Response to 60 Day Comments

Response to Public Comments Received During the 30-day Comment Period

June 2023

School Pulse Panel (SPP 2023-24) Data Collection

ED-2023-SCC-0060 Comments on FR Doc # 2023-07239

NCES and the staff of the School Pulse Survey want to thank all public commenters for your feedback responding to a request for comments on the School Pulse Panel Data Collection published in the Federal Register. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) appreciates your interest in our work. The Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) provides an opportunity for an open and public comment period where comments on collections can be made. We are grateful for this process and your comment and hope that you will continue to follow our work.

Submitter Information

Name: National Education Association

Comment

On behalf of the more than 3 million members of the National Education Association (NEA), we submit the following response to the Department of Education’s request for comments related to the School Pulse Panel 2023-24 Data Collection, published in the Federal Register on April 6, 2023.

The NEA appreciates the opportunity to weigh in on the modifications being made to the 2023-24 School Pulse Panel (SPP). In particular, we want to express our support for the addition of a district-level survey within the SPP. We believe that by focusing on a district-level survey, the scope of data collected will be larger and the burden on individual schools will lessen.

In addition to support for the addition of a district-level survey, the NEA would also like to continue our general support for the SPP. This data collection provides essential information about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected and continues to affect the nation’s public schools, educators, and students. Having new data available on a regular basis throughout the school year will be invaluable in helping educators and school and district leaders make data-driven decisions.

The NEA respectfully submits the above comments for consideration in response to this request for comment related to the School Pulse Panel. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me or Stacey Pelika at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Tom Zembar

Manager, Education Policy and Implementation Center

National Education Association

RESPONSE:

Thank you for your feedback posted on May 24, 2023, responding to a 60-day request for comments on the proposed School Pulse Panel (SPP) 2023-24 Data Collection. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) appreciates your interest in and support of SPP. I have provided a response to your comments below.

We appreciate the NEA’s continued support of the School Pulse Panel. We are excited to continue collecting real-time data from schools that can be used to make data-driven decisions. Unfortunately, due to funding constraints, we are unable to field a district-level survey for the 2023-24 school year.

As this is an ongoing survey, we encourage you to look for future OMB requests for comments on this collection. Thank you again for your comment and support, and please do not hesitate to contact us with questions.

Sincerely,

Andrew Zukerberg
Chief, Cross-Sectional Surveys Branch

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

U.S. Department of Education

Submitter Information

Name: Data Foundation

Comment

The Data Foundation is a non-profit organization that seeks to improve government and society by using data to inform public policymaking. Our Data Coalition project is America’s premier voice on data policy, advocating for responsible policies to make government data high-quality, accessible, and usable.

In line with our organizational goals, we applaud the continuation of the School Pulse Panel and efforts to create a post-pandemic panel for the 2023-2024 school year. As the country moves beyond the pandemic, generating data and evidence to describe our post-covid education landscape is key to accounting for learning loss, teacher retention, and understanding the pathway from education to workforce, among other things. Monitoring the impact of the pandemic on schools, students, and educators is critical to develop, implement, and analyze effective policies that ensure a high-quality education system and future workforce.

We also express our support for the addition of a district-level survey to the panel. As a post-pandemic education system emerges, it will be important to gather data that provide a holistic picture of how our schools have been, and will be, impacted by the disruption of the pandemic. District-level data provides different perspectives and insights that cannot be accounted for through surveying individual schools. This expanded data collection will contribute to a more complete understanding of a post-pandemic education system and effective implementation of education policies in a way it benefits all students, educators, and administrators. As noted in the request, insight into education governance more broadly, such as district finances, supply chain issues, and facilities, can illuminate potential needs and larger administrative-level trends that district leadership, or the state or federal Department of Education, may learn from and address.

The Data Foundation supports the proposed updates, and applauds the continued use of pulse surveys as an innovative way to generate data for evidence-building in a timely manner. We appreciate the opportunity to provide comments on this data collection and will continue to support NCES’ efforts in the successful collection and use of data to ensure high-quality education outcomes. Please reach out to me at [email protected] with any questions.

Sincerely,

Corinna Turbes
Policy Director

RESPONSE:

Thank you for your feedback posted on June 5, 2023, responding to a 60-day request for comments on the proposed School Pulse Panel (SPP) 2023-24 Data Collection. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) appreciates your interest in and support of SPP. I have provided a response to your comments below.

We appreciate the Data Foundation's support of the School Pulse Panel. We look forward to collecting data on ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the 2023-24 data collection. Unfortunately, due to funding constraints, we are unable to field a district-level survey for the 2023-24 school year.

As this is an ongoing survey, we encourage you to look for future OMB requests for comments on this collection. Thank you again for your comment and support, and please do not hesitate to contact us with questions.

Sincerely,

Andrew Zukerberg
Chief, Cross-Sectional Surveys Branch

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

U.S. Department of Education

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