Part A NTPS 2023-24 Preliminary Activities - Upd Oct 2022

(These are 2020-21 NTPS Teacher Listing Form materials; the NTPS 2017-18 Principal, School, and Teacher questionnaires; and the 2021-22 NTPS Follow-up Survey Questionnaires, included in this package as they will serve as the models from which the 2023-24 materials will be built. The final versions of the 2023-24 NTPS questionnaires, along with the NTPS Respondent Portal (including Teacher Listing Form Instrument) content will be provided in the 2023-24 NTPS Main Study clearance request in winter 2022-23.)

C 2023-24 NTPS Online Screener Instrument Details

D Tests Influencing the Design of NTPS 2023-24

A.1 Circumstances Making Collection of Information Necessary

A.1.1 Purpose of This Submission

The National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), conducted every two to three years by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education (ED), is a system of related questionnaires that provides descriptive data on the context of elementary and secondary education. Redesigned from the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) with a focus on flexibility, timeliness, and integration with other ED data, the NTPS system allows for school, principal, and teacher characteristics to be analyzed in relation to one another.

SASS, the predecessor to NTPS, was conducted by NCES seven times between 1987 and 2011. SASS was an integrated study of public school districts, public and private schools, principals, teachers, and library media centers, designed to provide descriptive data on a wide range of topics including teacher demand, teacher and principal characteristics, general conditions in schools, principals' and teachers' perceptions of school climate and problems in their schools, teacher compensation, and district hiring and retention practices. After 2011-12, NCES redesigned SASS and named it the NTPS to reflect the redesigned study’s focus on the teacher and principal labor market and on the state of K-12 school staff. NCES first conducted NTPS during the 2015-16 school year, and then again during the 2017-18 and 2020-21 school years. The next collection will take place during the 2023-24 school year.

Cognitive interviews to test new or revise existing NTPS 2023-24 survey content (OMB #1850-0803 v.311) and focus groups and usability testing for the NTPS 2023-24 Respondent Portal Instrument (OMB #1850-0803 v.311, 315, and 319) were conducted in 2022.

NTPS recruitment and data collection are administered for NCES by the U.S. Census Bureau. As with prior NTPS administrations, OMB approval for NTPS 2023-24 is being requested in two parts: 1) a clearance for preliminary field activities including contacting and obtaining research approvals from public school districts with an established research approval process (“special contact districts”), where applicable, notifying sampled schools of their selection for the NTPS and inviting them to complete a short screener survey to verifying eligibility for the NTPS and establish a point of contact at their school, and contacting key public and private school associations to seek their endorsement for the NTPS (this request); and 2) a clearance for main study data collection activities with schools and school staffs (to be requested in winter 2022-23). The NTPS 2023-24 Main Study final procedures and materials will be published for public comment and OMB review in winter 2022-23, and OMB approval for the follow-up surveys to NTPS 2023-24 – the Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS) and the Principal Follow-up Survey (PFS) will be requested in an additional package in winter 2023-24.

This request is to conduct the NTPS 2023-24 preliminary activities, namely special district recruitment, recruitment of endorsers, and Screener Survey for the NTPS and the NTPS follow-up surveys.

A.1.2 Legislative Authorization

NCES conducts NTPS in close consultation with other offices and organizations within and outside the U.S. Department of Education. NCES is authorized to conduct NTPS by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA 2002, 20 U.S.C. §9543).

A.1.3 Prior and Related Studies

NTPS 2023-24 is the latest in a 30-year series of NCES studies on our nation’s schools and staffing. SASS was first fielded in school year 1987-88, collected every 3 years through 1993-94, and then underwent a 6-year pause for major survey design revisions, which resulted in the 1999-2000 data collection. After that, SASS was on a 4-year data collection cycle, with each SASS data collection followed one year later by the TFS and, beginning in 2008-09, the PFS. The most recent administration of SASS was in 2011-12. At the conclusion of the 2011-12 collection, NCES redesigned SASS and named it NTPS.

NCES first conducted NTPS in 2015-16, and then again in 2017-18 and 2020-21. In 2016-17, NCES conducted the PFS, a follow-up to NTPS 2015-16, and NCES conducted both PFS and TFS in 2021-22 as a follow-up to NTPS 2020-21.

The school years during which SASS, NTPS and the Follow-up Surveys were administered are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1. SASS, NTPS and Follow-up Survey administrations: 1987–2024

Survey Administration School Year	Survey
Survey Administration School Year	SASS	NTPS	TFS	PFS
1987-88	X
1988-89			X
1990-91	X
1991-92			X
1993-94	X
1994-95			X
1999-2000	X
2000-01			X
2003-04	X
2004-05			X
2007-08	X
2008-09			X	X
2011-12	X
2012-13			X	X
2015-16		X
2016-17				X
2017-18		X
2020-21		X
2021-22			X	X
2023-24		X

A.1.4 NTPS Study Design

The sample for NTPS 2023-24 will include approximately 9,920 public schools and principals and approximately 49,250 public school teachers, as well as approximately 3,000 private schools and principals and approximately 6,300 private school teachers. The respondent universe for public and private schools will continue to consist of all schools in the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia (DC) that offer instruction in any of grades 1-12.

Data collection will begin with the sampled schools. A precontact notification, a two-sided, full-color postcard intended to introduce the NTPS survey to the school and verify the school’s mailing address, will be sent to sampled schools in the summer of 2023. About a month later, the principal will be contacted by mail and asked to complete a short Screener Survey online, which will confirm the school’s eligibility for the NTPS and will establish a survey coordinator at the school to whom contacts will be made throughout data collection. Appendix C includes example screenshots of the Screener instrument, which are based on the final 2020-21 NTPS Screener. If any changes are needed for the Screener instrument, updated screenshots will be presented in a change request to this package later this year.

