School Pulse Panel Preliminary Activities

Appendices - School Pulse Panel Preliminary Activities

School Pulse Panel Preliminary Activities

OMB: 1850-0963

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2022-02-03 - No material or nonsubstantive change to a currently approved collection
2022-01-20 - No material or nonsubstantive change to a currently approved collection

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School Pulse Panel

Preliminary Activities

OMB# 1850-NEW

Appendices A - C

Appendix A – Special Local Education Agency (LEA) Recruitment

Appendix B – Recruitment Communication Materials

Appendix C – Items for Preliminary Summer Collection

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

U.S. Department of Education

June 2021

Appendix A – Special LEA Recruitment

LEA Research Application Cover Letter

[Name] [Date]

[Position, Department]

[School District]

[Street Address]

[City, State, Zip]

Dear [District Contact]:

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education is requesting approval to conduct the new School Pulse Panel in some of your Local Education Agency (LEA)’s schools during the 2021-22 school year.

The School Pulse Panel is a new study in direct response to President Biden’s Executive Order 14000: Supporting the Reopening and Continuing Operation of Schools and Early Childhood Education Providers. It will collect extensive data on issues concerning the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students and staff in U.S. public primary, middle, high, and combined-grade schools, and will be one of the nation’s few sources of reliable data on a wealth of information focused on school reopening efforts, virus spread mitigation strategies, services offered for students and staff, and technology use, as reported by school LEA staff and principals in U.S. public schools. The survey will ask LEA staff and sampled schools about topics such as instructional mode offered; enrollment counts of subgroups of students using various instructional modes; learning loss mitigation strategies; safe and healthy school mitigation strategies; special education services; use of technology; use of federal relief funds; and information on staffing.

The School Pulse Panel is administered by the U.S. Census Bureau on behalf of NCES. Its data will be crucial in helping legislators and education leaders make informed decisions to improve education. About 1200 public elementary, middle, high, and combined-grade schools will be selected to participate in a panel where school and LEA staff will be asked to provide requested data monthly during the 2021-22 school years. The responses from your LEA’s sampled schools represent the concerns of similar schools that were not sampled, both within and outside of your LEA.

[For LEAs where sample has been drawn, insert: “From your LEA, XX schools were sampled for SPP.”] No student or classroom time is involved in this survey.

If permitted to participate by the LEA, the school will be offered a total reimbursement of $5,000 for participation in the study over the course of 12 months. The reimbursement will be paid out quarterly to the LEA in the form of a debit card.

Thank you for your consideration of the research application for the School Pulse Panel. The enclosed application and materials describe the purposes, survey topics, sample sizes, and respondent burden for SPP. In addition, an LEA Approval Form is enclosed for you to indicate whether your district has approved participation in SPP. Due to extreme time constraints, we are seeking a decision within one week of submission. The Secretary of Education, Dr. Miguel Cardona, has contacted your LEA’s Superintendent regarding this study.

If you have any questions about the School Pulse Panel or the research application, please contact the study’s LEA research application team, by e-mail at [email protected] or by telephone at 1-800-221-1204.

Sincerely,

James L. Woodworth, PhD

Commissioner

National Center for Education Statistics

PCP, 550 12th St., SW, 4th floor, Room 4032

Washington, DC 20202

School Pulse Panel 2021-2022

Local Education Agency (LEA) Approval Form

Please mark one of the boxes below to let us know your LEA’s decision to allow sampled school(s) to participate in the School Pulse Panel.

□ The U.S. Department of Education has permission to administer the School Pulse Panel to one or more schools in the [District Name].

□ The U.S. Department of Education does not have permission to administer the School Pulse Panel to any school in the [District Name].

Printed

Name: ___________________________ Date: ________________________

Signature: ___________________________ Title: ________________________

Address: ___________________________ Phone: _______________________

___________________________

Email: ___________________________

Shape1

Please return this form to [contact info] by email to [email], or by mail to:

[address]

School Pulse Panel Generic Research Application

Contact

Applicant: Rachel Hansen

Title: Project Director

Affiliation: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Institute of Education Sciences (IES)

United States Department of Education Address: PCP, 550 12^thStreet, SW, 4^thfloor, Room 4036

Washington, DC 20202

Phone: (202) 245-7082

E-mail: <Email address>

School Pulse Panel Research Application Contact:

U.S. Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. Census Bureau

4600 Silver Hill Road, Stop 8400

Washington, DC 20233

1–888–595–1332

Title of Study School Pulse Panel

Anticipated Start Date: Summer 2021

Anticipated End Date: August 2022

Purpose of The Study

This is a new study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), part of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), within the United States Department of Education, to collect extensive data on issues concerning the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students and staff in U.S. public primary, middle, high, and combined-grade schools. The survey will ask Local Education Agency (LEA) staff and sampled school principals about topics such as instructional mode offered; enrollment counts of subgroups of students using various instructional modes; learning loss mitigation strategies; safe and healthy school mitigation strategies; special education services; use of technology; use of federal relief funds; and information on staffing. NCES is authorized to conduct the SPP by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP 2021; Sec. 2010) and the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA 2002; 20 U.S.C. §9543).

