Part A NTPS 2020-21 Preliminary Activities

B Draft NTPS 2020-21 Questionnaires (these are NTPS 2015-16 questionnaires, which provide the starting point for development of the 2020-21 questionnaires; the final versions of the NTPS 2020-21 questionnaires, along with the screener instrument and teacher list form collection portal content will be provided in the NTPS 2020-21 Main Study clearance request in winter 2019-20)

A.1 Circumstances Making Collection of Information Necessary

A.1.1 Purpose of This Submission

The National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), conducted biennially by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education (ED), is a system of related questionnaires that provides descriptive data on the context of elementary and secondary education. Redesigned from the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) with a focus on flexibility, timeliness, and integration with other ED data, the NTPS system allows for school, principal, and teacher characteristics to be analyzed in relation to one another.

SASS, the predecessor to NTPS, was conducted by NCES seven times between 1987 and 2011. SASS was an integrated study of public school districts, public and private schools, principals, teachers, and library media centers, designed to provide descriptive data on a wide range of topics including teacher demand, teacher and principal characteristics, general conditions in schools, principals' and teachers' perceptions of school climate and problems in their schools, teacher compensation, and district hiring and retention practices. After 2011-12, NCES redesigned SASS and named it the National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) to reflect the redesigned study’s focus on the teacher and principal labor market and on the state of K-12 school staff. NCES first conducted NTPS during the 2015-16 school year, and then again during the 2017-18 school year. The next collection will take place during the 2020-21 school year.

NTPS recruitment and data collection is administered for NCES by the U.S. Census Bureau. As with prior NTPS administrations, OMB approval for NTPS 2020-21 is being requested in two parts: 1) a clearance for preliminary field activities including contacting and obtaining research approvals from public school districts with an established research approval process (“special contact districts”), where applicable, and notifying sampled schools of their selection for the survey and verifying their mailing addresses (this request); and 2) a clearance for all other data collection activities (to be requested in winter 2019-20). Cognitive interviews to test new NTPS 2020-21 survey content (OMB #1850-0803 v.218) and focus groups to test NTPS 2020-21 recruitment materials (OMB #1850-0803 v.235 & 237) were conducted in 2018 and more testing in preparation for NTPS 2020-21 is being planned for 2019. This request is to conduct the NTPS 2020-21 preliminary activities. The NTPS 2020-21 Main Study final procedures and materials will be published for public comment and OMB review in winter 2019-20.

The next administration of NTPS was originally planned for 2019-20 and the NTPS 2019-20 preliminary activities were approved in October 2018 with a change request approved in February 2019 (OMB# 1850-0598 v.24-25). However, due to staffing shortages at NCES, NCES had to delay the NTPS 2019-20 administration by one year, to the 2020-21 school year. Although no major changes were implemented to the materials and procedures approved for NTPS preliminary activities (OMB# 1850-0598 v.24-25), besides delaying all activities by one year, the sampling plan and burden estimates were updated and many details have been added in this submission that describe the overall study plans. This request provides the sampling, dates, procedures, and materials for NTPS 2020-21 preliminary activities. After NTPS 2020-21, NCES plans to administer the next NTPS three years later, during the 2023-24 school year. Following the 2023-24 administration, NTPS is expected to be conducted every 2 years if resources allow.

A.1.2 Legislative Authorization

NCES conducts NTPS in close consultation with other offices and organizations within and outside the U.S. Department of Education. NCES is authorized to conduct NTPS by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA 2002, 20 U.S.C. §9543).

A.1.3 Prior and Related Studies

NTPS 2020-21 is the latest in a 30-year series of NCES studies on our nation’s schools and staffing. SASS was first fielded in school year 1987-88, collected every 3 years through 1993-94, and then underwent a 6-year pause for major survey design revisions, which resulted in the 1999-2000 data collection. After that, SASS was on a 4-year data collection cycle, with each SASS data collection followed one year later by the Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS) and, beginning in 2008-09, the Principal Follow-up Survey (PFS). The most recent administration of SASS was in 2011-12. At the conclusion of the 2011-12 collection, NCES redesigned SASS and named it NTPS. NCES first conducted NTPS in 2015-16, and then again in 2017-18. In 2016-17, NCES conducted the latest PFS, a follow-up to NTPS 2015-16. In 2021-22, NCES will conduct both PFS and TFS as a follow-up to NTPS 2020-21.

A.1.4 NTPS Study Design

The sample for NTPS 2020-21 will include approximately 10,600 public schools and principals and 53,400 public school teachers. The respondent universe for public schools will continue to consist of all public schools in the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia (DC) that offer instruction in any of grades 1-12. The NTPS 2020-21 will also include a private school sample, as was done in 2017-18, with approximately 3,000 private schools and principals and approximately 6,800 private school teachers.

Data collection will begin with the sampled school. A notification letter, intended to inform the school of their selection for the survey and to verify their mailing address, will be sent to sampled schools in the summer of 2020. About a month later, the principal will be contacted by mail and asked to complete a short Screener Survey online, which will confirm the school’s eligibility for the NTPS and will establish a survey coordinator at the school to whom contacts will be made throughout data collection. Teachers will be randomly sampled from rosters purchased from a vendor and verified by sampled schools through a Teacher Listing Forms (TLF) submitted to the Census Bureau or directly from the vendor roster (see the Teacher Listing Form (NTPS-1) subsection in this section). Teachers are ineligible for NTPS if they are short-term substitutes, student teachers, teacher’s aides, or do not teach any of grades K-12 or comparable ungraded levels.