Teachers will be randomly sampled from Teacher Listing Forms (TLF) submitted to the Census Bureau by sampled schools, purchased from a vendor and verified by sampled schools, or directly from the vendor information (see the Teacher Listing Form (NTPS-1) subsection in this section). Teachers are ineligible for NTPS if they are short-term substitutes, student teachers, teacher’s aides, or do not teach any of grades K-12 or comparable ungraded levels.

NTPS collects information from schools, principals, and teachers in four data collection instruments: the TLF, the School Questionnaire, the Principal Questionnaire, and the Teacher Questionnaire. The School, Principal, and Teacher Questionnaire instruments have separate question paths for public and private schools. The NTPS 2017-18 (for the School Questionnaire, Principal Questionnaire, and Teacher Questionnaire) and 2020-21 (for the TLFs) versions of these instruments serve as the starting points for development of the 2023-24 versions and are included in Appendix B as NTPS 2023-24 drafts. The final NTPS 2023-24 collection instruments will be provided in the NTPS 2023-24 Main Study submission in winter 2022-23.

Teacher Listing Form (NTPS-1). The TLF is designed to produce a roster of the teachers in each sampled school who are eligible for NTPS. At the start of data collection, an invitation to complete the TLF electronically using the NTPS Respondent Portal internet instrument is sent to schools in both a mailed package and by email when a survey coordinator or principal’s email address is available. A paper version of the TLF will be sent to nonresponding schools in later mailings. For each teacher, the TLF requests name, subject taught (in ten categories: Sspecial education, General elementary, Math, Science, English/language arts, Social studies, Vocational/Technical, World language, Music or Art, and Other), and teacher primary work email address. For schools for which acceptable vendor teacher roster data are available, the TLF (both the electronic version in the NTPS Respondent Portal and the paper TLF used in follow-up mailings) will be pre-populated with vendor teacher roster data, and the schools will be asked to verify the teacher information rather than provide it from scratch. For schools for which acceptable vendor teacher roster data are not available, the schools will be asked to provide their teacher roster information using the TLF application in the NTPS Respondent Portal or a blank paper TLF.

The Census Bureau will follow up with nonresponding schools by mail, email, telephone, and in-person visits, as needed, throughout the collection period. If collection efforts with the school are unsuccessful, NTPS staff will either use the vendor list to serve as a replacement for a completed TLF (for schools for which acceptable vendor teacher roster data are available) or will perform a clerical look up of teacher lists from internet sources to serve as a replacement for a completed TLF (for schools for which acceptable vendor teacher roster data are not available).

Principal Questionnaire (NTPS-2). The Principal Questionnaire (PQ) is targeted towards the principals of sampled schools and consists of the following core modules and rotating modules:

Core Modules

Principal Experience and Training. Asks principals about their experience prior to becoming a principal and as a principal, participation in a development program for aspiring school principals, highest degree earned, license or certification in school administration, and current teaching status.
Goals and Decision Making. Asks principals to rate their three most important educational goals and to indicate how much influence they think they have as principals on decisions concerning school policies and processes.
School Climate and Safety. Asks principals to indicate to the best of their knowledge how often various types of problems occur at the school; to report on measures of parent involvement in school; whether teachers are required to help students with academic, social, and emotional needs outside of regular school hours; and whether the school has a formal teacher induction program for beginning teachers.
Principal Demographic Information. Asks principals about gender, race, ethnicity, year of birth, and current annual salary for the principal’s position at the sampled school.
Contact Information. Asks principals for name; home address; work, cell, and home telephone numbers; work and home e-mail addresses; the date of questionnaire completion; and how many minutes it took to complete the questionnaire. This information will be used during the Principal Follow-up Survey.

Rotating Modules

Working Conditions and Principal Perceptions. Asks principals to report the number of hours they spend on all school-related activities during a typical full week, the percentage of time spent on various tasks including administration, teaching, and student/parent interaction, the number of days they are required to work under contract, whether they are represented under a meet-and-confer or collective bargaining agreement, the principals’ agreement with measures of job satisfaction, and how long they plan to remain a principal.
Teacher Evaluation. Asks about the principal’s general knowledge and perceptions of teacher evaluations, formal evaluations of tenured and non-tenured teachers, the impact of student achievement on evaluations, and the influence of evaluations on the teaching practice within the school.
Teacher Professional Development. Asks about principals’ knowledge and perceptions of teacher professional development.
Principal Evaluation. Asks about principals’ knowledge and perceptions of principal evaluations, whether they received feedback, and the impact of student achievement on their evaluations.
Principal Professional Development. Asks about principals’ knowledge about and participation in various principal professional development activities.
Principal Engagement. Asks about principals’ engagement and connection with the school and with colleagues.

In addition to the core modules, the following rotating modules will be included in the NTPS 2023-24 Principal Questionnaire: Teacher Evaluation, Teacher Professional Development, Principal Evaluation, Principal Professional Development, and Principal Engagement.

School Questionnaire (NTPS-3). The School Questionnaire (SQ) is targeted towards an administrator or administrative assistant in sampled schools and consists of the following core and rotating modules:

Core Modules

General Information About This School. Asks about grade levels served, enrollment, average daily attendance, length of school year, whether the school is a regular or special program/emphasis school, whether the school is a charter school, kindergarten programs, library media centers, courses taught entirely online, presence of before- or after-school programs, and instruction for English-language learners.
Community Service Requirements. Asks whether the school grants high school diplomas and has a community service requirement for a standard diploma. If so, the section asks for the number of community service hours required for high school graduation.
Special Programs and Services. Asks about Individual Education Plans and services for students with disabilities, prekindergarten, participation in the National School Lunch Program, and participation in Title 1.
Contact Information. Asks for contact information for the person who completed most of the questionnaire, including name, job title, email address, phone number, the date the forms was completed, and how many minutes it took to complete the form. This information may be used to follow-up with the school if there are any questions about the school’s responses.

