NCES 2017-070 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Characteristics of Public Elementary 

and Secondary School Principals in 

the United States:

Results From the 2015–16 National Teacher and 

Principal Survey 

First Look

 
Characteristics of Public Elementary 

and Secondary School Principals in 

the United States:

Results From the 2015–16 National Teacher and 

Principal Survey 

First Look 

AUGUST 2017 

Soheyla Taie

Rebecca Goldring

Westat

Maura Spiegelman

Project Officer

National Center for Education Statistics

NCES 2017-070

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
U.S. Department of Education

Betsy DeVos

Secretary 

Institute of Education Sciences

Thomas W. Brock 

Commissioner for Education Research

Delegated Duties of the Director

National Center for Education Statistics

Peggy G. Carr

Acting Commissioner 

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting, analyzing, and 

reporting data related to education in the United States and other nations. It fulfills a congressional mandate to collect, 

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Suggested Citation 

Taie, S., and Goldring, R. (2017). Characteristics of Public Elementary and Secondary School Principals in the 

United States: Results From the 2015–16 National Teacher and Principal Survey First Look (NCES 2017-070). U.S. 

Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved [date] from 

https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2017070. 

Content Contact

Maura Spiegelman 

(202) 245-6581 

Maura.spiegelman@ed.gov
iii

Contents 

Page

List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. iv

Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1 

Selected Findings ............................................................................................................................. 3 

References ........................................................................................................................................ 4 

Estimate Tables ................................................................................................................................ 5 

Appendix A: Standard Error Tables ........................................................................................... A-1 

Appendix B: Methodology and Technical Notes ......................................................................... B-1 

Appendix C: Description of Variables ......................................................................................... C-1 
iv

List of Tables

Table Page

1. Total number of public school principals and percentage distribution of 

school principals, by race/ethnicity and selected school characteristics: 

2015–16 ............................................................................................................................... 6 

2. Average and median age of public school principals and percentage 

distribution of principals, by age category, sex, and selected school 

characteristics: 2015–16 ...................................................................................................... 7 

3. Percentage distribution of public school principals, by highest degree 

earned and selected school characteristics: 2015–16 .......................................................... 8 

4. Average annual salary for public school principals, by years of experience 

as a principal and selected school characteristics: 2015–16 ............................................... 9 

5. Average hours per week that public school principals spent on all schoolrelated activities and average percentage of time per school year spent on 

various school-related tasks, by selected school characteristics: 2015–16 ....................... 10 

6. Average total years of experience as a school principal, average years as a 

principal at current school, and percentage distribution of public school 

principals, by reported years of experience as a principal at current school 

and selected school characteristics: 2015–16 .................................................................... 11 

7. Percentage of public school principals who thought they had a major 

influence on decisions concerning various activities at their school, by 

selected school characteristics: 2015–16 .......................................................................... 12 
v 

Table Page

Appendix A: Standard Error Tables

A-1. Standard errors for table 1: Total number of public school principals and 

percentage distribution of school principals, by race/ethnicity and selected 

school characteristics: 2015–16 ...................................................................................... A-2 

A-2. Standard errors for table 2: Average and median age of public school 

principals and percentage distribution of principals, by age category, sex, 

and selected school characteristics: 2015–16 .................................................................. A-3 

A-3. Standard errors for table 3: Percentage distribution of public school 

principals, by highest degree earned and selected school characteristics: 

2015–16........................................................................................................................... A-4 

A-4. Standard errors for table 4: Average annual salary for public school

principals, by years of experience as a principal and selected school 

characteristics: 2015–16 .................................................................................................. A-5 

A-5. Standard errors for table 5: Average hours per week that public school 

principals spent on all school-related activities and average percentage of 

time per school year spent on various school-related tasks, by selected 

school characteristics: 2015–16 ...................................................................................... A-6 

A-6. Standard errors for table 6: Average total years of experience as a school 

principal, average years as a principal at current school, and percentage 

distribution of public school principals, by reported years of experience as 

a principal at current school and selected school characteristics: 2015–16 .................... A-7 

A-7. Standard errors for table 7: Percentage of public school principals who 

thought they had a major influence on decisions concerning various 

activities at their school, by selected school characteristics: 2015–16 ........................... A-8 

Appendix B: Methodology and Technical Notes

B-1. Indication of potential sources of bias for public school principal data at 

the national level based on comparisons between frame distribution and 

base-weighted or nonresponse-adjusted respondent distributions: 2015–16 ................... B-6 

B-2. Summary of weighted item response rates, by survey: 2015–16 .................................... B-7 

Appendix C: Description of Variables

C-1. Variables used in the Characteristics of Public Elementary and Secondary 

School Principals in the United States: Results From the National 

Teacher and Principal Survey report: 2015–16 ............................................................... C-2 
1 

Introduction 

The 2015–16 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) is a nationally representative sample survey 

of public1

 K–12 schools, principals, and teachers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. This report 

presents selected findings from the Public School Principal Data File of NTPS. NTPS is a redesign of the 

Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). SASS was conducted on behalf of the National Center for 

Education Statistics (NCES) on a 4-year cycle, beginning with the 1987–88 school year and ending in the 

2011–12 school year. NTPS maintains the same focus on schools, teachers, and administrators that was 

traditionally held by SASS; however, it has a different structure and sample than previous administrations 

of SASS and operates on a 2-year survey cycle. NTPS collects data on core topics including teacher and 

principal preparation, classes taught, school characteristics, and demographics of the teacher and principal 

labor force. It is developed by NCES of the Institute of Education Sciences within the U.S. Department of 

Education and conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. This report represents the initial results of the first 

collection of NTPS. 

The purpose of NTPS is to collect information that can provide a detailed picture of U.S. elementary and 

secondary schools and their staff. This information is collected through school, principal, and teacher

surveys, and information can be linked across all three surveys. 

The 2015–16 NTPS uses a school-based sample of public schools. Because of this school-based design, 

principals associated with public schools were included in the sample. Teachers associated with a selected 

school were sampled from a teacher list provided by the school, collected from school websites, or 

purchased from a vendor. The selected samples include about 8,300 traditional and charter public schools 

and public school principals, and 40,000 public school teachers. The samples were drawn to support 

estimates by geography, grade span, and charter school status. The reader is referred to the Survey 

Documentation for the 2015–16 National Teacher and Principal Survey (Cox et al. forthcoming) for 

details about these estimation domains and their precision criteria. 

The data were collected via mailed questionnaires and internet instruments with telephone and in-person 

field follow-up. The first questionnaires were mailed in September 2015, and data collection ended in 

August 2016. The weighted unit response rate was 71.8 percent for public school principals. For detailed 

information about response rates, bias analysis results, methodology, and design of the 2015–16 NTPS, 

please see the technical notes of this report in appendix B or the Survey Documentation for the 2015–16 

National Teacher and Principal Survey (Cox et al. forthcoming). 

The purpose of this First Look is to introduce new data through the presentation of tables containing 

descriptive information. Selected findings chosen for this report demonstrate the range of information 

available on the 2015–16 NTPS Public School Principal Restricted-Use Data File. The selected findings 

do not represent a complete review of all observed differences in the data and are not meant to emphasize 

any issue. This First Look report highlights findings from the NTPS public school principal survey. 

Findings from the school and teacher data files will be presented in two companion First Look reports: 

• Characteristics of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools in the United States: Results 

From the 2015–16 National Teacher and Principal Survey First Look (NCES 2017-071); and 

• Characteristics of Public Elementary and Secondary School Teachers in the United States: 

Results From the 2015–16 National Teacher and Principal Survey First Look 

(NCES 2017-072). 

 

1 Public schools include traditional public and charter schools.
2 

The tables in this report contain frequencies and percentages demonstrating bivariate relationships. All 

results have been weighted to reflect the sample design and to account for nonresponse and other 

adjustments. Comparisons drawn in the selected findings have been tested for statistical significance at 

the .05 level using Student’s t statistics to ensure that the differences are larger than those that might be 

expected due to sampling variation. While the selected findings include only statistically significant 

findings they do not include every statistically significant comparison. No adjustments were made for 

multiple comparisons. Many of the variables examined are related to one another, and complex 

interactions and relationships have not been explored. Statistical Analysis Software (SAS 9.4) and 

SUDAAN (11.1) were used to compute the statistics for this report. Tables of standard errors are provided 

in appendix A. Detailed information about the survey methodology is provided in appendix B. Appendix 

C contains a description of the variables used in this report. 

