NCES 2009-320 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Characteristics of Public School 

Districts in the United States:

Results From the 2007–08 Schools and Staffi ng Survey

First Look

NCES 2009-320

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Characteristics of Public School 

Districts in the United States:

Results From the 2007–08 Schools and Staffing Survey

First Look

JUNE 2009

Paola Aritomi

Education Statistics Services Institute

American Institutes for Research

Jared Coopersmith

Education Statistics Services Institute

Quality Information Partners

Kerry Gruber

Project Officer

National Center for Education Statistics
U.S. Department of Education

Arne Duncan 

Secretary

Institute of Education Sciences 

John Q. Easton 

Director

National Center for Education Statistics

Stuart Kerachsky 

Acting Commissioner

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analyzing, and reporting data related to education in the United States and other nations. It fulfills 

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June 2009 

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Suggested Citation 

Aritomi, P., and Coopersmith, J. (2009). Characteristics of Public School Districts in the United States: 

Results From the 2007-08 Schools and Staffing Survey (NCES 2009-320). National Center for 

Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Washington, 

DC. 

Content Contact

Kerry Gruber 

(202) 502-7349 

kerry.gruber@ed.gov
Contents 

Page

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

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

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

References................................................................................................................... 5

Estimate Tables ........................................................................................................... 6

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

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

Appendix C: Description of Data Files........................................................ C-1

Appendix D: Description of Variables....................................................... D-1

iii 
List of Tables 

Table Page

1. Number of public school districts, by selected public school district 

characteristics: 2007-08............................................................... 7

2. Percentage of public school districts that had salary schedules for 

teachers and among those that had salary schedules, the average yearly 

teacher base salary, by various levels of degrees and experience and 

selected public school district characteristics: 2007-08....................... 8

3. Average lowest and highest yearly base salaries paid to full-time 

teachers among all districts, by selected public school district 

characteristics: 2007-08.......................................................................... 9

4. Percentage of public school districts that offered various benefits to 

teachers, by selected public school district characteristics: 2007-08......... 10

5. Percentage of public school districts that used pay incentives for various 

reasons, by selected public school district characteristics: 2007-08.......... 11

6. Average number of public school teachers who were newly hired for 

grades K-12 and comparable ungraded levels, percentage of districts that 

offered free training for teachers in fields with current or anticipated 

shortages, and percentage of districts that used various methods for 

recruiting new teachers, by selected public school district characteristics: 

2007-08..................................................................................... 12

7. Percentage distribution of public school districts, by specific agreements 

with teachers' associations or unions and selected public school district 

characteristics: 2007-08............................................................. 13

8. Average number of public school teachers and average number of public 

school teachers who were dismissed in the previous year or did not have 

their contracts renewed based on poor performance, by tenure status of 

teachers and selected public school district characteristics: 2007-08........ 14

9. Percentage of public school districts that granted high school diplomas, 

and among those that granted diplomas, graduation requirements for 

standard diplomas, by selected public school district characteristics: 

2007-08......................................................................................... 15

iv 
Table Page

10. Among districts with more than one school, percentage of public school 

districts that had salary schedules for principals and average lowest and 

highest yearly base salaries paid to all full-time principals, by selected 

public school district characteristics: 2007-08................................. 16

11. Among districts with more than one school, percentage distribution of 

public school districts, by specific agreements with principals' 

associations or unions and selected public school district characteristics: 

2007-08.............................................................................. 17

12. Among districts with more than one school, percentage of principals 

who were newly hired, average number of days in the normal contract 

year for principals, percentage of districts that had a tenure system for 

principals, and percentage of districts that had a training program for 

aspiring school administrators, by selected public school district 

characteristics: 2007-08........................................................... 18

Appendix A: Standard Error Tables 

A-1. Standard errors for Table 1: Number of public school districts, by 

selected public school district characteristics: 2007-08........................ A-2

A-2. Standard errors for Table 2: Percentage of public school districts that 

had salary schedules for teachers and among those that had salary 

schedules, the average yearly teacher base salary, by various levels of 

degrees and experience and selected public school district 

characteristics: 2007-08........................................................... A-3

A-3. Standard errors for Table 3: Average lowest and highest yearly base 

salaries paid to full-time teachers among all districts, by selected public 

school district characteristics: 2007-08........................................... A-4

A-4. Standard errors for Table 4: Percentage of public school districts that 

offered various benefits to teachers, by selected public school district 

characteristics: 2007-08........................................................... A-5

A-5. Standard errors for Table 5: Percentage of public school districts that 

used pay incentives for various reasons, by selected public school district 

characteristics: 2007-08............................................................... A-6

v 
Table Page

A-6. Standard errors for Table 6: Average number of public school teachers 

who were newly hired for grades K-12 and comparable ungraded levels, 

percentage of districts that offered free training for teachers in fields 

with current or anticipated shortages, and percentage of districts that 

used various methods for recruiting new teachers, by selected public 

school district characteristics: 2007-08......................................... A-7

A-7. Standard errors for Table 7: Percentage distribution of public school 

districts, by specific agreements with teachers' associations or unions 

and selected public school district characteristics: 2007-08................. A-8

A-8. Standard errors for Table 8: Average number of public school teachers 

and average number of public school teachers who were dismissed in 

the previous year or did not have their contracts renewed based on poor 

performance, by tenure status of teachers and selected public school 

district characteristics: 2007-08................................................. A-9

A-9. Standard errors for Table 9: Percentage of public school districts that 

granted high school diplomas, and among those that granted diplomas, 

graduation requirements for standard diplomas, by selected public 

school district characteristics: 2007-08......................................... A-10

A-10. Standard errors for Table 10: Among districts with more than one 

school, percentage of public school districts that had salary schedules 

for principals and average lowest and highest yearly base salaries paid 

to all full-time principals, by selected public school district 

characteristics: 2007-08......................................................... A-11

A-11. Standard errors for Table 11: Among districts with more than one 

school, percentage distribution of public school districts, by specific 

agreements with principals' associations or unions and selected public 

school district characteristics: 2007-08......................................... A-12

A-12. Standard errors for Table 12: Among districts with more than one 

school, percentage of principals who were newly hired, average number 

of days in the normal contract year for principals, percentage of districts 

that had a tenure system for principals, and percentage of districts that 

had a training program for aspiring school administrators, by selected 

public school district characteristics: 2007-08................................. A-13

vi 
Table Page

Appendix B: Methodology and Technical Notes 

B-1. Base-weighted unit and overall response rates, by survey: 2007-08......... B-8

B-2. Comparisons between frame distribution and base-weighted and finalweighted respondent distributions for public school districts with an 

indication of potential sources of bias: 2007-08.......................................... B-9

 

B-3. Summary of base-weighted item response rates, by survey: 2007-08....... B-10

Appendix C: Description of Data Files 

C-1. Names of data files and the questionnaires from which the data were 

drawn: 2007-08..................................................................... C-2

C-2. The number of cases in the School District data file, by respondent and 

source of data: 2007-08............................................................. C-3

Appendix D: Description of Variables 

D-1. Variables used in the Characteristics of Public School Districts in the 

United States: Results From the 2007-08 Schools and Staffing Survey 

report: 2007-08...................................................................... D-2

vii 
Introduction

This report presents selected findings from the public school district data file of the 2007-

08 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). SASS is a nationally representative sample 

survey of public,1

 private, and Bureau of Indian Education-funded (BIE) K-12 schools, 

principals, and teachers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. School districts 

associated with public schools and library media centers in public and BIE schools are 

also part of SASS. Developed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of 

the Institute of Education Sciences within the U.S. Department of Education and 

conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, SASS was first conducted in school year 1987-88. 

Since then, SASS has been conducted five times: in school years 1990-91, 1993-94, 

1999-2000, 2003-04, and, most recently, 2007-08. 

The purpose of SASS 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 

the following surveys: district, school, principal, teacher, and library media center. 

Information from all the surveys can be linked. For more information about surveys and 

data files see appendix C. The SASS questionnaires can be found at 

http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/question0708.asp. 

The 2007-08 SASS sample is a school-based stratified probability-proportionate-to-size 

(PPS) sample. The 2005-06 Common Core of Data (CCD) served as a starting point for 

the public school sampling frame, and the 2005-06 Private School Universe Survey (PSS) 

served as a starting point for the private school sampling frame. The public school sample 

was designed so that national-, regional-, and state-level elementary, secondary, and 

combined2 public school estimates can be made. The private school sample was designed 

so that national-, regional-, and affiliation-level estimates can be produced. BIE schools 

on the 2005-06 CCD were sampled with certainty, and thus national estimates for BIE 

schools can be produced. Because SASS is a school-based sample, districts, principals, 

and library media centers associated with public schools were included, as were 

principals and library media centers associated with BIE schools and principals 

associated with private schools. Teachers associated with selected schools were sampled 

from a teacher list provided by each school. The selected samples include about 9,800 

public schools, 180 BIE schools, and 2,940 private schools; 5,250 public school districts; 

9,800 public school principals, 180 BIE school principals, and 2,940 private school 

principals; 47,440 public school teachers, 750 BIE teachers, and 8,180 private school 

teachers; and 9,800 public school library media centers and 180 BIE school library media 

centers. 

 

1

 Public schools include traditional public and charter schools. 

2

 A combined school or combined grade school has one or more of grades K-6 and one or more of grades 9-

12; for example, schools with grades K-12, 6-12, 6-9, or 1-12 were classified as having combined grades. 

Schools in which all students are ungraded (i.e., not classified by standard grade levels) are also classified 

as combined. 

1 
The data were collected via mailed questionnaires with telephone and field follow-up. 

The first questionnaires were mailed in September 2007, and data collection ended in 

June 2008. The unit response rates varied from 72 percent for private school principals to 

88 percent for public school districts (appendix table B-1 shows the unit and overall 

response rates for each survey). Nonresponse bias analyses were performed when survey 

response rates for major reporting groups were less than 85 percent. For information 

about bias analysis results, methodology, and design of the 2007-08 SASS, please see the 

technical notes of this report in appendix B and the Documentation for the 2007-08 

Schools and Staffing Survey (Tourkin et al. forthcoming). 

Because the purpose of First Look reports is to introduce new data, it is possible to only 

include a small selection of the information in the survey. This First Look report 

highlights findings from SASS’s district survey. Findings from the school, principal, 

teacher, and library media center data files will be presented in four companion First 

Look reports: 

• Characteristics of Public, Private, and Bureau of Indian Education Elementary and 

Secondary Schools in the United States: Results From the 2007–08 Schools and Staffing 

Survey (NCES 2009-321); 

• Characteristics of Public, Private, and Bureau of Indian Education Elementary and 

Secondary School Principals in the United States: Results From the 2007–08 Schools and 

Staffing Survey (NCES 2009-323); 

• Characteristics of Public, Private, and Bureau of Indian Education Elementary and 

Secondary School Teachers in the United States: Results From the 2007–08 Schools and 

Staffing Survey (NCES 2009-324); and

• Characteristics of Public and Bureau of Indian Education Elementary and Secondary 

School Library Media Centers in the United States: Results From the 2007–08 Schools and 

Staffing Survey (NCES 2009-322).

