The School Pulse Panel (SPP) is a
monthly data collection originally designed to collect voluntary
responses from a nationally representative sample of public schools
to better understand how schools, students, and educators are
responding to the ongoing stressors of the coronavirus pandemic,
along with other priority items for the White House, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, and Department of Education program
offices. This collection allows NCES to comply with the January 21,
2021 EO 14000 Executive Order on Supporting the Reopening and
Continuing Operation of Schools and Early Childhood Education
Providers. The SPP study is extremely important particularly now
that COVID-19 has not waned, and the pulse model is one that the
agency will need after the pandemic subsides for other
quick-turnaround data needs. It is 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 district staff and principals in U.S. public schools.
Initially cleared as an emergency (OMB# 1850-0963), the SPP monthly
data collection (OMB #1850-0969) was formally cleared in April
2022, with change requests (OMB# 1850-0969 v.2-3) clearing the May
and June 2022 Questionnaires in April and May. A revision (complete
with 30D public comment period; v.4) containing projected
questionnaire items for August and September 2022 as well as
further change requests (v. 5-7) were cleared in July and August
2022. The purpose of this submission is to propose and seek 30-day
public comment on new items (within the scope of research domains
both previously established and minimally revised in this request;
see Part A changes detailed below) to be collected on the October,
November, and December instruments (Appendix B.6). These items are
considered very close to final and will go through minimal testing
with school personnel to examine any comprehension concerns with
item wording. Feedback from this testing, as well as additional
input from SPP stakeholders, will result in modifications and
additions that will be reflected in future change requests. Some
previously approved items that are considered core content will be
collected in during these months. Specifically, items on learning
modes, quarantine, and possibly items on after-school programs will
be repeated to maintain trend over time. In addition to the changes
in Appendix B (new items) and Part A (overall description of the
study), updated screenshots were also added to Appendix A
(communication materials) in order to keep the materials current,
and additional details were added to the descriptions of our
cognitive testing process in Part B. The costs to the government
have not changed as a result of this revision nor has the projected
respondent burden.
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.
SPP 2022 Quarter 4 Revision Memo 0969 v8.docx
School Pulse Panel Data Collections