NTPS collects information from schools, principals, and teachers in four data collection instruments: the TLF, the School Questionnaire, the Principal Questionnaire, and the Teacher Questionnaire. The School, Principal, and Teacher Questionnaire instruments have separate question paths for public and private schools. The NTPS 2015-16 versions of these instruments serve as the starting point for development of the 2020-21 versions and are included in Appendix B as NTPS 2020-21 drafts. The final NTPS 2020-21 instruments will be provided in the NTPS 2020-21 Main Study submission in winter 2019-20.

Teacher Listing Form (NTPS-1). The TLF is designed to produce a roster of the teachers in each sampled school who are eligible for NTPS. At the start of data collection, an invitation to complete the TLF electronically using the NTPS Respondent Portal internet instrument is sent to schools. A paper version of the TLF will be sent to schools in subsequent mailings. For each teacher, the TLF requests name, subject taught (in eight categories: special education, general elementary, math, science, English/language arts, social studies, Vocational/Technical, and other), and teacher email address. For schools for which acceptable vendor teacher roster data are available, the TLF (both the electronic version in the NTPS Respondent Portal and the paper TLF used in follow-up mailings) will be pre-populated with vendor teacher roster data, and the school will be asked to verify the teacher information rather than provide it from scratch. For schools for which acceptable vendor teacher roster data are not available, the school will be asked to provide their teacher roster information using the TLF application in the NTPS Respondent Portal or a blank TLF.

The Census Bureau will follow up with nonresponding schools by mail, email, telephone, and in-person visits, as needed, throughout the collection period. If collection efforts with the school are unsuccessful, NTPS staff will either use the vendor list to serve as a replacement for a completed TLF (for schools for which acceptable vendor teacher roster data are available) or will perform a clerical look up of teacher lists from internet sources to serve as a replacement for a completed TLF (for schools for which acceptable vendor teacher roster data are not available).

Principal Questionnaire (NTPS-2). The Principal Questionnaire (PQ) is targeted towards the principals of sampled schools and consists of the following core modules and rotating modules:

Core Modules

Principal Experience and Training. Includes items on experience prior to becoming a principal and as a principal, participation in a development program for aspiring school principals, highest degree earned, license or certification in school administration, and current teaching status.
Goals and Decision Making. Asks principals to rate their three most important educational goals and to indicate how much influence they think they have as principals on decisions concerning school policies and processes.
School Climate and Safety. Asks principals to indicate to the best of their knowledge how often various types of problems occur at the school; to report on measures of parent involvement in school; whether teachers are required to help students with academic, social, and emotional needs outside of regular school hours; and whether the school has a formal teacher induction program for beginning teachers.
Principal Demographic Information. Asks about gender, race, ethnicity, year of birth, and current annual salary for the principal’s position at the sampled school.
Contact Information. Asks principals for name; home address; work, cell, and home telephone numbers; work and home e-mail addresses; the date of questionnaire completion; and how many minutes it took to complete the questionnaire. This information will be used during the Principal Follow-up Survey (PFS).

Rotating Modules

Working Conditions and Principal Perceptions. Asks principals to report the number of hours they spend on all school-related activities during a typical full week, the percentage of time spent on various tasks including administration, teaching, and student/parent interaction, the number of days he or she is required to work under contract, whether he or she is represented under a meet-and-confer or collective bargaining agreement, the principal’s agreement with measures of job satisfaction, and how long he or she plans to remain a principal.
Teacher Evaluation. Asks about the principal’s general knowledge and perceptions of teacher evaluations, formal evaluations on tenured and non-tenured teachers, the impact of student achievement on evaluations, and the influence of evaluations on the teaching practice within the school.
Teacher Professional Development. Asks about the principal’s knowledge and perceptions of teacher professional development.
Principal Evaluation. Asks about principals’ knowledge and perceptions of principal evaluations, whether they received feedback, and the impact of student achievement on their evaluations.
Principal Professional Development. Asks about the principal’s knowledge about and participation in various principal professional development activities.
Principal Engagement. Asks about principals’ engagement and connection with the school and with colleagues.

In addition to the core modules, the following rotating module will be included in the NTPS 2020-21 Principal Questionnaire: Working Conditions and Principal Perceptions.

School Questionnaire (NTPS-3). The School Questionnaire (SQ) is targeted towards an administrator or administrative assistant in sampled schools and consists of the following core and rotating modules:

Core Modules

General Information about This School. Includes items on grade levels served, enrollment, average daily attendance, length of school year, whether the school is a regular or special program/emphasis school, whether the school is a charter school, kindergarten programs, library media centers, courses taught entirely online, presence of before- or after-school programs, and instruction for English-language learners.
Community Service Requirements. Asks whether the school grants high school diplomas and has a community service requirement for a standard diploma. If so, the section asks for the number of community service hours required for high school graduation.
Special Programs and Services. Asks about Individual Education Plans and services for students with disabilities, prekindergarten, participation in the National School Lunch Program, and participation in Title 1.
Contact Information. Asks for contact information for the person who completed most of the questionnaire, including the date completed and how many minutes it took to complete the form.

