Principal Survey

School Improvement Status and Outcomes for Students with Disabilities Study

Principal Survey

Prepared by:

American Institutes for Research

Prepared for:

U.S. Department of Education

Contract No. ED-04-CO-0025/0013

Dear Principal:

Thank you for participating in a survey for the School Improvement Status and Outcomes for Students with Disabilities Study. This study will examine the inclusion of students with disabilities in school accountability systems, school practices that may affect the outcomes of students with disabilities, and achievement trends of these students over time.

Your participation is important and appreciated, but you do have the right to skip any question that you do not wish to answer. Below are answers to some general questions concerning your participation.

What is the purpose of this survey?

The purpose of the survey is to provide policy-relevant information about the education of students with disabilities by examining school practices that may affect the education outcomes of these students.

Who is conducting this survey?

This study was commissioned by the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, and is administered by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and NORC at the University of Chicago.

Why should you participate in this survey?

By responding to this survey, you can help policy makers, educators and researchers to better understand how schools are working to improve outcomes for students with disabilities.

Will your responses be kept confidential?

Your responses are protected from disclosure by federal statute (P.L. 107-279, Title I, Part E, Sec.183). Responses to data collection are voluntary and will be used only for broadly descriptive and statistical purposes. The reports prepared for the study will summarize findings across the sample and will not associate responses with a specific school or individual. In no instances will data that relate to or describe identifiable characteristics of individuals or individual schools be disclosed or used in identifiable form, except as required by law.

How will your information be reported?

The information you provide will be combined with the information provided by others in statistical reports. No individual data that link your name, address, or telephone number with your responses will be included in the statistical reports.

Where should you return your completed survey?

If completing by paper, please place your completed survey in the enclosed envelope and follow the return instructions provided by NORC.

Thank you for your cooperation in this very important effort!

Part A. Background

1. What is your role?
   Principal / assistant principal / head of school / dean / other administrator (specify) / teacher

2. For how many years have you worked at this school? (please count 2010–11 as one year) ________

3. For how many years have you worked as a school principal/administrator/teacher? ________

4. What is the total student enrollment in your school as of 2010–11? ________

Part B. School Improvement Strategies

5. Has any of the following school improvement strategies or interventions been implemented in your school over the past six years (2005–06 to 2010–11)?

Strategies/interventions	No	Yes	Don’t know
Notifying parents of school improvement status	[check box]	[check box]	[check box]
Developing a joint school improvement plan with the state/district	[check box]	[check box]	[check box]
Offering students the opportunity to transfer to a non-identified school, with transportation provided	[check box]	[check box]	[check box]
Offering students supplemental educational services (e.g., tutoring) from a state-approved provider	[check box]	[check box]	[check box]
Implementing a new research-based curriculum or instructional program	[check box]	[check box]	[check box]
Extending the school day	[check box]	[check box]	[check box]
Extending the school year	[check box]	[check box]	[check box]
Replacing school staff due to the school’s low performance	[check box]	[check box]	[check box]
Significantly decreasing management authority at the school level	[check box]	[check box]	[check box]
Replacing the principal	[check box]	[check box]	[check box]
Restructuring the internal organization of the school	[check box]	[check box]	[check box]
Appointing an outside expert to advise the school	[check box]	[check box]	[check box]
Planning for restructuring to take place the following year	[check box]	[check box]	[check box]
Replacing all or most of the school staff (which may include the principal)	[check box]	[check box]	[check box]
Reopening the school as a public charter school	[check box]	[check box]	[check box]
Entering in a contract with a private entity to operate the school (e.g., private management company)	[check box]	[check box]	[check box]
Turning school operations over to the state (state takeover)	[check box]	[check box]	[check box]

Part C. Professional Development

6. Thinking about the majority of regular education teachers in your school, how much professional development (not including coaching or mentoring) did they receive from your school or district on the following topics during the past 12 months?

