ABES Letter to Agreeing Schools

2021 Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey

Attachment P11

Letter to Agreeing Schools (Exclusively Distance Learning)

Dear Principal/School Contact:

Thank you for your school’s participation in the Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (ABES), sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Adolescent and School Health. To assess student engagement in risk behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to help understand the pandemic’s impact on youth, the CDC will conduct the ABES in spring 2021. A report summarizing the results will be published the following year and your school will be notified when the report is available for download.

Attached is a zip file of materials for each teacher whose class was selected to participate in the survey. These files contain helpful information for each teacher, including a Summary of School Arrangements form, a Data Collection Checklist, a survey fact sheet, a parental permission form, and an email template for teachers to use when distributing permission forms to parents. Please have teachers maintain a record of which students have permission from their parent to participate according to your school’s parental permission form policy.

Your support and encouragement will help to ensure a high rate of participation, which is essential to produce valid national data.

The participation of your students in the ABES will help the CDC, educators, and public health officials assess health risk behaviors and experiences during, and related to, COVID-19. If you have any questions, please call me toll-free at 1-800-675-9727 between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. eastern time. Thank you again for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

Alice Roberts, Project Director

Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey