provided training expenditures, practices, and outcomes. The survey is designed to build an extensive database of comparative information from large and small, as well as public and private, companies.
American Time Use Survey (ATUS) (2003, 2004) collects information on how people living in the United States spend their time, including participation in educational activities. Estimates for how people spend weekdays and weekends will be developed. The kinds of activities and the time spent on them will be available by race, ethnicity, sex, age, educational attainment, labor force status, occupation, industry, household composition, and other characteristics.
Current Population Survey (CPS), October School Enrollment Supplement (annually since 1967) contains items on various educational topics that change from year to year. Recent topics having to do with adult education include characteristics associated with participation in adult education, tuition and major/degrees sought, disabilities, proficiency in English, home ownership, and use of computers.
Educational Quality of the Workforce (EQW) National Employer Survey (1994, 1997, and 2000) examined education and workforce issues from the employer’s perspective. The survey explored the interaction of employer practices, organizational structure, and workforce proficiency. Specific areas addressed include the benefits of workplace education programs and employer participation in education and training. The survey also related the educational level of a workforce with establishment productivity.
Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) (annually since 1986) was designed to provide basic institutional data for the universe of nonprofit colleges and universities (public and private) and for a sample of for-profit postsecondary institutions. The survey includes some items on work-related educational activities.
International Survey of Adults (ISA)/Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Study (ALL) (1999, 2001, 2002) is a large-scale, international comparative assessment designed to identify and measure a range of skills, such as literacy, numeracy, and reasoning competency, that are linked to the social and economic characteristics of individuals across (or within) nations. In addition, the background questionnaire includes measures of the maintenance or enhancement of skills. ISA provides policy-makers with information about the distribution of these skills in their societies in order to help develop skill enhancement policies and programs. ISA also allows countries to compare the performance of their adult populations with those in similar countries.
Involving Employers in Training: Best Practices (1996) was created as part of an U.S. Department of Labor effort to disseminate information about effective strategies and practices for companies who are involved in training employees.
National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) (1985, 1992, 2003) was originally conducted in 1985 and 1992 as the National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS). NAAL is designed to measure the nature and extent of literacy skills among U.S. adults aged 16 and older and to provide policymakers, researchers, and educators with a variety of statistics on the condition of adult literacy in the United States.
National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL), Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning (1998 through 2005) will create a database consisting of longitudinal information on program participation and nonparticipation of potential adult literacy learners. The study looks at the literacy growth of adult learners in adult basic education, English as a Second Language (ESL), and secondary programs.
National Compensation Survey (NCS), formerly the Employee Benefits Survey (EBS) (1979-2005) collects data on the incidence of selected benefits provided by employers to their employees, including employer support for training/education. The survey is designed to aid in formulating and assessing public policy and provides information to corporations and labor organizations for use in collective bargaining.
Survey of Employer-Provided Training (1995) collected information from establishments and employees on the amount of formal and informal training provided by employers as well as the amount of money employers spent on selected training expenditures.
The National Household Education Surveys Program, Adult Education Surveys (1991, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2005). The NHES adult education surveys have focused on participation in a broad range of educational activities, including basic skills, English as a Second Language, postsecondary programs in colleges and vocational schools, apprenticeships, work-related courses, personal interest courses, and informal learning.
The National Household Education Surveys Program, Adult Education for Work-Related Reasons Survey (2003) asked persons 16 years of age and older about their participation in postsecondary degree, diploma, or certificate programs; apprenticeships; and work-related courses. Adults participating in programs or courses provided information about those programs or courses, including the subject matter, duration, cost, location and sponsorship, and employer support. In addition, NHES:2003 collected information on informal learning activities.
The 1998 Employee Survey (1998, 1999, 2000) provided information on the level of job satisfaction held by federal agency employees, and the extent to which reinvention and custom orientation have taken hold within their organizations.
Training Magazine Annual Industry Report (annually) is conducted to assess various characteristics of employer-sponsored training in the United States. The survey is self-administered and covers skills learned in training, methods used in training, and the amount of money invested in training.