Rotating Modules

School Staffing. Defines the types of teachers sought in NTPS reporting and then asks for the total number of teachers by full- and part-time teaching status; full- and part-time staffing counts for various categories, including principals, librarians, student support staff, and aides; whether any of the teachers or staff at the school have special assignments or coaching responsibilities in academic subjects; teaching vacancies in the school in various subject fields and whether the vacancies were easy or difficult to fill; and the number of newly-hired and first-year teachers at the school.
Instructional Time. Asks about how much instruction students receive instruction in certain subjects, such as reading and math, in a typical week.
Student and Classroom Organization. Asks about the method in which the school organizes classes or students.

In addition to the core modules, the following rotating modules will be included in the NTPS 2023-24 School Questionnaire: Instructional Time and Student and Classroom Organization.

Teacher Questionnaire (NTPS-4). The Teacher Questionnaire (TQ) is targeted towards teachers sampled for NTPS based on school-level teacher rosters. It consists of the following core and rotating modules:

Core Modules

General Information. Asks teachers about their position at the school and whether they are teaching in any of grades K-12 or comparable ungraded levels these items confirm eligibility for the teacher sample. It also asks teachers about the year they began teaching (for the first time and at the sampled school), the number of schools they have taught in, and number of years they have been teaching.
Class Organization. Asks teachers to report grades taught, number of students with an IEP and of limited-English proficiency, main teaching assignment subject field, looping, use of instructional software, how classes are organized, number of students taught and class size, hours spent teaching various academic subjects (for self-contained classroom teachers), and details on each class period or section taught (for subject-matter teachers).
Education and Training. Asks teachers details about major and, if applicable, minor fields of study for all levels of educational attainment from vocational certificates through doctorate degrees; courses taken on teaching methods, including classroom management and using student performance data; and student teaching including number of classrooms and number of weeks.
Certification. Asks teachers detailed information about the content area(s) and grade range(s) in which they are certified to teach and whether they entered teaching through an alternative route to certification program.
General Employment and Background Information. Asks teachers about earnings, union membership, and tenure.
Teacher Demographic Information. Asks teachers about their race, ethnicity, gender, sex, and year of birth.
Contact Information. Asks teachers for their contact information, including home address, phone numbers, and email addresses. This information is used during the Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS).

Rotating Modules

Early Career Experiences. Asks teachers in their first five years of teaching about their main activity prior to teaching, how well prepared they felt for various teaching-related tasks, whether they participated in a formal teacher induction program, and whether they received various kinds of support during their first year of teaching (including whether and how a master or mentor teacher supported them that year).
Teacher Working Conditions. Asks teachers to report the number of hours they are required to work under contract per week; how many of those hours are spent on delivering instruction; how many total hours (paid and unpaid) are spent each week on all teaching and school-related activities; whether the teacher serves as a coach, club sponsor, or in other department- or school-wide roles; and how much the teacher spent of his or her own money on school supplies in the last school year.
School Climate and Teacher Attitudes. Asks teachers a series of questions about how much influence they think they have over school policies, how much control they have in their classroom, whether they agree with various measures of job satisfaction, the extent to which various conditions are a problem at the school, how long they plan to remain in teaching, and whether they have ever been threatened or physically attacked by a student from the school.
Teacher Evaluations. Asks teachers about their knowledge and perceptions of teacher evaluations, the type of feedback they received, and the influence of evaluations on their teaching.
Teacher Professional Development. Asks teachers about the current methods/modes of teacher professional development and other opportunities to learn, and their implications on teachers’ approaches to teaching.
Teacher Engagement. Asks teachers about their engagement and connection with the school and with colleagues.

In addition to the core modules, the following rotating modules will be included in the NTPS 2023-24 Teacher Questionnaire: Teacher Evaluations, Teacher Professional Development, and Teacher Engagement.

The rotating modules for all NTPS questionnaires, by survey administration, are summarized in Table 2.

Table 2. NTPS rotating modules, by survey administration

	2015-16	2017-18	2020-21	2023-24
Principal Questionnaire
Working Conditions and Principal Perceptions	X		X
Student Growth and Teacher Evaluation	X		X
Teacher Evaluation		X		X
Teacher Professional Development		X		X
Principal Evaluations		X		X
Principal Professional Development		X		X
Principal Engagement		X		X
School Questionnaire
School Staffing	X		X
Instructional Time		X		X
Student and Classroom Organization		X		X
Teacher Questionnaire
Early Career Experiences	X		X
Teacher Working Conditions	X		X
School Climate and Teacher Attitudes	X		X
Teacher Evaluations		X		X
Teacher Professional Development		X		X
Teacher Engagement		X		X

A.2 Purposes and Uses of the Data

NTPS 2023-24 will provide rich data that are generally designed to serve two purposes: descriptive and exploratory. The overall objective of NTPS is to collect the information necessary for a comprehensive picture of elementary and secondary education in the United States. The data collected permit detailed analyses of the characteristics of schools, principals, and teachers. The linkages among the NTPS questionnaires enable researchers to examine the relationships among these elements of education. Collection of these data provide critical information to policymakers and researchers on a variety of topics including school organization, decision making, and recruitment and retention of teachers and principals.