Rotating Modules

School Staffing. Defines the types of teachers sought in NTPS reporting and then asks for the total number of teachers by full- and part-time teaching status; full- and part-time staffing counts for various categories, including principals, librarians, student support staff, and aides; whether any of the teachers or staff at the school have special assignments or coaching responsibilities in academic subjects; teaching vacancies in the school in various subject fields and whether the vacancies were easy or difficult to fill; and the number of newly-hired and first-year teachers at the school.
Instructional Time. Asks about how much students receive instruction in certain subjects, such as reading and math, in a typical week.
Classroom Organization. Asks about the method in which the school organizes classes or students.

In addition to the core modules, the following rotating module will be included in the NTPS 2020-21 School Questionnaire: School Staffing.

Teacher Questionnaire (NTPS-4). The Teacher Questionnaire (TQ) is targeted towards teachers sampled for NTPS based on school-level teacher rosters. It consists of the following core and rotating modules:

Core Modules

General Information. Includes items confirming eligibility for the teacher sample, including their position at the school and whether they are teaching in any of grades K-12 or comparable ungraded levels. It also contains items on year began teaching (for the first time and at the sampled school), number of schools taught in, and number of years teaching.
Class Organization. Asks the teacher to report grades taught, number of students with an IEP and of limited-English proficiency, main teaching assignment subject field, looping, use of instructional software, how classes are organized, number of students taught and class size, hours spent teaching various academic subjects (for self-contained classroom teachers), and details on each class period or section taught (for subject-matter teachers).
Education and Training. Asks details about major and, if applicable, minor fields of study for all levels of educational attainment from vocational certificate through doctorate degrees; courses taken on teaching methods, including classroom management and using student performance data; and student teaching including number of classrooms and number of weeks.
Certification. Asks detailed information about the content area(s) and grade range(s) in which sample members are certified to teach, and whether the teacher entered teaching through an alternative route to certification program.
General Employment and Background Information. Includes items on earnings, union membership, and tenure.
Teacher Demographic Information. Includes items on race, ethnicity, gender, and year of birth.
Contact Information. Asks for contact information for the sample teacher, including spouse’s information (if applicable), phone numbers, and email addresses. This information is used in the TFS to track sample members.¹

Rotating Modules

Early Career Experiences. Targeted towards teachers in their first three years of teaching. It asks about their main activity prior to teaching, how well prepared they felt for various teaching-related tasks, whether they participated in a formal teacher induction program, and whether they received various kinds of support during their first year of teaching (including whether and how a master or mentor teacher supported them that year).
Teacher Working Conditions. Asks teachers to report the number of hours they are required to work under contract per week; how many of those hours are spent on delivering instruction; how many total hours (paid and unpaid) are spent each week on all teaching and school-related activities; whether the teacher serves as a coach, club sponsor, or in other department- or school-wide roles; and how much the teacher spent of his or her own money on school supplies in the last school year.
School Climate and Teacher Attitudes. Asks a series of questions about how much influence teachers think they have over school policies, how much control they have in their classroom, whether they agree with various measures of job satisfaction, the extent to which various conditions are a problem at the school, how long they plan to remain in teaching, and whether they have ever been threatened or physically attacked by a student from the school.
Teacher Evaluations. Asks about teachers’ knowledge and perceptions of teacher evaluations, the type of feedback they received, and the influence of evaluations on their teaching.
Teacher Professional Development. Asks about the current methods/modes of teacher professional development and other opportunities to learn, and their implications on teachers’ approaches to teaching.
Teacher Engagement. Asks about teachers’ engagement and connection with the school and with colleagues.

In addition to the core modules, the following three rotating modules will be included in the NTPS 2020-21 Teacher Questionnaire: Early Career Experiences, Teacher Working Conditions, and School Climate and Teacher Attitudes.

A.2 Purposes and Uses of the Data

NTPS 2020-21 will provide rich data that are generally designed to serve two purposes: descriptive and exploratory. The overall objective of NTPS is to collect the information necessary for a comprehensive picture of elementary and secondary education in the United States. The data collected permit detailed analyses of the characteristics of schools, principals, and teachers. The linkages among the NTPS questionnaires enable researchers to examine the relationships among these elements of education. Collection of these data provide critical information to policymakers and researchers on a variety of topics including school organization, decision making, and recruitment and retention of teachers and principals.

A.2.1 Research Issues Addressed in NTPS 2020-21

NTPS builds upon and extends the series of SASS data collections that occurred seven times over the period between 1987 and 2012. Many questions from SASS continue to be asked in the NTPS questionnaires, allowing researchers to examine trends on these topics over time. In addition, the linkages of NTPS/SASS with TFS and PFS create a small longitudinal component. A subset of teachers who respond to NTPS are surveyed during the following school year, as part of TFS, including teachers who changed schools, left the teaching profession, and teachers who stayed at the same school over the two school years. TFS allows researchers to study the antecedents of teacher attrition. TFS was most recently conducted in 2012-13 and will be conducted again in 2021-22, following the 2020-21 NTPS.

In turn, PFS, conducted in 2008-09, 2012-13, 2016-17, and upcoming in 2021-22, provides information about principal attrition. All principal respondents in the base-year NTPS are surveyed during the school year following the NTPS.

The large NTPS sample allows extensive disaggregation of data according to important characteristics of teachers, principals, and schools. For example, researchers can compare urban and rural settings, and the working conditions of teachers and principals of differing demographic backgrounds. The sections below provide examples of how NTPS data have been used to study our nation’s schools, teachers, and principals.