The administration of the SPP is in direct response to President’s Executive Order 14000: Supporting the Reopening and Continuing Operation of Schools and Early Childhood Education Providers. It will be one of the nation’s few sources of reliable data on a wealth of information focused on school reopening efforts, virus spread mitigation strategies, services offered for students and staff, and technology use, as reported by LEA staff and principals in U.S. public schools. About 1,200 public elementary, middle, high, and combined-grade schools will be selected to participate in a panel where school and LEA staff will be asked to provide requested data monthly during the 2021-22 school years. This approach provides the ability to collect detailed information on various topics while also assessing changes in reopening efforts over time. Given the high demand for data collection during this time, the content of the survey may change on a quarterly basis and 5 to 10 minutes of content may change monthly. By participating, information from school(s) in your LEA allows for comparisons among different types of schools across the nation that are valuable to governing agencies, policy makers, educators and the general public.

Significance of the Study and Benefits of Participation:

The SPP will collect detailed information that is critical for data-driven decision making on COVID-19 pandemic-related program and policy implementation and federal funding distributions by program offices in the Department of Education, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and Congress. The ability of NCES to provide this important information is contingent upon the voluntary participation of sampled schools; participation of these schools is dependent upon their LEAs’ approval. Because your LEA and schools represent themselves and many others like them, participation is vital for producing high quality information. By participating in this survey, you will ensure that information about your LEA’s schools is included in those important decisions.

Content Domains and Research Questions:

The School Pulse Panel will be a dynamic monthly survey and content will change based on what we learn over time from your school and LEA. The monthly survey may have a LEA-level component and a school-level component. These components will encompass broad content domains, each with a series of measurement items addressing a specific research question. Each content domain is briefly stated below in terms of the issues in need of measurement, as well as the research questions we are seeking to answer. At the time of submission of this application, content domains have been developed but items are still being drafted and tested. Below are examples of the types of content domains and corresponding research questions:

Instruction mode offered and enrollment counts for subgroups receiving each type of instruction mode for SY2021-22
1. For the 2021-22 school year, which instruction mode (in-person, hybrid, virtual) is being offered to students?
  1. If hybrid, how many students in various subgroups are receiving in-person instruction?
  2. If hybrid, how many students in various subgroups are receiving virtual-only instruction?
2. What is the average daily attendance rate for students receiving in-person instruction? Virtual instruction?
Instructional program offering during the summer of 2021
1. What types of school offerings did your school offer to help with learning loss?
2. What types of programs or services were provided for special subpopulations?
Mitigation strategies used to reduce risk of spread of COVID-19
1. Does the school require daily symptom screening for students, teachers, and staff?
2. Are personal protective equipment for students, teachers, and staff required?
3. Does the school require the social distancing of students?
4. Has the school reduced the number of students in classrooms?
Use of technology, computer devices, and internet access
1. Are laptops or tablets offered and available to all students in the school to assist with virtual learning?
2. Was internet access provided to students?
Federal relief fund use
1. How are American Rescue Plan funds being used to assist with:
  1. Virtual learning?
  2. Safety precautions
  3. Activities to support students
Special education and mental health services provided
1. Have there been challenges to meeting IEP requirements?
2. Have there been changes in special education teacher counts over the course of the pandemic?
3. What mental health services are provided for students, teachers, and staff?
4. Have there been change in counts of school psychologists, counselors, and nurses over the course of the pandemic?
Staffing
1. As of the start of the 2021-22 school year, do you have any administrative staff, teacher, or support staff vacancies?

Questionnaire

As of the date of submission, the questionnaire for the study has not been finalized. A copy can be provided as soon as a draft version is available. Additional information about SPP is available at TBD.

Methodology and Sampling

The U.S. Census Bureau will collect the SPP data on behalf of NCES. Data collection will be a self-administered, online survey. There will be two components to the online survey: 1) a LEA-level component focused on administrative data and 2) a school-level component focused on attitudinal questions and questions best asked of staff with more direct knowledge of day-to-day operations. It is estimated for the survey (both components) to require a total of about 4-5 hours of LEA and school staff time each month. The sampled school and its LEA will be offered a total reimbursement of $5,000 for their participation in the study over the course of 12 months. To streamline the delivery of the reimbursement, a debit card will be sent to a designated LEA contact after the first quarter of collections has been completed. This initial debit card will have $1,250 loaded onto the card. An additional $1,250 will be loaded onto the same card after each quarter of data collections. Principals, or the school staff most knowledgeable about COVID-19 impacts on the school environment and instructional offerings, can complete the school-level component survey. No classroom time is involved in the completion of this survey.