More information about NTPS can be found at https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ntps.
3 

Selected Findings

• During the 2015–16 school year, there were an estimated 90,400 public school principals of 

K–12 schools in the United States. Among public school principals, 78 percent were nonHispanic White, 11 percent were non-Hispanic Black or African American, 8 percent were 

Hispanic, and 3 percent were another race/ethnicity2 (table 1). 

• Overall, 54 percent of public school principals were female. Relatively more primary school 

principals were female (68 percent) than were middle, high, or combined school principals 

(40 percent, 33 percent, and 42 percent, respectively). The average age of public school 

principals was 47 (table 2). 

• Among public schools, a majority of principals held a master’s degree (61 percent) as their 

highest degree, compared to a bachelor’s degree or less (2 percent), an education 

specialist/professional diploma3 (27 percent) or a doctorate/first professional degree 

(10 percent) (table 3).

• The average annual salary of public school principals was $95,700.4

 Public school principals 

in high schools earned more ($101,200) than their peers in middle schools ($98,000), 

primary schools ($94,600), and combined schools ($86,500) (table 4). 

• Public school principals spent an average of 58.6 hours per week on all school-related 

activities.

5 On average, principals spent about 30 percent of their time on internal 

administrative tasks, 30 percent of their time on curriculum and teaching-related tasks, 23 

percent of their time on student interactions, and 14 percent of their time on parent 

interactions (table 5). 

• Public school principals had an average of 6.6 years of experience as a principal and an 

average of 4 years as a principal of their current school. Principals in traditional public 

schools were generally more experienced (6.6 years) than those in charter schools (5.9 years)

(table 6). 

• Among public school principals, 95 percent reported having a major influence on decisions 

concerning evaluating teachers, 87 percent reported having a major influence on hiring new 

full-time teachers, and 75 percent reported having a major influence on setting discipline 

policy (table 7).

 

2 Hispanic includes Latino. Other race/ethnicity includes American Indian/Alaska Native, non-Hispanic; Asian, non-Hispanic; Native Hawaiian 

or Other Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic; and Two or more races, non-Hispanic.

3 At least 1 year beyond the master’s level.

4 Principals who reported an annual salary of zero were excluded from the calculation of average salary.

5 Includes hours spent during the school day, before and after school, and on the weekends.
4 

References 

Cochran, W.G. (1977). Sampling Techniques. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 

Cox, C., Gilary, A., Simon, D., and Thomas, T. (forthcoming). Survey Documentation for the 2015–16 

National Teacher and Principal Survey. U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center 

for Education Statistics. 

Goldring, R., Taie, S., Rizzo, L., and Riddles, M. (2017). User’s Manual for the 2015–16 National 

Teacher and Principal Survey Volumes 1–4 (NCES 2017-131 through 2017-134). U.S. Department of 

Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. 

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2012). 2012 Revision of NCES 

Statistical Standards: Final (NCES 2014-097). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National 

Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved [date], from 

https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2014097. 
5 

Estimate Tables
6 

Table 1. Total number of public school principals and percentage distribution of school principals, by race/ethnicity and selected school characteristics: 2015–16

Selected 

school characteristic

Total number of 

principals 

Percent of principals by race/ethnicity

Hispanic, 

regardless 

of race

White, 

non-Hispanic

Black or 

African American, 

non-Hispanic Other1

All public schools 90,400 8.2 77.8 10.6 3.4

School classification

Traditional public 83,100 8.0 78.5 10.2 3.3

Charter school 7,300 11.0 69.7 14.8 4.5

Community type

City 24,800 12.9 63.3 19.6 4.2

Suburban 29,100 9.5 78.5 9.4 2.6

Town 12,400 6.0 84.8 6.0 3.3

Rural 24,200 2.9 88.3 5.0 3.7

School level

Primary 50,400 9.0 76.8 10.9 3.4

Middle 13,900 7.7 77.4 11.5 3.4

High 18,100 8.2 78.6 9.6 3.6

Combined 8,000 4.4 83.0 9.2 3.4

Student enrollment

Less than 100 6,500 9.6 78.3 8.2 3.8

100–199 7,300 6.4 76.4 11.7 5.5

200–499 35,800 6.2 79.9 10.9 3.0

500–749 22,900 10.5 75.4 10.7 3.4

750–999 9,100 9.8 74.8 12.0 3.4

1,000 or more 8,800 9.5 79.3 8.3 2.9

Percent of K–12 students who were

 approved for free or reduced-price

 lunches

0–34 24,600 4.1 87.8 5.5 2.6

35–49 12,000 5.3 86.0 4.9 3.9

50–74 18,900 6.8 80.5 8.9 3.9

75 or more 29,900 14.4 62.8 19.2 3.6

School did not participate in free 

 or reduced-price lunch program 5,000 4.0 ! 88.3 4.4 3.3

! Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 percent and 50 percent (i.e., the standard error is at least 30 percent and less than 50 percent of the 

estimate).

1 Other includes American Indian/Alaska Native, non-Hispanic; Asian, non-Hispanic; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic; and Two or more races, non-Hispanic. 

NOTE: Hispanic includes Latino. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Some of the counts for selected school characteristics may not match between school and principal data files due to 

independent weighting procedures, differential nonresponse, rounding, and not every school having a principal. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), “Public School Principal Data File,” 2015–16.
7 

Table 2. Average and median age of public school principals and percentage distribution of principals, by age category, sex, and selected school characteristics: 2015–16

Selected 

school characteristic

Average age of 

principals

 

Median age of 

principals

 Percent of principals by

Age Sex

Less than 45 

years 45–54 years

55 years or 

more Male Female

All public schools 47 46 40.4 36.9 22.7 45.8 54.2

School classification

Traditional public 48 46 39.5 37.6 22.9 46.4 53.6

Charter school 46 44 50.1 29.1 20.8 38.8 61.2

Community type

City 48 46 39.4 37.3 23.3 39.0 61.0

Suburban 47 46 42.2 35.1 22.7 42.5 57.5

Town 48 46 38.2 38.7 23.1 51.8 48.2

Rural 47 46 40.2 37.8 22.0 53.6 46.4

School level

Primary 47 46 40.3 36.8 22.9 32.3 67.7

Middle 47 45 44.0 37.2 18.8 59.6 40.4

High 47 46 40.0 38.6 21.4 67.3 32.7

Combined 48 47 35.8 33.1 31.1 57.9 42.1

Student enrollment

Less than 100 49 47 37.9 29.4 32.6 43.6 56.4

100–199 48 47 35.5 36.4 28.0 46.3 53.7

200–499 47 46 42.0 37.4 20.6 43.9 56.1

500–749 47 46 41.8 35.9 22.3 42.3 57.7

750–999 48 46 38.1 39.4 22.5 48.1 51.9

1,000 or more 48 46 38.1 40.8 21.1 61.1 38.9

Percent of K–12 students who were

 approved for free or reduced-price

 lunches

0–34 47 46 41.0 36.9 22.2 49.3 50.7

35–49 48 46 38.8 39.0 22.3 52.7 47.3

50–74 47 46 40.6 38.8 20.6 45.1 54.9

75 or more 47 46 40.9 35.4 23.7 40.7 59.3

School did not participate in free

 or reduced-price lunch program 48 47 37.5 34.2 28.3 44.9 55.1

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), “Public School Principal Data File,” 2015–16.
8 

Table 3. Percentage distribution of public school principals, by highest degree earned and selected school characteristics: 2015–16

Selected 

school characteristic Bachelor’s degree or less Master’s degree

Education specialist or 

professional diploma1

Doctorate or 

first professional degree

All public schools 2.3 61.3 26.6 9.9

School classification

Traditional public 1.6 61.1 27.4 9.9

Charter school 9.5 63.5 16.9 10.2

Community type

City 2.6 62.0 23.6 11.9

Suburban 1.7 60.1 26.0 12.2

Town 3.3 61.1 28.5 7.2

Rural 2.1 62.1 29.3 6.5

School level

Primary 2.3 60.6 27.3 9.9

Middle 1.1 ! 65.2 24.8 8.9

High 2.5 60.8 24.9 11.7

Combined 3.6 59.9 28.6 7.9

Student enrollment

Less than 100 8.3 59.0 26.6 6.0

100–199 4.7 62.6 23.7 9.0

200–499 2.0 60.1 28.4 9.6

500–749 1.1 61.3 27.3 10.4

750–999 1.5 ! 65.0 24.3 9.3

1,000 or more 0.8 ! 62.6 22.1 14.5

Percent of K–12 students who were

 approved for free or reduced-price

 lunches

0–34 1.1 61.7 27.0 10.3

35–49 1.1 ! 61.7 28.4 8.9

50–74 3.1 59.7 28.3 8.9

75 or more 2.6 61.4 25.0 11.1

School did not participate in free

 or reduced-price lunch program 6.0 63.7 23.0 7.4

! Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 percent and 50 percent (i.e., the standard error is at least 30 percent and less than 50 percent of the 

estimate).

