Supporting Statement A: Tracked Changes

School Pulse Panel
(SPP 2024-25)
OMB# 1850-0969 v.1618

Supporting Statement

Part A

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
U.S. Department of Education

February 2024
revised May 2024
revised August 2024
revised November 2024

Table of Contents
Section
A.1 

A.2 
A.3 
A.4 
A.5 
A.6 
A.7 
A.8 
A.9 
A.10 
A.11 
A.12 
A.13 
A.14 
A.15 
A.16 

Page
Circumstances Making Collection of Information Necessary........................ 4 
A.1.1  Purpose of This Submission .................................................................... 4 
A.1.2  Legislative Authorization ......................................................................... 5 
A.1.3  Prior and Related Studies ......................................................................... 5 
Purposes and Uses of the Data .............................................................................. 6 
A.2.1  Research Issues Addressed in the School Pulse Panel ....................... 6 
Use of Improved Information Technology ......................................................... 8 
Efforts to Identify Duplication .............................................................................. 8 
Methods Used to Minimize Burden on Small Entities .................................... 8 
Frequency of Data Collection ............................................................................... 9 
Special Circumstances of Data Collection ......................................................... 9 
Provision of Payments or Gifts to Respondents ................................................ 9 
Assurance of Confidentiality ................................................................................. 9 
Sensitive Questions ............................................................................................... 10 
Estimated Response Burden ................................................................................ 10 
Estimates of Cost to Respondents ...................................................................... 11 
Cost to the Federal Government ......................................................................... 11 
Publication Plans and Time Schedule ............................................................... 11 
Approval for Not Displaying the Expiration Date for OMB Approval...... 12 
Exceptions to the Certification Statement ........................................................ 12 

2

Appendices
A

SPP Monthly Communications Materials

B1

2024-25 SPP Item Bank – Current Collection

B2

SPP Questionnaire Archive/Item Bank – Completed Collections – 2021-22 and 2023-24

C1

August 2024-October 2024 Surveys

C2

November 2024-June 2025 Surveys

3

A.1
A.1.1

Circumstances Making Collection of Information Necessary
Purpose of This Submission

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). SPP’s 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 USDA’s 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 (OMB# 1850-0975). The purpose of this request is for a full review of the
2024-25 SPP data collection under the traditional clearance review process.
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 real-time data on issues brought to light by the COVID-19 pandemic on students and staff, as well as
other important education-related issues that could inform data-driven policy decisions, in U.S. public primary, middle,
high, and combined-grade schools. Specifically, this was accomplished by collecting data on, among other things, the
percentage of the student body starting the school year behind grade level, the types of learning recovery strategies being
implemented and the perceived effectiveness of those strategies, classroom behavioral concerns, mental health services
provided, and staffing issues. Thus, NCES was not only able to capture each of these pieces in an expedited fashion and
report out findings in a matter of weeks, these data also provided rich information to help tell the full story of what
students, staff, and administrators were experiencing in a near real-time basis. The success of the quick-turnaround
nature of the SPP was a clear indication of the immense value of having a near real-time data collection vehicle readily
available to capture content on prominent events occurring in the school environment. NCES was provided dedicated
funding from Congress to continue this type of data collection methodology, with content domains extending beyond
COVID-19 pandemic impacts on the education environment to focusing on other school-related topics that the U.S.
Department of Education and other federal agencies lacked timely data on.
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.
The goal will be to have responses from about 1,200 schools each month in order to report national estimates. School
staff will be asked to provide requested data monthly during the 2024-25 school year. Given the high demand for data
collection during this time, the content of the survey is expected to change monthly. This package includes items from
past years collections that may be repeated to capture trends, as well as new items that fulfill the requests of numerous
stakeholders seeking to use the SPP as a data collection vehicle for real-time, quick-release information.
The package containing the details of the SPP 2024-25 Data Collection (OMB# 1850-0969 v.13) went through 60-day
and 30-day public comment periods beginning in February 2024, and that primary request was approved in July 2024.
Following that approval, items in the August 2024, September 2024, and October 2024 questionnaires were modified via
a change request (v.15) based on the results of cognitive testing. The current packageA package (v.16) containings the
November 2024-June 2025 questionnaires was approved in October 2024, and . The November 2024 questionnaire has
been finalized, but the items in the December 2024 – June 2025 questionnaires were still undergoing review or cognitive

4

testing at the time of the publication of this 30-day package. aA change request (OMB# 1850-0969 v.17) will be
submitted at the conclusion of the 30-day public comment period for this package was approved in November 2024 to
make updates to one or more of thesethe December 2024, January 2025, and February 2025 instruments, as informed by
cognitive testing. The current package (v.18) contains updates to the March - June 2025 questionnaires where modules
were not yet finalized. Items in the March 2025 - June 2025 were still undergoing review or cognitive testing at the time
of publication of this 30-day package and a change request will be submitted at the conclusion of the 30-day public
comment period for this package to make updates to one or more instruments, as informed by cognitive testing.
SPP recruitment is administered for NCES by the U.S. Census Bureau. OMB approval for the recruitment operation for
SPP 2024-25 has been approved for preliminary field activities (OMB# 1850-0969 v.12), 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 survey and inviting them to complete a
short Screener Survey to establish a point of contact at their school.