The tables in this report contain counts and percentages demonstrating bivariate 

relationships between variables. All of the 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. No adjustments were made for multiple comparisons. 

Many of the variables are related to one another, and complex interactions and 

relationships have not been explored. Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) (9.1) and 

SUDAAN (10.0) were used to compute the statistics for this report. 

More information about the SASS can be found at http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass. 

2 
Selected Findings 

• Of the estimated 16,330 public school districts in operation, 48 percent (7,770) 

were located in rural communities, 21 percent (3,480) in suburban areas, 18 

percent (2,900) in towns, and 13 percent (2,190) in cities (table 1). 

• In districts’ salary schedules, the average yearly base salary for teachers with a 

bachelor’s degree and no teaching experience was $33,600, while teachers with 

the same degree but 10 years of teaching experience had a yearly base salary of 

$43,000 (table 2). 

• The average lowest yearly base salary paid to full-time teachers was $34,000 and 

the highest was $60,400 in 2007-08 among all districts (table 3). 

• About 98 percent of school districts offered general medical insurance benefits to 

teachers, 85 percent offered dental insurance, and 80 percent offered group life 

insurance (table 4). 

• Overall, 24 percent of public school districts offered pay incentives to teachers if 

they attained certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching 

Standards, 15 percent offered pay incentives to recruit or retain teachers to teach 

in fields of shortage, 10 percent to reward excellence in teaching, and 6 percent to 

recruit or retain teachers to teach in a less desirable location (table 5). 

• On average, there were 22.4 newly hired teachers per district in the 2007-08 

school year, ranging from an average of 2.1 new hires in districts with less than 

250 students to an average of 206.2 new hires in districts with 10,000 or more 

students (table 6). 

• While 54 percent of school districts had a collective bargaining agreement with 

teachers’ associations or unions, 11 percent of districts had meet-and-confer 

agreements with these groups (table 7). 

• Overall, 4.4 teachers out of an average 211.4 teachers per district did not have 

their contracts renewed or were dismissed as a result of poor performance (table 

8). 

• Among the districts that granted high school diplomas, students were required to 

take on average 3.9 years of instruction in English or language arts, 3.0 years in 

mathematics, 1.0 years in computer science, 3.3 years in social sciences and social 

studies, 2.7 years in physical or biological sciences, and 1.6 years in foreign 

languages (table 9). 

3 
• Among public school districts with more than one school, the average lowest 

yearly base salary paid to full-time principals was $73,300 in 2007-08, while the 

highest was $88,600 (table 10). 

• Collective bargaining agreements with principals’ associations or unions were 

reported by 16 percent of public school districts with more than one school, and 

meet-and-confer agreements were reported by 10 percent (table 11). 

• Among districts with more than one school, 24 percent of the districts had a 

training program for aspiring school administrators and 9 percent of principals 

were newly hired by a district in the 2007-08 school year (table 12). 

4 
References 

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

Tourkin, S., Thomas, T., Swaim, N., Cox, S., Parmer, R., Jackson, B., Cole, C., and 

Zhang, B. (forthcoming). Documentation for the 2007-08 Schools and Staffing Survey

(NCES 2009-318). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education 

Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC. 

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2003). NCES 

Statistical Standards (NCES 2003-601). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing 

Office. 

5 
Estimate Tables 

6 
Table 1.

Selected public schooldistrict characteristic Number of  All public school districts District size 1 school  2-3 schools  4-5 schools  6-9 schools  10-19 schools  20 or more schools Community type City  Suburban  Town  Rural District K-12 enrollment Less than 250  250-999  1,000-1,999  2,000-4,999  5,000-9,999  10,000 or more  0-34  35-49  50-74  75 or more District did not participate

Number of public school districts, by selected public school district characteristics: 2007-08

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), Data File," 2007-08. in free or reduced-price  lunch programPercent of K-12 students in district who were approved for free or reduced-price lunches

7 
Table 2.

Table 2.

Bachelor's degree Master's de

Percent with Bachelor's degree and 10 years of Master's degree and 10 yea

salary schedules and no teaching teaching and no teaching teac

for teachers experience experience experience exper

 All public school districts 92.4 $33,600 $43,000 $36,700 $47

District size 1 school 79.1 32,900 41,700 36,100 45

 2-3 schools 98.5 32,200 40,900 35,200 45

 4-5 schools 98.1 33,500 43,300 36,400 47

 6-9 schools 99.0 35,400 46,200 38,700 51

 10-19 schools 98.7 35,700 45,600 39,100 51

 20 or more schools 99.6 36,800 46,300 40,000 51

Community type City 73.5 36,300 46,900 39,800 51

 Suburban 95.4 38,000 50,500 41,900 56

 Town 94.9 32,500 41,500 35,600 45

 Rural 95.4 31,400 39,300 34,200 43

District K-12 enrollment Less than 250 78.1 31,400 39,700 34,400 43

 250-999 92.2 32,100 40,600 35,100 44

 1,000-1,999 98.8 33,600 43,300 36,800 47

 2,000-4,999 98.2 35,700 46,700 39,100 52

 5,000-9,999 99.5 36,300 46,900 39,900 52

 10,000 or more 99.6 37,400 47,400 40,600 52

Percent of K-12 students in district who were approved for free or reduced-price lunches 0-34 96.5 34,900 45,400 38,300 50 35-49 95.8 32,000 40,600 34,900 44

 50-74 91.9 32,200 40,800 35,100 44

 75 or more 85.0 33,500 42,300 36,600 46

 District did not participate in free or reduced-price  lunch program 76.5 35,100 44,900 39,100 50

Selected public schooldistrict characteristicSOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School District D

Percentage of public school districts that had salary schedules for teachers and among those that had salary schedules, the averagsalary, by various levels of degrees and experience and selected public school district characteristics: 2007-08

Among districts that had salary schedules, average yearly teache

8 
Table 3.

Table 3.

Base salary of the lowest paid Base s

 All public school districts $34,000 

District size 1 school 34,300 

 2-3 schools 32,400 

 4-5 schools 33,600 

 6-9 schools 35,300 

 10-19 schools 35,500 

 20 or more schools 36,400 

Community type City 35,000 

 Suburban 37,900 

 Town 32,700 

 Rural 32,500 

District K-12 enrollment Less than 250 34,100 

 250-999 32,400 

 1,000-1,999 33,500 

 2,000-4,999 35,700 

 5,000-9,999 36,200 

 10,000 or more 37,000 

Percent of K-12 students in district who were approved for free or reduced-price lunches 0-34 35,100 

 35-49 32,300 

 50-74 32,600 

 75 or more 35,700 

 District did not participate in free or reduced-price  lunch program 35,100 

2007-08.SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public S

Average lowest and highest yearly base salaries paid to full-time teachers among all districts, by selected public schocharacteristics: 2007-08

district characteristicSelected public school

9 
Table 4.

Housing,

housing

General subsidies,

medical Dental Group life Defined- Defined- Tuition or rent S

insurance insurance insurance benefit contribution reimbursement assistance 

 All public school districts 98.0 85.2 80.0 83.0 65.9 44.6 3.4 

District size 1 school 96.6 80.2 70.2 78.4 65.5 45.2 5.9 

 2-3 schools 97.6 81.0 79.1 81.3 62.4 45.9 2.9 

 4-5 schools 99.4 88.3 83.5 86.0 66.4 44.5 2.4 

 6-9 schools 99.0 92.3 88.9 86.1 69.2 44.4 0.8 

 10-19 schools 99.5 94.0 90.3 90.3 69.2 41.3 2.0 

 20 or more schools 99.7 96.9 96.1 93.7 72.2 40.6 2.6 

Community type City 99.9 90.7 81.2 82.5 68.8 45.2 0.6 ! 

 Suburban 99.2 95.2 84.8 83.2 66.3 53.1 0.3 

 Town 99.5 88.0 85.8 83.4 68.9 39.8 1.8 ! 

 Rural 96.4 78.1 75.3 83.0 63.9 42.5 6.2 

District K-12 enrollment Less than 250 93.6 75.5 64.7 78.8 61.0 42.9 10.1 

 250-999 98.6 80.5 77.9 78.6 64.4 43.8 2.4 

 1,000-1,999 99.5 89.2 84.5 86.1 67.6 47.3 1.0 

 2,000-4,999 99.5 93.3 88.1 88.0 70.0 48.0 1.2 

 5,000-9,999 99.8 96.0 91.7 89.1 68.5 41.9 0.4 

 10,000 or more 99.7 96.9 94.1 91.9 72.0 39.5 2.1 

Percent of K-12 students in district who were approved for

 free or reduced-price lunches 0-34 98.8 88.0 83.8 82.9 67.5 50.5 1.0 

 35-49 98.9 83.6 80.2 83.7 64.9 42.6 2.5 

 50-74 98.2 82.8 81.7 84.3 65.9 37.2 5.4 

 75 or more 98.2 88.9 75.5 85.1 62.5 40.7 4.9 

 District did not participate in free or reduced-price  lunch program 91.5 78.4 63.5 75.9 66.0 49.3 8.4 ! 

! Interpret data with caution. The standard error for this estimate is equal to 30 percent or more of the estimate's value.on the nature of the investment and returns. 403(b) plans are defined-contribution. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School District Data Fi

1 Districts can offer both defined-benefit and defined-contribution retirement plans. A defined-benefit retirement plan is a plan in which benefits are inve

defined-benefit. A defined-contribution retirement plan is a plan where contributions are paid into an individually-controlled retirement account. Funds a

Percentage of public school districts that offered various benefits to teachers, by selected public school district characteristics: 2007-08

which employees do not control. Benefits are based on a formula that takes into account employee's length of employment and earnings. Most state re

Retirement plan1

Selected public schooldistrict characteristic

10 
Table 5.

To reward teachers who have

attained National Board for To recruit or retain 

Professional Teaching To reward excellence teachers to teach in a 

Standards certification in teaching less desirable location 

 All public school districts 24.5 10.2 5.7 

District size 1 school 17.9 20.8 6.4 

 2-3 schools 18.2 4.4 3.7 

 4-5 schools 21.8 3.9 3.8 

 6-9 schools 32.2 3.8 3.8 

 10-19 schools 45.3 8.2 9.0 

 20 or more schools 58.2 15.0 18.2 Community type City 35.4 35.3 13.0  Suburban 26.5 6.9 2.4 

 Town 27.0 7.5 5.9 

 Rural 19.6 5.7 4.9 

District K-12 enrollment Less than 250 16.3 18.3 8.5 

 250-999 16.6 11.9 4.0 

 1,000-1,999 22.8 4.9 4.4 

 2,000-4,999 33.3 3.4 3.0 

 5,000-9,999 42.0 7.0 6.9 

 10,000 or more 57.3 14.3 16.5 Percent of K-12 students in district who were approved for free or reduced-price lunches 0-34 22.2 6.5 2.2 

 35-49 24.8 6.9 4.0 

 50-74 26.2 11.7 9.6 

 75 or more 34.1 17.8 11.3  District did not participate in free or reduced-price  lunch program 17.2 21.2 6.8 ! 

2007-08.

Percentage of public school districts that used pay incentives for various reasons, by selected public school district characteris

Selected public schoolSOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School Distdistrict characteristic! Interpret data with caution. The standard error for this estimate is equal to 30 percent or more of the estimate's value.

11 
Table 6.

Table 6.Table 6.

Average number of Percent of districts

teachers who were that offered free training Forgiveness of 

newly hired for grades for teachers in fields student loan(s) 

K-12 and comparable with current or Signing funded by Relocatio

ungraded levels anticipated shortages bonuses the district assistanc

 All public school districts 22.4 30.7 6.8 2.2 3

District size 1 school 3.3 33.5 5.3 2.6 3 2-3 schools 6.9 28.9 5.8 1.3 2 4-5 schools 13.3 29.5 5.9 0.9 2

 6-9 schools 25.1 24.7 5.8 2.8 ! 3

 10-19 schools 51.7 31.7 13.7 3.6 6

 20 or more schools 217.8 41.9 18.6 5.7 10

Community type City 47.2 42.6 9.3 4.8 4

 Suburban 40.0 22.9 2.9 1.0 1

 Town 16.5 30.3 7.1 1.2 4

 Rural 9.8 30.9 7.8 2.5 4District K-12 enrollment Less than 250 2.1 35.7 6.2 3.2 4 250-999 5.0 31.3 6.2 1.8 2 1,000-1,999 10.7 26.5 5.0 1.0 2

 2,000-4,999 23.1 26.7 5.4 2.0 3

 5,000-9,999 52.5 26.0 11.5 2.8 5

 10,000 or more 206.2 40.3 18.3 5.5 9

Percent of K-12 students in district who were approved for free or reduced-price lunches 0-34 22.5 22.1 4.3 0.8 2

 35-49 27.5 31.0 6.5 1.4 4

 50-74 25.1 36.6 10.5 2.7 4

 75 or more 20.4 41.0 11.1 9.4 6

 District did not participate in free or reduced-price  lunch program 4.6 38.5 3.2 ! 0.3 ! 1

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School District Data Selected public schooldistrict characteristic

Average number of public school teachers who were newly hired for grades K-12 and comparable ungraded levels, percentage of distric

Percent of districts that used various methods for rec

selected public school district characteristics: 2007-08training for teachers in fields with current or anticipated shortages, and percentage of districts that used various methods for recruiting n

! Interpret data with caution. The standard error for this estimate is equal to 30 percent or more of the estimate's value.

12 
1 Meet-and-confer2 gaining 

Table 7.

characteristics: 2007-08

Collective bar 

 All public school districts 53.5 10.9 District size 1 school 33.3 9.0  2-3 schools 63.6 12.0  4-5 schools 63.5 11.5  6-9 schools 66.0 10.8  10-19 schools 58.3 12.6  20 or more schools 56.7 12.4 Community type City 30.4 8.6  Suburban 73.9 10.2  Town 55.9 11.7  Rural 50.0 11.5 District K-12 enrollment Less than 250 29.5 9.2  250-999 51.1 11.4  1,000-1,999 67.2 11.0  2,000-4,999 66.8 10.9  5,000-9,999 63.9 11.6  10,000 or more 59.7 12.9 Percent of K-12 students in district who were approved for free or reduced-price lunches 0-34 74.5 11.4  35-49 57.2 12.2  50-74 36.7 11.5  75 or more 29.4 7.2  District did not participate in free or reduced-price  lunch program 29.1 8.5 ! 

Percentage distribution of public school districts, by specific agreements with teachers' associations or unions and selected 

Selected public schooldistrict characteristic

2 Meet-and-confer discussions are for the purpose of reaching non-legally-binding agreements.1 Collective bargaining agreements are legally-binding agreements.3 This category includes both no agreements and other agreements that do not meet the precise legal definitions of collective bargaining a

agreements.NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.! Interpret data with caution. The standard error for this estimate is equal to 30 percent or more of the estimate's value.

Percentage distribution of districts that had a specific agreement with a teachers' associa

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School D

13 
Table 8.

Table 8.

Average number of teachers

 in public school districts who

Average number were dismissed or did not 

of teachers have their contracts renewed Teachers without tenure1 

 All public school districts 211.4 4.4 1.4 District size 1 school 25.4 0.8 0.4  2-3 schools 68.7 1.9 0.4 

 4-5 schools 133.1 3.1 0.8 

 6-9 schools 243.3 7.1 1.9  10-19 schools 470.1 11.9 2.8 

 20 or more schools 2061.0 27.5 13.1 

Community type City 463.4 7.9 3.1  Suburban 378.3 7.5 2.8 

 Town 152.7 3.9 0.7  Rural 87.8 2.2 0.6 District K-12 enrollment Less than 250 14.1 0.8 0.3 

 250-999 44.8 1.3 0.4  1,000-1,999 107.1 3.1 0.7 

 2,000-4,999 231.0 6.1 1.5 

 5,000-9,999 477.8 9.1 3.2  10,000 or more 1939.2 30.1 12.2 

Percent of K-12 students in district who were approved for free or reduced-price lunches 0-34 224.5 4.9 1.2  35-49 260.2 3.7 1.3  50-74 229.4 4.7 1.6  75 or more 170.4 6.1 2.7 

 District did not participate in free or reduced-price  lunch program 38.4 1.0 0.4 

district characteristic! Interpret data with caution. The standard error for this estimate is equal to 30 percent or more of the estimate's value.

Average number of public school teachers and average number of public school teachers who were dismissed in the previous ycontracts renewed based on poor performance, by tenure status of teachers and selected public school district characteristics: 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School Distr

Average number of teachers in pu

1 Teachers who are often relatively inexperienced or novices. This includes teachers in their initial induction year, teachers who are on year-t

those teachers who have not entered a more permanent status, traditionally referred to as tenure. 

dismissed or did not have their contract

2 Teachers who have satisfactorily completed a probationary period and were given a contract as a career or permanent employee.

Selected public school

14 
Table 9.

Table 9.

Social sciences,

social studies

Percent of districts (e.g., history, Ph

Selected public school that grant high English or Computer geography, b

district characteristic school diplomas language arts Mathematics science economics)  All public school districts 75.9 3.9 3.0 1.0 3.3 

District size 1 school 46.9 3.9 3.0 1.1 3.2  2-3 schools 86.2 4.0 3.0 1.0 3.2 

 4-5 schools 90.8 3.9 3.0 1.0 3.3 

 6-9 schools 90.7 4.0 3.0 0.9 3.2 

 10-19 schools 91.8 3.9 3.0 1.0 3.3 

 20 or more schools 94.7 3.9 3.0 1.0 3.2 

Community type City 53.4 4.0 3.0 1.1 3.3 

 Suburban 70.1 4.0 3.0 1.0 3.3 

 Town 85.9 3.9 3.0 1.0 3.2 

 Rural 81.0 3.9 3.0 1.0 3.3 

District K-12 enrollment Less than 250 48.5 3.9 3.0 1.2 3.3 

 250-999 71.2 3.9 3.0 1.1 3.3 

 1,000-1,999 90.1 4.0 3.0 1.0 3.2 

 2,000-4,999 90.3 4.0 3.0 0.9 3.3 

 5,000-9,999 91.5 4.0 3.0 1.0 3.3 

 10,000 or more 95.1 3.9 3.0 1.0 3.2 

Percent of K-12 students in district who were approved for

 free or reduced-price lunches 0-34 80.8 4.0 2.9 1.0 3.2  35-49 87.5 3.9 3.0 1.0 3.3 

 50-74 80.3 3.9 3.1 1.1 3.3 

 75 or more 57.9 4.0 3.1 1.1 3.2 

 District did not participate in free or reduced-price  lunch program 36.1 3.9 3.1 1.0 3.3 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School Dist

1 Districts that do not have a graduation requirement for a particular subject area are excluded from the computation of the average for that p

Percentage of public school districts that granted high school diplomas, and among those that granted diplomas, graduation re

diplomas, by selected public school district characteristics: 2007-08

Among districts that granted high school diplomas, the average numbe

in various subject areas needed for a standard diplo

15 
Table 10.

Table 10.Selected public school Percent with salary schedules district characteristic for principals Base salary of the lowest paid Base  All districts with more than one school 50.9 $73,300 District size 2-3 schools 32.3 70,100  4-5 schools 41.7 73,100  6-9 schools 65.7 77,600  10-19 schools 82.4 75,800 

 20 or more schools 90.8 75,300 

Community type City 87.8 79,800 

 Suburban 60.8 88,600 

 Town 53.3 68,800 

 Rural 38.2 66,000 

District K-12 enrollment Less than 250 24.5 64,600 

 250-999 28.7 65,700  1,000-1,999 42.8 72,500 

 2,000-4,999 63.4 79,400 

 5,000-9,999 77.3 79,900 

 10,000 or more 91.4 78,200 

Percent of K-12 students in district who were approved for free or reduced-price lunches 0-34 46.1 79,300 

 35-49 48.7 69,500  50-74 58.8 66,000  75 or more 58.5 66,300  District did not participate in free or reduced-price  lunch program 50.9 99,100 

training programs for aspiring school administrators. Estimates in this table are based on 68 percent of all districts.SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School Distr

Among districts with more than one school, percentage of public school districts that had salary schedules for principals and avyearly base salaries paid to all full-time principals, by selected public school district characteristics: 2007-08

NOTE: Districts with only one school, including single traditional public schools and public charter schools that operate independently of a renot asked about principal salary schedules, specific agreements with principal unions, principal hiring, number of contract days for principals

Average lowest and highest yearly base salaries o

16 
r 

2 

1 g Meet-and-confe

Table 11.Table 11.Selected public school district characteristic Collective bargainin  All districts with more than one school 15.5 10.4 

District size 2-3 schools 11.6 6.8  4-5 schools 15.2 10.1 

 6-9 schools 21.5 11.3 

 10-19 schools 17.3 14.6 

 20 or more schools 17.7 21.9 

Community type City 18.3 22.0 

 Suburban 28.8 14.8 

 Town 11.8 9.3  Rural 9.5 6.5 

District K-12 enrollment Less than 250 3.3 1.7 

 250-999 7.2 4.8 

 1,000-1,999 16.8 10.8 

 2,000-4,999 21.9 12.4 

 5,000-9,999 22.4 15.5 

 10,000 or more 17.6 20.0 

Percent of K-12 students in district who were approved for

 free or reduced-price lunches 0-34 22.1 11.3 

 35-49 14.9 11.4 

 50-74 8.0 8.3 

 75 or more 5.3 8.4 

 District did not participate in free or reduced-price  lunch program 9.3 ! 10.6 ! 