A.2.1.1 Characteristics of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, School Principals, and Teachers in the United States

The results of each NTPS collection are used to create First Look reports that are released to the public on the NCES website and which introduce new data from each NTPS collection through statistical tables containing descriptive information. The selected findings chosen for these reports demonstrate the range of information available on the NTPS restricted use data files. The most recent First Look reports available for the NTPS are as follows: Characteristics of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools in the United States: Results From the 2015-16 National Teacher and Principal Survey First Look (NCES 2017-071); Characteristics of Public Elementary and Secondary School Principals in the United States: Results From the 2015-16 National Teacher and Principal Survey First Look (NCES 2017-070); and, Characteristics of Public Elementary and Secondary School Teachers in the United States: Results From the 2015-16 National Teacher and Principal Survey First Look (NCES 2017-072).

A.2.1.2 Teacher Additional Earnings from Summer Jobs

The NTPS teacher questionnaire asks sampled teachers several detailed questions about earnings, including questions about their earnings from a summer job. The Summer Jobs for Regular, Full-Time Public School Teachers (NCES 2018-222REV) report describes the findings about the percentage of public school teachers who earn additional income by working during the summer. The findings are broken out by type of summer employment and U.S. region.

A.2.1.3 Teacher Satisfaction

NTPS includes numerous measures of how satisfied teachers were with their jobs and their working conditions. The Teacher Satisfaction with Salary and Current Job (NCES 2018-116) report describes the percentage of teachers who are satisfied with their salary for teaching and compares the job satisfaction of teachers who are satisfied and dissatisfied with their teaching salary.

A.2.1.4 Teacher Spending on Classroom Supplies

The NTPS teacher questionnaire asks sampled teacher about how much of their own money, if any, then spent on classroom supplies without reimbursement. In Public School Teacher Spending on Classroom Supplies (NCES 2018-097), NCES examines public school teachers’ personal spending on school supplies and differences in this spending among teachers from different community types and instructional level.

A.2.1.5 Principal Perception of Influence

The NTPS principal questionnaire asks sampled principals about how much actual influence they perceive to have as a principal on a number of decisions and policies within the school. In Public School Principals’ Perceptions of Influence by School Level and Community Type (NCES 2018-014), NCES examines public schools principals’ perception of their influence on their schools’ curriculum and budget and the differences among principals from different school instructional levels and community types.

A.2.1.6 Teacher and Principal Attrition

The SASS and NTPS, and their longitudinal components, the TFS and the PFS, provide detailed information on the year to year transitions made by teachers and principals.

Teacher Attrition and Mobility: Results From the 2012-13 Teacher Follow-up Survey (NCES 2014077) describes the number and characteristics of teachers who remained at the same school, moved to another school, or left the profession in the year following the SASS administration.

Principal Attrition and Mobility: Results From the 2016-17 Principal Follow-up Survey (NCES 2018066) explores how many principals in the 2015-16 school year still worked as a principal in the same school in the 2016-17 school year, how many had moved to become a principal in another school, and how many had left principalship.

A.3 Use of Improved Information Technology

Technology will be applied appropriately to keep respondent burden to a minimum. Prior to school data collection, the principal will be asked to complete a short screener interview online using the NTPS Screener internet instrument. During this interview, a survey coordinator will be selected, whose role throughout data collection will be to facilitate the completion of the NTPS questionnaires.

To lessen the response burden on sampled schools, speed up the teacher sample selection, and reduce data processing costs, NTPS will continue to collect TLF information electronically via the TLF application within the NTPS Respondent Portal internet instrument (paper version will be provided upon request). Whenever possible, schools will be provided TLFs that have been pre-populated with vendor-purchased teacher information, in both the electronic and paper TLFs. This will allow schools to verify the teacher roster information rather than have to provide the requested information for every teacher in their school. Schools will be assured that all teacher data will be stored on secure online servers controlled by the U.S. Census Bureau. Questionnaires within each sampled school will be tracked using an online tool called the NTPS Respondent Portal, which was also used in NTPS 2015-16 and NTPS 2017-18 and has been significantly improved between each survey administration. Voluntary school-based “survey coordinators” will be invited to access this web-based tool at the onset of data collection activities.

Following successful implementation in both the 2015-16 NTPS and the 2017-18 NTPS, the Internet response option for principals, schools, and teachers will serve as the primary mode of collection in 2020-21. Nonresponding schools, principals, and teachers will eventually be offered the option to respond by paper.

Principal email addresses (purchased from the vendor) and school-based coordinator email addresses (collected using the Screener survey instrument at the time the coordinator is established) will be utilized during data collection. Invitations to complete the principal and school questionnaires via the Internet response option will be sent to the principal and/or school-based coordinator by email. If they do not respond, they will also be given the option to respond by paper.

Finally, following successful implementation in the 2015-16 NTPS and the 2017-18 NTPS, schools will once again be asked to provide (or verify) teacher email addresses on TLF. Teachers will be invited by mail and by email, if available, to respond to the Teacher Questionnaire through an Internet response option. If they do not respond, they will also be given the option to respond by paper. Independently, as part of the NTPS questionnaires, in addition to asking all teachers and principal whether they consent to receive text messages for follow-up purposes, we will ask them for their email addresses and cell phone numbers to be used during the 2020-21 school year in TFS and the PFS.