1 At least 1 year beyond the master’s level.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), “Public School Principal Data File,” 2015–16.
9 

Table 4. Average annual salary for public school principals, by years of experience as a principal and selected school characteristics: 2015–16 

Selected 

school characteristic Average annual salary

 Average annual salary for principals by years of experience

Less than 3 years 3 to 9 years 10 years or more

All public schools $95,700 $89,000 $96,500 $102,200 

School classification

Traditional public 96,400 89,700 97,100 102,800

Charter school 88,000 82,800 89,700 93,400

Community type

City 100,600 95,100 101,500 105,600

Suburban 105,700 99,600 105,700 112,400

Town 86,700 79,500 88,000 93,400

Rural 83,300 75,800 84,100 90,900

School level

Primary 94,600 88,000 95,500 100,400

Middle 98,000 92,700 98,100 106,500

High 101,200 94,800 100,900 109,100

Combined 86,500 76,500 89,400 93,700

Student enrollment

Less than 100 86,100 77,800 87,600 94,600

100–199 84,500 76,600 82,900 95,800

200–499 92,800 86,600 93,800 98,500

500–749 98,000 91,300 98,800 104,500

750–999 102,100 96,400 102,700 107,200

1,000 or more 111,600 107,500 111,700 115,600

Percent of K–12 students who were

 approved for free or reduced-price

 lunches

0–34 102,500 96,500 102,800 107,500

35–49 95,000 87,800 95,700 101,400

50–74 92,000 86,700 93,200 96,700

75 or more 93,300 87,700 93,800 100,300

School did not participate in free

 or reduced-price lunch program 92,700 77,900 96,500 104,700

NOTE: Principals who reported an annual salary of zero are excluded from the table.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), “Public School Principal Data File,” 2015–16.
10 

Table 5. Average hours per week that public school principals spent on all school-related activities and average percentage of time per school year spent on various school-related tasks, 

by selected school characteristics: 2015–16

Selected 

school characteristic

Average hours per week 

on all school-related 

activities1 

Average percent of time spent per school year

Internal administrative 

tasks 

Curriculum and 

teaching-related tasks Student interactions Parent interactions

All public schools 58.6 30.1 29.8 23.0 14.0

School classification

Traditional public 58.6 30.1 29.9 23.1 14.0

Charter school 59.0 30.9 28.7 22.5 14.4

Community type

City 60.3 29.7 31.3 22.0 13.8

Suburban 59.0 30.0 30.6 22.3 14.3

Town 57.6 31.4 28.3 23.9 13.8

Rural 57.0 30.2 28.2 24.5 14.1

School level

Primary 58.6 29.4 31.4 22.5 14.4

Middle 59.5 29.6 29.5 23.5 14.3

High 59.3 32.4 28.0 22.8 12.8

Combined 56.1 30.9 24.7 26.0 14.2

Student enrollment

Less than 100 50.5 32.3 26.0 24.5 13.1

100–199 56.3 30.7 26.3 26.3 13.0

200–499 58.7 28.8 29.8 24.5 14.1

500–749 59.7 29.8 31.7 21.4 14.4

750–999 59.7 30.7 31.4 21.1 14.2

1,000 or more 62.3 33.8 28.9 19.4 14.0

Percent of K–12 were 

 approved for free or reduced-price 

 lunches

0–34 58.8 30.5 29.7 21.9 14.9

35–49 58.7 30.4 28.6 23.9 14.0

50–74 58.9 29.5 29.8 23.8 14.2

75 or more 59.2 29.0 30.8 23.8 13.5

School did not participate in free 

 or reduced-price lunch program 53.2 37.2 27.5 19.0 12.5

1 Includes hours spent during the school day, before and after school, and on the weekends.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to 100 because of time spent on “other” tasks.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), “Public School Principal Data File,” 2015–16.
11 

Table 6. Average total years of experience as a school principal, average years as a principal at current school, and percentage distribution of public school principals, by reported years 

of experience as a principal at current school and selected school characteristics: 2015–16

Selected 

school characteristic

Average total years

of experience 

Average years at 

current school 

Percent of principals by reported years of experience at current school

Less than 2 years 2–3 years 4–9 years 10 years or more

All public schools 6.6 4.0 34.6 25.4 29.1 10.8

School classification

Traditional public 6.6 4.0 34.5 25.2 29.4 10.9

Charter school 5.9 3.7 36.4 28.1 25.9 9.7

Community type

City 6.4 3.8 35.1 26.8 28.7 9.4

Suburban 6.6 4.0 33.2 25.6 30.7 10.5

Town 6.6 3.9 37.2 23.2 28.2 11.4

Rural 6.6 4.1 34.5 25.1 28.1 12.4

School level

Primary 6.7 4.1 33.8 25.1 29.1 12.0

Middle 5.9 3.7 36.5 25.9 28.9 8.7

High 6.5 3.6 35.3 26.6 30.0 8.1

Combined 7.0 4.1 35.1 24.3 27.4 13.2

Student enrollment

Less than 100 6.4 3.6 36.1 26.4 28.0 9.5

100–199 6.4 3.8 37.7 26.1 24.4 11.8

200–499 6.5 4.1 35.2 24.4 28.6 11.7

500–749 6.5 4.0 33.3 26.6 29.5 10.6

750–999 6.9 4.2 31.7 24.1 34.2 9.9

1,000 or more 6.7 3.6 35.0 26.4 29.4 9.2

Percent of K–12 students who were

 approved for free or reduced-price

 lunches 

0–34 7.1 4.3 32.5 24.6 31.0 11.9

35–49 7.0 4.3 33.6 23.8 30.0 12.6

50–74 6.2 3.8 35.1 26.7 27.2 11.1

75 or more 6.1 3.6 36.5 26.2 28.5 8.8

School did not participate in free

 or reduced-price lunch program 7.1 4.3 34.8 23.8 28.8 12.7

NOTE: Years of experience do not include the current school year. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), “Public School Principal Data File,” 2015–16.
12 

Table 7. Percentage of public school principals who thought they had a major influence on decisions concerning various activities at their school, by selected school characteristics: 