The resulting data will provide aggregate estimates for public schools across the nation. A stratified sample design will be used to select approximately 1,200 U.S. public schools. The sample is designed to provide national estimates of primary, middle, and high schools taking into account the type of locale (urbanicity) and racial/ethnic student enrollment.

The sampling frame for the School Pulse Panel is derived from the Common Core of Data (CCD), the universe of public schools supplied annually by State educational agencies to NCES. Only public schools in the 50 states and the District of Columbia will be included in the sampling frame. Certain types of schools are excluded, including newly closed schools, home schools, virtual schools, ungraded schools, correctional facilities, and schools with high grades of kindergarten or lower. Regular public schools, charter schools, alternative schools, special education schools, vocational schools, and schools that have partial or total magnet programs are included in the frame. For sample allocation purposes, strata are defined by instructional level, type of locale (urbanicity), and percent minority enrollment.

Data Collection

The School Pulse Panel data collection will begin during the recruitment process with full data collection beginning in September of 2021. The U.S. Census Bureau, acting as a contractor for NCES, will handle the data collection. Sampled schools and their LEAs will receive emails notifying them of the survey as soon as agreements are in place with you to conduct the data collection Starting in September, each school and LEA will receive an email notifying them of the full survey, which will include the log on information to complete the online questionnaire. Respondents will have a two-week window to respond to the survey. Reminder emails will be sent during the data collection window. Data will be formally reviewed for disclosure prevention and released a few weeks after data collection ends for that month. This will be repeated monthly through August of 2022.

Response Burden

The School Pulse Panel will rely on the voluntary participation of schools. The quality of national estimates is dependent on the level of respondent participation. This data collection will be an important source of information for the U.S. Department of Education, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and Congress in order to understand the current state of the educational system and how to proceed in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Monthly data collection is important to understand school instructional changes and other school reopening challenges experienced throughout the entirety of the school year.

Every effort is made to create a survey that collects in-depth data without putting an undue burden on the respondent. It is intended for this collection to provide flexibility in reporting based on the type of data. For example, LEA staff can pull from administrative data systems to provide subgroup counts. The total response burden for the survey is estimated to be a total of 240 minutes each month.

The recruitment materials and questionnaire clearly state that the SPP is a voluntary survey. The materials also state that the data will only be reported in statistical summaries that preclude the identification of any school participating in the survey.

Analysis and Release of Information

The information collected in the School Pulse Panel will be released on a dashboard located on the IES website. Additionally, many of the estimates will be included in short data point reports published by NCES.

A public use dataset will be made available to the public on the Department of Education web site. In compliance with the Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA) and supporting NCES confidentiality procedures, the public use dataset will not contain any information that can be used to identify an individual school or the state or LEA in which the school is located.

Benefit to Your School LEA

The School Pulse Panel is an opportunity for your LEA to provide real-time input to key policy makers in the White House, Congress, the Department of Education and other Federal agencies as critical decisions are being made that will impact the future of Federal education policies. Resources cannot be effectively disbursed to support the safe reopening of schools if there is a lack of data to inform these decisions. The ability of NCES to provide this important information is contingent upon the voluntary participation of sampled schools, and participation of these schools is dependent upon their LEAs’ approval. If you choose not to participate, the voice of your students and staff will not be heard when key decisions are being made. Because your LEA and its schools represent themselves and many others like them, their participation is vital for producing high quality information. By participating in this panel, you will ensure that information about your LEAs’ schools is included in those important decisions. It will also help avoid similar data collection requirements for all schools in your LEA to help reduce overall response burden for your LEA.

Confidentiality

Data security and confidentiality protection procedures have been put in place for the School Pulse Panel to ensure that all contractors and agents working on the School Pulse Panel comply with all privacy requirements including, as applicable:

The Inter-agency agreement with NCES for this study and the statement of work of the 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 the SPP 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 the study and having access to the data, including 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 the School Pulse Panel on behalf of NCES; (b) NCES is authorized to conduct the School Pulse Panel by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP 2021; Sec. 2010) and 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 the School Pulse Panel as authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP 2021; Sec. 2010) and 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 1850-0761. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 240 minutes per response, 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: TBD.

Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Human Subjects Review:

We are currently seeking IRB Exemption. If this is not granted, then we will seek IRB review and approval through an external IRB. This information will be updated as soon as possible.

Under the federal policy for the protection of human subjects, the SPP is exempt from IRB review because it utilizes survey procedures and is conducted in established or commonly accepted educational settings, involving normal educational practices. There is no potential for harm to human subjects.