A.1.2

Legislative Authorization

NCES is authorized to conduct the School Pulse Panel by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA 2002; 20
U.S.C. §9543).

A.1.3

Prior and Related Studies

This iteration of the SPP is a refresh and extension of the 2023-24 School Pulse Panel (OMB# 1850-0975), which was a
refresh and extension of the 2021-22 School Pulse Panel (OMB# 1850-0963, OMB# 1850-0969), which was a
continuation of the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) 2021 School Survey (OMB# 1850-0957) that
was fielded in the spring of 2021. This NAEP 2021 School Survey met the need of Executive Order 14000 by using an
existing sample and survey data collection infrastructure to quickly collect information on instructional mode offerings
and enrollment counts of various subgroups of students using the various instructional modes.

A.1.4

SPP Study Design

The U.S. Census Bureau will collect the School Pulse Panel data on behalf of NCES. The School Pulse Panel will be a
self-administered, online survey. It is estimated for the survey to require, on average, about 30 minutes of school staff
time each month and will be conducted over 11 months beginning in August 2024 and ending in June 2025.
The sampled school will be offered a reimbursement of $200 each month that they complete a survey over the course of
11 months between August 2024 and June 2025. School-level surveys will be administered every month. The
reimbursement will be paid out monthly in the form of debit cards. If a school district does not permit its schools to
receive any form of incentive, the reimbursement will be sent to a point of contact in the district or the reimbursement
will be withheld. Principals, or the school staff most knowledgeable about their school environment and experiences
within the school, can complete the survey. No classroom time is involved in the completion of these surveys.
The School Pulse Panel will provide aggregate estimates for public schools across the nation. The goal is to have
participation from about 1,200 responding schools each month in order to report out national estimates. To achieve this,
a stratified sample design will be used to select approximately 4,000 U.S. public schools. In addition, a reserve sample
of an additional 4,000 replacement schools will be selected to boost the number of responses if any schools from the
initial sample do not respond. The sample is designed to provide national estimates of primary, middle, and high
schools, taking into account the type of locale (urbanicity) and racial/ethnic student enrollment.
The sampling frame for the School Pulse Panel is derived from the Common Core of Data (CCD), the universe of public
schools supplied annually by state educational agencies to NCES. Public schools in the 50 states and the District of
Columbia will be included in the School Pulse Panel sampling frame. A universe collection from the Outlying Areas
(Guam, Northern Marianas, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa) will be administered as well. Certain types of schools
are excluded, including closed schools, target services, adult correctional facilities, private schools, and schools with a
highest grade of kindergarten or lower. Regular public schools, charter schools, alternative schools, special education
schools, vocational schools, ungraded schools, virtual schools, and schools that have partial or total magnet programs are
included in the frame. For sample allocation purposes, strata are defined by instructional level, and the sample is sorted
to achieve a unique sort by geographic region (Census region), percent minority enrollment, type of locale (urbanicity),
school district, size of school (student enrollment), charter status, and unique school identifier.

5

A.2

Purposes and Uses of the Data

The success of the quick-turnaround nature of the SPP was a clear indication of the immense value of having a near realtime data collection vehicle readily available to capture content on prominent events occurring in the school
environment.
While federal agency policymakers have a vested interest in collecting information that informs policy agenda, NCES
will ensure that such information is collected and reported in a manner that is objective, secular, neutral, and
nonideological; free of partisan political influence and racial, cultural, gender, or regional bias; and relevant and useful
to practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and the public.

A.2.1

Research Issues Addressed in the School Pulse Panel

Content Domains and Research Questions:
The School Pulse Panel will be a dynamic monthly survey, and content will change based on what we learn over time
from schools. Content will also be responsive to the needs of policymakers. The monthly survey will encompass
broad content domains, each with a series of measurement items addressing a specific research question. Each content
domain is briefly stated below in terms of the issues in need of measurement, as well as the research questions we are
seeking to answer. Below are examples of the types of content domains that will likely be covered in the 2024-25 SPP:
I.