Topic	None	Less than 1 day (less than 6 hours)	1–2 days (6–17 hours)	3–4 days (18–29 hours)	5–10 days (30–60 hours)	More than 10 days (more than 60 hours)	Is this the same as, less than, or more than last year?
Implementing specific instructional approaches or curricula aimed at improving the achievement of all students	0	1	2	3	4	5	Less Same More
Implementing specific instructional approaches or curricula aimed specifically at improving the achievement of students with disabilities	0	1	2	3	4	5	Less Same More

7. Thinking about the majority of regular education teachers in your school, how frequently did they receive coaching or mentoring on the following topics during the past 12 months?

Topic	Never	Less than monthly	Monthly	Weekly	Daily	Is this the same as, less than, or more than last year?
Implementing specific instructional approaches or curricula aimed at improving the achievement of all students	0	1	2	3	4	Less Same More
Implementing specific instructional approaches or curricula aimed specifically at improving the achievement of students with disabilities	0	1	2	3	4	Less Same More

Part D. Instructional Time

8. For the current school year (2010–11), what is the average instructional time per day that students in your school spent on mathematics and English/language arts?

Average instructional time:	No students in these grades	Mathematics	English/language arts/reading	Is this the same as, less than, or more than last year?
Students in grades 1–2	[checkbox]	___ hours	___ hours	Less Same More
Students in grades 3–5	[checkbox]	___ hours	___ hours	Less Same More
Students in grades 6–8	[checkbox]	___ hours	___ hours	Less Same More

9. For the current school year (2010–11), how many students in your school receive extended-day instruction (e.g., after-school or Saturday tutoring)?

1. For reading ____

2. For mathematics ____

Part E. Staff

10. For the current school year (2010–11), please indicate the total number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff in each of the following positions (e.g., if there are two 0.5 FTE staff, this would be reported as 1 FTE).

Type of staff	Total # FTE	Is this the same as, less than, or more than last year?
Regular education classroom teachers	_____#	Less / Same / More
Special education teachers (includes teachers of self-contained, inclusion, and resource classes)	_____#	Less / Same / More
Administrative leadership	_____#	Less / Same / More
Related service providers (e.g., speech therapists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, school psychologists, guidance counselors)	_____#	Less / Same / More
Classroom paraprofessionals	_____#	Less / Same / More
One-on-one paraprofessionals assigned to students with disabilities	_____#	Less / Same / More
Literacy specialists/coaches	_____#	Less / Same / More
Mathematics specialists/coaches	_____#	Less / Same / More

11. For each of the following positions, please indicate how many of your staff members are new to the position in 2010–11, and of these, how many are new due to the addition of a new position or new because they are replacing previous staff. Please report the positions as full‑time equivalents (FTE).

Type of staff	Total # new FTE	# FTE: new position in school	# FTE: replacement for previous staff
Regular education classroom teachers	_____#	_____#	_____#
Special education teachers (includes teachers of self-contained, inclusion, and resource classes)	_____#	_____#	_____#
Administrative leadership	_____#	_____#	_____#
Related service providers (e.g., speech therapists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, school psychologists, guidance counselors)	_____#	_____#	_____#
Classroom paraprofessionals	_____#	_____#	_____#
One-on-one paraprofessionals assigned to students with disabilities	_____#	_____#	_____#
Literacy specialists/coaches	_____#	_____#	_____#
Mathematics specialists/coaches	_____#	_____#	_____#

12. Please indicate how many regular education teachers and special education teachers in your school hold full certification or provisional certification in their field of teaching in 2010-11. Please report the numbers as full‑time equivalents (FTE).

Type of staff	# FTE: fully certified	# FTE: provisionally certified
Regular education classroom teachers	_____#	_____#
Special education teachers (includes teachers of self-contained, inclusion, and resource classes)	_____#	_____#

Thank you for completing this survey!

Paperwork Burden Statement

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is XXXXX. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 15 minutes per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection. The obligation to respond to this collection is voluntary. Confidentiality is ensured (P.L. 107-279, Title I, Part E, Sec.183) and the security of the data collected is compliant with the Privacy Act of 1974 as amended (5 U.S.C. 552a).  Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20210-4537 or email [email protected] and reference the OMB Control Number XXXXX. Note: Please do not return the completed survey to this address.