The Department of Education has adopted a common set of regulations known as the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects or "Common Rule." The design of these regulations is based on established, internationally recognized ethical principles. The specific regulation is Title 34, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 97, Protection of Human Subjects, which includes Subpart A, Basic Policy, and Subpart D, Additional Protections for Children. These regulations classify as exempt certain categories of research. Research that is nonexempt is covered by the regulations. Research activities in which the only involvement of human subjects will be in one or more of the following categories are exempt [34 CFR 97.101(b)(2)]:

Research involving the use of educational tests (cognitive, diagnostic, aptitude, achievement), survey procedures, interview procedures or observation of public behavior, unless the information identifies the subjects and disclosure could reasonably place the subjects at risk of criminal or civil liability or be damaging to the subjects' financial standing, employability, or reputation. Subpart D amends this exemption, in part: If the subjects are children, research involving interview or survey procedures and research involving observations of public behavior in which the researcher(s) participate in the activities being observed are not exempt. However, research involving the use of educational tests and research involving observations of public behavior in which the researcher(s) do not participate in the activities being observed are exempt.

For more information, please see http://www2.ed.gov/policy/fund/guid/humansub/overview.html.

Informed Consent

The nature of this self-administered survey is not considered intrusive and has been ruled to be exempt under the protection of human subjects’ provisions in federal research.

There are no individual student data (such as test scores or Social Security numbers) associated with any of the data acquired in this data collection. Since no data are collected about individual students, it is not necessary to obtain active, informed consent from students’ parents/guardians.

Participation in the School Pulse Panel is completely voluntary, and individual survey items can be left blank, at the discretion of each respondent. A statement on the questionnaire indicates that participation is voluntary. A respondent gives implied consent to participate by completing the questionnaire.

Appendix B – Recruitment Communication Materials

Advance Letter to Chief State School Officer from Secretary of Education – June 2021 (1a)

Dear <insert name>:

At the U.S. Department of Education, we recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unforeseen challenges for everyone in the education system. Public officials like chief state school officers know that we need to better understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected students and educators in order to build back better. In an effort to provide national, state, and local decision-makers with rich information about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on schools, including data on the status of in-person learning, the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) will be conducting the upcoming School Pulse Panel with Local Education Agency (LEA) and school staff in U.S public schools. As a leader among public education officials, we seek your support encouraging your LEAs and schools to participate in this historic effort.

The School Pulse Panel, which was created in support of the recent Executive Order on Supporting the Reopening and Continuing Operation of Schools and Early Childhood Education Providers, is designed to provide national, local, and state education leaders like yourself with the information needed to make evidence-based decisions about policy and resource allocation that support recovery as schools return to in-person learning. The survey was designed by NCES in coordination with several agencies including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and is an information collection effort being coordinated by the federal government to understand the impact of COVID-19 on education. It will be conducted monthly from September 2021 through the end of summer 2022 and will take the place of the NAEP 2021 School Survey. Completion of the survey may be done by LEA and/or school staff and is expected to take roughly 4-5 hours per month to complete. Due to the higher burden of this collection, LEAs of schools agreeing to participate will be compensated $5,000 for the year. The intent of the compensation is to offset the impact on budgets for staff time necessary to complete this regular data collection on behalf of NCES.

To reduce national burden, NCES will administer monthly data collections with a small, representative sample of approximately 1,000 U.S. public schools to gather information focused on school reopening efforts, virus spread mitigation strategies, services offered for students and staff, and technology use, as reported by LEA and/or school staff. Some requested information will be disaggregated by student demographics, including race/ethnicity, disability, English-language learner status, free or reduced lunch status, or other appropriate indicators. Facts and findings from the monthly Panels will be released through web tables and an online dashboard within a few weeks after each survey session.

Thank you for considering supporting this important survey and encouraging LEA and school leaders within your state to participate in this important study if they are invited into our sample. We believe all students in our public education system deserve the best education possible. We hope that you will encourage any LEAs within your state that may be included in our study sample to participate in the School Pulse Panel to provide chief state school officers and other leaders like you with the data needed to make evidence-based decisions on behalf of every student. If you have any questions, please contact the School Pulse Panel project director, Rachel Hansen at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Advance Letter to Local Education Agency (LEA) Superintendent from Secretary of Education – June 2021 (1b)

Dear <insert name>:

At the U.S. Department of Education, we recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unforeseen challenges for everyone in the education system. As you know, education leaders need to better understand how it has affected students and educators in order to build back better. In an effort to provide national, state, and local decisionmakers with rich information about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their schools, including data on the status of in-person learning, the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) will be conducting the upcoming School Pulse Panel with Local Education Agency (LEA) and school staff in U.S public schools. We invite your LEA to participate in this historic effort and are seeking your support.

The School Pulse Panel, which was created in support of the recent Executive Order on Supporting the Reopening and Continuing Operation of Schools and Early Childhood Education Providers, is designed to provide national, state, and local-level education leaders like yourself with the information needed to make evidence-based decisions about policy and resource allocation that support recovery as schools return to in-person learning. The survey was designed by NCES in coordination with several agencies including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and an information collection effort being coordinated by the federal government to understand the impact of COVID-19 on education. It will be conducted monthly from September 2021 through the end of summer 2022 and will take the place of the NAEP 2021 School Survey. Completion of the survey may be done by LEA and/or school staff and is expected to take roughly 4-5 hours per month to complete. Due to the higher burden of this collection, LEAs of schools agreeing to participate will be compensated $5,000 for the year. The intent of the compensation is to offset the impact on budgets for staff time necessary to complete this regular data collection on behalf of NCES.

