Passback responses

MEMORANDUM OMB # 1850-0790 v.34

DATE: April 27, 2012

TO: Shelly Martinez

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget

FROM: Patricia Etienne

National Center for Education Statistics

THROUGH: Kashka Kubzdela

National Center for Education Statistics

SUBJECT: Response to OMB passback on NAEP 2013 Wave 1 Submittal

1.       In the letter to parents on page 10 of the NAEP package, CIPSEA is cited explicitly as keeping information confidential, but there is no mention of “for statistical purposes.”  It just says it won’t affect your student’s grades.  The “statistical purpose” language used elsewhere should be added in here and anywhere else it is missing.

Response: The ‘statistical purposes’ text has been added to CIPSEA citations. For example, in the letter:

“It will take about (assessment time) minutes for most students to complete NAEP. The results are completely confidential (in accordance with the Confidential Information Protection provisions of Title V, Subtitle A, Public Law 107-347), and the information provided will be used for statistical purposes only. Your child’s grades will not be affected. Your child may be excused from participation for any reason, is not required to finish the assessment, and may skip any test question. While NAEP is voluntary, we depend on student participation to provide an accurate measure of student achievement that will inform improvements in education. Your child will represent many other students, so participation is very important. However, if you do not want your child to participate, please notify me in writing by (date).”

2.       When in the calendar year is 12th grade NAEP administered?   If in the spring, the following questions about item 15 are applicable.  If in the fall, then we have a concern that many of these items are “NA” in the fall and the question stem (at least) needs to be rethought.

Response: The grade 12 administration will be during the late-January thru early-March timeframe. Thus, responses to question 3 are provided.

3.       See below for reactions to various response options on Q15 – Kashka since you are part of the interagency group working on certificates, feel free to weigh in especially on items G and H.

Q15.  During this school year, which of the following have you done?

They write	Reaction
A Taken the SAT or ACT College Entrance Exams
B Submitted the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)	Has this been tested to see if 12th graders know the language.  If not, “Applied for financial aid for college.”
C Applied to a 2-year college	What happens if student has applied to BOTH a 2 and 4 year, been accepted into BOTH, etc?  Should the instruction say “mark all that apply?”
D Been accepted to a 2-year college	“”
E Applied to a 4-year college	“”
F Been accepted to a 4-year college	“”
G Applied to a technical training program (such as electrician, beautician, mechanic, computer programmer, etc.)	All of NCES should be using the approach consistent with the interagency working group led by NCES’s postsecondary studies group.  Please run this by them but the language should be something like “Applied to a certificate or diploma program from a school that provides occupational training (such as beautician, …)”
H Been accepted to a technical training program
I Talked with a military recruiter
J Been accepted into the military	This is the wording used in the postsecondary world, I believe.  Definitely not “been accepted” -- Enlisted (or definitely decided to enlist) in the military
K Applied for a full-time job
L Been interviewed for a full-time job
M None of the above

B. Submitted the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

Has this been tested to see if 12th graders know the language.  If not, “Applied for financial aid for college.”

3B Response: Evidence from the cognitive interviews conducted in February 2011 tested the comprehension for all item stems and response choices. The term "Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)" did not present any identifiable comprehension problems amongst respondents in the sample.

C. Applied to a 2-year college

What happens if student has applied to BOTH a 2 and 4 year, been accepted into BOTH, etc?  Should the instruction say “mark all that apply?”

3C Response: The question (item stem) includes the instruction “Fill in ovals for all that apply.” at the end of the item stem. Such that question #15 (VE627773) reads: “During this school year, which of the following have you done? Fill in ovals for all that apply.” “Fill in ovals for all that apply.” is the standard style used by NAEP on questionnaires and is consistent with other NAEP questionnaires.

G. Applied to a technical training program (such as electrician, beautician, mechanic, computer programmer, etc.)

H. Been accepted to a technical training program

All of NCES should be using the approach consistent with the interagency working group led by NCES’s postsecondary studies group.  Please run this by them but the language should be something like “Applied to a certificate or diploma program from a school that provides occupational training (such as beautician, …)”

3G-H Response: We checked with Postsecondary staff and they concur with OMB’s recommended wording revisions. We will revise the language as follows:

Applied to a certificate or diploma program at a school that provides occupational training (such as electrician, beautician, mechanic, computer programmer, etc.)

J. Been accepted into the military

This is the wording used in the postsecondary world, I believe.  Definitely not “been accepted” -- Enlisted (or definitely decided to enlist) in the military

3J Response: As recommended, we will revise the option J text from ‘been accepted into the military’ to the following:

Enlisted in the military

In summary, the final wording for question 15 (VE627773) will be:

During this school year, which of the following have you done? Fill in ovals for all

that apply.

A) Taken the SAT or ACT College Entrance Exams

B) Submitted the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

C) Applied to a 2-year college

D) Been accepted to a 2-year college

E) Applied to a 4-year college

F) Been accepted to a 4-year college

G) Applied to a certificate or diploma program from a school that provides occupational training (such as electrician, beautician, mechanic, computer programmer, etc.)

H) Been accepted to a technical training program

I) Talked with a military recruiter

J) Enlisted in the military

K) Applied for a full-time job

L) Been interviewed for a full-time job

M) None of the above