Attachment B - Principal and School District Superintendent Letter of Support

ATTACHMENT B:
PRINCIPAL AND SCHOOL DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT
LETTER OF SUPPORT

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[Contact - Prefix] [Contact - First Name] [Contact – Last Name]
[Contact - Title]
[District Name]
[District Address 1]
[District Address 2]
[City], [State] [ZIP]
Dear [Contact - Prefix] [Contact– Last Name]:
My name is ______ and I am contacting you from the State Arts Agency that serves schools in
your region and on behalf of the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA). I wanted to alert you
that we have recommended [insert school name] to participate in a research study about how
Poetry Out Loud (POL) is implemented in your school. We have high hopes for this study since
it is an opportunity to examine how POL programming benefits youth, how it enriches the
English Language Arts curriculum, and affords opportunities for teachers to expand their
knowledge base in teaching poetry. Moreover, the results will yield important information about
how POL is implemented across schools providing opportunities to learn more about effective
POL programmatic practices.
This study, commissioned by the NEA, is primarily focused on understanding the effect of POL
on student engagement, academic achievement, and social-emotional outcomes and will examine
the variety of factors involved in the successful implementation of the program. A total of 10
schools across the U.S. will be selected to take part of the study, and we hope yours is one of
them.
To conduct the data collection and research activities for the study, the NEA has contracted with
Social Policy Research. The study will be comprised of three main research activities: (1) pre
and post online student surveys of POL participants and non-POL participant; (2) site visits to
conduct interviews and focus groups with students, teachers, and administrators; and (3) the
provision of de-identified student level data. For additional details about the study please see the
enclosed one-page summary.
To continue this selection process, a research team member from SPR will be contacting you
in the coming weeks. We expect research activities will begin in the Fall of 2018 and take
place throughout the 2018-2019 school year. We sincerely hope that you will consider the
possibility of [insert school name]’s participation in this study. If you have any questions about
the study, please contact Melissa Mack at (510) 788-2478] or [[email protected]].
Sincerely,
[insert name]