In order to reduce national burden, NCES will administer monthly data collections with a small, representative sample of approximately 1,000 U.S. public schools to gather information focused on school reopening efforts, virus spread mitigation strategies, services offered for students and staff, and technology use, as reported by LEA and/or school staff. Some requested information will be disaggregated by student demographics, including race/ethnicity, disability, English-language learner status, free or reduced lunch status, or other appropriate indicators. Facts and findings from the monthly Panels will be released through web tables and an online dashboard within a few weeks after each survey session.

Thank you for considering supporting this important study. We hope that you will encourage LEA and school staff to participate in providing information about sampled schools. If you have any questions, please contact the School Pulse Panel project director, Rachel Hansen at [email protected].

Sincerely,

[The following letters are for non-special Local Education Agency (LEA) schools and where no LEA involvement is required]

Advance Letter to LEA Superintendent from Commissioner– July 2021 (2a)

Dear <insert name>:

The School Pulse Panel, which was created in support of the recent Executive Order on Supporting the Reopening and Continuing Operation of Schools and Early Childhood Education Providers, is designed to provide national, state, and local-level education leaders like yourself with the information needed to make evidence-based decisions about policy and resource allocation that support recovery as schools return to in-person learning. The survey was designed by NCES in coordination with several agencies including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and an information collection effort being coordinated by the federal government to understand the impact of COVID-19 on education. It will be conducted monthly from September 2021 through the end of summer 2022 and will take the place of the NAEP 2021 School Survey. Completion of the survey may be done by LEA and/or school staff and is expected to take roughly 4-5 hours per month to complete. Due to the higher burden of this collection, LEAs of schools agreeing to participate will be compensated $5,000 for the year. The intent of the compensation is to offset the impact on budgets for staff time necessary to complete this regular data collection on behalf of NCES.

Sincerely,

Advance Letter to School Respondent– July 2021 (2b)

Dear <insert name>:

In support of the recent Executive Order on Supporting the Reopening and Continuing Operation of Schools and Early Childhood Education Providers, the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has been requested to collect the data necessary to better understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students and educators, including data on the status of in-person learning. The survey was designed by NCES in coordination with several agencies including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and is an information collection effort being coordinated at the federal level to understand the impact of COVID-19 on education. The goal of this survey is to provide evidence-based guidance to inform national, state and local-level decisionmakers responsible for policy and allocation of resources needed to recover from the COVID education crisis. Your school was sampled to participate in this study.

Schools agreeing to participate will be compensated $5,000 for the year. Compensation will be sent to the school’s Local Education Agency (LEA) in the form of a loaded debit card that will have $1,250 added to it after the first three monthly collections and every three months thereafter for the life of the study.

At this time, we’re requesting you to fill out a brief 10-minute survey for us to use as baseline information. Please click the link below and complete the survey within two weeks.

Respond now at https://respond.census.gov/spp

The first School Pulse Panel survey will be administered in September 2021 with subsequent data collections occurring each month through the end of summer of 2022. Facts and findings from the monthly Panels will be released through web tables and an online dashboard within a few weeks after each survey session.

Please be assured that reports of the findings from the survey will not identify schools or LEAs by name. Individual responses will be combined with those from other participants to produce summary statistics and reports. Data collected will be used for statistical purposes only.

If you have any general questions about the study, contact the U.S. Census Bureau at 1–888–595–1332 or via e-mail at [email protected]. The Census Bureau is collecting the data for NCES. To learn more about the School Pulse Panel, visit http://www.nces.ed.gov/surveys/XXX.

We look forward to your participation in this important data collection effort.

Sincerely,

Advance Letter to School Respondent– August 2021 – reminder to respond to summer survey (2c)

Dear <insert name>:

Last month, you received an email informing you of the upcoming School Pulse Panel collection. The goal of this survey, as requested by President Biden’s Executive Order on Supporting the Reopening and Continuing Operation of Schools and Early Childhood Education Providers, is to collect the data necessary to better understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students and educators and to provide evidence-based guidance to inform national, state and local-level decisionmakers responsible for policy and allocation of resources needed to recover from the COVID education crisis.

As a reminder, NCES will administer monthly data collections beginning in September 2021 to gather information from sampled schools on school reopening efforts, virus spread mitigation strategies, services offered for students and staff, and technology use, as reported by Local Education Agency (LEA) staff and principals in U.S. public schools. A total of $5,000 will be offered to the LEA for continued participation in the panel throughout the 2021-22 school year. This will be in the form of a loaded debit card with $1,250 that will be sent to the designated staff after the first three months of collections. Additional money will be added to the card on a quarterly basis throughout the school year.

