District consent letter

February 19, 2007

[Contact F and L Name]

[District Name]

[Address]

[City], [State] [Zip]

Dear [Contact F and L Name]:

I am writing to notify you that your school district has been selected as part of a nationally representative sample to participate in the National Survey of Algebra Teachers (NSAT). This study is being conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago for the National Mathematics Advisory Panel of the U.S. Department of Education. We have selected [one] school from your district and would like to include in the survey all teachers currently teaching one or more classes of algebra I in that school.

The National Mathematics Advisory Panel is a Presidentially-appointed group charged with developing recommendations for reform of K-12 mathematics education, and is focusing on beginning-level algebra courses as a top priority for improvements. The purpose of this study is to obtain teachers’ observations on student preparation, motivation, work habits, and skills as well as their views on how math is now taught, how earlier math education could be improved to better prepare children to succeed at algebra, and what would help all mathematics teachers do a better job. The results of the study will be useful for the Department of Education, policymakers, and practitioners and will help influence key decisions made in reforming mathematics curriculum.

Your school district’s participation is important to enable this study to provide policymakers with accurate and complete information. Data collection is being conducted in only a sample of school districts throughout the nation. This greatly increases the importance of your participation since it represents many other school districts. Responses to this data collection will be used only for statistical purposes. The reports prepared for this study will summarize findings across the sample and will not associate responses with a specific district or individual. We will not provide information that identifies you or your district to anyone outside the study team, except as required by law.

Completion of this survey takes approximately 25 minutes and is completely voluntary. We recognize that participation in this study will demand time and energy from algebra teachers in your school district. In appreciation of the teachers’ time and effort, we will provide a check for $20 to each teacher selected for the survey.

If you have any questions or concerns, you may contact me directly at (773) 256-6097 or [email protected], or you may contact the NSAT research team at [email protected] or by calling our study toll-free number at 800-XXX-XXXX.

We thank you for considering this request and we hope we will be able to include algebra teachers from your district in this important new study.

Sincerely,

Tom Hoffer, Ph.D.

Project Director