Parent Contact Incentives

[Date]

«fname» «mname» «lname» «suffix» Study ID: «caseid»

«addr1» Password: «panelinfo»v

«addr2»

«city», «state» «zip» «zip4»

Dear «fname» «lname»:

We understand that as a parent or guardian of a student at <<SCHOOL_NAME>>, you are very busy. <<IF FULL VERSION, FILL 1= However, we are asking that you take a little time out of your schedule to complete this important interview.>> << IF SHORTENED VERSION, FILL 2= For this reason, we would like to offer you the opportunity to complete an abbreviated interview which takes approximately 10 minutes to complete.>> <<IF INCENTIVE, FILL 3= As a token of our appreciation, we are offering <<INCENTIVE AMOUNT>> upon completion of the survey.>> The High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) is interested in understanding how your child’s in-school and out-of-school experiences affect his or her course choices, learning, and future plans. Because your ninth grader was selected for HSLS:09, your input is key to the success of this study. Our final date of data collection is March 31, 2010. << IF FULL VERSION, FILL 4= The interview will take approximately 30 minutes to complete.>>

To complete the interview by phone with a professional interviewer, please call us toll-free at 1-877-282-4757. To complete it online, please visit our secure website at https://surveys.nces.ed.gov/hsls/ and use the study ID and password provided in the top right corner.

All responses will be protected from disclosure; no parents or guardians, students, school officials, teachers or staff, will see any answers and no individually identifying data will be reported. Data collected are used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose except as required by law (Public Law 107-279, Section 183). If you have questions or problems completing your interview online, simply call the HSLS:09 help desk, toll free, at 1-877-282-4757.

RTI is conducting this study for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. If you have already completed the interview, we would like to thank you. Your assistance is very much appreciated. If you have any questions or concerns about the study, please contact Randy Ottem, toll free at 1-800-334-8571 ex. 28068, or the NCES Project Officer, Dr. Laura LoGerfo, at 202-502-7402.

Thank you in advance for making HSLS:09 a success!

Dan Pratt

HSLS:09 Project Director

Education Studies Division

RTI International

Enclosure: HSLS Flyer

NCES is authorized to conduct HSLS:09 under the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-279, Section 153). According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number of this information collection is 1850-0852, and it is completely voluntary. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average <<TIME FILL Full Version = 30, Shortened version = 10>> minutes per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection. If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate or suggestions for improving the interview, please write to: U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20006.