A.4 Efforts to Identify Duplication

A key element of the NTPS design principle was to leverage trusted data sources instead of asking schools or districts to report items on NTPS that they or their state have already provided through other collections. At the start of the SASS redesign to the NTPS, all SASS items were cross-walked against a variety of ED’s and external data sources. From this review, a number of duplicate or near duplicate items were identified. As a result, NCES plans to append to the NTPS files data from the Common Core of Data (CCD) and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) in order to enrich and not duplicate data collection on these topics. In some cases a duplicate item was kept on NTPS because the extant variable from another source was not suitable for NTPS (e.g. due to an issue with periodicity, availability, item wording, reliability, or the item being needed for confirmation purposes).

A.5 Method Used to Minimize Burden on Small Businesses

Burden on small schools is minimized during the NTPS through the sample design that specifies the selection of schools as a function of size defined by the number of teachers. Small schools, therefore, will be sampled at lower rates than larger schools because they comprise a smaller proportion of the teacher population per school. A large component of the NTPS redesign was intended specifically to improve the data collected and minimize burden imposed on respondents. NTPS questionnaires are shorter than their respective SASS questionnaires. In addition, the questionnaires have been designed with a module approach, so as to not cause undue burden on respondents. Some sections are included in every NTPS administration (core modules), while other sections are included during every other cycle (rotating modules).

A.6 Frequency of Data Collection

NCES plans for the NTPS to be collected on a two year cycle, resources permitting. A major component of the redesign of SASS into NTPS was revising the collection periodicity. NCES received extensive feedback from experts and researchers in the field that the data collected from SASS every four years were not timely enough to capture more frequent changes in the characteristics of teachers and principals in K-12 education. In response to this feedback, the goal is for NTPS to be conducted every two years. If NTPS were fielded less often, there would be a significant delay in the observation of critical changes in trends that address the key research issues affecting the teacher and principal workforces.

A.7 Special Circumstances of Data Collection

No special circumstances for this information collection are anticipated.

A.8 Consultants outside the Agency

Since its inception, the development of SASS has relied on the substantive and technical review and comments of people both inside and outside the Department of Education. Outside experts who were convened to offer comments on proposed revisions for the NTPS and their affiliation at the start of the project include:

Kelly Burling, Ph.D., Vice President and Director of the Center for Educator Effectiveness, Pearson

Steve Glazerman, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, Mathematica Policy Research

Heather Hill, Ph.D., Professor in Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Patricia Hinchey, Ed.D., Professor of Education, Pennsylvania State (Worthington-Scranton)

Richard Ingersoll, Ph.D., Board of Overseers, Professor of Education and Sociology, U. of Pennsylvania

Anthony Milanowski. Ph.D., Senior Study Director, Westat

Angela Minnici, Ph.D., Managing Researcher, American Institutes for Research (AIR)

Jennifer Oliver, M.A., TAP Director, U. of Indianapolis, Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning

Eric Camburn, Ph.D., Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education

Matthew Clifford, Ph.D., Principal Research Scientist, American Institutes for Research (AIR)

Laura Desimone, Ph.D., Professor, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education

H. Alix Gallagher, Ph.D., Associate Director, SRI International

Stephanie Hirsh, Ph.D., Executive Director, Learning Forward

Kwang Suk Yoon, Ph.D., Principal Research Scientist, American Institutes for Research (AIR)

The following experts served as part of the NTPS team in previous rounds of administration:

David Marker, Statistician, Westat

Rebecca Goldring, Statistician, Westat

Lou Rizzo, Statistician, Westat

The NTPS design has benefited from consultation with the following federal experts:

Andy Zukerberg, Statistician, National Center for Education Statistics

Cleo Redline, Statistician, National Center for Education Statistics

Deanne Swan, Statistician, National Center for Education Statistics

Maura Spiegelman, Statistician, National Center for Education Statistics

Sharon Boivin, Statistician, National Center for Education Statistics

Stephen Broughman, Statistician, National Center for Education Statistics

Shawna Cox, Survey Director, Education Surveys Team, U.S. Census Bureau

Walter Holmes, Assistant Survey Director, Education Surveys Team, U.S. Census Bureau

James Farber, Mathematical Statistician, Demographic Survey Methods Division, U.S. Census Bureau

Aaron Gilary, Mathematical Statistician, Demographic Survey Methods Division, U.S. Census Bureau

Mary Davis, Statistician, Center for Behavioral Science Methods, U.S. Census Bureau

Stephanie Coffey, Center for Optimization and Data Science, U.S. Census Bureau

Allison Zotti, Center for Optimization and Data Science, U.S. Census Bureau

A.9 Provision of Payments or Gifts to Respondents

Some districts charge a fee (~$50-200) to process research application requests, which we pay as necessary.

For details of the results of the 2017-18 NTPS incentive experiments summarized below and the details of the planned 2020-21 NTPS incentive experiments, see the Supporting Statement Part B, section B.4.1 for details

The 2017-18 NTPS included an incentive experiment designed to examine the effectiveness of offering teachers a monetary incentive to boost overall teacher response. Teachers in the experimental treatment received a prepaid cash incentive at the first contact by mail. The experimental treatment was assigned at the school level, with all sampled teachers from a school receiving the same treatment. The results indicated that the teacher incentive significantly increased the final response rates for both public and private school teacher questionnaires.