A.2.1 Research Issues Addressed in the NTPS

NTPS builds upon and extends the series of SASS data collections that occurred seven times over the period between 1987 and 2012. Many questions from SASS continue to be asked in the NTPS questionnaires, allowing researchers to examine trends on these topics over time. In addition, the linkages of NTPS/SASS with TFS and PFS create a longitudinal component. A subset of teachers who respond to NTPS are surveyed during the following school year, as part of TFS, including teachers who changed schools, left the teaching profession, and teachers who stayed at the same school over the two school years. TFS allows researchers to study the antecedents of teacher attrition. TFS was most recently conducted in 2021-22 and will be conducted again in 2024-25, following the 2023-24 NTPS.

In turn, PFS, conducted in 2008-09, 2012-13, 2016-17, 2021-22, and upcoming in 2024-25, provides information about principal attrition. All principal respondents in the base-year NTPS are surveyed during the school year following the NTPS.

The large NTPS sample allows extensive disaggregation of data according to important characteristics of teachers, principals, and schools. For example, researchers can compare urban and rural settings, and the working conditions of teachers and principals of differing demographic backgrounds. The sections below provide examples of how NTPS data have been used to study our nation’s schools, teachers, and principals.

A.2.1.1 Characteristics of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, School Principals, and Teachers in the United States

The results of each NTPS collection are used to create First Look reports that are released to the public on the NCES website and which introduce new data from each NTPS collection through statistical tables containing descriptive information. The selected findings chosen for these reports demonstrate the range of information available on the NTPS restricted use data files. The most recent First Look reports available for the NTPS are as follows: Characteristics of Public and Private Elementary and Secondary Schools in the United States: Results From the 2017-18 National Teacher and Principal Survey First Look (NCES 2019-140); Characteristics of Public and Private Elementary and Secondary School Principals in the United States: Results From the 2017-18 National Teacher and Principal Survey First Look (NCES 2019-141); and, Characteristics of Public and Private Elementary and Secondary School Teachers in the United States: Results From the 2017-18 National Teacher and Principal Survey First Look (NCES 2019-142REV). First Look reports from the 2020-21 NTPS are forthcoming.

A.2.1.2 Impact of COVID-19 on Public and Private Elementary and Secondary Education

NTPS 2020-21 asked schools, principals, and teachers about how the coronavirus pandemic impacted their instruction, real-time interactions with students, support and resources, computer distribution, and internet access provided to their students in the spring of 2020. Selected findings were presented in Impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic on Public and Private Elementary and Secondary Education in the United States (Preliminary Data): Results from the 2020-21 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NCES 2022-019) using preliminary data in order to present timely findings to policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders. First Look reports that use final data are forthcoming.

A.2.1.3 Teacher Additional Earnings

The NTPS Teacher Questionnaire asks sampled teachers several detailed questions about earnings, including questions about supplemental school year income and their earnings from a summer job. The Outside Jobs Among U.S. Public School Teachers (NCES 2021-007) report examines the supplemental school year income earned at jobs outside the teacher’s school system by public school teachers in the United States. The Summer Jobs for Regular, Full-Time Public School Teachers (NCES 2018-222REV) report describes the findings about the percentage of public school teachers who earn additional income by working during the summer. The findings are broken out by type of summer employment and U.S. region.

A.2.1.4 Teacher Satisfaction

NTPS includes numerous measures of how satisfied teachers are with their jobs and their working conditions. The Teacher Satisfaction with Salary and Current Job (NCES 2018-116) report describes the percentage of teachers who are satisfied with their salary for teaching and compares the job satisfaction of teachers who are satisfied and dissatisfied with their teaching salary.

A.2.1.5 Teacher Spending on Classroom Supplies

The NTPS Teacher Questionnaire asks sampled teacher about how much of their own money, if any, they spent on classroom supplies without reimbursement. In Public School Teacher Spending on Classroom Supplies (NCES 2018-097), NCES examines public school teachers’ personal spending on school supplies and differences in this spending among teachers from different community types and instructional level.

A.2.1.6 Teacher Training to Meet Diverse Student Needs Before Entering the Classroom

The NTPS Teacher Questionnaire asks sampled teachers about teacher preparation and how much preservice coursework they completed before their first year teaching. In Teacher Training to Meet Diverse Student Needs Before Entering the Classroom: Teacher Preparation in 2017-18 (NCES 2021-046), NCES examines preservice coursework taken by public and private school teachers to meet the needs of diverse student populations before the coronavirus pandemic.

A.2.1.7 Teacher Requirements to Help Students Outside Regular School Hours

In Teacher Requirements to Help Students Outside Regular School Hours in 2017–18 (NCES 2021-054), NCES examines whether teachers were required to help students with their academic or social and emotional needs outside regular school hours in public and private schools in the United States in school year 2017-18, by selected school classification.

A.2.1.8 Race and Ethnicity of Public School Teachers

The NTPS Teacher Questionnaire asks sampled teachers for demographic information as well as details about their teaching experience and levels of educational attainment.

In Race and Ethnicity of Public School Teachers and Their Students (NCES 2020-103), NCES examines the race and ethnicity of public school teachers in the United States and how the race and ethnicity of teachers compares to that of the student body within the schools they teach.

In Teachers of Hispanic or Latino Origin: Background and School Settings (NCES 2022-025), NCES examines the background and school settings of teachers of Hispanic or Latino origin in public and private schools in the United States in school year 2017-18, by school and teacher characteristics.

In Black or African American Teachers: Background and School Settings (NCES 2022-024), NCES examines the background and school settings of Black or African American teachers in public and private schools in the United States in school year 2017-18, by school and teacher characteristics.