Instructional program offerings to address learning recovery
a. What types of programs did your school offer during the summer to help with learning recovery?
b. During the school year, will the school day be extended? Will the number of school days be increased?
Will before-school or after-school programs be offered to students?
c. What types of tutoring programs will be offered to students?
d. What are the types of strategies that will be used to help accelerate learning?

II.

Use of technology, computer devices, and internet access
a. Are laptops or tablets offered and available to all students in the school to assist with virtual
learning?
b. Is internet access provided to students outside of school?
c. Has your school provided IT or technical support to teachers and students?
d. Was professional development on digital learning provided to educators? Were trainings on
digital learning provided to students?
e. Does your school or district allow the use of generative artificial intelligence tools by teachers
or students?

III.

Mental health and services provided
a. What are the types of mental health services offered at your school?
b. Has your school hired new staff to focus on social/emotional/mental wellbeing?
c. Has your school offered professional development to train teachers on helping students with their
social/emotional/mental wellbeing?
d. Have there been changes in the number of school psychologists, counselors, and nurses at your school
since the beginning of the school year?

IV.

Staffing Shortages
a. As of the start of the school year, do you have any administrative staff, teacher, or support staff
vacancies?
b. How difficult was it to fill staff vacancies?
c. Has teacher and staff burnout become a more pressing issue at your school during the 2024-2025
school year?
d. How have federal funds been used to fill vacancies or create new positions?

V.

Concerns expressed by parents, staff, and students
a. What are the types of concerns, if any, being expressed regarding how education is being provided at
your school?

VI.

Absenteeism
a. Has chronic student absenteeism changed at your school since the 2019-2020 school year?

6

b.
c.
d.
e.

How easy or difficult is it get substitute teachers to fill teacher absences?
Have illness-related absences increased during this school year compared to last?
What strategies does your school use to increase student and teacher attendance?
Does your school have specific strategies it uses to decrease absenteeism among students who are
considered homeless?
f. What are the top drivers of student absenteeism?
g. What is your average daily attendance rate?

VII.

School Climate and Safety
a. How has the pandemic affected classroom management in your school?
b. Has your school experienced more behavioral or social emotional issues in the classroom since the
2019-2020 school year?
c. Does your school have a written plan that describes procedures to be performed in various emergency
scenarios?

VIII.

Community Partnerships
a. Does your school use a “community school” or “wraparound services” model?
b. Were services that are available through community partnerships added to address challenges related to
the COVID-19 pandemic?

IX.

Facilities Management
a. Has your school taken any steps to increase ventilation or filter/clean air in school?
b. Does your district conduct physical accessibility assessments?
c. Does your district conduct facilities condition assessments?

X.

Transportation
a. Are the streets surrounding your school equipped with sidewalks and bike lanes?
b. Are there opportunities for traffic calming to slow or discourage through traffic?

XI.

Federal Fund Usage
a. How are federal funds being used for learning recovery?
b. Does your school district allocate funding for teacher professional development for the any of the
following learning recovery strategies?

XII.

World & Dual Language Programs
a. Which of the following languages are taught in your school?
b. Which type of dual language program do you offer at your school?

XIII.

Arts Education
a. Does your school offer formal courses on visual arts? Drama classes? Dance classes?
i. If yes, are the teachers who instruct these courses formally trained in the areas they teach?

XIV.

Physical Education and Student Health
a. Does your school provide opportunities for students to engage in moderate to vigorous physical
activity for 60 minutes during each school day?
b. Does your school stock naloxone? If yes, do staff receive training on how to properly administer it to
students who need it?

XV.

College and Career Readiness
a. Does your school offer Advanced Placement (AP), Pre-Advanced Placement (Pre-AP), International
Baccalaureate (IB), or dual enrollment courses?
b. Does your school have a college or career readiness plan or goal?

XVI.

Instructional mode offered and enrollment counts for subgroups receiving each type of instructional
mode
a. For the school year, which instructional mode (in-person, hybrid, virtual) is being offered to students?
b. How many students in various subgroups are participating in various types of activities?
c. How many days a week does the school offer in-person instruction for hybrid students?
d. What is the average daily attendance rate for students receiving in-person instruction? Virtual

7

instruction?
XVII. Mitigation strategies used to reduce risk of spread of pandemic disease
a. Does your school require daily symptom screening for students or staff?
b. Are personal protective equipment for students, teachers, and staff required?
c. Is your school requiring the social distancing of students?
d. Has your school reduced the number of students in classrooms?
e. Has your school taken steps to increase ventilation or filter/clean air in the school? What steps?
XVIII. Staff and Student Vaccinations
a. Does your school or district require staff to be vaccinated unless they have a medical waiver?
b. What percentage of school staff has received a vaccination?
c. What percentage of students has received a vaccination?
XIX.