Due to the favorable results from the NTPS 2017-18teacher incentives, NTPS 2020-21 will include the use of incentives, once again, with the goal of maximizing overall teacher response. Two types of incentives will be offered in an experimental manner – a prepaid cash monetary incentive and a non-monetary incentive. Teachers in the experimental treatment will receive a canvas tote bag at the first contact by mail. This treatment will be evaluated against the control group, which will receive a prepaid cash monetary incentive, as was done in NTPS 2017-18.

NTPS 2020-21 will include an experiment for a small number of public schools designed to examine the effectiveness of offering a non-monetary incentive to schools to boost overall NTPS response within the school. Schools assigned to the experimental treatment will receive a non-monetary incentive with the initial mailout package. This treatment will be evaluated against the control group, which will not receive any school-level incentive. We currently plan to send large, sealed metal tins of popcorn to schools in the non-monetary incentive treatment group. The tins will be NTPS-branded and/or include other education-related information. The print on the tins may also include a sample of national-level data from past NTPS cycles.

The 2017-18 NTPS also included a contingency plan with monetary boosts to combat potential low response rates from teachers in the later teacher mailing waves. The contingency plan was executed and the results indicated that, overall, the contingency incentive significantly increased the response rate within the selected contingency incentive domains for public school teachers. Therefore, a contingency plan will also be included in NTPS 2020-21 for additional monetary incentives to teachers and will be executed as needed based on monitoring data collection status.

The details of the incentive plans to be used in NTPS 2020-21 are not yet finalized and will be provided in the NTPS 2020-21 Main Study submission in winter 2019-20.

A.10 Assurance of Confidentiality

Data security and confidentiality protection procedures have been put in place for NTPS 2020-21 to ensure that all contractors and agents working on NTPS 2020-21 comply with all privacy requirements including, as applicable:

The Inter-agency agreement with NCES for this study and the statement of work of NTPS contract;
Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. §552a);
Privacy Act Regulations (34 CFR Part 5b);
Computer Security Act of 1987;
U.S.A. Patriot Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-56);
Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA 2002, 20 U.S.C. §9573);
Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015 (6 U.S.C. §151);
Foundations of Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018, Title III, Part B, Confidential Information Protection
The U.S. Department of Education General Handbook for Information Technology Security General Support Systems and Major Applications Inventory Procedures (March 2005);
The U.S. Department of Education Incident Handling Procedures (February 2009);
The U.S. Department of Education, ACS Directive OM: 5-101, Contractor Employee Personnel Security Screenings;
NCES Statistical Standards; and
All new legislation that impacts the data collected through the inter-agency agreement and contract for this study.

The U.S. Census Bureau will collect data under an interagency agreement with NCES, and maintain the individually identifiable questionnaires per the agreement, including:

Provisions for data collection in the field;
Provisions to protect the data-coding phase required before machine processing;
Provisions to safeguard completed survey documents;
Authorization procedures to access or obtain files containing identifying information; and
Provisions to remove printouts and other outputs that contain identification information from normal operation (such materials will be maintained in secured storage areas and will be securely destroyed as soon as practical).

U.S. Census Bureau and contractors working on NTPS 2020-21 will comply with the Department of Education’s IT security policy requirements as set forth in the Handbook for Information Assurance Security Policy and related procedures and guidance, as well as IT security requirements in the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) publications, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circulars, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards and guidance. All data products and publications will also adhere to: the revised NCES Statistical Standards, as described at the website: https://nces.ed.gov/statprog/2012/.

By law (20 U.S.C. §9573), a violation of the confidentiality restrictions is a felony, punishable by imprisonment of up to 5 years and/or a fine of up to $250,000. All government or contracted staff working on the NTPS study and having access to the data, including NTPS field staff, are required to sign an NCES Affidavit of Nondisclosure and have received public-trust security clearance. These requirements include the successful certification and accreditation of the system before it can be implemented. Appropriate memoranda of understanding and interconnection security agreements will be documented as part of the certification and accreditation process.

From the initial contact with the participants in this survey through all of the follow-up efforts, potential survey respondents will be informed that (a) the U.S. Census Bureau administers NTPS on behalf of NCES; (b) NCES is authorized to conduct NTPS by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA 2002, 20 U.S.C. §9543); (c) all of the information they provide may only be used for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose except as required by law (20 U.S.C. §9573 and 6 U.S.C. §151); and (d) that their participation is voluntary.

The following language will be included in respondent contact materials and on data collection instruments:

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), within the U.S. Department of Education, conducts NTPS as authorized by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA 2002, 20 U.S.C. §9543).

All of the information you provide may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose except as required by law (20 U.S.C. §9573 and 6 U.S.C. §151).

The following language will be included on data collection instruments:

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this voluntary information collection is 1850-0598. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated at [XX] minutes per response based on the mean and median times in the previous collection, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection. If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate, suggestions for improving this collection, or comments or concerns about the contents or the status of your individual submission of this questionnaire, please e-mail: [email protected], or write directly to: National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), National Center for Education Statistics, Potomac Center Plaza, 550 12^th Street SW, Washington, DC 20202.

A.11 Sensitive Questions

The teacher and principal questionnaires collect data on salary. While these items might be considered sensitive, they have been used in the past, and response rates for these items are traditionally high, at 95.2% for principals and ranging from 85.0% to 93.62% for teachers.