Among districts with more than one school, percentage distribution of public school districts, by specific agreements with principa

and selected public school district characteristics: 2007-08

Percentage distribution of districts that had a specific agreement with a principals' ass

1 Collective bargaining agreements are legally-binding agreements.

! Interpret data with caution. The standard error for this estimate is equal to 30 percent or more of the estimate's value.SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School Distric

asked about principal salary schedules, specific agreements with principal unions, principal hiring, number of contract days for principals, princ

2 Meet-and-confer discussions are for the purpose of reaching non-legally-binding agreements.3 This category includes both no agreements and other agreements that do not meet the precise legal definitions of collective bargaining and m

NOTE: Districts with only one school, including single traditional public schools and public charter schools that operate independently of a reguprograms for aspiring school administrators. Estimates in this table are based on 68 percent of all districts. Detail may not sum to totals becau

17 
18 

Table 12.Table 12.Table 12.

Average number of days in Percent of districts that P

Selected public school Percent of principals the normal contract year had a tenure system 

district characteristic who were newly hired for principals1 for principals 

 All districts with more than one school 9.3 227 25.4 

District size 2-3 schools 14.0 226 25.2 

 4-5 schools 11.3 228 24.1 

 6-9 schools 11.2 228 27.0 

 10-19 schools 10.0 227 26.6 

 20 or more schools 6.1 228 24.2 

Community type City 6.8 227 27.9 

 Suburban 8.3 232 36.1 

 Town 11.9 225 22.3 

 Rural 11.7 226 20.5 

District K-12 enrollment Less than 250 11.3 ! 217 15.3 

 250-999 14.7 223 18.4 

 1,000-1,999 12.4 230 29.5 

 2,000-4,999 10.8 230 29.4 

 5,000-9,999 9.7 229 29.7 

 10,000 or more 6.3 228 24.2 

Percent of K-12 students in district who were approved for

 free or reduced-price lunches 0-34 9.4 229 31.5 

 35-49 8.6 225 24.9 

 50-74 9.6 226 18.2 

 75 or more 8.9 227 17.7 

 District did not participate in free or reduced-price  lunch program 10.8 239 15.9 ! 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School District Data File

1 Includes professional development, student contract days, and other days covered in a typical contract. 

Among districts with more than one school, percentage of principals who were newly hired, average number of days in the normal contract y

public school district characteristics: 2007-08percentage of districts that had a tenure system for principals, and percentage of districts that had a training program for aspiring school ad

NOTE: Districts with only one school, including single traditional public schools and public charter schools that operate independently of a regular school school administrators. Estimates in this table are based on 68 percent of all districts.about principal salary schedules, specific agreements with principal unions, principal hiring, number of contract days for principals, principal tenure, or tra! Interpret data with caution. The standard error for this estimate is equal to 30 percent or more of the estimate's value.
Appendix A: Standard Error Tables 

A-1
Table A-1.

Selected public schooldistrict characteristic Number of  All public school districts District size 1 school  2-3 schools  4-5 schools  6-9 schools  10-19 schools  20 or more schools Community type City  Suburban  Town  Rural District K-12 enrollment Less than 250  250-999  1,000-1,999  2,000-4,999  5,000-9,999  10,000 or more  0-34  35-49  50-74  District did not participate in free or reduced-price Data File," 2007-08.SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), 

Standard errors for Table 1: Number of public school districts, by selected public school district characterist

 lunch programPercent of K-12 students in district who were approved for free or reduced-price lunches 75 or more

A-2
Table A-2.

Table A-2.

Bachelor's degree Master's de

Percent with Bachelor's degree and 10 years of Master's degree and 10 yea

salary schedules and no teaching teaching and no teaching teac

for teachers experience experience experience experi

 All public school districts 0.48 80 150 100 

District size 1 school 1.40 270 520 330 

 2-3 schools 0.39 220 290 260 

 4-5 schools 0.53 190 280 260 

 6-9 schools 0.33 170 270 190 

 10-19 schools 0.34 150 240 160  20 or more schools 0.01 90 150 90 

Community type City 2.60 220 490 300 

 Suburban 0.94 170 230 200 

 Town 1.54 180 210 200  Rural 0.44 140 230 170 

District K-12 enrollment Less than 250 1.89 410 690 440  250-999 0.83 190 260 230 

 1,000-1,999 0.47 220 340 300 

 2,000-4,999 0.43 160 240 180 

 5,000-9,999 0.13 210 320 210 

 10,000 or more 0.08 110 200 120 

Percent of K-12 students in district who were approved for free or reduced-price lunches 0-34 0.47 160 270 180 

 35-49 1.00 150 200 180 

 50-74 1.16 130 240 190 

 75 or more 2.76 220 500 290 

 District did not participate in free or reduced-price 

lunch program 3.25 580 960 740 1

Standard errors for Table 2: Percentage of public school districts that had salary schedules for teachers and among those that had 

average yearly teacher base salary, by various levels of degrees and experience and selected public school district characteristics: 

Among districts that had salary schedules, average yearly teache

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School District D

Selected public schooldistrict characteristic

A-3
Table A-3.

Table A-3. school district characteristics: 2007-08

Base salary of the lowest paid Base s

 All public school districts 180 

District size 1 school 600 

 2-3 schools 220 

 4-5 schools 220 

 6-9 schools 180 

 10-19 schools 160 

 20 or more schools 90 

Community type City 270 

 Suburban 190 

 Town 220 

 Rural 390 

District K-12 enrollment Less than 250 940 

 250-999 200 

 1,000-1,999 230 

 2,000-4,999 180 

 5,000-9,999 220 

 10,000 or more 110 

Percent of K-12 students in district who were approved for free or reduced-price lunches 0-34 280 

 35-49 160 

 50-74 180 

 75 or more 1,560 

 District did not participate in free or reduced-price  lunch program 590 

2007-08.

Standard errors for Table 3: Average lowest and highest yearly base salaries paid to full-time teachers among all dis

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public Sdistrict characteristicSelected public school

A-4
Table A-4.

Housing,

housing

General subsidies,

medical Dental Group life Defined- Defined- Tuition or rent 

insurance insurance insurance benefit contribution reimbursement assistance 

 All public school districts 0.28 0.54 0.86 0.63 0.85 0.72 0.34 

District size 1 school 0.61 1.18 2.15 1.40 2.16 1.89 0.86  2-3 schools 0.84 1.44 1.41 1.57 1.80 1.75 0.55 

 4-5 schools 0.30 1.13 1.33 1.29 1.49 1.76 0.69 

 6-9 schools 0.39 0.84 0.98 1.11 1.41 1.33 0.08 

 10-19 schools 0.09 0.62 0.90 1.04 1.25 1.47 0.14 

 20 or more schools 0.01 0.35 0.43 0.53 0.86 0.75 0.11 

Community type City 0.02 1.72 1.90 1.96 2.20 2.69 0.28 

 Suburban 0.33 0.67 1.50 1.40 1.89 1.53 0.06 

 Town 0.11 1.03 1.57 1.41 1.48 1.80 0.62 

 Rural 0.56 0.98 1.44 0.97 1.44 1.31 0.68 

District K-12 enrollment Less than 250 1.28 1.92 3.28 1.90 3.09 2.37 1.33 

 250-999 0.39 1.08 1.43 1.57 1.44 1.46 0.51 

 1,000-1,999 0.15 0.95 1.28 1.47 1.78 1.67 0.16 

 2,000-4,999 0.13 0.55 1.12 0.90 1.42 1.30 0.23 

 5,000-9,999 0.06 0.70 1.07 1.15 1.50 1.60 0.10 

 10,000 or more 0.01 0.37 0.70 0.72 0.84 0.85 0.10 

Percent of K-12 students in district who were approved for

 free or reduced-price lunches 0-34 0.38 0.76 1.19 1.06 1.25 1.31 0.29 

 35-49 0.36 1.35 1.67 1.27 1.78 1.72 0.73 

 50-74 0.46 1.50 1.41 1.40 1.61 1.48 0.74 

 75 or more 0.68 1.57 4.41 2.63 3.81 3.99 0.82 

 District did not participate in free or reduced-price  lunch program 2.51 3.22 3.93 3.02 4.15 4.38 2.77 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School District Data Fi

Standard errors for Table 4: Percentage of public school districts that offered various benefits to teachers, by selected public school distric

Retirement plan

Selected public schooldistrict characteristic

A-5
Table A-5.

Table A-5.

To reward teachers who have

attained National Board for To recruit or retain 

Professional Teaching To reward excellence teachers to teach in a 

Standards certification in teaching less desirable location 

 All public school districts 0.80 0.51 0.34 

District size 1 school 2.06 1.37 0.93 

 2-3 schools 1.20 0.63 0.45 

 4-5 schools 1.29 0.77 0.52 

 6-9 schools 1.28 0.47 0.50 

 10-19 schools 1.58 0.68 0.60 

 20 or more schools 0.89 0.47 0.56 

Community type City 2.57 2.97 1.73 

 Suburban 1.46 0.93 0.33 

 Town 1.07 1.10 0.78 

 Rural 1.08 0.47 0.44 

District K-12 enrollment Less than 250 2.63 1.94 1.43 

 250-999 1.24 1.01 0.46 

 1,000-1,999 1.50 0.69 0.65 

 2,000-4,999 1.21 0.32 0.34 

 5,000-9,999 2.05 0.73 0.55 

 10,000 or more 1.05 0.51 0.50 

Percent of K-12 students in district who were approved for free or reduced-price lunches 0-34 0.92 0.67 0.17 

 35-49 1.21 0.96 0.49 

 50-74 1.19 1.26 1.03 

 75 or more 3.87 2.12 1.66 

 District did not participate in free or reduced-price  lunch program 2.76 3.75 2.16 

2007-08.SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public Schoo

Standard errors for Table 5: Percentage of public school districts that used pay incentives for various reasons, by selected 

Selected public school

characteristics: 2007-08

district characteristic

A-6
Table A-6.