No single adult education survey evaluates participation rates and participant characteristics as comprehensively as do the NHES surveys. The most prevalent substantive limitation of the above surveys is failure to examine participation in a broad range of adult educational activities. For example, the majority of surveys on adult educational activities have looked at only a few types of activities such as postsecondary education, employment-related training, or GED or literacy education (CPS, NALS/NAAL, EQW, ASTD, SEPT95). Also, many of the surveys are not nationally representative, but instead examine adult educational activities among only a specialized population (ASTD, AETS, NCSALL, SEPT95).

Some extant surveys collected information only from employers (SEPT95, ASTD) or institutions (IPEDS). Several of the studies were one-time investigations that are now several years old (EWQ, 1998; Involving Employers in Training, 1996; Survey of Employer-Provided Training, 1995) and are not scheduled to be repeated. As a result, they do not provide current information or the ability to track change over time, as does NHES.

AEWR-NHES:2007 has a proposed sample size yielding completed interviews with approximately 15,000 adults and will represent participants in a broad range of adult educational activities, as well as nonparticipants. Also, NHES oversamples minorities to provide reliable estimates for analysis. Data collected on current rates of participation, types of activities, and reasons for participation and outcomes of participation in adult educational activities will provide trend information when analyzed in conjunction with adult education estimates from previous NHES collections.

The limitations of the extant data sources on adult educational activities render them inadequate to meet the goals of the AEWR-NHES:2007, which are:

To provide data on a nationally representative sample of adults including both participants and nonparticipants in adult education;
To collect data about a range of adult education activities taken from a variety of instructional providers;
To have sufficient numbers of racial/ethnic minorities to produce reliable estimates for those groups; and
To produce estimates of participation in adult educational activities that can be used to track change over time.

A.5. Collection of Data from Small Businesses

Not applicable.

A.6. Consequences of Less Frequent Data Collection

This request is for clearance of NHES:2007 only. Separate requests will be submitted for future NHES collections. Topics covered in this NHES collection have been addressed in previous NHES administrations; repeating the surveys allows for analysis of trends over time. Less frequent collection would result in incomplete tracking of these trends.

A.7. Special Circumstances

None of the special circumstances listed in the instructions for completing the supporting statement apply to NHES:2007.

A.8. Public Comment and Consultations Outside the Agency

The NHES:2007 surveys repeat, to a great extent, designs developed for previous NHES administrations. As a result, they reflect the cumulative input of many experts in the field and past NHES Technical Review Panels. In order to ensure that the NHES:2007 surveys address important topics in the topical areas of interest and incorporate important emerging issues, the design phase of the study included consultations with experts in the substantive areas addressed in the surveys. These experts included persons in government agencies, academe, and research organizations.

SR Experts

Dr. Clancy Blair

Department of Human Development and Family Studies

Pennsylvania State University

S110 Henderson Building

University Park, PA 16802

Tel: (814) 865 1447

Interview forms	Estimated time (minutes)	Number of respondents	Number of interviews	Total time (hours)

Screener	3.5	62,000	62,000	3,617
SR interviews	20	3,790	3,790	1,263
PFI interviews	26	14,150	14,150	6,132
AEWR interviews	17	15,000	15,000	4,250
PFI reinterview	5	1,000	1,000	83

Bias study Screener	5	5,235	5,235	436
SR interviews in field	20	344	344	115
PFI interviews in field	26	400	400	173
AEWR interviews in field	17	400	400	113

Homeschooling families Screener	3.5	762	762	44
PFI interviews	26	633	633	274

Study Total	NA	103,714	103,714	16,500

Activity	Date of Scheduled Conduct/Completion
Final interviewer training materials	November 15, 2006
Final CATI system	November 15, 2006
Interviewer training	December 18, 2006-January 10, 2007
Data collection	January 2, 2007—June 15, 2007
Preliminary data files	July 20, 2007
Draft data file users’ manual	July 20, 2007
First analysis reports delivered to NCES	September 21, 2007
Final data files and users’ manual	March 28, 2008
Final methodology report	March 28, 2008
Publication of reports	March 28, 2008

File Type	application/msword
Author	WAITS_T
Last Modified By	DoED
File Modified	2006-09-18
File Created	2006-09-18

Att_NHES2007 OMB part A