Appendix C: Notification Letters and Reminder Emails
STATE NOTIFICATION LETTER
Dear Sal TIFName TILName:
As you may recall, your state participated in a spring 2014 survey as part of the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) study of the Implementation of the Title I/II-A Program Initiatives. Thank you for your participation. All states and the District of Columbia responded to the 2014 survey. You can download a copy of the report with those survey results from this site:
https://ies.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=NCEE20174014
A follow-up survey will be conducted beginning in April 2018 and all states and the District of Columbia will again be included as study participants. The follow-up survey will examine the implementation of policies and practices funded through Title I and Title II-A at the state and district levels in the same four core areas as the 2014 survey:
School accountability and support for low-performing schools,
Improving teacher and leader effectiveness,
State content standards, and
Assessments.
The 2018 survey also will address school choice, which is an area of increasing federal and state policy attention.
In addition to the 50 states and the District of Columbia, the same nationally representative sample of 567 school districts which was selected as participants for the 2014 survey will also be included in the follow-up district survey, as well as a new sample of 152 charter school districts.
As a reminder, all states and districts that received funding through the Title I or Title II-A programs are required under the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (34 C.F.R. § 76.591) to participate in this study.
We ask that you or your designee(s) complete the electronic survey by DATE. A member of the research team will contact you shortly to provide information on how to access the survey, provide additional study details, answer any questions, and request your help in identifying additional state-level staff with appropriate expertise to respond to parts of the state survey. The survey has been divided into five sections based on the topics listed above. To complete each survey section will require as little as 15 minutes or up to an hour depending on the section. All data collected for this study will be kept confidential (per The Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 outlined below), except as required by law. A report will be published with results aggregated across all respondents. The report will not associate responses with a specific individual, and individual respondents will not be identified. You will be able to use the information in the report to compare your state’s strategies and policies to those reported in aggregate by other states across the nation.
The names of the districts sampled from your state are provided in the attachment. If you receive inquiries from local administrators, we appreciate your encouragement of their participation in the follow-up survey. Your support is important to the success of the study.
Thank you in advance for your continued cooperation and participation in this study conducted by Westat and its partner, Mathematica Policy Research. If you have questions about the study, please contact Patty Troppe, the Project Director at 1-888-441-3221 or at [email protected]. If you have questions about the state survey, please contact Brian Gill, the study’s Co-Principal Investigator at Mathematica Policy Research, at (617) 301-8962 or at [email protected]. We look forward to learning more about the current policy initiatives in your state.
Sincerely,
Patty Troppe, Ph.D. Brian Gill, Ph.D., J.D.
Implementation of Title I/II-A Program Initiatives Implementation of Title I/II-A Program Initiatives
Project Director Co-Principal Investigator
Westat Mathematica Policy Research
Attachment: List of Sampled Districts from the State
Cc: Title I Coordinator
Notice of Confidentiality
Information collected for this study comes under the confidentiality and data protection requirements of the Institute of Education Sciences (The Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, Title I, Part E, Section 183). Responses to this data collection will be used only for statistical purposes. The reports prepared for this study will summarize findings across the sample and will not associate responses with a specific individual. We will not provide information that identifies you to anyone outside the study team, except required by law.
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
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 XXXX-XXXX. The approximate time required to complete the survey is estimated to be 180 minutes. If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimates or suggestions for improving this form, please write to: U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC 20202-4651.
DISTRICT NOTIFICATION LETTER
FOR DISTRICTS IN THE ORIGINAL SAMPLE
Dear Sal SupFName SupLName:
As you may recall, your school district was selected to participate in a spring 2014 survey as part of the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) study of the Implementation of Title I/II-A Program Initiatives. Thank you for your participation. You can download a copy of the report with those survey results from this site: https://ies.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=NCEE20174014
A follow-up survey will be conducted beginning in April 2018, and your school district is included as a study participant. The follow-up survey will examine the implementation of policies and practices funded through Title I and Title II-A at the state and district levels in the same four core areas as the 2014 survey:
School accountability and support for low-performing schools,
Improving teacher and leader effectiveness,
State content standards, and
Assessments.