2015–16

Selected 

school characteristic

Setting 

performance 

standards for 

students

Establishing 

curriculum

Determining the 

content of 

in-service 

professional 

development 

programs 

for teachers

Evaluating 

teachers 

Hiring new 

full-time 

teachers

Setting 

discipline 

policy

Deciding 

how 

their school

budget will 

be spent

All public schools 69.8 39.9 68.4 95.5 87.3 75.5 59.6

School classification

Traditional public 69.0 38.3 67.6 95.6 87.1 75.4 59.9

Charter school 78.6 57.5 78.0 93.5 89.7 76.5 56.0

Community type

City 69.0 37.8 72.2 94.3 83.8 72.8 61.8

Suburban 69.6 33.0 65.1 95.7 87.6 75.4 65.7

Town 69.8 42.6 67.1 95.7 90.7 75.7 59.1

Rural 70.9 49.0 69.2 96.3 88.9 78.1 50.4

School level

Primary 70.5 37.1 68.2 96.2 86.2 75.8 61.1

Middle 68.9 34.4 64.8 95.6 89.2 74.1 63.4

High 68.5 45.0 70.0 94.2 90.5 74.4 59.8

Combined 69.5 55.6 72.7 93.1 84.3 77.7 43.6

Student enrollment

Less than 100 70.4 55.0 70.9 90.6 85.3 79.2 49.7

100–199 71.3 52.1 70.3 95.2 84.3 78.4 51.6

200–499 71.0 41.4 67.6 96.2 85.9 76.4 57.9

500–749 68.3 35.1 68.6 96.3 88.8 74.9 62.9

750–999 69.6 31.8 66.9 95.8 90.3 74.2 63.7

1,000 or more 67.4 33.9 69.3 93.9 90.3 69.1 67.7

Percent of K–12 students who were

 approved for free or reduced-price

 lunches 

0–34 66.6 35.2 66.4 96.6 90.9 75.8 61.3

35–49 71.5 37.6 66.1 95.6 90.5 75.5 58.1

50–74 67.5 38.5 69.1 94.9 87.3 73.7 58.0

75 or more 72.8 44.0 69.0 95.8 83.2 76.3 60.5

School did not participate in free

 or reduced-price lunch program 72.1 50.0 77.8 89.6 86.7 75.3 55.4

NOTE: Response options included “no influence,” “minor influence,” “moderate influence,” “major influence,” and “not applicable.” Principals who reported “not applicable” are excluded from the table.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), “Public School Principal Data File,” 2015–16.
A-1 

Appendix A: Standard Error Tables
A-2 

Table A-1. Standard errors for table 1: Total number of public school principals and percentage distribution of school principals, by race/ethnicity and selected school characteristics: 

2015–16

Selected 

school characteristic

Total number of 

principals 

Percent of principals by race/ethnicity

Hispanic, 

regardless 

of race

White, 

non-Hispanic

Black or 

African American, 

non-Hispanic Other

All public schools 300 0.40 0.52 0.39 0.28

School classification

Traditional public 350 0.43 0.56 0.43 0.30

Charter school 240 1.13 1.62 1.46 0.87

Community type

City 190 0.89 1.23 0.97 0.58

Suburban 180 0.79 0.94 0.70 0.42

Town 370 1.12 1.50 0.80 0.80

Rural 400 0.46 0.85 0.61 0.48

School level

Primary 230 0.55 0.75 0.57 0.42

Middle 150 0.88 1.22 0.94 0.63

High 360 0.87 1.32 0.87 0.68

Combined 330 1.01 1.54 1.05 0.63

Student enrollment

Less than 100 450 2.81 3.28 1.54 1.42

100–199 390 1.16 2.21 1.81 1.23

200–499 610 0.59 0.90 0.73 0.41

500–749 550 0.88 1.17 0.91 0.53

750–999 360 1.27 1.70 1.33 0.75

1,000 or more 330 1.06 1.47 1.00 0.58

Percent of K–12 students who were

 approved for free or reduced-price

 lunches

0–34 590 0.59 0.90 0.59 0.46

35–49 410 0.82 1.36 0.91 0.74

50–74 530 0.85 1.21 0.88 0.59

75 or more 540 0.92 1.23 0.96 0.55

School did not participate in free 

 or reduced-price lunch program 320 1.39 2.10 1.01 1.18

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), “Public School Principal Data File,” 2015–16.
A-3 

Table A-2. Standard errors for table 2: Average and median age of public school principals and percentage distribution of principals, by age category, sex, and selected school 

characteristics: 2015–16

Selected 

school characteristic

Average age 

of principals

 

Median age of 

principals

 Percent of principals by

Age

 

Sex

Less than 45 

years 45–54 years

55 years or 

more Male Female

All public schools 0.1 0.2 0.63 0.71 0.70 0.74 0.74

School classification

Traditional public 0.1 0.2 0.66 0.77 0.74 0.78 0.78

Charter school 0.4 0.4 1.89 1.80 1.61 1.83 1.83

Community type

City 0.2 0.3 1.34 1.40 1.17 1.40 1.40

Suburban 0.2 0.3 1.25 1.27 1.22 1.27 1.27

Town 0.3 0.4 1.80 1.82 1.68 1.73 1.73

Rural 0.3 0.3 1.34 1.41 1.30 1.46 1.46

School level

Primary 0.2 0.2 0.97 1.02 0.95 1.01 1.01

Middle 0.2 0.3 1.51 1.61 1.26 1.53 1.53

High 0.3 0.3 1.37 1.50 1.34 1.45 1.45

Combined 0.4 0.7 1.97 2.01 2.18 2.29 2.29

Student enrollment

Less than 100 0.7 0.9 3.64 3.39 3.50 4.02 4.02

100–199 0.5 0.8 2.44 2.41 2.51 2.88 2.88

200–499 0.2 0.3 1.18 1.16 1.08 1.30 1.30

500–749 0.2 0.3 1.34 1.25 1.19 1.47 1.47

750–999 0.3 0.3 1.99 2.16 1.76 1.94 1.94

1,000 or more 0.3 0.3 1.76 1.81 1.65 1.81 1.81

Percent of K–12 students who were

 approved for free or reduced-price

 lunches

0–34 0.2 0.3 1.30 1.33 1.29 1.32 1.32

35–49 0.3 0.5 1.87 1.90 1.61 1.97 1.97

50–74 0.3 0.3 1.42 1.50 1.33 1.56 1.56

75 or more 0.2 0.3 1.22 1.32 1.21 1.33 1.33

School did not participate in free

 or reduced-price lunch program 0.7 0.7 3.62 3.26 3.24 3.71 3.71

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), “Public School Principal Data File,” 2015–16.
A-4 

Table A-3. Standard errors for table 3: Percentage distribution of public school principals, by highest degree earned and selected school characteristics: 2015–16

Selected 

school characteristic Bachelor’s degree or less Master’s degree

Education specialist or 

professional diploma

Doctorate or 

first professional degree

All public schools 0.23 0.73 0.62 0.46

School classification

Traditional public 0.23 0.77 0.66 0.48

Charter school 1.09 1.89 1.58 1.32

Community type

City 0.39 1.26 1.10 0.93

Suburban 0.32 1.32 1.27 0.93

Town 0.75 1.71 1.51 0.98

Rural 0.59 1.35 1.18 0.66

School level

Primary 0.32 1.01 0.96 0.65

Middle 0.39 1.49 1.38 0.91

High 0.54 1.57 1.36 0.95

Combined 0.95 1.98 1.89 1.09

Student enrollment

Less than 100 2.07 3.42 3.23 1.62

100–199 1.16 2.82 2.60 1.62

200–499 0.31 1.21 1.10 0.73

500–749 0.27 1.33 1.20 0.88

750–999 0.47 1.78 1.61 1.11

1,000 or more 0.29 1.75 1.56 1.16

Percent of K–12 students who were

 approved for free or reduced-price

 lunches

0–34 0.31 1.28 1.24 0.80

35–49 0.39 1.80 1.68 1.07

50–74 0.69 1.53 1.45 0.87

75 or more 0.42 1.37 1.19 0.83

School did not participate in free

 or reduced-price lunch program 1.67 3.21 2.75 1.50

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), “Public School Principal Data File,” 2015–16.
A-5 

Table A-4. Standard errors for table 4: Average annual salary for public school principals, by years of experience as a principal and selected school characteristics: 2015–16 

Selected 

school characteristic Average annual salary

 Average annual salary for principals by years of experience

Less than 3 years 3 to 9 years 10 years or more

All public schools 300 560 440 760

School classification

Traditional public 310 580 480 800

Charter school 940 1,400 1,310 2,290

Community type

City 600 1,090 860 1,460

Suburban 580 990 860 1,360

Town 690 990 980 1,600

Rural 620 960 900 1,250

School level

Primary 440 780 690 1,080

Middle 720 1,250 1,090 1,890

High 780 1,500 990 1,710

Combined 1,310 1,840 2,210 2,090

Student enrollment

Less than 100 2,300 3,510 3,750 4,460

100–199 1,430 1,920 1,820 3,480

200–499 540 880 850 1,230

500–749 520 830 800 1,360

750–999 780 1,460 1,260 1,630

1,000 or more 820 1,610 1,290 1,820

Percent of K–12 students who were

 approved for free or reduced-price

 lunches

0–34 610 1,140 850 1,300

35–49 820 1,260 1,280 1,550

50–74 680 1,130 1,000 1,490

75 or more 600 970 890 1,610

School did not participate in free

 or reduced-price lunch program 2,220 3,260 3,280 4,600

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), “Public School Principal Data File,” 2015–16.
A-6 