Table A-6.Table A-6.

Average number of Percent of districts

teachers who were that offered free training Forgiveness of 

newly hired for grades for teachers in fields student loan(s) 

K-12 and comparable with current or Signing funded by Relo

ungraded levels anticipated shortages bonuses the district assis

 All public school districts 0.37 0.72 0.36 0.24 

District size 1 school 0.11 1.82 0.74 0.55 

 2-3 schools 0.21 1.47 0.50 0.22 

 4-5 schools 0.38 1.96 0.85 0.19 

 6-9 schools 0.64 1.20 0.67 0.93 

 10-19 schools 0.98 1.21 0.85 0.43 

 20 or more schools 3.00 0.80 0.71 0.25 

Community type City 1.80 2.56 1.04 1.04 

 Suburban 1.20 1.64 0.34 0.20 

 Town 0.74 1.66 0.74 0.16 

 Rural 0.19 1.19 0.54 0.41 

District K-12 enrollment Less than 250 0.11 2.30 1.01 0.74 

 250-999 0.13 1.44 0.63 0.48 

 1,000-1,999 0.26 1.64 0.52 0.19 

 2,000-4,999 0.37 1.35 0.44 0.30 

 5,000-9,999 1.11 1.32 1.26 0.45 

 10,000 or more 3.01 0.93 0.78 0.38 

Percent of K-12 students in district who were approved for free or reduced-price lunches 0-34 0.52 0.97 0.29 0.11 

 35-49 0.89 1.75 0.54 0.22 

 50-74 0.80 1.61 0.98 0.32 

 75 or more 1.41 2.70 1.53 2.05 

 District did not participate in free or reduced-price  lunch program 0.47 3.89 1.28 0.31 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School District D

Standard errors for Table 6: Average number of public school teachers who were newly hired for grades K-12 and comparable ung

new teachers, by selected public school district characteristics: 2007-08

Percent of districts that used various methods fo

Selected public schooldistrict characteristic

districts that offered free training for teachers in fields with current or anticipated shortages, and percentage of districts that used va

A-7
Table A-7.

Table A-6. public school district characteristics: 2007-08

Collective bargaining Meet-and-confer 

 All public school districts 0.73 0.45 

District size 1 school 1.89 1.03 

 2-3 schools 1.58 1.02 

 4-5 schools 1.75 1.03 

 6-9 schools 1.34 0.80 

 10-19 schools 1.45 0.70 

 20 or more schools 0.83 0.34 

Community type City 1.60 1.01 

 Suburban 1.59 1.48 

 Town 1.58 0.96 

 Rural 1.27 0.57 

District K-12 enrollment Less than 250 2.32 1.27 

 250-999 1.43 0.76 

 1,000-1,999 1.72 1.23 

 2,000-4,999 1.13 0.67 

 5,000-9,999 1.64 0.83 

 10,000 or more 0.91 0.52 

Percent of K-12 students in district who were approved for free or reduced-price lunches 0-34 1.16 0.68 

 35-49 1.67 0.99 

 50-74 1.27 0.73 

 75 or more 2.97 0.80 

 District did not participate in free or reduced-price  lunch program 3.27 2.65 

district characteristic

Standard errors for Table 7: Percentage distribution of public school districts, by specific agreements with teachers' associati

Selected public school Percentage distribution of districts that had a specific agreement with a teachers' associaSOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School D

A-8
Table A-8.

Table A-8.Table A-8.

Average number of teachers

 in public school districts who

Average number were dismissed or did not 

of teachers have their contracts renewed Teachers without tenure 

 All public school districts 3.23 0.15 0.03 District size 1 school 0.78 0.09 0.03 

 2-3 schools 1.44 0.19 0.03 

 4-5 schools 2.68 0.28 0.06  6-9 schools 4.10 0.71 0.18  10-19 schools 5.98 1.29 0.15 

 20 or more schools 26.53 1.16 0.41 

Community type City 17.16 0.67 0.11 

 Suburban 10.36 0.52 0.17 

 Town 6.06 0.33 0.04 

 Rural 1.39 0.14 0.04 

District K-12 enrollment Less than 250 0.48 0.11 0.04  250-999 0.73 0.13 0.02 

 1,000-1,999 1.16 0.33 0.10 

 2,000-4,999 2.27 0.45 0.08 

 5,000-9,999 4.48 0.94 0.35 

 10,000 or more 27.58 1.61 0.40 Percent of K-12 students in district who were approved for free or reduced-price lunches 0-34 4.53 0.29 0.05 

 35-49 7.81 0.23 0.06 

 50-74 6.78 0.34 0.07 

 75 or more 12.37 0.68 0.30 

 District did not participate in free or reduced-price  lunch program 4.04 0.25 0.08 

Standard errors for Table 8: Average number of public school teachers and average number of public school teachers who wer

previous year or did not have their contracts renewed based on poor performance, by tenure status of teachers and selected pu

Average number of teachers in pu

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School Distr

characteristics: 2007-08

Selected public schooldistrict characteristic

dismissed or did not have their contracts 

A-9
Table A-9.

Table A-9.

Social sciences,

social studies

Percent of districts (e.g., history, P

Selected public school that grant high English or Computer geography, 

district characteristic school diplomas language arts Mathematics science economics)  All public school districts 0.88 # 0.01 0.01 0.01 

District size 1 school 1.75 0.01 0.03 0.03 0.03 

 2-3 schools 1.75 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.02 

 4-5 schools 1.11 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.02 

 6-9 schools 1.28 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.02 

 10-19 schools 1.20 0.01 0.02 0.04 0.02 

 20 or more schools 0.57 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 

Community type City 2.57 0.01 0.04 0.04 0.04 

 Suburban 2.06 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.02 

 Town 1.91 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.02 

 Rural 1.12 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.01 

District K-12 enrollment Less than 250 2.50 0.02 0.03 0.03 0.04 

 250-999 1.60 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.02 

 1,000-1,999 1.24 0.01 0.01 0.03 0.03 

 2,000-4,999 1.12 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.02 

 5,000-9,999 1.43 0.01 0.02 0.05 0.02 

 10,000 or more 0.73 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.02 

Percent of K-12 students in district who were approved for

 free or reduced-price lunches 0-34 1.34 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.02 

 35-49 1.60 0.01 0.01 0.03 0.02 

 50-74 1.70 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.01 

 75 or more 3.46 0.02 0.03 0.03 0.03 

 District did not participate in free or reduced-price  lunch program 3.66 0.04 0.08 0.05 0.09 

# Rounds to zero.SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School Dis

Standard errors for Table 9: Percentage of public school districts that granted high school diplomas, and among those that gra

requirements for standard diplomas, by selected public school district characteristics: 2007-08

Among districts that granted high school diplomas, the average numbe

in various subject areas needed for a standard diplo

A-10
Table A-10.

Table A-10.Selected public school Percent with salary schedules district characteristic for principals Base salary of the lowest paid Base  All districts with more than one school 0.73 350 District size 2-3 schools 1.52 850  4-5 schools 1.79 660  6-9 schools 1.56 610  10-19 schools 1.27 490 

 20 or more schools 0.54 220 

Community type City 1.24 680  Suburban 1.44 790  Town 1.58 390  Rural 1.12 520 

District K-12 enrollment Less than 250 5.42 3,780  250-999 1.74 760 

 1,000-1,999 1.90 730  2,000-4,999 1.33 630  5,000-9,999 1.64 600  10,000 or more 0.69 330 

Percent of K-12 students in district who were approved for free or reduced-price lunches 0-34 1.21 570  35-49 1.53 390 

 50-74 1.78 540 

 75 or more 3.31 1,350 

 District did not participate in free or reduced-price  lunch program 9.49 4,850 

Standard errors for Table 10: Among districts with more than one school, percentage of public school districts that had salary s

and average lowest and highest yearly base salaries paid to all full-time principals, by selected public school district characteris

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School Distr

Average lowest and highest yearly base salaries o

A-11
Table A-11.

Table A-11.Selected public school district characteristic Collective bargaining Meet-and-confer 

 All districts with more than one school 0.47 0.37 

District size 2-3 schools 1.07 0.70 

 4-5 schools 1.22 0.94 

 6-9 schools 1.15 0.94 

 10-19 schools 1.06 0.91 

 20 or more schools 0.55 0.59 

Community type City 1.43 1.30 

 Suburban 1.33 0.92 

 Town 0.94 0.74 

 Rural 0.77 0.53 

District K-12 enrollment Less than 250 0.92 0.49 

 250-999 1.11 0.76 

 1,000-1,999 1.35 1.20 

 2,000-4,999 1.26 0.85 

 5,000-9,999 1.42 1.21 

 10,000 or more 0.67 0.71 

Percent of K-12 students in district who were approved for

 free or reduced-price lunches 0-34 0.87 0.64 

 35-49 1.08 1.00 

 50-74 1.06 0.69 

 75 or more 0.78 1.20 

 District did not participate in free or reduced-price  lunch program 2.88 4.77 

Standard errors for Table 11: Among districts with more than one school, percentage distribution of public school districts, by spe

principals' associations or unions and selected public school district characteristics: 2007-08

Percentage distribution of districts that had a specific agreement with a principals' asso

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School Distric

A-12
Table A-12.

Table A-12.Table A-12.

Average number of days in Percent of districts that P

Selected public school Percent of principals the normal contract year had a tenure system district characteristic who were newly hired for principals for principals  All districts with more than one school 0.17 0.4 0.64 

District size 2-3 schools 0.76 0.8 1.38 

 4-5 schools 0.60 0.7 1.53  6-9 schools 0.38 0.6 1.15  10-19 schools 0.27 0.5 1.24 

 20 or more schools 0.06 0.4 0.73 Community type City 0.15 0.8 2.05  Suburban 0.25 0.8 1.75  Town 0.41 0.8 1.13 

 Rural 0.45 0.6 0.83 

District K-12 enrollment Less than 250 3.56 3.2 2.50 

 250-999 0.98 0.9 1.41  1,000-1,999 0.73 0.8 1.68 

 2,000-4,999 0.32 0.6 1.29 

 5,000-9,999 0.31 0.8 1.58 

 10,000 or more 0.08 0.4 0.86 

Percent of K-12 students in district who were approved for

 free or reduced-price lunches 0-34 0.23 0.6 1.10  35-49 0.27 0.7 1.46  50-74 0.32 0.6 1.11  75 or more 0.42 0.9 1.94 

 District did not participate in free or reduced-price  lunch program 1.86 4.6 4.91 

administrators, by selected public school district characteristics: 2007-08Standard errors for Table 12: Among districts with more than one school, percentage of principals who were newly hired, average number o

contract year for principals, percentage of districts that had a tenure system for principals, and percentage of districts that had a training pro

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School District Data File

A-13
Appendix B: Methodology and Technical Notes 

 B-1 
Overview of the Schools and Staffing Survey 

The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) 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. SASS is a 

nationally representative sample survey of public,1

 private, and Bureau of Indian 

Education-funded (BIE) K-12 schools, principals, and teachers in the 50 states and the 

District of Columbia. School districts associated with public schools and library media 

centers in public and BIE schools are also part of SASS. SASS has been conducted six 

times: in school years 1987-88, 1990-91, 1993-94, 1999-2000, 2003-04, and 2007-08. 

