OMB83C Change Memo

U NITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

National Center for Education Statistics

July 11, 2017

MEMORANDUM

To: Robert Sivinski, OMB

From: Rachel Hansen, NCES

Through: Kashka Kubzdela, NCES

Re: School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS) 2018 and 2020 Web Instrument Change Request (OMB# 1850-0761 v.13)

The School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS) is a nationally representative survey of elementary and secondary school principals that serves as the primary source of school-level data on crime and safety in public schools. SSOCS is the only recurring federal survey collecting detailed information on the incidence, frequency, seriousness, and nature of violence affecting students and school personnel from the school’s perspective. Data are also collected on frequency and types of disciplinary actions taken for select offenses; perceptions of other disciplinary problems, such as bullying, verbal abuse and disorder in the classroom; the presence and role of school security staff; parent and community involvement; staff training; mental health services available to students; and, school policies and programs concerning crime and safety. Prior administrations of SSOCS were conducted in 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2016. The 2018 and 2020 SSOCS full-scale data collections were approved in July 2017 (OMB# 1850-0761 v.12). This request is to update the text associated with the Accountability link on the SSOCS:18 web instrument included in Appendix A. This request does not involve any changes to the estimated respondent burden or to the cost to the federal government for this study.

The approved version of Appendix A - SSOCS 2018 & 2020 Communication Materials stated: “Note: NCES has requested for Census to put the Accessibility content (not highlighted below) on its own page to avoid participant’s confusion when seeing all of the other Census language (shaded in gray below) related to various topics including confidentiality. NCES is waiting to hear back from Census on this request.”

This change has now been made and when a respondent clicks on the Accessibility link at the bottom of the SSOCS:18 web instrument page (see Appendix A, page 52), they will be taken to a page with the following text:

Accessibility

The Census Bureau is committed to making online forms and other public documents on its Internet server accessible to all. Currently, we are reviewing our web sites and making modifications to those pages, which are not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. We use Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) to create pages that are generally accessible to persons using screen-reading devices, and we are careful in our construction of HTML documents to ensure maximum accessibility. We include alternate text describing graphics.

Many Census Bureau Internet documents are in ASCII or HTML formats. These documents are accessible to persons using screen-reading software. We also have a large number of documents in Adobe Acrobat PDF (Portable Document Format) files. Currently, many people using screen-reading devices cannot read documents in PDF format, specifically those that were created from a scanned hard copy.

Adobe Systems, Inc. is producing various products designed to make Adobe Acrobat documents accessible to persons using screen-reading software. Adobe's accessibility web pages describe their efforts.

To allow us to better serve those with visual disabilities who are having difficulty accessing PDF documents; you may contact us directly for further assistance at 301-763-INFO (4636), 800-923-8282, or by submitting a request at ask.census.gov.

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