Email Invitation

January 24, 2020

Study of State Policies to Prohibit Aiding and Abetting Sexual Misconduct in Schools

Task 3.5 Second Draft OMB Package:

Appendix B, Email Invitation

Contract GS-10F-0554N/BPA Order ED-PEP-16-A-0005

SRI Project P25500

Submitted to:

Andrew Abrams

Erica Lee

U.S. Department of Education

550 12^th St., SW

Washington, DC 20202

Prepared by:

Policy Studies Associates

Leslie Anderson

SRI International

Kate Laguarda

Email Text

Dear {State Title IV, Part A Coordinator name}:

The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) has commissioned the study of State Policies to Prohibit Aiding and Abetting Sexual Misconduct in Schools, which is designed to explore how states are responding to the requirements of Section 8546 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015. The study includes a telephone interview that focuses on how states develop and implement laws, regulations, and/or policies that prohibit aiding and abetting sexual misconduct. Specifically, the study will look at how states develop and implement statutes, regulations, codes of ethics, and/or policies that prohibit assisting or aiding and abetting employment following educator sexual misconduct; examine the challenges state education agencies (SEAs) have encountered implementing the requirements of Section 8546; and explore how SEAs have addressed these challenges. For your information, I have attached a one-page description of the study.

I am writing to invite your participation in the study and to schedule a time to conduct the telephone interview, which will last approximately 60 minutes. The study will not determine whether a state has complied with Section 8546. Rather, we want to understand how states are working to meet the requirements of Section 8546, what challenges states may be facing, and any support or assistance they may need from the U.S. Department of Education to respond to Section 8546. Attached is a copy of the interview protocol; we hope that you will review it in advance of the interview.

Please know that interview responses will be summarized across all states. Individuals will not be identified by name in any report, and data will be reported in a manner that does not reveal your identity or the identity of your state. However, we may use anonymous quotes to help illustrate the findings. Participation in these interviews is required based on ESSA Section 8304(a)(6)(B). Attached, please find a copy of the letter from the U.S. Department of Education notifying your Chief State School Officer about the study.

We hope you will agree to participate in the interview. However, if you believe another administrator or group of other administrators in the SEA would be better able to respond to questions about the extent to which the SEA developed and implemented policies and procedures to prohibit aiding and abetting sexual misconduct, please let me know at your earliest convenience. Please also provide several dates and times when you might be available in the next two weeks to participate in an interview. We will make every effort to accommodate your schedule. Finally, we will want to record the conversation in order to ensure that we accurately capture your comments. If you would prefer not to be audio recorded, please let me know.

At the completion of this study, we will produce a publicly available final report that will aggregate findings across states. The report will generate important findings that can guide the Department’s technical assistance and inform states on the most prevalent practices in the field for developing and implementing statutes, regulations, and policies to prohibit aiding and abetting.

The study is being conducted for the Department by SRI International (SRI), in partnership with Policy Studies Associates (PSA) and Magnolia Consulting. If you have any questions, please contact me at this email address or (XXX) XXX-XXXX, or Andrew Abrams at the Department at [email protected] or (202) 245-7500.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

XXXXXX

Attachments: One-page study overview

Interview Protocol

CSSO letter