Letters

March 2009

Dear
Thank you so much for being an important part of the National Longitudinal Transition
Study-2 (NLTS2). We are starting our LAST round of interviews and questionnaires for this
study. We will be calling you or sending you a questionnaire in the next few weeks.
To thank you for your time and help, we will mail you a $20 check when the
telephone interview or mail questionnaire is finished.
This study is being done for the U.S. Department of Education. What we learn from your
answers to your interview or questionnaire will be used to help improve programs for young
adults throughout this country.
You took part in this study in 2003, 2005, or 2007 (thank you!). We urge you to take the
time to talk with the NLTS2 interviewer or fill out the mail questionnaire this time as well,
although you don’t have to take part in this study if you don’t want to. We will be adding
the information you give us with the information we have from the last time we talked with
you and your parent or got back a questionnaire, so that we have a full picture of your
experiences over the years. Learning how your life is going now and looking back to what
you told us earlier about your experiences in high school will help find ways schools can
improve programs for youth. To do this, it is extremely important that NLTS2 include young
adults with all kinds of abilities, including your unique experiences.
Everything we learn about you will be completely private, and we will not share this
information with anyone in any way that would identify your family or you. As with any
research study that keeps information on computers, there is always a risk that
confidentiality may be breached; however, we want to assure you that we will make every
effort to keep the information you give us safe (for example, we keep your name and
contact information separate from the information that has been collected during this
study).
As we have in earlier years, we also will be contacting your parent or guardian for an
interview. Also, if we are not able to reach you by telephone, or we do not receive a mail
questionnaire back from you, we will contact your parent or guardian to obtain some
additional information about you. However, it is your decision about whether we should
contact your parent. If you would prefer we do not contact your parents, please let us know
by either calling us toll free at 1-866-269-7274, e-mailing us at [email protected], or TTY
(message only) at 1-800-664-3875
If you had a phone interview before, we will be calling you soon. If you would like us to use
a different phone number from the one in the upper right corner, or if the number is
missing, please use the enclosed postcard to send us the number we should use.

NLTS2 SRI International 333 Ravenswood Avenue, BS-136 Menlo Park, CA 94025 1-866-269-7274

If you want to have your interview at a specific time, or if you do not have your own phone,
you can call the NLTS2 telephone number, toll free, and make special arrangements for
your interview: 1-800-613-2408. When you call, you will be asked for your ID number,
which is printed in the top right corner of this letter.
If you have any questions about the study, please call us toll free at 1-866-269-7274 or
visit our Web site at www.nlts2.org. We look forward to talking with you or receiving your
questionnaire back soon! Again, thank you for being an important part of this study.

Sincerely,

Renée Cameto, Ph.D.
NLTS2 Co-Director

Lynn Newman, Ph.D.
NLTS2 Co-Director

The collection of information in this study is authorized by Public Law 108-446, Section 664(e). Participation is voluntary. You will
receive a check for $20.00 as a thank-you for participating. You may skip questions you do not wish - (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.

NLTS2 SRI International 333 Ravenswood Avenue, BS-136 Menlo Park, CA 94025 1-866-269-7274

March 2009

Dear Parent/Guardian of
Thank you for your continued participation in the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2
(NLTS2)!
We are beginning our FINAL round of interviews for this important 10-year study following
the changing experiences of youth. We will be calling you in a few weeks for an interview
about the young adult named on the label above. We have heard the concerns many of you
had about the length of these interviews and have greatly shortened the interview this
year.
To thank you for your time and help with this important study, we will mail you a
$20 check when the telephone interview is completed.
Results of this significant study, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, will help
improve programs for students and young adults throughout this country.
The young adult named above has been a part of this research study. You may have
completed a telephone interview about him or her in 2001, 2003, 2005, or 2007 (thank
you!). Soon you will receive a phone call from an NLTS2 interviewer, who will ask about
this young person, how he or she is doing, and how things may have changed, as well as a
few questions about your family’s experiences. We will also be calling directly young adults
who completed a telephone interview in 2003, 2005, or 2007. Participating youth also
will receive $20 as a thank-you for completing their part of the interview.
Note that this young person will have the opportunity to request that you not be contacted
during this round of data collection.
Everything we learn about you or this young adult will be completely private, and we will
not share this information with the Department of Education in any way that would identify
either of you. The study will not report anything about individual young adults or families.
As with any research study that stores information on computers, there is always a risk that
confidentiality may be breached; however we want to assure you that we will make every
effort to keep the information you give us secure (for example, we keep your name and
contact information separate from the information that has been collected during this
study).
We will be combining the information you give us during the interview with the information
from interviews we conducted with you and this young adult in earlier rounds of this study,
so that we have a complete picture of this young person’s experiences over the years.
Learning how this young adult’s life is going now and looking back to what we were told
earlier about his/her experiences in high school will help identify ways schools can improve
programs for youth. We urge you to take the time to talk with the NLTS2 interviewer

NLTS2 SRI International 333 Ravenswood Avenue, BS-136 Menlo Park, CA 94025 1-866-269-7274

this last time. It is extremely important that NLTS2 represent youth with all kinds of
abilities, including this young person’s unique experiences over time.
If you would like us to use a different phone number from the one in the upper right corner,
or if the number is missing, please use the enclosed postcard to send us the number we
should use.
If you want to have your interview at a specific time, or if you do not have your own phone,
you can call the NLTS2 scheduling number, toll free, and make special arrangements for
your interview: 1-800-613-2408. When you call, you will be asked for your ID number,
which is printed in the top right corner of this letter.
If you have any questions about the study, please call us toll free at 1-866-269-7274 or
visit our Web site at www.nlts2.org. We look forward to talking with you soon.

Sincerely,

Renée Cameto, Ph.D.
NLTS2 Co-Director

Lynn Newman, Ph.D.
NLTS2 Co-Director

The collection of information in this study is authorized by Public Law 108-446, Section 664(e). Participation is voluntary. You will
receive a check for $20.00 as a thank-you for participating. You may skip questions you do not wish - (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.

NLTS2 SRI International 333 Ravenswood Avenue, BS-136 Menlo Park, CA 94025 1-866-269-7274