School Pulse Panel 2025-26
and 2026-27 (SPP 2025-26, SPP 2026-27) Preliminary Field
Activities
Revision of a currently approved collection
No
Regular
12/03/2024
Requested
Previously Approved
36 Months From Approved
01/31/2027
6,339
53,955
2,503
10,175
0
0
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.
The School Pulse Panel is conducted by the National Center for
Education Statistics (NCES), part of the Institute of Education
Sciences (IES), within the United States Department of Education.
Initially, the purpose of the study was to collect extensive data
on issues brought to light by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as
other important education-related issues that could inform
data-driven policy decisions, in U.S. public schools. Due to the
immediate need to collect pandemic-era information from schools as
described in 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 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 growing interest
from stakeholders resulted in a request for 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 (OMB# 1850-0975). 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 2025-26 collection will roughly be the
same as the 2024-25 collection with 4,000 public schools randomly
selected to an initial sample and 4,000 in a reserve sample. It is
expected these schools will come from roughly 3,000 districts. The
goal is national representation from about 1,200 responding schools
each month in order to report out national estimates. School staff
will be asked to provide requested data monthly during the 2025-26
school year. This approach provides the ability to collect detailed
information on various topics while also assessing changes over
time for items that are repeated from year to year. Given the
demand for data collection, the content of the survey is expected
to change monthly. For the 2025-26 school year, the survey may ask
school staff about a wide range of topics, including but not
limited to staffing; learning recovery; absenteeism; usage of
federal funds; and overall principal experiences. This package
includes preliminary 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 and districts of their
selection for the survey; and inviting them to complete a short
Screener Survey to establish points of contact. In spring of 2025,
a clearance for main study data collection activities that will
include instruments for the first quarter of collections will be
submitted for 60-day and 30-day public comment. Subsequent
quarterly content submissions will be submitted for 30-day public
comment. This request is to conduct the SPP 2025-26 preliminary
activities. Substantial edits and additional materials may be added
to this package after the 60-day public comment period is complete,
in time for the subsequent 30-day public comment period that will
begin Fall 2024. Materials for SPP are cleared under two OMB Number
sequences. Materials for SPP 2022 and SPP 2024-25 were cleared
under OMB# 1850-0969, while SPP 2023-24 and now SPP 2025-26 are
cleared under OMB# 1850-0975.
US Code:
20
USC 9573 Name of Law: Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002
The previously approved burden
was from the data collection phase of a previous cycle of this
project, whereas the current request is solely for special district
recruitment.
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.
School Pulse Survey 2025-26 Preliminary Activities Response to 60 day Public Comment.docx
School Pulse Panel 2025-26 and 2026-27 Preliminary Field Activities