Decisions behind instructional mode offerings for students
a. What are the types of criteria that factor into the decision-making when considering a learning mode
change?

XX.

Supply chain issues and school meals
a. What are the types of challenges, if any, your school is experiencing with obtaining food, beverages, or
meal supplies for students participating in school meal programs?

The above list of content domains is not exhaustive. The SPP team works collaboratively and dynamically with other
program offices both within the Department of Education and at other federal agencies, and additional topic areas may
be added throughout the duration of the 2024-25 collection or research questions within topic areas may be adjusted.

A.3

Use of Improved Information Technology

Communications with sampled schools will be completed through email and phone.
The self-administered, online instrument was developed in Qualtrics; respondents will provide all requested information
online.

A.4

Efforts to Identify Duplication

The intent of the SPP as a fast-turnaround data collection vehicle capturing near real-time information is to have the
infrastructure readily available for data collection on a particular topic within a month or two of the request. Therefore,
upon receiving a request for content that has yet to be developed, the NCES SPP team first looks for existing items that
can be used or modified to fit the need of the request. Using existing items is also ideal given the vast impact of the
pandemic on all aspects of the education environment and the interest in comparing new estimates to baseline, prepandemic estimates from other data sources. Many items included within the item library are duplicative or modified
from existing items taken from NCES’s National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), School Survey on Crime and
Safety (SSOCS), the Condition of Public School Facilities, the CDC’s National School COVID-19 Prevention Survey
(NSCPS), and GAO’s Surveys of School Districts and States of School Facilities, and the Fast Response Survey System
(FRSS). Additionally, items previously asked on the SPP 2021-22 and 2023-24 collections will be repeated to capture
trends over multiple school years.
The 2023-24 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) will still be in the field at the same time as the 2023-24
SPP, and those schools will be surveyed during the 2024-25 school year as a part of the Teacher Follow-up and the
Principal Follow-up Surveys of the NTPS. The SPP plans to deduplicate its sample as much as possible with the 202324 NTPS sample and the 2023-24 SPP sample to avoid placing an undue burden on schools.

A.5

Methods Used to Minimize Burden on Small Entities

The school sample will contain small-, medium-, and large-size public schools. Schools are included in the sample
proportional to their representation in the population, or as necessary to meet reporting goals. For the School Pulse
Panel, it is necessary to include small schools so that such schools are represented in the data collection and in the
reports. Additionally, NCES is developing the monthly survey instrument to require about 30 minutes to complete, and
they have the option of seeking help from other school staff to assist with the completion of the survey.

8

A.6

Frequency of Data Collection

The School Pulse Panel is designed to be a monthly collection that will begin in August 2024 and will continue through
June 2025, for a total of 11 months. There will be only one round of special district applications, scheduled to begin in
early 2024.

A.7

Special Circumstances of Data Collection

No special circumstances for this information collection are anticipated.

A.8

Consultations Outside the Agency

NCES has an interagency agreement with the U.S. Census Bureau to collect the School Pulse Panel data on behalf of
NCES. Additionally, NCES has been working closely with IES, other program offices within the U.S. Department of
Education, White House staffers, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
and the National Endowment for the Arts to help provide input on the content to be collected as part of the School Pulse
Panel.
NCES is also utilizing contract support to assist with reviewing data collection-related specifications, reviewing and
providing recommended changes to the questionnaire, assisting with quality assurance testing of the online instrument,
and disseminating the data and findings on an online dashboard.

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.
The sampled school will be offered a reimbursement of $200 every month for their participation in the study over the
course of 11 months, from August 2024 to June 2025. The reimbursement will be paid out monthly in the form of debit
cards. If a school district does not permit its schools to receive any form of incentive, the reimbursement will be sent to a
point of contact in the district or the reimbursement will be withheld. This information will be communicated in the
district applications and the communication materials sent to sampled schools.

A.10

Assurance of Confidentiality

Data security and confidentiality protection procedures have been put in place for SPP 2024-25 to ensure that all
contractors and agents working on SPP 2024-25 comply with all privacy requirements including, as applicable:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.

The Inter-agency agreement with NCES for this study and the statement of work of SPP 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:
1. Provisions for data collection in the field;
2. Provisions to protect the data-coding phase required before machine processing;
3. Provisions to safeguard completed survey documents;
4. Authorization procedures to access or obtain files containing identifying information; and
5. 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).