Table A-5. Standard errors for table 5: Average hours per week that public school principals spent on all school-related activities and average percentage of time per school year spent 

on various school-related tasks, by selected school characteristics: 2015–16

Selected 

school characteristic

Average hours per week 

on all school-related 

activities

Average percent of time spent per school year

Internal administrative 

tasks 

Curriculum and 

teaching-related tasks Student interactions Parent interactions

All public schools 0.20 0.24 0.21 0.21 0.12

School classification

Traditional public 0.22 0.25 0.22 0.22 0.13

Charter school 0.54 0.65 0.67 0.53 0.29

Community type

City 0.38 0.50 0.42 0.38 0.20

Suburban 0.31 0.34 0.40 0.34 0.20

Town 0.65 0.66 0.49 0.52 0.28

Rural 0.45 0.49 0.46 0.43 0.30

School level

Primary 0.28 0.31 0.33 0.28 0.19

Middle 0.37 0.51 0.45 0.43 0.24

High 0.43 0.54 0.46 0.48 0.24

Combined 0.58 0.94 0.53 0.69 0.36

Student enrollment

Less than 100 1.48 1.54 1.36 1.36 1.00

100–199 0.65 0.93 0.82 0.89 0.38

200–499 0.28 0.34 0.38 0.28 0.16

500–749 0.34 0.38 0.40 0.29 0.21

750–999 0.41 0.58 0.51 0.48 0.27

1,000 or more 0.37 0.61 0.56 0.48 0.30

Percent of K–12 students who were 

 approved for free or reduced-price 

 lunches

0–34 0.41 0.41 0.39 0.34 0.26

35–49 0.46 0.56 0.51 0.47 0.29

50–74 0.36 0.42 0.48 0.39 0.21

75 or more 0.33 0.47 0.42 0.37 0.18

School did not participate in free 

 or reduced-price lunch program 1.24 1.50 1.25 0.92 0.60

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), “Public School Principal Data File,” 2015–16.
A-7 

Table A-6. Standard errors for table 6: Average total years of experience as a school principal, average years as a principal at current school, and percentage distribution of public school 

principals, by reported years of experience as a principal at current school and selected school characteristics: 2015–16

Selected 

school characteristic

Average total years 

of experience 

Average years at 

current school

Percent of principals by reported years of experience at current school

 Less than 2 years 2–3 years 4–9 years 10 years or more

All public schools 0.09 0.07 0.65 0.66 0.73 0.45

School classification

Traditional public 0.10 0.07 0.68 0.69 0.77 0.48

Charter school 0.26 0.18 2.03 1.86 1.73 1.08

Community type

City 0.17 0.12 1.40 1.25 1.37 0.84

Suburban 0.16 0.11 1.17 1.20 1.26 0.71

Town 0.22 0.14 1.65 1.55 1.60 1.12

Rural 0.18 0.13 1.21 1.28 1.33 0.95

School level

Primary 0.13 0.10 0.95 0.90 1.03 0.69

Middle 0.18 0.13 1.56 1.51 1.46 0.94

High 0.17 0.12 1.58 1.36 1.53 0.77

Combined 0.29 0.18 1.96 2.11 1.86 1.40

Student enrollment

Less than 100 0.48 0.28 3.43 3.56 3.48 2.06

100–199 0.34 0.25 2.54 2.49 2.50 1.68

200–499 0.16 0.11 1.04 1.06 1.01 0.82

500–749 0.16 0.12 1.35 1.24 1.33 0.84

750–999 0.25 0.18 1.70 1.75 1.99 1.21

1,000 or more 0.21 0.14 1.81 1.73 1.79 1.05

Percent of K–12 students who were

 approved for free or reduced-price

 lunches 

0–34 0.18 0.12 1.24 1.12 1.29 0.87

35–49 0.24 0.20 1.96 1.63 1.93 1.31

50–74 0.18 0.12 1.49 1.39 1.41 0.90

75 or more 0.15 0.11 1.29 1.15 1.20 0.75

School did not participate in free

 or reduced-price lunch program 0.45 0.34 3.26 2.90 2.89 2.44

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), “Public School Principal Data File,” 2015–16.
A-8 

Table A-7. Standard errors for table 7: Percentage of public school principals who thought they had a major influence on decisions concerning various activities at their school, by 

selected school characteristics: 2015–16

Selected 

school characteristic

Setting 

performance 

standards for 

students

Establishing 

curriculum

Determining the 

content of 

in-service 

professional 

development 

programs 

for teachers

Evaluating 

teachers 

Hiring new 

full-time 

teachers

Setting 

discipline 

policy

Deciding 

how 

their school

budget will 

be spent 

All public schools 0.71 0.72 0.73 0.30 0.47 0.66 0.72 

School classification

Traditional public 0.77 0.78 0.78 0.31 0.50 0.69 0.76

Charter school 1.63 1.99 1.71 0.93 1.33 1.66 2.13

Community type

City 1.41 1.40 1.14 0.66 1.00 1.32 1.49

Suburban 1.21 1.27 1.33 0.51 0.90 1.16 1.19

Town 1.72 1.52 1.69 0.84 1.12 1.59 1.70

Rural 1.32 1.44 1.42 0.57 0.97 1.21 1.46

School level

Primary 1.04 1.13 1.13 0.39 0.72 0.93 0.96

Middle 1.62 1.54 1.65 0.72 1.06 1.51 1.56

High 1.32 1.51 1.39 0.83 0.93 1.42 1.41

Combined 2.25 2.39 2.15 1.26 1.88 1.99 2.04

Student enrollment

Less than 100 3.22 3.83 3.27 2.33 2.65 2.77 3.82

100–199 2.57 2.84 2.66 1.14 2.26 2.34 2.99

200–499 1.21 1.14 1.19 0.49 0.85 1.11 1.13

500–749 1.27 1.34 1.31 0.51 0.99 1.17 1.26

750–999 1.92 1.71 2.15 0.84 1.20 1.75 1.96

1,000 or more 1.82 1.87 1.56 0.82 1.05 1.78 1.60

Percent of K–12 students who were

 approved for free or reduced-price

 lunches 

0–34 1.22 1.29 1.40 0.48 0.79 1.17 1.35

35–49 1.66 1.72 1.91 0.88 1.16 1.84 1.80

50–74 1.49 1.61 1.48 0.72 1.03 1.47 1.55

75 or more 1.24 1.37 1.35 0.52 1.00 1.18 1.37

School did not participate in free

 or reduced-price lunch program 2.74 3.55 2.63 2.86 2.91 2.66 3.72 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), “Public School Principal Data File,” 2015–16.
B-1 

Appendix B: Methodology and Technical Notes
B-2 

Overview of the NTPS Principal Survey 

The National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) is sponsored by the National Center for Education 

Statistics (NCES) of the Institute of Education Sciences within the U.S. Department of Education and is 

conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. NTPS is a nationally representative sample survey of public K–12 

schools, principals, and teachers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. This is the first year of 

NTPS.

The 2015–16 NTPS consisted of questionnaires for three types of respondents: public schools, public 

school principals, and public school teachers. The information can be linked across teachers, principals, 

and schools. There is a separate data file for each type of respondent (school, principal, and teacher). For 

the content of the questionnaires, see https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ntps/question1516.asp. 

NTPS was designed to produce national estimates for public elementary and secondary schools,

principals, and teachers, including national estimates for public charter schools and the principals and 

teachers within them. Additionally, the teacher survey was designed to produce national estimates of 

teachers by subject matter taught and by full-time or part-time status.

For additional information on the specific NTPS-related topics discussed in this appendix, consult 

the Survey Documentation for the 2015–16 National Teacher and Principal Survey (Cox et al. 

forthcoming) or the User’s Manual for the 2015–16 National Teacher and Principal Survey Volumes 

1–4 (Goldring et al. 2017). To access additional general information on NTPS or for electronic 

copies of the questionnaires, go to the NTPS home page (https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ntps).