Attached is a questionnaire for you to use to help prepare for next month’s collection. At this time, we have yet to receive your responses to the brief survey in the link below. Please take 10 minutes to complete this survey.

Respond now at https://respond.census.gov/spp

If you have any general questions about the study, contact the U.S. Census Bureau at 1–888–595–1332 or via e-mail at [email protected]. The Census Bureau is collecting the data on the behalf of NCES. To learn more about the School Pulse Panel, visit http://www.nces.ed.gov/surveys/XXX.

We look forward to your participation in this important data collection effort.

Sincerely,

Advance Letter to School Respondent to remind about September collection August 2021 (2d)

Dear <insert name>:

In support of the recent Executive Order on Supporting the Reopening and Continuing Operation of Schools and Early Childhood Education Providers, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has been requested to collect the data necessary to better understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students and educators, including data on the status of in-person learning. The goal of this survey is to provide evidence-based guidance to inform national, state and local-level decisionmakers responsible for policy and allocation of resources needed to recover from the COVID education crisis.

As you are aware, your school has been selected to participate in this study, the School Pulse Panel (SPP). The instrument may be completed by you as representative of the sampled school and may require Local Education Agency (LEA) assistance for some items. You are able to determine the best person to assistance with completing the survey, should you find that helpful.

You may be familiar with the NAEP 2021 School Survey that was fielded in the spring of the 2020-2021 school year. This collection replaces that effort. Beginning in September 2021, NCES will administer monthly data collections to gather information focused on school reopening efforts, virus spread mitigation strategies, services offered for students and staff, and technology use, as reported by LEA staff and principals in U.S. public schools. The SPP will be conducted monthly until the end of summer 2022. Some requested information will be disaggregated by student demographics, including race/ethnicity, disability, English-language learner status, free or reduced lunch status, or other appropriate indicators. Total respondent time is expected to be roughly 4-5 hours per month. A total of $5,000 will be offered to your LEA for your continued participation in the panel throughout the 2021-22 school year. Additional money will be added to the card on a quarterly basis throughout the school year.

Facts and findings from the monthly Panels will be released through web tables and an online dashboard within a few weeks after each survey session. Please be assured that reports of the findings from the survey will not identify schools or LEAs by name. Individual responses will be combined with those from other participants to produce summary statistics and reports. Data collected will be used for statistical purposes only.

If you have any general questions about the study, contact the U.S. Census Bureau, the survey collection agency, at 1–888–595–1332 or via e-mail at [email protected]. To learn more about the School Pulse Panel, visit http://www.nces.ed.gov/surveys/XXX.

We look forward to your participation in this important data collection effort.

Sincerely,

[The following letters are for special Local Education Agencies (LEAs) who require LEA staff to help respond]

Advance Letter to LEA Superintendent from NCES Commissioner – June/July/August 2021 (3a)

Dear <SUPERINTENDENT>,

In an effort to provide national, state, and local decisionmakers with rich information about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. public schools, including data on the status of in-person learning, the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) will be conducting the upcoming School Pulse Panel with Local Education Agency (LEA) school staff in our public schools. We are seeking your support for your LEA’s participation. Your state Chief also received an official invitation from Dr. Miguel Cardona, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, requesting your LEA’s participation in the study.

The School Pulse Panel, which was created in support of the recent Executive Order on Supporting the Reopening and Continuing Operation of Schools and Early Childhood Education Providers, is designed to provide national, state, and local education leaders with the information needed to make evidence-based decisions about policy and resource allocation that support recovery as schools return to in-person learning. The survey was designed by NCES in coordination with several agencies including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and is an information collection effort being coordinated by the federal government to understand the impact of COVID-19 on education. It will be conducted monthly from September 2021 through the end of summer 2022. It may be completed by LEA and/or school staff and is expected to take roughly 4-5 hours per month to complete. Due to the higher burden of this collection, LEA of schools agreeing to participate will be compensated $5,000 for the year. The intent of the compensation is to offset the impact on budgets for staff time necessary to complete this regular data collection on behalf of NCES.

NCES will administer monthly data collections with a small but representative sample of U.S. public schools to gather information focused on school reopening efforts, virus spread mitigation strategies, services offered for students and staff, and technology use, as reported by LEA and/or school staff. Some requested information will be disaggregated by student demographics, including race/ethnicity, disability, English-language learner status, free or reduced lunch status, or other appropriate indicators. Facts and findings from the monthly Panels will be released through web tables and an online dashboard within a few weeks after each survey session.

At this time, we are asking you to designate a point of contact in your LEA who will be responsible for assisting in responding to the survey and can advise on the delivery of the debit card reimbursement. More information on the reimbursement distribution will be provided in a separate email. Please send the name of your LEA point of contact to [email protected].