A.2.1.9 Parent Involvement in U.S. Public Schools

The NTPS Principal Questionnaire asks sampled principals to review a list of nine different parent engagement opportunities and identify which of those activities was offered by their schools during the previous school year (2016-17). In Parental Involvement in U.S. Public Schools in 2017-18 (NCES 2021-041), NCES examines parent and/or guardian involvement in various school-based engagement opportunities.

A.2.1.10 Principals’ Most Important Education Goals

The NTPS Principal Questionnaire asks sampled principals to review a list of ten educational goals and identify their top three goals. In Public School Principals’ Top Three Most Important Education Goals, by Charter Status and School Level (NCES 2020-201), NCES examines the relationship between various education goals, chosen as important by public school principals, by charter status (traditional public or public charter), and school levels. In A Look at Principals’ Most Important Goals by Community Type and School Level (NCES 2020-202), NCES examines the relationship between various education goals, chosen as important by public school principals, by different community types and school levels.

A.2.1.11 Principal Perception of Influence

The NTPS Principal Questionnaire asks sampled principals about how much actual influence they perceive to have as a principal on a number of decisions and policies within the school. In Principals’ Perceptions of Influence Over Decisions at Their Schools in 2017-18 (NCES 2021-091), NCES examines the relationship between public and private school principals’ perceived influence over various decisions made at their schools before the coronavirus pandemic. In Public School Principals’ Perceptions of Influence by School Level and Community Type (NCES 2018-014), NCES examines public schools principals’ perception of their influence on their schools’ curriculum and budget and the differences among principals from different school instructional levels and community types.

A.2.1.12 Role of School Staff

The NTPS School Questionnaire asks schools about the number of full-time and part-times staff who serve in various roles. In School Nurses in U.S. Public Schools (NCES 2020-086) describes the presence of school nurses in public schools for the 2007-08, 2011-12, and 2015-16 school years. Mental Health Staff in Public Schools, by School Racial and Ethnic Composition (NCES 2019-020) describes the level of mental health staffing in majority-minority schools (more than half of the students are racial or ethnic minorities) and other schools (at least half of students are White and non-Hispanic).

A.2.1.13 Teacher and Principal Attrition

The SASS and NTPS, and their longitudinal components, the TFS and the PFS, provide detailed information on the year to year transitions made by teachers and principals.

Teacher Attrition and Mobility: Results From the 2012-13 Teacher Follow-up Survey (NCES 2014-077) describes the number and characteristics of teachers who remained at the same school, moved to another school, or left the profession in the year following the SASS administration.

Principal Attrition and Mobility: Results From the 2016-17 Principal Follow-up Survey (NCES 2018-066) explores how many principals in the 2015-16 school year still worked as a principal in the same school in the 2016-17 school year, how many had moved to become a principal in another school, and how many had left principalship.

A.3 Use of Improved Information Technology

Technology will be applied appropriately to keep respondent burden to a minimum. During the summer of 2023, prior to school data collection, the principal will be asked to complete a short screener interview online using the NTPS Screener internet instrument. During this interview, a survey coordinator will be selected, whose role throughout data collection will be to facilitate the completion of the NTPS questionnaires.

To lessen the response burden on sampled schools, speed up the teacher sample selection, and reduce data processing costs, NTPS will continue to collect TLF information electronically via the TLF application within the NTPS Respondent Portal internet instrument. Whenever possible, schools will be provided TLFs that have been pre-populated with vendor-purchased teacher information, in both the electronic and paper TLFs. This will allow schools to verify the teacher roster information rather than have to provide the requested information for every teacher in their school. Schools will be assured that all teacher data will be stored on secure online servers controlled by the U.S. Census Bureau. The NTPS Respondent Portal internet instrument also allows sampled schools to track the status of questionnaires assigned to their school, and the usability of this instrument has been significantly improved between each survey administration. Voluntary school-based “survey coordinators” will be invited to access this web-based tool at the onset of data collection activities.

Following successful implementation in the 2015-16 NTPS, the 2017-18 NTPS, and the 2020-21 NTPS the Internet response option for principals, schools, and teachers will serve as the primary mode of collection in 2023-24. Nonresponding schools, principals, and teachers will eventually be offered the option to respond by paper.

Principal email addresses (purchased from the vendor and/or obtained through school website research) and school-based coordinator email addresses (collected using the Screener survey instrument at the time the coordinator is established) will be utilized during data collection. Invitations to complete the Principal and School Questionnaires via the Internet response option will be sent to the principal and/or school-based coordinator by email. If they do not respond, they will also be given the option to respond by paper.

Finally, following successful implementation in all three NTPS collections, schools will once again be asked to provide (or verify) teacher email addresses on the TLF. Teachers will be invited by mail and by email, if available, to respond to the Teacher Questionnaire through an Internet response option. If they do not respond, they will also be given the option to respond by paper. Independently, as part of the NTPS questionnaires, in addition to asking all teachers and principals whether they consent to receive text messages for follow-up purposes, we will ask them for their cell phone numbers, work and home e-mail addresses, and mailing addresses to be used during the 2024-25 school year for the TFS and the PFS.

A.4 Efforts to Identify Duplication

A key element of the NTPS design principle was to leverage trusted data sources instead of asking schools or districts to report items on NTPS that they or their state have already provided through other collections. At the start of the SASS redesign to the NTPS, all SASS items were cross-walked against a variety of ED’s and external data sources. From this review, a number of duplicate or near duplicate items were identified. As a result, NCES plans to append to the NTPS files data from the Common Core of Data (CCD) and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) in order to enrich and not duplicate data collection on these topics. In some cases a duplicate item was kept on NTPS because the extant variable from another source was not suitable for NTPS (e.g. due to an issue with periodicity, availability, item wording, reliability, or the item being needed for confirmation purposes).