Sampling Frames and Sample Selection

Public schools. The starting point for the 2015–16 NTPS public school sampling frame was the 

preliminary 2013–14 Common Core of Data (CCD) Nonfiscal School Universe data file.1 The sampling 

frame was adjusted from CCD to fit the definition of a school eligible for NTPS. To be eligible for NTPS, 

a school was defined as an institution or part of an institution that provides classroom instruction to 

students, has one or more teachers to provide instruction, serves students in one or more of grades 1–12 or 

the ungraded equivalent, and is located in one or more buildings apart from a private home. It was 

possible for two or more schools to share the same building; in that case, they were treated as different 

schools if they had different administrators (i.e., principal or school head). This definition is unchanged 

from the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). 

The 2015–16 NTPS universe of schools is confined to the 50 states plus the District of Columbia and 

excludes the other jurisdictions, Department of Defense overseas schools, and CCD schools that do not 

offer teacher-provided classroom instruction in grades 1–12 or the ungraded equivalent. This last group 

includes schools that are essentially administrative units that may oversee entities that provide classroom 

instruction or may only provide funding and oversight. Although Bureau of Indian Education-funded 

(BIE) schools are included in NTPS, these schools were not oversampled and the data do not support 

separate BIE estimates.

The NTPS definition of a school is generally similar to the CCD definition, with some exceptions. Like 

SASS, NTPS allows schools to define themselves. During SASS collections, Census Bureau staff 

observed that in situations where two or more schools have the same administration, these schools were 

reported separately on CCD but generally reported as one entity for the SASS. Thus, CCD schools with 

 

1 For more information about CCD, see https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/. 
B-3 

the same location, address, and phone number were collapsed during the frame building on the 

assumption that the respondent would consider them to be one school. Due to similarities with SASS, 

NTPS also followed the same type of collapsing procedure. A set of rules was applied to determine in 

which instances school records should be collapsed together. When school records were collapsed 

together, the student and teacher counts, grade ranges, and names as reported to CCD were all modified to 

reflect the change.

Finally, since CCD and NTPS differ in scope and their definition of a school, some records were deleted, 

added, or modified to provide better coverage and a more efficient sample design for NTPS. For a 

detailed list of frame modifications, see the Survey Documentation for the 2015–16 National Teacher and 

Principal Survey (Cox et al. forthcoming). After deleting, collapsing, and adding school records, the 

NTPS public school sampling frame consisted of about 87,600 traditional public schools and 6,500 public 

charter schools.

NTPS uses a systematic, probability proportionate to size (PPS) sample (for an explanation of PPS 

sampling, see Cochran, 1977). Unlike SASS, NTPS did not stratify schools prior to sampling. Rather, 

some types of schools were oversampled based on specific characteristics such as the following: 

• School grade level (primary, middle, high, combined); 

• Collapsed urbanicity (city, suburban, town, rural); and

• Charter status.

In addition to oversampling based on specific school characteristics, sample sizes were inflated for 

schools in the six states with the smallest number of schools: Alaska, District of Columbia, Hawaii, 

Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wyoming. 

Prior to sampling, schools were sorted by the following:

• charter status; 

• school grade level (four categories); 

• urbanicity (four categories); 

• poverty status (four categories); 

• school size category (based on full-time equivalent [FTE] teachers; two categories for middle 

and combined charter schools, three categories for all other schools); 

• school type for noncharter schools (four categories); 

• state; and 

• number of FTE teachers. 

These sampling procedures resulted in a total public school sample of about 7,130 traditional public 

schools and 1,170 public charter schools.

Principals. The principal of each sampled school was selected. About 8,300 school principals were 

sampled (7,130 traditional public school principals, 1,170 public charter school principals). 

Data Collection Procedures

In 2015–16, NTPS employed a combined mail-based and internet survey approach, with subsequent 

telephone and in-person follow-up. Data collection included the Teacher Listing Form, Principal 

Questionnaire, School Questionnaire, and Teacher Questionnaire. This report focuses on the Principal 

Questionnaire. 
B-4 

In preparation for school-level data collection, advance letters were mailed to the sampled schools in June 

2015 to verify their addresses. Initial school packages were mailed in September 2015.2

 Next, schools 

were telephoned using a computer-assisted telephone-interviewing instrument to verify school 

information, establish a survey coordinator, and follow up on the Teacher Listing Form if the school had 

not already provided an electronic teacher list. The in-person follow-up period was preceded by phone 

calls from the telephone centers to remind the survey coordinators to have staff complete and return all 

forms. Data collection ended in August 2016. 

One of the main goals of the data collection plan for the 2015–16 NTPS was to target the schools that 

presented a challenge to data collection during previous administrations of SASS. These “known 

difficult” schools have resulted in poor response rates for certain school types (e.g., large schools in urban 

areas). Sampled schools that have a known large impact on weighting were targeted, as well. These 

schools were identified during sampling, and their data collection priority flag was set accordingly. 

Contact strategies that were more proactive during the early phases of data collection were employed 

during 2015–16 NTPS data collection to mitigate potential low response rates for these cases. Survey 

coordinators also were utilized during data collection. The role of the survey coordinator was to be the 

primary contact person at the school. A survey coordinator’s duties included facilitating data collection by 

passing out questionnaires to the appropriate staff, reminding the staff to complete their questionnaires, 

and collecting the questionnaires to return. The data collection follow‐up strategies for schools with a 

survey coordinator were different from schools without a survey coordinator, with the more proactive 

approach taken for those schools without a survey coordinator. 

Data Processing and Imputation

The Census Bureau checked returned questionnaires, keyed the data, and implemented quality control 

procedures. Questionnaires that had a preliminary classification of a complete interview were submitted 

to a series of computer edits consisting of a range check, a consistency edit,3

 a blanking edit,4 and a logic 

edit.5 After these edits were run and reviewed by analysts, the records were put through another edit to 

make a final determination as to whether the case was eligible for the survey and whether sufficient data 

had been collected for the case to be classified as a complete interview.

After the final edits were run, cases with “not-answered” values for items remained. Values were imputed 

for these cases using two main approaches. First, donor respondent methods, such as hot-deck imputation, 

were used. Second, if no suitable donor case could be matched, the few remaining items were imputed 

using mean or mode from groups of similar cases to impute a value to the item with missing data. After 

each stage of imputation, computer edits were run again to verify that the imputed data were consistent 

with the existing questionnaire data. If that was not the case, an imputed value was blanked out by one of 

these computer edits due to inconsistency with other data within the same questionnaire or because it was 

out of the range of acceptable values. In these situations, Census Bureau analysts looked at the items and 

tried to determine an appropriate value. Edit and imputation flags, indicating which edit or imputation 

method was used, were assigned to each relevant survey variable. For further information, see the sections 

 

2

 The NTPS school package contained a letter to the principal, an interior envelope containing a letter to the survey coordinator, the Teacher 

Listing Form, the Principal Questionnaire, the School Questionnaire, and postage-paid return envelopes. 3 The consistency edits identified inconsistent entries within each case and, whenever possible, corrected them. If the inconsistencies could not be 

corrected, the inconsistent entries were deleted.

4 Blanking edits delete answers to questions that should not have been filled in (e.g., if a respondent followed a wrong skip pattern).

5 Data were added to questionnaire records during the logic edits, which filled in some items where data were missing or incomplete using other 

information on the same questionnaire or from other related data sources.
B-5 

on data processing and imputation in the Survey Documentation for the 2015–16 National Teacher and 

Principal Survey (Cox et al. forthcoming). 

Response Rates

Unit response rates. The unit response rate indicates the percentage of sampled cases that met the 

definition of a complete interview. The weighted NTPS unit response rate was produced by dividing the 

weighted number of respondents who completed questionnaires by the weighted number of eligible 

sampled cases, using the initial base weight (the inverse of the probability of selection).6

 The weighted 

response rate using the initial base weight was 71.8 percent for public school principals. 