Thank you for considering LEA participation in this important study and for encouraging any schools sampled within your LEA to participate. If you have any questions, please contact the School Pulse Panel project director, Rachel Hansen at [email protected].

Advance Letter to Local Education Agency (LEA) Respondent – July/August 2021 (3b)

Dear <insert name>:

In support of the recent Executive Order on Supporting the Reopening and Continuing Operation of Schools and Early Childhood Education Providers, the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has been requested to collect the data necessary to better understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students and educators, including data on the status of in-person learning. The survey was designed by NCES in coordination with several agencies including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and is an information collection effort being coordinated at the federal level to understand the impact of COVID-19 on education. The goal of this survey is to provide evidence-based guidance to inform national, state and local-level decisionmakers responsible for policy and allocation of resources needed to recover from the COVID education crisis. At least one school in your Local Education Agency (LEA) has been selected to participate in this study, the School Pulse Panel. To provide flexibility in responding, LEA staff can also help complete the survey.

Your LEA Superintendent has designated you as the best person to help respond to this survey.

Beginning in September 2021, NCES will administer monthly data collections to gather information focused on school reopening efforts, virus spread mitigation strategies, services offered for students and staff, and technology use, as reported by school LEA staff and principals in U.S. public schools. Some requested information will be disaggregated by student demographics, including race/ethnicity, disability, English-language learner status, free or reduced lunch status, or other appropriate indicators. The instrument may be completed by you, as the designated LEA respondent, and the sampled school principal. Total respondent time is expected to be roughly 4-5 hours per month to complete the questions. Due to the higher burden of this collection, LEA of schools agreeing to participate will be compensated $5,000 for the year. Compensation will be in the form of a loaded debit card that will have $1,250 added to it after the first three monthly collections and every three months thereafter for the life of the study. Please notify project staff (contact information below) if it is preferred for the debit card to be sent to someone other than the listed contact.

At this time, we’re requesting you to fill out a 10-minute survey for us to use as baseline information. Please click the link below and complete the survey within two weeks.

Respond now at https://respond.census.gov/spp

We look forward to your participation in this important data collection effort.

Sincerely,

Advance Letter to School Respondent – July/August 2021 (3c)

Dear <insert name>:

In support of the recent Executive Order on Supporting the Reopening and Continuing Operation of Schools and Early Childhood Education Providers, the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has been requested to collect the data necessary to better understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students and educators, including data on the status of in-person learning. The survey was designed in coordination with several agencies including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and is an information collection efforts being coordinated at the federal level to understand the impact of COVID-19 on education. The goal of this survey is to provide evidence-based guidance to inform national, state and local-level decisionmakers responsible for policy and allocation of resources needed to recover from the COVID education crisis.

Your school has been selected to participate in this study, the School Pulse Panel (SPP). The instrument may be completed by you as representative of the sampled school and the designated Local Education Agency (LEA) respondent. Your LEA Superintendent has designated <insert designated LEA contact name> to assist you with responding to this survey. Please coordinate your response to the survey with this staff member.

Beginning in September 2021, NCES will administer monthly data collections to gather information focused on school reopening efforts, virus spread mitigation strategies, services offered for students and staff, and technology use, as reported by LEA staff and principals in U.S. public schools. The SPP will be conducted monthly until the end of summer 2022. Some requested information will be disaggregated by student demographics, including race/ethnicity, disability, English-language learner status, free or reduced lunch status, or other appropriate indicators. Facts and findings from the monthly Panels will be released through web tables and an online dashboard within a few weeks after each survey session. Total respondent time is expected to be roughly 4-5 hours per month. A total of $5,000 will be offered to your Local Education Agency (LEA) for your school’s continued participation in the panel throughout the 2021-22 school year. Compensation will be in the form of a loaded debit card that will have $1,250 added to it after the first three monthly collections and every three months thereafter for the life of the study. The card will be sent to staff identified by your LEA superintendent.

We look forward to your participation in this important data collection effort.

§Advance Letter to Local Education Agency (LEA) Respondent – August 2021 – reminder to respond to survey (3d)

Dear <insert name>:

As a reminder, NCES will administer monthly data collections beginning in September 2021 to gather information from your Local Education Agency (LEA) and the sampled schools on school reopening efforts, virus spread mitigation strategies, services offered for students and staff, and technology use, as reported by LEA staff and principals in U.S. public schools. A total of $5,000 will be offered to the LEA for continued participation in the panel throughout the 2021-22 school year. This will be in the form of a loaded debit card with $1,250 that will be sent to the designated staff after the first three months of collections. Additional money will be added to the card on a quarterly basis throughout the school year. If you have not already, please notify project staff (contact information below) if it is preferred for the debit card to be sent to someone other than the listed contact.

Respond now at https://respond.census.gov/spp

We look forward to your participation in this important data collection effort.