The 2007-08 SASS consisted of questionnaires for five types of respondents: school 

districts (public), schools (public, private, and BIE), principals (public, private, and BIE), 

teachers (public, private, and BIE), and school library media centers (public and BIE). 

Modified versions of the public principal, public school, and public teacher 

questionnaires that incorporated wording and questions appropriate for private school 

settings were sent to private schools. BIE and charter schools and schools in singleschool districts received a modified public school questionnaire that included both district 

and school items. BIE principals, teachers, and library media centers received the same 

questionnaires as public principals, public teachers, and public school library media 

centers. The Private School Questionnaire also incorporated the Private School Universe 

Survey (PSS) items that were collected at the same time as SASS in 2007-08.2

Information from all the surveys can be linked. For the content of the questionnaires, 

please see http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/question0708.asp. Appendix C of this report 

provides information about how the SASS data files used to produce this report were 

created. 

SASS was designed to produce national, regional, and state estimates for public 

elementary and secondary schools, teachers, principals, school districts, and school 

library media centers; national and regional estimates for public charter and BIE schools, 

teachers, principals, and school library media centers; and national, regional, and 

affiliation estimates for private schools, teachers, and principals. Comparisons between 

public and private schools and their principals and teachers are possible only at the 

regional and national levels, because private schools were selected for sampling by 

affiliation strata and region rather than by state. 

The teacher survey was designed to support comparisons between new and experienced 

teachers (3 years or less of experience vs. more than 3 years of experience) at the state 

level for public school teachers and at the regional or affiliation level for private school 

teachers. 

 

1

 Public schools include traditional public and charter schools. 

2

 The 2007-08 school year was a survey year for both SASS and PSS. The PSS is administered by NCES 

every 2 years to all private K-12 schools in the United States. The SASS Private School Questionnaire 

includes all of the PSS questions so that private schools selected for SASS would not be asked to complete 

two separate questionnaires. 

 B-2 
This appendix includes information on all components of SASS. For additional 

information on the specific SASS-related topics discussed in this appendix, consult the 

Documentation for the 2007-08 Schools and Staffing Survey (Tourkin et al. forthcoming). 

To access additional general information on SASS or for electronic copies of the 

questionnaires, go to the SASS home page (http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass). 

Sampling Frames and Sample Selection 

Public and BIE schools. The starting point for the 2007-08 SASS public school and BIE 

school sampling frame was the preliminary 2005-06 Common Core of Data (CCD) 

Nonfiscal School Universe data file. The CCD includes regular and nonregular schools 

(special education, alternative, vocational, or technical), public charter schools, and BIE 

schools. The sampling frame was adjusted from the CCD in order to fit the definition of a 

school eligible for SASS. To be eligible for SASS, 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 this case, they were 

treated as different schools if they had different administrators (i.e., principal or school 

head). 

The SASS definition of a school is generally similar to the CCD definition, with some 

exceptions. SASS is confined to the 50 states plus the District of Columbia and excludes 

the other jurisdictions and Department of Defense overseas schools. The CCD includes 

some schools that do not offer teacher-provided classroom instruction in grades 1-12 or 

the ungraded equivalent. In some instances, schools in the CCD are essentially 

administrative units that may oversee entities that provide classroom instruction or they 

may only provide funding and oversight. The CCD schools with the same location, 

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

assumption that the respondent would consider them to be one school. Because SASS 

allows schools to define themselves, Census Bureau staff observed that schools generally 

report as one entity in situations where the administration of two or more schools on the 

CCD is the same. A set of rules was applied in certain states 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 

the CCD were all modified to reflect the change. 

Finally, additional school records were added to the sampling frame. Most of these 

records were for Career Technical Centers or alternative, special education, or juvenile 

justice facilities in California, Pennsylvania, New York, and other states. For a detailed 

list of frame modifications, see the Documentation for the 2007-08 Schools and Staffing 

Survey (Tourkin et al. forthcoming). After adding, deleting, and collapsing school 

records, the SASS public school sampling frame consisted of 90,410 traditional public 

schools, 3,850 public charter schools, and 180 BIE schools. 

 B-3 
The SASS sample is a stratified probability-proportionate-to-size (PPS) sample. With the 

exception of BIE schools, all schools underwent multiple levels of stratification.3

 The 

sample was allocated so that national-, regional-, and state-level elementary, secondary, 

and combined public school estimates could be made. The sample was allocated to each 

state by grade range (elementary, secondary, and combined) and school type (traditional 

public, public charter, BIE-funded, and schools with high American Indian enrollment). 

For a full description of the allocation procedure, see the Documentation for the 2007-08 

Schools and Staffing Survey (Tourkin et al. forthcoming). Within each stratum, all nonBIE schools were systematically selected using a PPS algorithm. The measure of size 

used for the schools was the square root of the number of full-time-equivalent teachers 

reported or imputed for each school during the sampling frame creation. Any school with 

a measure of size greater than the sampling interval (the inverse of the rate at which the 

sample is selected) was included in the sample with certainty and thus automatically 

excluded from the probability sampling operation. (For a more detailed explanation of 

PPS sampling, consult Sampling Techniques [Cochran 1977].) These sampling 

procedures resulted in a total public school sample of about 9,800 public schools 

(including both traditional public and public charter schools) and 180 BIE schools in the 

2007-08 SASS. 

Private schools. The 2007-08 SASS private school frame was based on the 2005-06 

Private School Universe Survey (PSS).4 The PSS is designed to generate biennial data on 

the total number of private schools, students, and teachers and to build a universe of 

private schools in the 50 states and the District of Columbia to serve as a sampling frame 

of private schools for NCES sample surveys, such as SASS. Prior to each PSS collection, 

NCES updates the list of schools to be included in the PSS by collecting membership lists 

from private school associations and religious denominations, as well as private school 

lists from state education departments. This list-frame update is intended to improve 

coverage of new private schools and private schools previously not included in the PSS. 

Since the list-frame update for the 2007-08 PSS preceded the SASS frame building, the 

SASS private school sample frame was augmented with the private schools discovered 

during the PSS list-frame update. The SASS private school frame also includes schools in 

the 2005-06 PSS area frame. This area frame includes schools that were overlooked in 

the list-building operation. In a sample of 124 geographical areas (out of 2,062), local 

field staff used such resources as local telephone directories, local resource guides, etc., 

to identify schools. The resultant lists of schools were matched to the PSS list frame, and 

any school that was not part of the list frame was added as an area frame school. 

During the creation of the SASS private school sampling frame, schools with 

kindergarten as the highest grade level were deleted from the frame. Also, private school 

records that were missing information necessary for the SASS school sample selection 

were amended. For example, the school grade range was needed to stratify SASS schools 

during the private school sampling process. If the data on school grade range were 

missing, values were assigned in one of four ways: taking information from earlier PSS 

data, using information from the school’s name (e.g., middle school) to assign a grade 

 

3

 BIE schools that fit the SASS definition of a school were included in the 2007-08 SASS public school 

sample with certainty. 

4

 For more information about the PSS, see http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss. 

 B-4 
range, calling the school to assign a specific grade range, or, as a last resort, assigning a 

grade level of combined (both elementary and secondary levels). Missing information on 

school affiliation and student and teacher counts were assigned in a similar manner. After 

these changes, the private school sampling frame consisted of 28,490 private schools. 

Private schools were stratified by affiliation, grade level (elementary, secondary, and 

combined), and census region (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West). The number of 

private school affiliation strata was reduced from 17 in 2003-04 to 11 in 2007-08. The 

current affiliation strata include 

Catholic – parochial; 

Catholic – diocesan; 

Catholic – private; 

Baptist; 

Jewish; 

Lutheran; 

Seventh-Day Adventist; 

Other religious; 

Nonsectarian – regular; 

Nonsectarian – special emphasis; and 

Nonsectarian – special education. 

Within each stratum, private schools in the list frame were systematically selected using a 

PPS algorithm. The measure of size used was the square root of the number of full-timeequivalent teachers. Any school with a measure of size larger than the sampling interval 

was excluded from the probability sampling process and included in the sample with 

certainty. About 2,940 private schools were sampled, 2,760 from the list frame and 180 

from the 2005-06 PSS area frame. 

School districts. Since the SASS sample design calls for schools to be selected first, the 

school district sample consists of the districts that were associated with the schools in the 

public school sample. This provides the linkage between the district and the school. 

However, in Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, and West Virginia, a different 

sampling method was used because an earlier simulation study revealed that in these 

states standard errors were high relative to the sampling rate. To improve the reliability of 

SASS school district estimates, all districts in these states were included in the sample. 

Placing all districts in each of these five states in the sample reduced the overall state 

standard error to zero, if all districts responded. About 5,250 public school districts were 

pulled into the sample by being associated with sampled public schools. 

Teachers. Teachers are defined as staff who teach regularly scheduled classes to students 

in any of grades K-12. Teacher rosters (i.e., Teacher Listing Forms) were collected from 

sampled schools, primarily by mail, and compiled at the Census Bureau. This 

compilation was done on an ongoing basis throughout the roster collection period. Along 

with the names of teachers, sampled schools were asked to provide information about 

each teacher’s teaching experience (1-3 years, 4-19 years, and 20 or more years), 

teaching status (full- or part-time), and subject matter taught (special education, general 

 B-5 
elementary, math, science, English/language arts, social studies, vocational/technical, or 

other), as well as whether the school felt the teacher would likely be teaching at the same 

school the following year. 