The 2018 survey also will address school choice, which is an area of increasing federal and state policy attention.
As a reminder, all states and districts that received funding through the Title I or Title II-A programs are required under the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (34 C.F.R. § 76.591) to participate in this study.
In order to participate, you or your designee(s) should complete a web survey by DATE. The survey will take approximately 60 minutes to complete and will likely require more than one respondent. Attached to this email is information about access to the website including the survey website location and your password. All data collected for this study will be kept confidential (per The Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 outlined below), except as required by law. A report will be published with results aggregated across all respondents. You will be able to use this information to compare your school district’s strategies and policies to those reported in aggregate by other school districts across the nation.
Thank you in advance for your continued cooperation and participation in this study conducted by Westat and its partner, Mathematica Policy Research. A paper version of this letter and the attachment will be mailed to your office to ensure your receipt of these materials. If you have questions about the study, please contact Patty Troppe (Project Director) or Sylvia Segovia (the study’s Operations Manager). We can be reached by calling 1-888-441-3221 or by emailing [email protected]. We look forward to working with your district once again to make this study a success!
Sincerely,
Patty Troppe, Ph.D.
Implementation of Title I/II-A Program Initiatives
Project Director
Westat
Notice of Confidentiality
Information collected for this study comes under the confidentiality and data protection requirements of the Institute of Education Sciences (The Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, Title I, Part E, Section 183). Responses to this data collection will be used only for statistical purposes. The reports prepared for this study will summarize findings across the sample and will not associate responses with a specific district or individual. We will not provide information that identifies you or your district to anyone outside the study team, except required by law.
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
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 XXXX-XXXX. The approximate time required to complete the survey is estimated to be 60 minutes. If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimates or suggestions for improving this form, please write to: U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC 20202-4651.
DISTRICT NOTIFICATION LETTER
FOR DISTRICTS IN THE NEW CHARTER SCHOOL DISTRICT SAMPLE
Dear Sal SupFName SupLName:
I am writing to inform you that [District Name] is one of the 719 school districts nationwide selected to participate in the study, Implementation of Title I/II-A Program Initiatives. Participation in the study by state/district officials is mandatory as recipients of federal Title I or Title II program funds. The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) at the U.S. Department of Education (ED) has contracted with Westat and its partner Mathematica Policy Research to conduct this important study. This email will describe the study and explain your role. Please note that a hard copy letter containing all of this information is also being mailed to your office.
The study
The Implementation of Title I/II-A Program Initiatives study will provide policy makers with detailed information on how Title I and Title II-A initiatives are playing out in states and districts during the early implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in the 2017–18 school year in four core areas:
School accountability and support for low-performing schools,
Improving teacher and leader effectiveness,
State content standards, and
Assessments.
The 2018 survey also will address school choice, which is an area of increasing federal and state policy attention.
The study includes surveys of state and district officials. We are contacting each group separately about their participation and have provided your state education agency with the names of all of the school districts in the state that have been selected to participate. The web-based district survey will likely require more than one respondent.
The first round of data collection for this study occurred in the Spring and Summer of 2014. The district survey for that data collection also focused on the four core areas listed above. You can download a copy of the report based on the study’s 2014 survey results from this site:
https://ies.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=NCEE20174014
We are conducting the second round of data collection for the study in April 2018. Your district is part of a new sample of charter school districts being added to the study this year.
All data collected for this study will be kept confidential (per The Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 outlined below), except as required by law. A report will be published with results aggregated across all respondents. You will be able to use this information to compare your school district’s strategies and policies to those reported in aggregate by other school districts across the nation.
Your role
All states and districts that received funding through the Title I or Title II-A programs are required under the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (34 C.F.R. § 76.591) to participate in this study. In order to participate, you or your designee(s) should complete a web survey by DATE. The survey will take approximately 60 minutes to complete. Attached to this email is information about access to the website including the survey website location and your password.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation and participation in this important study. Feel free to contact me directly with questions or issues. Sylvia Segovia, the study’s Operations Director, can also assist. We both can be reached by calling 1-888-441-3221 or by emailing [email protected]. We look forward to working with your district to make this study a success!