Unit nonresponse bias analysis. Because the NCES Statistical Standards (4-4) require analysis of 

nonresponse bias for any survey stage with a base-weighted response rate less than 85 percent, the NTPS

principal file was evaluated for potential bias. National-level estimates were first examined for potential 

bias. The base-weighted7 unit response rate was calculated. The following frame characteristics were used 

for the Public School Principal Data File: 

• Charter status: noncharter, charter

• Enrollment: less than 200, 200 to less than 500, 500 to less than 750, 750 to less than 1,000, 

1,000 or more 

• Percent of enrollment with race other than White: less than 5 percent, 5 to less than 10 percent, 

10 to less than 20 percent, 20 to less than 30 percent, 30 to less than 50 percent, 50 percent or 

more

• Percent free or reduced-price lunch eligible: less than 35 percent, 35 to less than 50 percent, 50 

to less than 75 percent, 75 percent or more

• Community type (Locale): city, suburb, town, rural

• Pupil-teacher ratio: less than 10, 10 to less than 15, 15 to less than 20, 20 or more 

• Grade level: primary, middle, high, combined 

• Region: Northeast, Midwest, South, West 

• Number of teachers: less than 10, 10 to less than 25, 25 to less than 50, 50 to less than 75, 75 or 

more

• Title I status: Title I program, Title I noneligible, Title I eligible but no Title I program 

First, the base-weighted distribution of responding principals was compared to the base-weighted 

distribution of sampled schools through t tests to find any school groups with potential bias prior to 

weighting adjustments. Table B-1 presents national-level school groups with a statistically significant 

difference in base-weighted percentages between the sampled cases and respondents. Additionally, the 

unit base-weighted response rate of each school group was compared to the overall base-weighted 

response rate through a t test and the base-weighted distribution of responding principals and the baseweighted distribution of nonrespondents were compared through a likelihood ratio chi-square test to find 

any groups that would have been over- or underrepresented by the respondents without nonresponse 

adjustment. The results for each set of tests were mostly consistent with the results presented in table B-1. 

Each comparison group with evidence of potential bias prior to weighting adjustments had a significant 

difference in response rate from the overall response rate and the respondents and nonrespondents had 

 

6 For the formula used to calculate the unit response rate, see 2012 Revision of NCES Statistical Standards: Final (NCES 2014-097).

7 Unit nonresponse bias analysis was conducted using the base weight, defined as the product of the initial base weight (the inverse of the 

probability of selection) and the sampling adjustment factor. The sampling adjustment factor is an adjustment that accounts for circumstances that 

affect the school’s probability of selection that are identified after the data collection has begun, such as a merger, duplication, or incorrect 

building-level collapsing (e.g., a junior high school and a senior high school merge to become a junior/senior high school).
B-6 

different distributions by each frame variable with a school group showing potential bias before weighting 

adjustments except for the grade level variable. 

Table B-1. Indication of potential sources of bias for public school principal data at the national level 

based on comparisons between frame distribution and base-weighted or nonresponseadjusted respondent distributions: 2015–16

Potential source of bias

Base-weighted 

respondent 

distribution

Nonresponseadjusted 

respondent 

Estimate level Characteristic Value distribution

National Enrollment Less than 200 x x 

National Enrollment 750 to less than 1,000 x 

National Enrollment 1,000 or more x x 

National Charter status Noncharter x 

National Charter status Charter x 

National Community type City x 

National Community type Suburban x 

National Community type Town x 

National Community type Rural x 

National Number of teachers 10 to less than 25 x x 

National Number of teachers 25 to less than 50 x 

National Number of teachers 50 to less than 75 x x 

National Number of teachers 75 or more x x 

National Percent free lunch eligible Less than 35% x x 

National Percent free lunch eligible 35% to less than 50% x 

National Percent free lunch eligible 50% to less than 75% x 

National Percent free lunch eligible 75% or more x 

National Percent non-White Less than 5% x 

National Percent non-White 5% to less than 10% x 

National Percent non-White 10% to less than 20% x 

National Percent non-White 50% or more x 

National Grade level Combined x 

National Student-teacher ratio 15 to less than 20 x 

National Region Northeast x 

National Region Midwest x 

National Title I status Noneligible x 

NOTE: x denotes comparisons that are a potential source of bias.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey 

(NTPS), “Public School Documentation Data File,” 2015–16.

Weighting adjustments were designed to reduce or eliminate nonresponse bias and to reduce the variance 

introduced due to sampling by adjusting the sample estimates to known totals from the frame. The finalweighted comparisons to eligible cases shown in table B-1 reflect the effect of weighting adjustment. This

table shows that weighting adjustments eliminated most but not all evidence of potential bias. Evidence of 

potential bias remains after nonresponse adjustments for the following national-level items included in the 

analysis:

• Enrollment, for schools with less than 200 students and schools with 1,000 or more students; 

• Number of teachers, for schools with 10 to less than 25, 50 to less than 75, and 75 or more

teachers; and 
B-7 

• Percent free or reduced-price lunch eligible, for schools where less than 35 percent of students 

were eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. 

Evidence of potential bias formed after nonresponse adjustments for the following national-level items 

included in the analysis:

• Charter status, for charter and noncharter schools; and 

• Pupil-teacher ratio, for schools with a student-teacher ratio of 15 to less than 20 students. 

For further information on unit response rates and nonresponse bias analysis, see the Survey 

Documentation for the 2015–16 National Teacher and Principal Survey (Cox et al. forthcoming).

Item response rates. The item response rate indicates the percentage of respondents who answered a 

given survey question or item. The weighted NTPS item response rate is calculated by dividing the 

weighted number of respondents who provided an answer to an item by the weighted number of 

respondents who were eligible to answer that item.8 Table B-2 provides a summary of the weighted item 

response rates. For the public school principal data, no items had a response rate below 85 percent. For 

further information on item response rates and bias analysis, see the Survey Documentation for the 2015–

16 National Teacher and Principal Survey (Cox et al. forthcoming).

Table B-2. Summary of weighted item response rates, by survey: 2015–16 

Survey

Percent of items with a 

response rate of 

85 percent or more

Percent of items with a 

response rate of 

less than 85 percent

Public School Principal 100.0 0 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey 

(NTPS), “Public School Principal Documentation Data File,” 2015–16. 

Weighting

The general purpose of weighting is to scale up the sample estimates to represent the target survey 

population. For NTPS, a base weight is used as the starting point. In most cases, this base weight is the 

simple reciprocal of the unit’s probability of selection on the frame (the initial base weight), and in other 

cases, adjustments are made to this frame base weight to reflect multiple chances of selection from the 

frame or other situations such as subsampling. 

Next, a series of nonresponse adjustment factors are calculated and applied based on a weighting cell 

adjustment. Weighting cells are developed using tree search algorithms. These cells are selected to be 

homogeneous in response propensity within cells and heterogeneous in response propensity across cells 

(response propensity is the underlying “chance” that a particular sample unit will respond by completing 

the questionnaire: its individual response rate). The adjustment is the inverse of the weighted response 

rate within each cell, and each respondent in the cell receives this adjustment. Nonrespondents are given 

weights of zero and the respondents are reweighted to represent the nonrespondents. The variables 

examined for potential bias were the same as those used by the tree search algorithms. All of the 

subgroups that showed potential bias as given in table B-1 above were used as cell generators by the tree 

search algorithms except for charter status, as well as other subgroups which are related, and may show 

 

8 For the formula to calculate the item response rate, see 2012 Revision of NCES Statistical Standards: Final (NCES 2014-097).
B-8 

differential response conditional on other subgroups (i.e., they may be chosen as cell generators by the 

tree search algorithm within particular branches). 

Finally, for the principal file, a raking factor is calculated and applied to the sample to adjust the sample 

totals to the frame totals, so that the sum of the weights within each of the specified cells is equal to the 

corresponding frame total for the cell. These cells are defined based on school level, urbanicity, and 

percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The weights are then adjusted to the 

control totals by an iterative process, referred to as raking, until the weights simultaneously aggregate to 

be equal to each set of control totals. In some cases, extreme weights may be trimmed back to a cutoff 

value. This all improves the precision of survey estimates. 

The product of these factors is the final weight for each NTPS respondent, which appears as PFNLWGT 

on NTPS Public School Principal Data File.

The counts in table 1 (in the Estimate Tables section) do not necessarily match the frame counts because 

some cases in the frame were found to be ineligible (i.e., out of scope). Some of the counts for selected 

school characteristics may not match between school and principal data files due to independent 

weighting procedures, differential nonresponse, rounding, and not every school having a principal. 

