The School Pulse Panel (SPP) is a data collection that was originally designed to collect voluntary responses from a nationally representative sample of public schools to better understand how schools, students, and educators were responding to the ongoing stressors of the coronavirus pandemic. Due to the immediate need to collect information from schools during the pandemic to satisfy the requirement of Executive Order 14000, an emergency clearance was issued to develop and field the first several monthly collections of the SPP in 2021 and a full review of the SPP data collection was performed under the traditional clearance review process in 2022 (OMB# 1850-0969). SPPs innovative design and timely dissemination of findings have been used and cited frequently among Department of Education senior leadership, the White House Domestic Policy Council, the USDAs Food and Nutrition Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Congressional deliberations, and the media. The ongoing, growing interest by stakeholders resulted in the request for dedicated funding to create an established NCES quick-turnaround data collection vehicle to become a mainstay for NCES. Funding for a mainstay collection was approved in late 2022, and NCES conducted a new collection during the 2023-24 school year. The purpose of this request is for a full review of the 2024-25 SPP data collection under the traditional clearance review process.
For the 2024-25 school year, the survey will ask school staff about a wide range of topics, including, but not limited to, staffing, learning recovery, tutoring, usage of federal funds, facilities, transportation, school environment issues, and overall principal and staff experiences, in addition to repeating items from the previous collections. It is planned that some new content will be rotated in (and some rotated out) monthly. This package includes details regarding the methodology and operations, as well as potential content areas and an item bank of potential items that can be asked any month.
The School Pulse Panel study is one of the few reliable, nationally representative, quick-turnaround studies that produces data on U.S. public schools. The sample design for the 2024-25 collection will roughly be the same as the 2023-24 collection, with 4,000 public elementary, middle, high, and combined-grade schools in an initial sample and 4,000 public elementary, middle, high, and combined-grade schools in a reserve sample. These schools will be selected via a random stratified sampling approach.
This submission has undergone a 60-day public comment period and is now submitted for an additional 30-day public comment period. We have made revisions to all documents that are part of this request. We have added instruments for the August, September, and October 2024 surveys (Appendix C1) and split the Item Bank into two parts; Appendix B1 will be an item bank for the current administration SPP 2024-2025, while Appendix B2 contains all questionnaires from previous administrations, including all items that may be revived in future months of SPP 2024-25. Items in Appendix C1 are currently being tested and are considered draft until the testing is complete; final items will be submitted to OMB through a change request. Subsequent quarterly instruments will also be posted for 30-day comment in the months immediately preceding their administration, potentially followed by change requests to allow for small changes in items as deemed necessary by cognitive testing.
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.
Appendix C1 SPP 2024-25 Aug-Oct 2024 Surveys
Appendix B2 SPP 2024-25 - Item Bank - Completed Collections 30D.docx
School Pulse Panel 2024-25 Preliminary Field Activities