Sincerely,
Patty Troppe, Ph.D.
Implementation of Title I/II-A Program Initiatives
Project Director
Notice of Confidentiality
Information collected for this study comes under the confidentiality and data protection requirements of the Institute of Education Sciences (The Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, Title I, Part E, Section 183). Responses to this data collection will be used only for statistical purposes. The reports prepared for this study will summarize findings across the sample and will not associate responses with a specific district or individual. We will not provide information that identifies you or your district to anyone outside the study team, except required by law.
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
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 XXXX-XXXX. The approximate time required to complete the survey is estimated to be 60 minutes. If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimates or suggestions for improving this form, please write to: U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC 20202-4651.
State Section Contact Reminder Email
TO: Section Contact
CC: Main State Contact
Dear [Section Contact]:
Recently, we asked for your help with a state survey for the Implementation of Title I/II-A Program Initiatives study funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES). I am writing today to check on your progress and encourage the completion of your state’s survey.
All states that received funding through the Title I or Title II programs are required under the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (34 C.F.R. § 76.591) to participate in this study. The follow-up survey will continue to examine the implementation of policies and practices funded through Title I and Title II-A at the state and district levels in four core areas: accountability and turning around low-performing schools, improving teacher and leader effectiveness, state content standards and assessments. The follow-up survey also will address school choice, which is an area of increasing federal and state policy attention. The study involves surveys of all 50 states and the District of Columbia as well as a nationally representative sample of school districts.
Please complete the [Section name] section of the survey we e-mailed to you on [Month Day]. Your participation is very important as your survey is required to gather data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
If you did not receive the survey by email or if you have questions about the study, please call us toll free at [number] or email me at [email protected].
We will give you a call in the coming week, to see if you have questions about the survey and to obtain an estimated completion date for your state. We look forward to talking to you and very much appreciate your help.
Sincerely,
Sheila Heaviside
Implementation of Title I/II-A Program Initiatives
State Survey Manager
District Survey Reminder Email
Date, 2018
Dear SUPERINTENT/DESIGNEE,
This email is to remind you and/or your designee to complete the district survey component for the Implementation of Title I/II-A Program Initiatives study that is funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. All states and districts that received funding through the Title I or Title II programs are required under the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (34 C.F.R. § 76.591) to complete the district survey.
As a reminder, the district survey is divided into five sections:
School accountability,
Improving teacher and leader effectiveness,
State content standards,
Assessments, and
School choice.
You may assign different respondents for the various sections. If you have recently submitted your district survey, please accept our sincere thanks! If you have not, please submit your district survey within the next week. The survey is expected to take about 60 minutes to complete and can be accessed online at any time.
Below is information about access to the district survey website and your user login. For data security reasons, your password for the district survey will be sent in a separate email. Please keep track of your user login and password that are specific to your district. If you lose this information, you will need to contact the study team using the email or toll-free number listed below.
To log into the district survey site, respondents should go to the following website and enter the user login below and the password (sent separately) for the survey:
https://www.titlei-iistudy.org/districtlogin.aspx
User Login: «Username»
You or your designee may return to the website at any time, by entering your user login and password. You can save your answers and return to the survey as many times as you need. Please note that more than one respondent can be working on the survey simultaneously, but no two people should try to enter data for the same survey item at the same time, as responses will not be saved accurately.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation and participation in this study, conducted by Westat and its partner, Mathematica Policy Research. If you have questions about the study, please contact Patty Troppe (Project Director) or Sylvia Segovia (study’s Operations Director). We can be reached by calling 1-888-441-3221 or by emailing [email protected]. We look forward to working with your district to make this study a success!
Sincerely,
Patty Troppe, Ph.D.
Implementation of Title I/II-A Program Initiatives
Project Director
C-
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| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-21 |