Sincerely,

TBD

Advance Letter to Local Education Agency (LEA) Respondent- already responded to summer survey– August 2021 (3e)

Dear <insert name>:

As a reminder, NCES will administer monthly data collections beginning in September 2021 to gather information from your Local Education Agency (LEA) and the sampled schools on school reopening efforts, virus spread mitigation strategies, services offered for students and staff, and technology use, as reported by LEA staff and principals in U.S. public schools. A total of $5,000 will be offered to your LEA for your continued participation in the panel throughout the 2021-22 school year. This will be in the form of a loaded debit card with $1,250 that will be sent to the designated staff after the first three months of collections. Additional money will be added to the card on a quarterly basis throughout the school year. Please notify project staff (contact information below) if it is preferred for the debit card to be sent to someone other than the listed contact.

Attached is a questionnaire for you to use to help prepare for next month’s collection.

We look forward to your participation in this important data collection effort.

Sincerely,

TBD

Advance Letter to School Respondent – August 2021 (3f)

Dear <insert name>:

As a reminder, your school has been selected to participate in this study, the School Pulse Panel (SPP). The instrument may be completed by you as representative of the sampled school and the designated Local Education Agency (LEA) respondent. Your LEA Superintendent has designated <insert designated LEA contact name> to assist you with responding to this survey.

You may be familiar with the NAEP 2021 School Survey that was fielded in the spring of the 2020-2021 school year. This collection replaces that effort. Beginning in September 2021, NCES will administer monthly data collections to gather information focused on school reopening efforts, virus spread mitigation strategies, services offered for students and staff, and technology use, as reported by LEA staff and principals in U.S. public schools. The SPP will be conducted monthly until the end of summer 2022. Some requested information will be disaggregated by student demographics, including race/ethnicity, disability, English-language learner status, free or reduced lunch status, or other appropriate indicators. Total respondent time is expected to be roughly 4-5 hours per month. A total of $5,000 will be offered to your LEA for your continued participation in the panel throughout the 2021-22 school year. To streamline efforts, a debit card will be sent to <insert designated staff> after the first three months of collections. Additional money will be added to the card on a quarterly basis throughout the school year.

We look forward to your participation in this important data collection effort.

Sincerely,

Web Instrument Log-in Screenshot

Note: These pages will be updated upon clearance of this package. The text will remain the same, with the following exceptions:

The time estimate for the information collection will be updated to 10 minutes (see Part A.12 for details on the change in timing)
The OMB control number and expiry date will be updated

Appendix C – Items for Preliminary Summer Collection

As of the last day of the 2020-21 school year, which of the following was offered at your school? (They can only select one)

-Only in-person instruction Full-time in-person learning refers to students learning in the school building every day of the school week full-time. Include students who take distance/remote classes while in the school building.

-Only distance-learning instruction Distance/remote learning refers to students using online and/or paper materials to learn only from home or a location other than the school building. Include students who come into the building for testing or services one day a month or less.

-A Hybrid of distance/remote and in-person learning Hybrid distance/remote and in-person learning refers to students who are in the school building for less than a full school week on a regular basis. These students come into school for some days or classes but stay at home for some days or classes.

Over the 2020-21 school year, did your school do any of the following to address pandemic-related learning needs?

-Extend the school year (added days to the end of the school calendar or use scheduled snow days)? Y/N

-Extend the school day? Y/N

-Offer before or after school programs? Y/N

-Require students to attend school on the weekends? Y/N

-Cancel or shorten school holidays?

<If school level = middle/combined/other or high>

Did your school ever offer onsite COVID-19 vaccination or have a mobile vaccination unit on school grounds for students who were eligible during the 2020-21 school year? Y/N/DK

Over the summer of 2021 did your school do any of the following to address pandemic-related learning needs?

-Offer summer school? Y/N

-Offer summer camps? Y/N

5. Are teachers at your school planning to conduct any diagnostic assessments to students at the beginning of the 2021-22 school year? Y/N

If Y: Will the results of the assessment be used to address pandemic-related learning needs? Y/N

6. As of the first day of the 2021-22 school year, which of the following will be offered at your school? (They can only select one)

-A Hybrid of distance/remote and in-person learning instruction Hybrid distance/remote and in-person learning refers to students who are in the school building for less than a full school week on a regular basis. These students come into school for some days or classes but stay at home for some days or classes.

Estimate what percentage of your students signed up for full-time distance (online) instruction as of the first day of the 2021-22 school year?

__% of students signed up for full-time distance (online) instruction for the 2021-22 school year?

8. Please provide the following dates:

-Start date for students in the 2021–22 school year MM / DD / 2021

-End date for students in the 2021–22 school year MM / DD /2022

-Start date for students in the 2020-21 school year MM / DD /2020

-End date for students in the 2020-21 school year MM / DD /2021

File Type	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
Author	Clarady, Carrie
File Modified	0000-00-00
File Created	2021-06-09