Based on public comments received for NTPS 2017-18, cognitive testing was conducted in 2017 and 2018 (OMB #1850-0803 v.218) to test new NTPS 2020-21 content, including questions designed to ask public school principals and teachers about their sexual orientation and gender identity. The results indicated that principals and teachers understood these questions, but speculated that others may be uncomfortable reporting their sexual orientation and gender identity, particularly when contacted through their school. As a result, these items will not be included in the NTPS 2020-21 questionnaires, though NCES will continue to explore whether their inclusion in the NTPS Public School Teacher Questionnaire would increase item or unit nonresponse rates. NCES is currently considering utilizing a small field test that would be conducted alongside the NTPS 2020-21 main study data collection to evaluate item nonresponse, unit nonresponse, and survey breakoffs for the newly developed items. More details about this potential field test would be provided in the NTPS 2020-21 Main Study submission in winter 2019-20.

A.12 Estimated Response Burden

This request is to contact districts and schools in order to begin preliminary activities for NTPS 2020-21, namely: (a) contacting and seeking research approvals from public school districts with an established research approval process (“special contact districts”), (b) notifying districts that their school(s) have been selected for NTPS 2020-21, and (c) notifying sampled schools of their selection for the survey and verifying their mailing addresses.

Based on an initial assessment of previous NTPS data collections, we estimate that roughly 300 special contact districts will be in the sample. The special contact districts are those known to require completion of a research application before they will allow schools under their jurisdiction to participate in a study. Contacting special districts begins with updating district information based on what can be gleaned from online sources and what is known from previous cycles of collection. Individual districts will be contacted as needed to fill in gaps about where and to whom to send the completed required research application forms. The estimated number of such districts represents those with particularly detailed application forms and lengthy processes for approval. This operation will begin in the winter of 2019-20 to allow sufficient time for special districts’ review processes. Special district operations will begin by contacting up to 100 “certainty” special contact districts for which, due to their size, it is certain that at least one school from their jurisdiction will be randomly sampled. Other special contact districts will be contacted after the sample is drawn in the spring of 2020. We will continue to work with the districts until we receive a final response (approval or denial of request) as long as there is sufficient time for sampled schools, principals and teachers to respond to NTPS.

In general, the projected number of respondents is based on the NTPS 2020-21 sample size, and takes into account eligibility and response rates from NTPS 2017-18. Not all districts initially flagged as special contact districts will respond in the recruitment effort because they may not have a formal research application process and are not actually a special contact district, as such, the estimated number of responding special districts is lower than the estimated sample size for the special district operation.

The total response burden estimate for special district IRB approvals is based on 360 minutes for IRB review by one staff member, and 60 minutes per member for special district IRB panel review, assuming each panel would on average be composed of six panel members. The burden per school for reading and potentially following up on the NTPS notification letter is estimated to average about 3 minutes. Based on the estimated hourly rates for principals/administrators of $46.85², and based on 3,330 total burden hours for NTPS 2020-21 preliminary activities, the total estimated burden time cost to respondents is $156,011.

Although response burden for the NTPS 2020-21 main study data collection activities is not being requested in this submission (it will be requested in the NTPS 2020-21 Main Study clearance request in winter 2019-20), we are showing its estimated details in gray font in Table 1. The 2020-21 NTPS data collection will begin in July 2020 with an advance letter mailing to all sampled school principals. Throughout this section, “school” is used to refer to both public and private schools, unless stated otherwise. The burden estimate accounts for principals spending time to read the letter and logging into the NTPS Screener internet instrument to complete a short “Screener Interview” designed to determine the school’s eligibility to participate in NTPS 2020-21 and to establish a survey coordinator. The next step will be to collect the school level questionnaires – the TLF, School Questionnaire, and Principal Questionnaire – from sampled schools. Pre-populated TLFs will be used wherever acceptable teacher roster data are available from a vendor (see Supporting Statement Part B, section B.2 for NTPS 2020-21 Procedures for the Collection of Information).

Table 1. Estimates of respondent burden for NTPS 2020-21 preliminary field activities and data collection activities

Activity	Sample Size	Estimated Response Rate	Estimated Number of Respondents	Estimated Number of Responses	Average Burden Time per Respondent (Minutes)	Total Burden Hours
Preliminary Activities
District IRB Staff Review	300	80%	240	240	360	1,440
District IRB Panel Review	300*6	80%	1,440	1,440	60	1,440
Notification letter – public schools	10,600	65%	6,890	6,890	3	344.5
Notification letter – private schools	3,000	70%	2,100	2,100	3	105
Total Preliminary Activities	--	--	10,670	10,670	--	3,330
Main Study Data Collection Activities*
Public School Staff
Electronic TLF	10,600	0.05	530	530	30	265
Electronic TLF (pre-populated)	10,600	0.31	3,286	3,286	15	822
Paper TLF (pre-populated)	10,600	0.25	2,650	2,650	15	663
Paper TLF (blank)	10,600	0.04	424	424	30	212
Coordinator duties	10,600	0.60	6,360	6,360	22	2,332
School questionnaire	10,600	0.72	7,632	7,632	35	4,452
Public School Principals
Screener interview	10,600	0.60	6,360	6,360	5	530
Principal questionnaire	10,600	0.70	7,420	7,420	30	3,710
Public School Teachers
Teacher Questionnaire	53,400	0.81	43,254	43,254	40	28,836
Total Public Schools	--	--	77,916	77,916	--	41,822
Private School Staff
Electronic TLF	3,000	0.20	600	600	30	300
Electronic TLF (pre-populated)	3,000	0.13	390	390	15	98
Paper TLF (pre-populated)	3,000	0.11	330	330	15	83
Paper TLF (blank)	3,000	0.16	480	480	30	240
Coordinator duties	3,000	0.60	1,800	1,800	22	660
School questionnaire	3,000	0.65	1,950	1,950	40	1,300
Private School Principals
Screener interview	3,000	0.60	1,800	1,800	5	150
Principal questionnaire	3,000	0.65	1,950	1,950	30	975
Private School Teachers
Teacher Questionnaire	6,800	0.80	5,440	5,440	40	3,627
Total Private Schools	--	--	14,740	14,740	--	7,433
TOTAL	--	--	103,326	103,326	--	52,585

