PISA School Coordinators

APPENDIX

Recruitment Materials

State Notification Letter

[DATE]

[NAME]

[STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION]

[ADDRESS]

[CITY, STATE ZIP]

Dear [CHIEF STATE SCHOOL OFFICER]:

I am writing to inform your state education agency about an upcoming international study: the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA 2009). PISA is an international study designed to provide internationally comparable information about student performance in several academic subjects. Students in 68 countries, including the United States, are participating in PISA 2009. Benchmarking the performance of the United States in relation to other countries is an important measure of our nation’s progress in educating all of our children. PISA is sponsored in the United States by the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, and conducted by the Windwalker Corporation of McLean, Virginia.

PISA provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the knowledge and skills of 15-year-old students throughout the world. By comparing our students’ performance with that of students in other nations, we can see where we are successful and where we still face challenges in educating our youth. Data will be collected to assess proficiency in science, mathematics, and reading, with particular focus on reading proficiency.

We ask your agency to support the participation of districts and schools in your state in the PISA study. We will be conducting the main study for PISA in the fall of 2009. One or more public schools in your state have been randomly sampled to participate in the PISA study. More information about the study can be found in the enclosed materials.

Within the next few days, we plan to contact sampled school districts and schools to discuss conducting data collection in the sampled schools for PISA. In the meantime, if you have questions about the study, please call Dr. Paul Hopstock of the Windwalker Corporation at (703) 970-3522. For more information about PISA, you may visit the PISA website: http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pisa/.

Thank you for your support of PISA.

Sincerely,

[OFFICIAL]

[TITLE]

National Center for Education Statistics

cc: [STATE ASSESSMENT COORDINATOR]

District Notification Letter

[DATE]

[SUPERINTENDENT NAME]

[DISTRICT NAME]

[ADDRESS]

[CITY, STATE ZIP]

Dear [SUPERINTENDENT]:

I am writing to inform your school district about an upcoming international study: the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA 2009). PISA is an international study designed to provide internationally comparable information about student performance in several academic subjects. PISA focuses on the reading literacy, science literacy, mathematics literacy of 15-year-old students. Students in 68 countries, including the United States, are participating in PISA 2009. Benchmarking the performance of the United States in relation to other countries is an important measure of our nation’s progress in educating all of our children. PISA is sponsored in the United States by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), U.S. Department of Education, and conducted by the Windwalker Corporation of McLean, Virginia.

PISA provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the knowledge and skills of 15-year-old students throughout the world. By comparing our students’ performance with that of students in other nations, we can see where we are successful and where we still face challenges in educating our youth. Data will be collected to assess proficiency in science, mathematics, and reading, with particular focus on reading literacy.

We ask you to support the participation of schools in your district in the PISA study. Information about districts, students, and schools sampled for PISA is protected by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (PL 107-279). We will disclose the names of schools in each district only to the governing district for each school, and we ask that each district also maintain the confidentiality of the sampled schools in PISA. In the next few days, we will contact the following schools in your district which have been selected for PISA: [LIST

ORIGINAL SCHOOLS HERE]. We may also contact: [LIST REPLACEMENT SCHOOLS HERE]

We will be conducting the main study for PISA in the fall of 2009. Study reports will not identify participating districts, schools, students, parents or individual staff. More information about the study and next steps can be found in the enclosed materials.

If you have any questions about PISA or your district’s participation in the study, please call Dr. Paul Hopstock of the Windwalker Corporation at (703) 970-3522. For more information about PISA, you may visit the PISA website: http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pisa/.

Thank you for your support of PISA.

Sincerely,

[OFFICIAL]

[TITLE]

National Center for Education Statistics

School Recruitment Letter

[DATE]

[PRINCIPAL NAME]

[SCHOOL NAME]

[ADDRESS 1]

[CITY, STATE ZIP]

Dear [PRINCIPAL]:

I am writing to request your school’s support for the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA2009). PISA 2009 is an international study designed to provide internationally comparable information about student performance in several academic subjects. PISA focuses on the reading literacy, mathematics literacy, and science literacy of 15-year-old students. Students in 68 countries, including the United States, are participating in PISA. Benchmarking the performance of the United States in relation to other countries is an important measure of our nation’s progress in educating all of our children. PISA is sponsored in the United States by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), U.S. Department of Education, and conducted by the Windwalker Corporation of McLean, Virginia.