Variance Estimation

In surveys with complex sample designs, such as NTPS, direct estimates of sampling errors that assume a 

simple random sample typically underestimate the variability in the estimates. The NTPS sample design 

and estimation include procedures that deviate from the assumption of simple random sampling, such as 

sampling with differential probabilities.

One method of calculating sampling errors of complex sample designs is jackknife replication. Jackknife 

replication methods involve dropping a small portion of the sample from the full sample and computing 

the statistic of interest for the retained and reweighted sample (the jackknife replicate). The sum of 

squares of the replicate estimates around the full sample estimate provides an estimate of the variance of 

the statistic. The NTPS principal data file includes a set of 200 replicate weights designed to produce 

variance estimates. The set of replicate weights for each file should be applied to the respondents in that 

file. The replicate weights for NTPS respondents are PREPWT1–PREPWT200 for principals. 

Reliability of Data

NTPS estimates are based on samples. The sample estimates may differ somewhat from the values that 

would be obtained from the universe of respondents using the same questionnaire, instructions, and field 

representatives. The difference occurs because a sample survey estimate is subject to two types of errors: 

nonsampling and sampling. Estimates of the magnitude of sampling error for NTPS data can be derived 

or calculated. Nonsampling errors are attributed to many sources, including definitional difficulties, the 

inability or unwillingness of respondents to provide correct information, differences in the interpretation 

of questions, an inability to recall information, errors made in collection (e.g., in recording or coding the 

data), errors made in processing the data, and errors made in estimating values for missing data. Quality 

control and edit procedures were used to reduce errors made by respondents, coders, and interviewers. 
B-9 

Comparability to SASS

NTPS is a new survey that is strongly based on SASS. However, care must be taken in estimating 

changes over time in data elements that both surveys have in common because some of the change 

measured may not be attributable to a change in the education system.

Some of the change may be due to changes in the sampling frame, changes in the questionnaire item 

wording, or other changes. Additionally, NTPS is a different survey than SASS and pulls data from a 

larger variety of sources and timeframes than SASS did. While SASS collected data on student 

race/ethnicity, special programs, and high school graduation, the 2015–16 NTPS gets this information 

from external sources. Data on student gender and race/ethnicity are taken from the 2014–15 CCD, while 

graduation rates come from the 2014–15 EdFacts data and information on special programs9 came from 

the 2013–14 Civil Rights Data Collection.

Additionally, the 2015–16 NTPS is not representative at the state level, and comparisons to SASS may 

only be made at the national level. Private sector schools are also excluded from the 2015–16 NTPS. The 

next round of NTPS, in 2017–18, will include private sector schools and be representative at the state 

level.

 

9 Special programs include: magnet programs, gifted programs, disciplinary programs, Advanced Placement classes, and International 

Baccalaureate classes.
C-1 

Appendix C: Description of Variables
C-2 

Description of Variables

The variables that are included in this report are listed in table C-1. Those with variable names that begin 

with “P” and are followed by four digits are survey variables that come from items on the school principal 

questionnaire. The variables without the letter plus four digit names are “derived variables,” meaning they 

were created using survey variables, frame variables (variables taken from the sampling frame), other 

created variables, or a combination of these. They are frequently used in National Center for Education 

Statistics publications and have been added to the data files to facilitate data analysis. The definitions for 

the created variables follow table C-1. 

Table C-1. Variables used in the Characteristics of Public Elementary and Secondary School Principals 

in the United States: Results From the National Teacher and Principal Survey report: 2015–

16 

Variable

Variable name in 

data files

Annual salary P0908

Charter school identifier CHARFLAG

Four-category school level SCHLEV_4CAT 

Highest degree earned P0106

Hours spent per week on school-related activities P1400 

Percentage of time spent on internal administrative tasks P1401

Percentage of time spent on curriculum and teaching-related activities P1402 

Percentage of time spent on interacting with students P1403

Percentage of time spent on interacting with parents P1404

Percentage of students in the school approved for National School Lunch Program NSLAPP_S

Principal’s age AGE_P

Principal’s influence on deciding how your school budget will be spent P0209

Principal’s influence on determining the content of in-service professional development programs for 

teachers of this school P0205

Principal’s influence on establishing curriculum at this school P0204

Principal’s influence on evaluating teachers of this school P0206

Principal’s influence on hiring new full-time teachers of this school P0207

Principal’s influence on setting discipline policy at this school P0208

Principal’s influence on setting performance standards for students of this school P0203

Principal’s race/ethnicity RACETH_P 

See notes at end of table.
C-3 

Table C-1. Variables used in the Characteristics of Public Elementary and Secondary School Principals 

in the United States: Results From the National Teacher and Principal Survey report: 2015–

16—Continued 

Variable

Variable name 

in data files

Principal’s sex P0900

Student enrollment SCHSIZE 

Total years of experience as a school principal P0104

Total years of experience as a school principal at current school P0105

Urban-centric school locale code URBANS12

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey 

(NTPS), “Public School Principal Data File,” 2015–16.

Charter school identifier (CHARFLAG): A flag variable taken from the Public School Data File that 

identifies charter schools. 1 = School is a public charter school, 2 = School is a traditional public school. 

A charter school is a public school that, in accordance with an enabling state statute, has been granted a 

charter exempting it from selected state or local rules and regulation. CHARFLAG is based on S0500 

from the Public School Data File. 

Four-category school level (SCHLEV_4CAT): Taken from the Public School Data File, 

SCHLEV_4CAT is a four-category variable based on grades reported by the school: primary, middle, 

high, and combined. Primary schools are those with at least one grade lower than 5 and no grade higher 

than 8. Middle schools have no grade lower than 5 and no grade higher than 8. High schools have no 

grade lower than 7 and at least one grade higher than 8. Combined schools are those with at least one 

grade lower than 7 and at least one grade higher than 8, or with all students in ungraded classrooms. 

Principal’s age (AGE_P): A variable based on a respondent’s reported year of birth. AGE_P is a 

continuous variable that was created by subtracting the principal’s reported year of birth (P0907) from the 

year of data collection (2015). 

Principal’s race/ethnicity (RACETH_P): A variable created for this analysis based on P0901— 

whether or not the principal is of Hispanic or Latino origin and P0902–P0906—the principal’s race. The 

following categories were created for analysis: 

• Hispanic, regardless of race: the principal indicates he/she is of Hispanic or Latino origin (P0901 

= 1); 

• White, non-Hispanic: the principal indicates he/she is White (P0902 = 1), not of Hispanic or 

Latino origin (P0901=2), and does not consider him/herself to be any other race; 

• Black or African-American, non-Hispanic: the principal indicates he/she is Black or AfricanAmerican (P0903 = 1), not of Hispanic or Latino origin (P0901=2), and does not consider 

him/herself to be any other race; and 

• Other: the principal indicates he/she is Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or 

American Indian or Alaska Native (P0904 = 1 or P0905 = 1 or P0906 = 1), or considers 

him/herself to be more than one race, and not of Hispanic or Latino origin (P0901=2). 

Percentage of students in school approved for the National School Lunch Program (NSLAPP_S): 

Taken from the Public School Data File, NSLAPP_S is a continuous variable created by dividing the 

number of K–12 and ungraded students approved for free or reduced-price lunches (S0410) by the total 
C-4 

number of K–12 and ungraded students enrolled (S0115) among schools that participated in the National 

School Lunch Program (NSLP) (S0409=1). Schools that did not participate in NSLP have valid skip 

values. For this report, NSLAPP_S is recoded as a categorical variable describing the proportion of 

students approved for free or reduced-price lunches. 

Student enrollment in K–12 and ungraded (SCHSIZE): Taken from the Public School Data File, 

SCHSIZE is a categorical variable based on the number of K–12 and ungraded students enrolled in the 

school (S0115). For this report, SCHSIZE was recoded into six categories for public schools. 

Urban-centric school locale code (URBANS12): Taken from the Public School Data File, URBANS12 

is a created variable collapsed from the 12 category urban-centric school locale code (SLOCP12) which

was updated to incorporate Census population and geography information and recoded into four 

categories: city, suburban, town, and rural.