* Gray font denotes NTPS 2020-21 Main Study data collection activities for which burden is not being requested in this submission.

A.13 Estimates of Cost to Respondents

There are no costs to respondents beyond their time to participate. No equipment, printing, or postage charges will be incurred by the participants.

A.14 Cost to the Federal Government

The total estimated cost to the federal government for NTPS 2020-21 is $16.0 million. The estimated cost for the preliminary field activities is $290,000.

Table 2. Estimates of Costs to the Federal Government

Activity	Estimated Costs
Survey Development	$3,550,000
Survey Collection	$10,917,000
Data Processing	$1,029,000
Data Reporting	$504,000
TOTAL	$16,000,000

A.15 Reasons for Changes in Response Burden

This request is to conduct the NTPS 2020-21 preliminary and data collection activities a year later than originally planned and approved. The very small increase in the estimated response burden is due to the adjustment made to the sample size and estimated number of responding schools.

A.16 Publication Plans and Time Schedule

Information relevant to the data collection will be part of the reports resulting from NTPS 2020-21. A data file will be produced and made available to researchers through an online NCES data analysis tool, PowerStats, as well as in a restricted-use data file. Researchers who are approved by NCES’s data confidentiality office for a restricted-use license can access restricted-use data files. Codebooks and user’s manuals will be produced for use with the restricted-use data files. All of the NTPS data files will be linked through the sampled school record. NTPS 2020-21 reports and publications will include a detailed methodological report describing all aspects of the data collection effort. The operational schedule for NTPS 2020-21 is provided in Table 3.

Table 3. Operational schedule for NTPS 2020-21

Activity	Tentative Dates
Begin contacting Special Districts to begin approval process	December 2019
Complete and deliver certainty special district applications and packages	February 2020 – February 2021 (earliest cut-off)
Draw the 2020-21 NTPS school sample	April 2020
Complete and deliver applications and packages to newly identified special districts	April 2020 – February 2021 (earliest cut-off)
Mail school notification letters where approved or no approval needed	June 2020
Mail advance screener letter to school principals	July 2020
Screener Telephone Operations to establish survey coordinator	August 2020
Begin NTPS 2020-21 Questionnaire Data Collection	September 2020
Mail questionnaires/internet invitations to schools, request teacher lists	September 2020
Mail confirmation telephone operation to Priority schools	September – October 2020
Mail second package to non-responding schools	October 2020
Field Operation to obtain TLF, and school and principal questionnaires (schools without acceptable vendor teacher rosters)	October – November 2020
Telephone reminder operation, Phase 1	December 2020
Telephone reminder operation, Phase 2	January – February 2021
Mail fourth package to non-responding schools	February 2021
Telephone follow-up to obtain school, principal, and teacher questionnaires	February – March 2021 April – May 2021 (late sampled teachers)
Field Operation to obtain teacher, school, and principal questionnaires	March – May 2021
Send initial and reminder emails to school principals and coordinators	September 2020 – March 2021
Mail initial Teacher Questionnaire invitations as teacher samples are drawn	October 2020 – March 2021
Mail up to 3 reminder packages to teachers	November 2020 – June 2021
Send initial and reminder emails to teachers	November 2020 – June 2021
End NTPS 2017-18 Data Collection	July 2021
Data capture of all questionnaires	September 2020 – July 2021
Data processing	March 2021 – January 2022
Release initial reports and data files	July 2022

A.17 Approval for Not Displaying the Expiration Date for OMB Approval

No exemption from the requirement to display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection is being requested for NTPS 2020-21.

A.18 Exceptions to the Certification Statement

No exceptions to the certification statement apply to NTPS 2020-21.

1 The TFS and PFS are conducted every four years as a follow up to sample members from the prior year’s NTPS. The latest PFS was fielded in 2016-17 as a follow up to NTPS 2015-16. TFS or PFS will be next administered in 2021-22, as a follow-up to NTPS 2020-21.

2 The average hourly earnings of principals/education administrators in the May 2017 National Occupational and Employment Wage Estimates sponsored by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is $46.85. Source: BLS Occupation Employment Statistics, http://data.bls.gov/oes/ data type: Occupation code: Education Administrators, Elementary and Secondary Schools (11-9032); Annual Mean Wage $97,440/2080 hours. Accessed on March 21, 2019.

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Part A NTPS 2020-21 Preliminary Activities