PISA provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the knowledge and skills of 15-year-old students throughout the world. By comparing our students’ performance with that of students in other nations, we can see where we are successful and where we still face challenges in educating our youth. Data will be collected to assess proficiency in science, mathematics, and reading, with particular focus on reading proficiency.

We will be conducting the PISA main study in the fall of 2008. Study reports will not identify participating districts, schools, students, parents or individual staff. International comparisons are an extremely important part of monitoring educational performance in the United States. Each school selected for the PISA study contributes to providing a valid representation of the performance of U.S. students and is critical to the success of the study. More information about the study and next steps can be found in the enclosed materials.

Within a few days, a representative of Westat (the firm coordinating data collection) will call you to discuss any questions that you may have. In the meantime, if you have any questions please call Dr. Paul Hopstock of the Windwalker Corporation at (703) 970-3522.You may also visit the PISA website: http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pisa/. Thank you for your support of PISA.

Sincerely,

[OFFICIAL]

[TITLE]

National Center for Education Statistics

Parent (Implicit Consent) Letter

Dear Madam or Sir:

We are pleased to inform you that your teenager has been selected to represent the United States in an important international study called the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA 2009. PISA 2009 is sponsored internationally by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The United States component is sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics, U. S. Department of Education, and conducted by the Windwalker Corporation of McLean, Virginia.

The purpose of the study is to measure student learning in reading, mathematics, and science, and to compare progress of student learning in the United States to students in 67 other countries. Benchmarking the performance of the United States in relation to other countries is an important measure of our nation’s progress in educating all of our children. In a few weeks, your teenager will be asked to spend about three hours to complete the questionnaire and test along with approximately 35-45 other students in his/her school. Your teenager is one of only about 4,500 students from about 150 schools participating in PISA during the fall term of 2009.

This is an important opportunity for students to realize the value of reading, mathematics, and science. The world wants to know how well 15-year-old students perform in these areas, and results of this study may help educators and students in the future. Your teenager was selected to represent many others and cannot be replaced. We encourage your teenager to participate. We need your help to make PISA successful in the United States. We will provide $20 to each participating student as a token of our appreciation, and each student will receive a certificate commemorating his/her representation of the United States in PISA.

Information about districts, students, and schools sampled for PISA is protected by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (PL 107-279). By law, researchers may use the data for statistical purposes only. Data will be combined to produce statistical reports for Congress and others. No individual data (for example, names or addresses) will be reported. Participation is voluntary and there is no penalty if you or your teenager decides not to participate. Your teenager may choose not to answer any question. There are no risks to your teenager from taking part in the study.

If you are willing to allow your teenager to participate, you do not need to return the attached form. If for any reason you object to your teenager’s participation, please fill out the enclosed form and return it to his/her school as soon as possible.

If you have any questions about PISA or your teenager’s participation in the study, please call [NAME] at Westat, the firm coordinating data collection, at [TELEPNONE NUMBER] between 9 AM and 5 PM Eastern time, Monday through Friday, or email them at [E-MAIL ADDRESS]. You may also visit the study website: http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pisa/.

We thank you in advance for your cooperation in this important international study.

Sincerely,

[OFFICIAL]

[TITLE]

National Center for Education Statistics

Implicit Consent Form

PROGRAM FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ASSESSMENT (PISA 2009)

PERMISSION FORM

IF YOU GRANT YOUR PERMISSION FOR YOUR TEENAGER TO PARTICIPATE IN THE

STUDY, YOU DO NOT NEED TO RETURN THIS FORM.

IF YOU DO NOT CONSENT TO YOUR TEENAGER’S PARTICIPATION IN PISA, PLEASE RETURN THIS FORM TO YOUR TEENAGER’S SCHOOL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

I DO NOT GRANT PERMISSION for my teenager, _______________________________, to participate in the Program for International Student Assessment 2009.

__________________________________________________________________

(Signature of parent or guardian)

Date of signature: _______/_______/____________

(___________)_______________________________________________________

Area code Telephone number

PLEASE PRINT:

Student name: _____________________________________________

School Name: ______________________________________________

FOR OFFICE USE ONLY:

Student ID: ________________________________________________