9

U.S. Census Bureau and contractors working on SPP 2024-25 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 study and having access to the
data, including 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 the study on behalf of NCES; (b) NCES is
authorized to conduct the study 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 the School
Pulse Panel 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 1850-0969. 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].

A.11

Sensitive Questions

The SPP questionnaires may include items about staff and student vaccinations, the mental health of staff and students,
and the use of naloxone on school campuses. Although these questions are likely to be sensitive, they provide
information that is not available in other data collections and that will help leaders and policymakers better understand
the state of American schools. Data collected around these topics are collected at a school-wide level (i.e., items are not
asked about individual students or staff).

A.12

Estimated Response Burden

This request is to collect information from a national representative sample of public elementary, middle, and high
schools.
The total response burden estimate for this collection is based on a total of 15 minutes of reading communications and
30 minutes to complete the survey per month. It is planned for there to be a total of 11 months of collections for schools.

10

Based on the estimated hourly rates for principals/administrators of $53.381, and based on 10,175 total burden hours for
11 months of School Pulse Panel collections, the total estimated burden time cost to respondents is $543,142.

Table 1. Estimates of maximum respondent burden for SPP 2024-25 monthly data collections
Activity

District IRB Staff Review
District IRB Panel Review
Precontact Notification – public
schools
Screener interview – public schools

Sample
Size

250
250 x 6

Estimated
Response
Rate

Estimated
Number of
Respondents

Preliminary Activities
80%
200
80%
1,200

Estimated
Number of
Responses

Average
Burden Time
per
Respondent
(Minutes)

Total
Burden
Hours

200
1,200

360
60

1,200
1,200

4,115

70%

2,881

2,881

1

48

3,000
4,115
3,000
--

70%
50%
50%
--

2,100
2,058
1,500
9,939

2,100
2,058
1,500
9,939

1
3
3
--

35
103
75
2,661

Total Preliminary Activities
Monthly Data Collections
Advance letter (1)
4,000
30%
1,200
1,200
3
60
Advance email (1)
4,115
30%
1,235
1,235
3
62
Reminder emails (3)
4.115
30%
1,235
1,235
9
185
Monthly Survey Response (1)
4,115
30%
1,235
1,235
30
618
Total Monthly Data Collections –
1,235
4,905
925
one month
Total Data Collection – full year
53,955
10,175
(11 months)
Total Estimated Burden Requested
53,955
10,175
In This Submission
Note. Greyed out rows represent burden approved in previous packages and are provided for context only.
Public school sample size includes initial sample from “stateside” public schools and 115 eligible public schools within the Outlying
Areas. Outlying Area schools do not receive an advance letter. Schools stop receiving reminder emails after they complete a survey
for a given month; the reminder email row represents the maximum amount of burden.
* The totaled estimates for the full SPP 2024-25 Data Collection are derived by assuming 11 monthly data collections from schools
and represents the maximum respondent burden possible.

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 the SPP 2024-25 school-level collection is $10 million. The
includes the estimated cost for the development of the survey instrument, data collections, data processing, data file
development, dissemination, overall project management, and contract support.

A.15

Reasons for Changes in Response Burden and Costs

The previous collection was for recruitment of school districts, whereas this ICR covers all data collection for
the 24-25 School Pulse.
A.16
Publication Plans and Time Schedule
1

The average hourly earnings of principals/education administrators in the May 2023 National Occupational and Employment Wage
Estimates sponsored by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is $53.38. Source: BLS Occupation Employment Statistics,
http://data.bls.gov/oes/ Occupation code: Education Administrators, Elementary and Secondary Schools (11-9032); Annual Mean
Wage $111,020/2080 hours. Accessed on May 1, 2024.

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This data collection is scheduled to take place monthly from August 2024 through June 2025. Because the School Pulse
Panel data collections are considered experimental, reported data will go through minimal processing after collection,
and will be released on the SPP dashboard2 5-6 weeks after the end of data collection.

Data Collection Month
August 2024
September 2024
October 2024
November 2024
December 2024
January 2025
February 2025
March 2025
April 2025
May 2025
June 2025
A.17

Monthly Report Published
September October 2024
NovemberOctober 2024
DecemberNovember 2024
JanuaryDecember 2024
FebruaryJanuary 2025
MarchFebruary 2025
AprilMarch 2025
April May 2025
JuneMay 2025
JulyJune 2025
AugustJuly 2025

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 SPP 2024-25.

A.18

Exceptions to the Certification Statement

No exceptions to the certification statement apply to SPP 2024-25.

2

https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/spp/

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