A.5 Method Used to Minimize Burden on Small Businesses

Burden on small schools is minimized during the NTPS through the sample design that specifies the selection of schools as a function of size defined by the number of teachers. Small schools, therefore, will be sampled at lower rates than larger schools because they comprise a smaller proportion of the teacher population per school. A large component of the NTPS redesign was intended specifically to improve the data collected and minimize burden imposed on respondents. NTPS questionnaires are shorter than their respective SASS questionnaires. In addition, the questionnaires have been designed with a module approach, so as to not cause undue burden on respondents. Some sections are included in every NTPS administration (core modules), while other sections are included during every other cycle (rotating modules).

A.6 Frequency of Data Collection

NCES originally planned for the NTPS to be collected on a two year cycle but recently shifted to a three-year cycle for resource reasons. A major component of the redesign of SASS into NTPS was revising the collection periodicity. NCES received extensive feedback from experts and researchers in the field that the data collected from SASS every four years were not timely enough to capture more frequent changes in the characteristics of teachers and principals in K-12 education. In response to this feedback, the goal is for NTPS to be conducted every two to three years. If NTPS were fielded less often, there would be a significant delay in the observation of critical changes in trends that address the key research issues affecting the teacher and principal workforces.

A.7 Special Circumstances of Data Collection

No special circumstances for this information collection are anticipated.

A.8 Consultants outside the Agency

Since its inception, the development of SASS has relied on the substantive and technical review and comments of people both inside and outside the Department of Education. Outside experts who were convened to offer comments on proposed revisions for the NTPS at the start of their project and their affiliation at that time:

Kelly Burling, Ph.D., Vice President and Director of the Center for Educator Effectiveness, Pearson

Steve Glazerman, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, Mathematica Policy Research

Heather Hill, Ph.D., Professor in Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Patricia Hinchey, Ed.D., Professor of Education, Pennsylvania State (Worthington-Scranton)

Richard Ingersoll, Ph.D., Board of Overseers, Professor of Education and Sociology, U. of Pennsylvania

Anthony Milanowski. Ph.D., Senior Study Director, Westat

Angela Minnici, Ph.D., Managing Researcher, American Institutes for Research (AIR)

Jennifer Oliver, M.A., TAP Director, U. of Indianapolis, Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning

Eric Camburn, Ph.D., Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education

Matthew Clifford, Ph.D., Principal Research Scientist, American Institutes for Research (AIR)

Laura Desimone, Ph.D., Professor, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education

H. Alix Gallagher, Ph.D., Associate Director, SRI International

Stephanie Hirsh, Ph.D., Executive Director, Learning Forward

Kwang Suk Yoon, Ph.D., Principal Research Scientist, American Institutes for Research (AIR)

The following experts served as part of the NTPS team in previous rounds of administration:

Laurie Lewis, Statistician, Westat

Jim Green, Statistician, Westat

The following experts served as part of the NTPS team for the current round of administration:

Rebecca Medway, Senior Survey Methodologist, American Institutes for Research (AIR)

Jana Kemp, Principal Researcher, American Institutes for Research (AIR)

Carol Wan, Survey Methodologist, American Institutes for Research (AIR)

Noelle Poirier, Researcher, American Institutes for Research (AIR)

The NTPS design has benefited from consultation with the following federal experts:

Andy Zukerberg, Statistician, National Center for Education Statistics

Maura Spiegelman, Statistician, National Center for Education Statistics

Julia Merlin, Statistician, National Center for Education Statistics

Stephen Broughman, Statistician, National Center for Education Statistics

Shawna Cox, Survey Director, Education Surveys Team, U.S. Census Bureau

Walter Holmes, Assistant Survey Director, Education Surveys Team, U.S. Census Bureau

Allison Zotti, Statistician, Education Surveys Team, U.S. Census Bureau

James Farber, Mathematical Statistician, Demographic Survey Methods Division, U.S. Census Bureau

Aaron Gilary, Mathematical Statistician, Demographic Survey Methods Division, U.S. Census Bureau

Kathleen Kephart, Statistician, Center for Behavioral Science Methods, U.S. Census Bureau

Jonathan Katz, Statistician, Center for Behavioral Science Methods, U.S. Census Bureau

A.9 Provision of Payments or Gifts to Respondents

Some districts charge a fee (about $50-200) to process research application requests, which we pay as necessary.

There are no plans to offer incentives to sampled schools during the preliminary data collection operations – including the precontact notification or Screener operation – for the 2023-24 NTPS.

Several incentive experiments were conducted during previous administrations of NTPS. For details about the results of these experiments, see Appendix D. The details of the incentive plans to be used in NTPS 2023-24 full data collection are not yet finalized and will be provided in the NTPS 2023-24 Main Study submission in winter 2022-23.

A.10 Assurance of Confidentiality

Data security and confidentiality protection procedures have been put in place for NTPS 2023-24 to ensure that all contractors and agents working on NTPS 2023-24 comply with all privacy requirements including, as applicable:

The Inter-agency agreement with NCES for this study and the statement of work of NTPS 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 NTPS 2023-24 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 NTPS study and having access to the data, including NTPS 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 NTPS on behalf of NCES; (b) NCES is authorized to conduct NTPS by 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 NTPS as authorized by 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 1850-0598. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated at [XX] minutes per response based on the mean and median times in the previous collection, 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: [email protected], or write directly to: National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), National Center for Education Statistics, Potomac Center Plaza, 550 12^th Street SW, Washington, DC 20202.