Sampling was also done on an ongoing basis throughout the roster collection period. The 

Census Bureau first stratified teachers into five teacher types: (1) new teachers expected 

to be teaching at the same school the next school year, (2) experienced teachers expected 

to be teaching at the same school the next school year, (3) new teachers expected to leave 

the next school year, (4) mid-career teachers expected to leave the next school year, and 

(5) highly experienced teachers expected to leave the next school year. Before teachers 

were allocated to these strata, schools were first allocated an overall number of teachers 

to be selected within each school stratum. Sampling rates for teachers varied between the 

strata listed above. Private school teachers in above category 2 and all teachers in above 

categories 3-5 were oversampled at different rates. So that a school would not be 

overburdened by sampling too large a proportion of its teachers, the maximum number of 

teachers per school was set at 20. About 14 percent of the eligible public schools, 15 

percent of the eligible private schools, and 13 percent of eligible BIE schools did not 

provide teacher lists. For these schools, no teachers were selected. Within each teacher 

stratum in each school, teachers were selected systematically with equal probability. 

About 56,360 teachers were sampled, 47,440 from public schools, 750 from BIE schools, 

and 8,180 from private schools (detail may not sum to totals because of rounding). 

Principals. The principal of each sampled school was selected. About 12,910 school 

principals were sampled (9,800 public, 180 BIE, and 2,940 private) (detail may not sum 

to totals because of rounding). 

Library media centers. A library media center in each sampled public and BIE school 

was also selected. Private schools were not included in the library media center survey 

because of NCES budget constraints. About 9,800 public school and 180 BIE school 

library media centers were sampled. 

Data Collection Procedures 

Before the administration of the 2007-08 SASS, several changes were made in the survey 

sample design, questionnaire content, procedures, and methodology. For details on these 

changes, see the Documentation for the 2007-08 Schools and Staffing Survey (Tourkin et 

al. forthcoming). 

In 2007-08, SASS employed a mail-based survey approach, with subsequent telephone 

and field follow-up. In preparation for data collection, advance letters were mailed to the 

sampled schools in September 2007 to verify their addresses. School packages were 

 B-6 
mailed at the beginning of the school year.5

 Next, schools were telephoned using a 

computer-assisted telephone-interviewing (CATI) instrument to verify school 

information, establish a survey coordinator (who became the main contact person at the 

school for subsequent communication), and follow up on the Teacher Listing Form. 

Teacher questionnaires were mailed to schools on a flow basis as teachers were sampled 

on an ongoing basis from the data provided on the Teacher Listing Form. The field 

follow-up period was preceded by phone calls from the telephone centers to remind the 

survey coordinator to have staff complete and return all forms. Individual survey 

respondents (principal, librarian, and teachers) were also called from the telephone 

centers and asked to complete the questionnaire by phone. Data collection ended in June 

2008. 

Data Processing and Imputation

The Census Bureau used both central processing and headquarters staff to check returned 

questionnaires, capture data, and implement 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, and a blanking edit.6 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 using a two stage process. In the first stage, items were imputed 

with a valid response using data either from the sample frame, other items in the same 

SASS questionnaire, or another questionnaire associated with the same school or school 

district. In addition, data were ratio adjusted in some circumstances so that items were 

consistent with one another. In the second stage, donor-respondent methods, such as hotdeck imputation, were used. If no suitable donor case could be matched, the few 

remaining items were imputed with a mean or mode from groups of similar cases. 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. Imputation flags, indicating which imputation method 

 

5

 The SASS school package contained a cover letter to the principal, a cover letter to the survey 

coordinator, the Teacher Listing Form, the Public School Principal Questionnaire/Private School Principal 

Questionnaire, the Public School Questionnaire/Public School Questionnaire (With District Items)/Private 

School Questionnaire, the School Library Media Center Questionnaire (for public and BIE-funded schools 

only), postage-paid return envelopes, an NCES pamphlet detailing general information about SASS, an 

NCES brochure detailing some of the findings from the 2003-04 SASS, and the Statistical Abstract of the 

United States: 2007 CD. 6

 Blanking edits delete answers to questions that should not have been filled in (e.g., if a respondent 

followed a wrong skip pattern). 

 B-7 
was used, were assigned to each imputed survey variable. For further information, see the 

section on data processing and imputation in the Documentation for the 2007-08 Schools 

and Staffing Survey (Tourkin 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 SASS unit response rate 

was produced by dividing the base-weighted number of respondents who completed 

questionnaires by the base-weighted number of eligible sampled cases.7 Table B-1 

summarizes the base-weighted unit response rates for each survey type. Because response 

rates vary between surveys, it is possible not to have information for all the components 

related to a particular school. For example, it is possible that a district does not have a 

corresponding school record or there may not be a principal record for every school. 

Table B-1. Base-weighted unit and overall response rates, by survey: 2007-08 

Survey 

Unit response rate 

(percent) 

Overall response 

rate (percent) 

Public School Teacher Listing Form 86.2 † 

BIE School Teacher Listing Form 87.3 † 

Private School Teacher Listing Form 85.1 † 

Public School District 87.8 † 

Public School 80.4 † 

BIE School 77.1 † 

Private School 75.9 † 

Public School Principal 79.4 † 

BIE School Principal 79.2 † 

Private School Principal 72.2 † 

Public School Teacher 84.0 72.4 

BIE School Teacher 81.8 71.4 

Private School Teacher 77.5 65.9 

Public School Library Media Center 81.7 † 

BIE School Library Media Center 78.9 † 

† Not applicable. 

NOTE: Response rates were weighted using the inverse of the probability of selection (base weight). BIE 

refers to schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Education that are operated by the BIE, a tribe, or a 

private contractor and not by a regular school district. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing 

Survey, “Public School Teacher, BIE School Teacher, and Private School Teacher Listing Forms, Public 

School District, Public School, BIE School, Private School, Public School Principal, BIE School Principal, 

Private School Principal, Public School Teacher, BIE School Teacher, Private School Teacher, Public 

School Library Media Center, and BIE School Library Media Center data files,” 2007-08. 

 

7

 For the formula used to calculate the unit response rate, see NCES Statistical Standards (U.S. Department 

of Education 2003). 

 B-8 
Overall response rates. The overall response rate represents the response rate to the 

survey taking into consideration each stage of the survey. For teachers, the overall 

response rate is calculated as the product of the response rate to two stages: the Teacher 

Listing Form and the teacher questionnaire.8

 The base-weighted overall response rate for 

public school teachers was 72.4 percent; for BIE school teachers, 71.4 percent; and for 

private school teachers, 65.9 percent. For the other surveys, the overall and unit response 

rates are the same since they have only one data collection stage. 

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, all SASS files were evaluated for potential bias. First, the base-weighted 

unit response rate was calculated by state, region, or affiliation depending on the sector 

(public, BIE, and private respectively). If the base-weighted response rate for any state, 

region, or affiliation was below 85 percent, a detailed comparison of respondents to the 

frame population was conducted by examining the following characteristics: grade level, 

urbanicity, enrollment, and state/affiliation. A difference between the frame and 

respondent population was considered noteworthy if the difference was statistically 

significant and the following four conditions were met: 

• The relative difference between the frame and respondent population was greater 

than 10 percent; 

• The absolute difference was greater than one percentage point; 

• The coefficient of variation was less than 15 percent; and 

• The cell for each subpopulation contained at least 30 interviews. 

As shown in table B-1, the base-weighted response rate was 87.8 percent for public 

school districts. When response rates were calculated further by state, 16 states had rates 

below 85 percent. Table B-2 contains a list of the comparisons between the frame and the 

weighted distribution that were analyzed for potential bias, with an indication of the 

comparisons with evidence of potential bias. 

Table B-2. Comparisons between frame distribution and base-weighted and final-weighted respondent 

distributions for public school districts with an indication of potential sources of bias: 2007-08 

Potential source of bias 

Base-weighted 

respondent distribution 

Final-weighted 

respondent distribution 

New York, enrollment (2,500-5,000 students) x x 

Arizona, locale (rural) x 

State (Nebraska) x 

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

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing 

Survey (SASS), "Public School District Data File," 2007-08. 

 

8

 For the formula used to calculate the overall response rate, see NCES Statistical Standards (U.S. 

Department of Education 2003). 

 B-9 
Nonresponse adjustments were designed to reduce or eliminate nonresponse bias. The 

following variables were included in the nonresponse adjustments: urbanicity, 

enrollment, and state. The final-weighted comparison to the frame reflects the 

nonresponse adjustment. Table B-2 shows those comparisons that have evidence of 

potential bias after the nonresponse adjustments were included. For further information 

on unit response rates and nonresponse bias analysis, see the Documentation for the 

2007-08 Schools and Staffing Survey (Tourkin 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 SASS item response rate is 

calculated by dividing the base-weighted number of respondents who provided an answer 

to an item by the base-weighted number of respondents who were eligible to answer that 

item.9 Table B-3 provides a brief summary of the base-weighted item response rates for 

each survey. The nonresponse bias analysis conducted at the item level revealed no 

substantial evidence of bias in the public school district file. For further information on 

nonresponse bias analysis and item response rates, see the Documentation for the 2007-

08 Schools and Staffing Survey (Tourkin et al. forthcoming). 

Table B-3. Summary of base-weighted item response rates, by survey: 2007-08 

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 Teacher Listing Form † † 

BIE School Teacher Listing Form † † 

Private School Teacher Listing Form † † 

Public School District 97.9 2.1 

Public School 95.2 4.8 

BIE School 85.8 14.2 

Private School 88.3 11.7 

Public School Principal 99.4 0.6 

BIE School Principal 98.2 1.8 

Private School Principal 98.0 2.0 

Public School Teacher 91.4 8.6 

BIE School Teacher 86.8 13.2 

Private School Teacher 90.0 10.0 

Public School Library Media Center 95.1 4.9 

BIE School Library Media Center 93.4 6.6 

† Not applicable. 

NOTE: Response rates were weighted using the inverse of the probability of selection (base weight). Detail 

may not sum to totals because of rounding. BIE refers to schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Education 

that are operated by the BIE, a tribe, or a private contractor and not by a regular school district. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing 

Survey, “Public School, BIE School, and Private School Teacher Listing Forms, Public School District, 

Public School, BIE School, Private School, Public School Principal, BIE School Principal, Private School 

Principal, Public School Teacher, BIE School Teacher, Private School Teacher, Public School Library 

Media Center, and BIE School Library Media Center data files,” 2007-08. 

 

9

 For the formula to calculate the item response rate, see NCES Statistical Standards (U.S. Department of 

Education 2003). 

 B-10 
Weighting

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

target survey population. For SASS, a base weight (e.g., the inverse of the sampled 

teacher’s probability of selection) is used as the starting point. Next, a series of 

nonresponse adjustment factors are calculated and applied using information from the 

2003-04 SASS nonresponse bias analysis and information about the respondents known 

from the sampling frame data. Finally, for some files, a ratio adjustment factor is 

calculated and applied to the sample to adjust the sample totals to the frame totals. The 

product of these factors is the final weight for each SASS respondent, which appears as 

DFNLWT on the SASS Public School District data file, AFNLWGT on all SASS 

Principal data files, SFNLWGT on all SASS School data files, TFNLWGT on all SASS 

Teacher data files, and MFNLWGT on all SASS Library Media Center data files. 

