The School Survey on Crime and Safety
(SSOCS) is a nationally representative survey of elementary and
secondary school principals that serves as the primary source of
school-level data on crime and safety in public schools, and was
conducted in 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2016, 2018, and 2020
(OMB# 1850-0761). Four years separated the first two collections of
SSOCS to allow for sufficient time to study the results of the
first survey and to allow for necessary redesign work; the next
three collections were conducted at 2-year intervals. Due to a
reorganization of the sponsoring agency (the Office of Safe and
Drug-Free Schools) and funding issues, the 2012 administration of
SSOCS, although approved by OMB, was not fielded. With new funding
available through the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), SSOCS
was conducted again in the spring of the 2015–16 school year. With
continued dedicated funding, SSOCS has resumed collection on a
biennial basis, with collections during the spring of the 2017–18
and the 2019–20 school years, and the next planned collection
during the spring of the 2021–22 school year. SSOCS is a survey of
public schools covering the topic of school crime and violence and
is designed to produce nationally representative data on public
schools. Historically, it has been conducted by mail, with
telephone and e-mail follow-up; however, as an experiment, an
Internet version was fielded during the SSOCS:2018 administration.
For SSOCS:2020, the Internet version was initially offered to all
respondents, with the paper version sent via mail as a follow-up,
and the same methodology will be used for SSOCS:2022. The
respondent is the school principal, or a member of the school staff
designated by the principal as the person “the most knowledgeable
about school crime and policies to provide a safe environment.” The
2022 survey is being funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s
Office of Safe and Supportive Schools (previously known as the
Office of Safe and Healthy Students) and conducted by the National
Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the Institute of
Education Sciences (IES), within the U.S. Department of Education.
As with prior SSOCS collections, NCES has entered into an
interagency agreement with the Census Bureau to administer the 2022
collection. This request is to conduct the 2022 administration of
the School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS). As part of
SSOCS:2022 development, cognitive testing on new COVID-19 pandemic
items will be conducted during the winter and spring of 2021,
scheduled to be completed in late-spring 2021. The wording and
design of these items may be modified in response to the findings
of this testing and, as such, will be updated in a change request,
tentatively scheduled for October 2021.
US Code:
20
USC 9573 Name of Law: Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
SSOCS 2022 Communication Change Memo v22.docx
SSOCS 2022 Communication Change Sheet v22.pdf
2022 School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS:2022)