A.11 Sensitive Questions

There are no sensitive questions included on the NTPS Screener.

The NTPS Teacher and Principal Questionnaires collect data on salary. While these items might be considered sensitive, they have been used in the past, and response rates for these items are traditionally high, ranging from 89.9 % to 95.0% for principals and ranging from 84.4% to 87.8% for teachers.

Based on public comments received for NTPS 2017-18, cognitive testing was conducted in 2017, 2018, and 2022 (OMB #1850-0803 v.218 and v. 311) to test new NTPS content, including questions designed to ask public school principals and teachers about their sexual orientation and gender identity. The results indicated that principals and teachers understood these questions, but speculated that others may be uncomfortable reporting their sexual orientation and gender identity, particularly when contacted through their school. As a result, these items were included on a field test of teachers using a modified version of the NTPS 2020-21 Teacher Questionnaire during the 2021-22 school year. Evaluations of the test are ongoing, but initial results suggest that the inclusion of these items did not increase item or unit nonresponse, and as such, the items may be included on the NTPS 2023-24 Teacher and/or Principal Questionnaires. More details about the findings of the field test and the final NTPS 2023-24 content will be provided in the NTPS 2023-24 Main Study submission in winter 2022-23.

A.12 Estimated Response Burden

This request is to contact districts and schools in order to begin preliminary activities for NTPS 2023-24, namely: (a) contacting and seeking research approvals from public school districts with an established research approval process (“special contact districts”), (b) notifying districts that their school(s) have been selected for NTPS 2023-24, and (c) notifying sampled schools of their selection for the survey and inviting them to complete a short Screener Survey to verify eligibility for the survey and establish a point of contact at their school.

Based on an initial assessment of previous NTPS data collections, we estimate that roughly 300 special contact districts will be in the sample. The special contact districts are those known to require completion of a research application before they will allow schools under their jurisdiction to participate in a study. Contacting special districts begins with updating district information based on what can be gleaned from online sources and what is known from previous cycles of collection. Individual districts will be contacted as needed to fill in gaps about where and to whom to send the completed required research application forms. The estimated number of such districts represents those with particularly detailed application forms and lengthy processes for approval. This operation will begin in the winter of 2022-23 to allow sufficient time for special districts’ review processes. Special district operations will begin by contacting up to 100 “certainty” special contact districts for which, due to their size, it is certain that at least one school from their jurisdiction will be randomly sampled. Other special contact districts will be contacted after the sample is drawn in the spring of 2023. We will continue to work with the districts until we receive a final response (approval or denial of request) as long as there is sufficient time for sampled schools, principals and teachers to respond to NTPS.

In general, the projected number of respondents is based on the NTPS 2023-24 sample size, and takes into account eligibility and response rates from NTPS 2020-21 and NTPS 2017-18. Not all districts initially flagged as special contact districts will respond in the recruitment effort because they may not have a formal research application process and are not actually a special contact district, as such, the estimated number of responding special districts is lower than the estimated sample size for the special district operation.

The total response burden estimate for special district IRB approvals is based on 360 minutes for IRB review by one staff member, and 60 minutes per member for special district IRB panel review, assuming each panel would on average be composed of six panel members. The burden per school for reading the NTPS precontact notification is estimated to average about 1 minute. The burden per school for completing the Screener survey to verify eligibility for NTPS and establish a contact person at the school is estimated to average about 3 minutes. Based on the estimated hourly rates for principals/administrators of $49.35¹, and based on 3,419 total burden hours for NTPS 2023-24 preliminary activities, the total estimated burden time cost to respondents is $168,728.

Although response burden for the NTPS 2023-24 main study data collection activities is not being requested in this submission (it will be requested in the NTPS 2023-24 Main Study clearance request in winter 2022-23), we are showing its estimated details in gray font in Table 1. Throughout this section, “school” is used to refer to both public and private schools, unless stated otherwise. Preliminary data collection for the 2023-24 NTPS data collection will begin in July 2023 with a prenotification postcard to all sampled school principals, followed by an invitation to complete a short “Screener Interview” designed to determine the school’s eligibility to participate in NTPS 2023-24 and to establish a survey coordinator. The burden estimate accounts for principals spending time to read the notification and log into the NTPS Screener internet instrument to complete. Once the Screener data collection is complete, the main 2023-24 NTPS Questionnaire data collection begins with the collection of the school level questionnaires – the TLF, School Questionnaire, and Principal Questionnaire – from sampled schools. Pre-populated TLFs will be used wherever acceptable teacher roster data are available from a vendor (see Supporting Statement Part B, section B.2 for NTPS 2023-24 Procedures for the Collection of Information).

Table 1. Estimates of respondent burden for NTPS 2023-24 preliminary activities and main data collection activities

Activity	Sample Size	Estimated Response Rate	Estimated Number of Respondents	Estimated Number of Responses	Average Burden Time per Respondent (Minutes)	Total Burden Hours
Preliminary Activities
District IRB Staff Review	300	80%	240	240	360	1,440
District IRB Panel Review	300 x 6	80%	1,440	1,440	60	1,440
Precontact Notification– public schools	9,920	70%^†	6,944	6,944	1	116
Precontact Notification– private schools	3,000	70%^†	2,100	2,100	1	35
Screener interview – public schools	9,920	60%	5,952	5,952	3	298
Screener interview – private schools	3,000	60%	1,800	1,800	3	90
Total Preliminary Activities	--	--	18,476	18,476	--	3,419
Main Study Data Collection Activities*
Public School Staff
Electronic TLF	9,920	5%	496	496	30	248
Electronic TLF (pre-populated)	9,920	31%	3,075	3,075	15	769
Paper TLF (pre-populated)	9,920	25%	2,480	2,480	15	620
Paper TLF (blank)	9,920	4%	397	397	30	199
Coordinator duties	9,920	60%	5,952	5,952	22	2,182
School questionnaire	9,920	72%	7,142	7,142	13	1,548
Public School Principals
Principal questionnaire	9,920	70%	6,944	6,944	25	2,893
Public School Teachers
Teacher Questionnaire	49,250	81%	39,893	39,893	40	26,595
Total Public Schools	--	--	66,379	66,379	--	35,054
Private School Staff
Electronic TLF	3,000	20%	600	600	30	300
Electronic TLF (pre-populated)	3,000	13%	390	390	15	98
Paper TLF (pre-populated)	3,000	11%	330	330	15	83
Paper TLF (blank)	3,000	16%	480	480	30	240
Coordinator duties	3,000	60%	1,800	1,800	22	660
School questionnaire	3,000	65%	1,950	1,950	33	1,073
Private School Principals
Principal questionnaire	3,000	65%	1,950	1,950	25	813
Private School Teachers
Teacher Questionnaire	6,300	80%	5,040	5,040	40	3,360
Total Private Schools	--	--	12,540	12,540	--	6,627
TOTAL MAIN STUDY			78,919	78,919		41,680
TOTAL	--	--	97,395	97,395	--	45,099

* Gray font denotes NTPS 2023-24 Main Study data collection activities for which burden is not being requested in this submission.
† In this case, this proportion represents not a response rate but the proportion estimated to read and interact with the contact materials.

A.13 Estimates of Cost to Respondents

There are no costs to respondents beyond their time to participate. No equipment, printing, or postage charges will be incurred by the participants.

A.14 Cost to the Federal Government

The total estimated cost to the federal government for NTPS 2023-24 is $19.0 million. The estimated cost for the preliminary field activities is $647,000.

Table 2. Estimates of Costs to the Federal Government

Activity	Estimated Costs
Survey Development	$4,221,500
Survey Collection	$12,965,000
Data Processing	$1,209,000
Data Reporting	$604,500
TOTAL	$19,000,000

A.15 Reasons for Changes in Response Burden

Estimated respondent burden in this request shows a significant decrease from the last approval, because the last approval was for the main NTPS 2020-21 data collection, while this request is for NTPS 2023-24 preliminary activities only.

A.16 Publication Plans and Time Schedule

Information relevant to the data collection will be part of the reports resulting from NTPS 2023-24. A data file will be produced and made available to researchers through an online NCES data analysis tool, DataLab, as well as in a restricted-use data file. Researchers who are approved by NCES’s data confidentiality office for a restricted-use license can access restricted-use data files. Codebooks and user’s manuals will be produced for use with the restricted-use data files. All of the NTPS data files will be linked through the sampled school record. NTPS 2023-24 reports and publications will include a detailed methodological report describing all aspects of the data collection effort. The tentative, high-level operational schedule for NTPS 2023-24 is provided in Table 3.

Table 3. Operational schedule for NTPS 2023-24

Activity	Tentative Dates
Preliminary Activities
Begin contacting Special Districts to begin approval process	December 2022
Complete and deliver certainty special district applications and packages	February 2023 – February 2024 (earliest cut-off)
Select the 2023-24 NTPS school sample	April 2023
Complete and deliver applications and packages to newly identified special districts	April 2023 – February 2024 (earliest cut-off)
Mail precontact notifications to sampled schools	June 2023
Mail screener letter to school principals	July 2023
Send initial and reminder email to principals to complete screener	July – August 2023
Screener Telephone Operation to establish survey coordinator	August 2023
Main Data Collection Activities
Begin NTPS 2023-24 Questionnaire Data Collection	September 2023
Mail questionnaires/internet invitations to schools, request teacher lists	September 2023
Send initial and reminder emails to school principals and survey coordinators	September 2023 – January 2024
Field Operation to obtain TLF, and School and Principal Questionnaires (subsample of schools)	October – November 2023
Mail up to 4 reminder packages to non-responding schools	October 2023 – January 2024
Telephone Operation to follow-up on outstanding TLFs (subsample of schools)	December 2023
Mail initial Teacher Questionnaire invitations as teacher samples are drawn	October 2023 – March 2024
Mail up to 4 reminder packages to teachers	November 2023 – June 2024
Send initial and reminder emails to teachers	November 2023 – June 2024
Telephone operations to follow-up on outstanding school, principal, and teacher questionnaires	March – May 2024
Field Operation to obtain outstanding Teacher, School, and Principal questionnaires	March – May 2024
End NTPS 2023-24 Data Collection	July 2024
Data capture of all questionnaires	September 2023 – July 2024
Data processing	March 2024 – January 2025
Release initial reports and data files	July 2025

A.17 Approval for Not Displaying the Expiration Date for OMB Approval

No exemption from the requirement to display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection is being requested for NTPS 2023-24.

A.18 Exceptions to the Certification Statement

No exceptions to the certification statement apply to NTPS 2023-24.

1 The average hourly earnings of principals/education administrators in the May 2021 National Occupational and Employment Wage Estimates sponsored by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is $49.35. Source: BLS Occupation Employment Statistics, http://data.bls.gov/oes/ data type: Occupation code: Education Administrators, Elementary and Secondary Schools (11-9032); Annual Mean Wage $102,650/2,080 hours. Accessed on May 12, 2022.

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Part A NTPS 2023-24 Preliminary Activities - Upd Oct 2022