The counts in table 1 do not necessarily match the frame counts because some cases in 

the frame were found to be ineligible (i.e., out-of-scope) and because not all data files 

(e.g., principal or library media center) are post-stratified to match the frame counts. 

Variance Estimation 

In surveys with complex sample designs, such as SASS, direct estimates of sampling 

errors that assume a simple random sample typically underestimate the variability in the 

estimates. The SASS sample design and estimation include procedures that deviate from 

the assumption of simple random sampling, such as stratifying the school sample, 

oversampling new teachers, and sampling with differential probabilities. 

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

Replication methods involve constructing a number of subsamples (i.e., replicates) from 

the full sample and computing the statistic of interest for each replicate. The mean square 

error of the replicate estimates around the full sample estimate provides an estimate of the 

variance of the statistic. Each SASS data file includes a set of 88 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 SASS respondents are 

DREPWT1-DREPWT88 for districts, AREPWT1-AREPWT88 for principals, 

SREPWT1-SREPWT88 for schools, TREPWT1-TREPWT88 for teachers, and 

MREPWT1-MREPWT88 for library media centers. 

 B-11 
Reliability of Data

SASS 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 SASS 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. 

Caution Concerning Changes in Estimates 

Care must be taken in estimating change over time in a SASS data element, because some 

of the measured change 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 

questionnaire item wording, or other changes. For example, the definition of locale codes 

has undergone major changes since the 2000 Decennial Census. The first major change 

was an improvement in geocoding technology, which improved the assignment of 

specific addresses to physical locations. In 2005, a new locale code for CCD was 

implemented based on the new urban-centric method of classifying locale. Changes in 

how areas and, thus, schools are categorized may account for at least some changes that 

are noted from previous administrations. 

To facilitate the transition from the older locale codes to the new ones, locale codes based 

on geographic concepts from both the 2000 Decennial Census and the new urban-centric 

method are included in the 2007-08 SASS data files. (SLOCP8, URBANS8, DLOCP8, 

and URBAND8 use the 2000 Census metropolitan areas, and SLOCP12, URBANS12, 

DLOCP12, and URBAND12 use the new urban-centric method.) The specific categories 

reported by the 2000 Census locale codes are based upon the 2000 Census definitions for 

central city, urban fringe of a large or medium-sized central city, large or small town, and 

rural areas either inside a metropolitan area or outside a metropolitan area. The new 

urban-centric locale codes are based on the more immediate proximity of a physical 

location to an urbanized area than are the older, county-based locale codes. This report 

uses the new urban-centric locale codes. 

 B-12 
Appendix C: Description of Data Files 

C-1 
Description of Data Files 

The 2007-08 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) data are being released in 12 data files. 

Those data files were created from nine survey questionnaires: the School District 

Questionnaire, School Questionnaire (public), Private School Questionnaire, Public 

School Questionnaire (With District Items),1 Principal Questionnaire, Private School 

Principal Questionnaire, Teacher Questionnaire, Private School Teacher Questionnaire, 

and Library Media Center Questionnaire. Table C-1 identifies each data file and the 

questionnaire data used to build the file. 

Table C-1. Names of data files and the questionnaires from which the data were drawn: 2007-08 

Data file Questionnaire source 

School district School District Questionnaire, Public School Questionnaire (With District 

Items) 

Public school School Questionnaire, Public School Questionnaire (With District Items) 

Private school Private School Questionnaire 

BIE school Public School Questionnaire (With District Items) 

Public school principal Principal Questionnaire 

Private school principal Private School Principal Questionnaire 

BIE school principal Principal Questionnaire 

Public school teacher Teacher Questionnaire 

Private school teacher Private School Teacher Questionnaire 

BIE school teacher Teacher Questionnaire 

Public school library media center Library Media Center Questionnaire 

BIE school library media center Library Media Center Questionnaire 

NOTE: BIE refers to schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Education that are operated by the BIE, a tribe, or a 

private contractor and not by a regular school district. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey

(SASS), 2007-08.

For the most part, there is a separate data file for each type of respondent (district, school, 

principal, teacher, and library media center) for each school type or sector (public,2

private, and BIE-funded [BIE]). There are two exceptions: 1) there are no School District 

files for private and BIE schools as these sectors do not have districts, per se, and 2) there 

is no Library Media Center data file for private schools because library media centers in 

private schools were not included in the 2007-08 SASS (for budget reasons). 

The School District data file includes responses from school districts to the School 

District Questionnaire along with the “district items” taken from the Public School 

Questionnaire (With District Items) completed by the subset of public schools that were 

not associated with “traditional” school districts. These schools include state-run schools, 

 

1

 The School Questionnaire (With District Items) is an expanded version of the Public School 

Questionnaire that includes items from the School District Questionnaire. 2

 Public includes traditional public and public charter. 

C-2 
traditional public schools in single-school districts, and independent charter schools. 

Rather than ask these public schools to complete two questionnaires, School and School 

District, NCES created the Public School Questionnaire (With District Items) to capture 

district data from these schools. Table C-2 shows the different respondents and 

questionnaires used to create the School District data file. 

Table C-2. The number of cases in the School District data file, by respondent and source of data: 2007-08 

Respondent Source of data in the district file Number of cases 

 Total 4,600 

Regular districts School District Questionnaire 3,950 

State run schools1 Public School Questionnaire (With District Items) 40 

Schools in single-school districts Public School Questionnaire (With District Items) 470 

Independent charter schools Public School Questionnaire (With District Items) 140 

1

 These include schools for the blind, career and technical centers, and schools in detention centers run by a state. 

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

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), 

"Public School District and Public School Data Files," 2007-08. 

The “district items” gathered from the Public School Questionnaire (With District Items) 

were not placed on the Public School data file, but they were kept with the school items 

on the BIE School data file. 

C-3 
Appendix D: Description of Variables 

D-1 
Description of Variables 

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

names that begin with “D” and are followed by four digits are survey variables that come 

from items on the Public School District Questionnaire. For survey variables, the numeric 

part of the variable name can be found in the questionnaires to the left of the 

corresponding question. The variables without the letter plus four digit names are 

“created 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 the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) 

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

definitions for the created variables follow table D-1. The variables without a variable 

name were created for this analysis and are not on the data files. 

Table D-1. Variables used in the Characteristics of Public School Districts in the United States: Results 

Table D-1 From the 2007-08 Schools and Staffing Survey report: 2007-08 

Variable 

name in data 

Variable file 

Average number of years of instruction in computer science needed for a standard 

diploma D0373 

Average number of years of instruction in English for language arts needed for a 

standard diploma D0371 

Average number of years of instruction in foreign language needed for a standard 

diploma D0376 

Average number of years of instruction in mathematics needed for a standard diploma D0372 

Average number of years of instruction in physical or biological sciences needed for a 

standard diploma D0375 

Average number of years of instruction in social sciences or social studies (e.g. history, 

geography, economics) needed for a standard diploma D0374 

Base salary for teachers with bachelor's degree and 10 years of teaching experience D0331 

Base salary for teachers with bachelor's degree and no teaching experience D0330 

Base salary for teachers with highest possible step on the salary schedule D0334 

Base salary for teachers with master's degree and 10 years of teaching experience D0333 

Base salary for teachers with master's degree and no teaching experience D0332 

Base salary of the highest paid full-time principal D0327 

Base salary of the highest paid full-time teacher D0336 

Base salary of the lowest paid full-time principal D0326 

Base salary of the lowest paid full-time teacher D0335 

District enrollment D0276 

District gives incentives to recruit or retain teachers to teach in a less desirable location D0349 

See notes at end of table. 

D-2 
Table D-1. Variables used in the Characteristics of Public School Districts in the United States: Results 

Table D-1 From the 2007-08 Schools and Staffing Survey report: 2007-08—Continued 

Variable 

Variable 

name in data 

file 

District gives incentives to recruit or retain teachers to teach in fields of shortage D0350 

District grants high school diplomas D0370 

District has meet-and-confer agreement with a principals' association or union D0299 

District has meet-and-confer agreement with a teachers' association or union D0296 

District has no specific agreement with a principals' association or union D0299 

District has no specific agreement with a teachers' association or union D0296 

District has salary schedules for principals D0325 

District has salary schedules for teachers D0328 

District has tenure system for principals D0301 

District offers defined-benefit retirement plan D0340 

District offers defined-contribution retirement plan D0341 

District offers dental insurance D0338 

District offers free training in fields with current or anticipated shortages D0315 

District offers general medical insurance D0337 

District offers group life insurance D0339 

District offers housing, housing subsidies, or rent assistance D0344 

District offers subsidized meals D0345 

District offers subsidized transportation D0346 

District offers tuition reimbursement D0343 

District rewards excellence in teaching D0348 

District rewards teachers who have attained National Board for Professional Teaching 

Standards certification D0347 

District that has collective bargaining agreement with a principals' association or union D0299 

District that has collective bargaining agreement with a teachers' association or union D0296 

District uses finder's fee to existing staff for new teacher referrals to recruit new 

teachers D0314 

District uses forgiveness of student loan(s) funded by the district to recruit new teachers D0312 

District uses relocation assistance to recruit new teachers D0313 

District uses signing bonuses to recruit new teachers D0311 

Districts has a training program for aspiring school administrators D0317 

Number of days in the normal contract year for principals D0300 

Number of newly-hired principals D0316 

See notes at end of table. 

D-3 
Table D-1. Variables used in the Characteristics of Public School Districts in the United States: Results 

Table D-1 From the 2007-08 Schools and Staffing Survey report: 2007-08—Continued 

Variable 

Variable 

name in data 

file 

Number of principals D0298 

AG_NOSC21 Number of schools per district 

Number of teachers D0295 

Number of teachers in public school districts who were dismissed or did not have their 

contracts renewed ---(1)

Number of teachers with tenure in public school districts who were dismissed or did not 

have their contracts renewed D0319 

Number of teachers without tenure in public school districts who were dismissed or did 

not have their contracts renewed D0318 

NSLAPP_D1 Percentage of students in district approved for National School Lunch Program 

Teachers who were newly hired for grades K-12 and comparable ungraded levels D0310 

URBAND121 Urban-centric district locale code 

1

The definition for this variable can be found below. 

Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing 

Survey (SASS), “Public School District Data File,” 2007-08. 

Number of schools per district (AG_NOSC2): A created categorical variable based on 

the continuous variable that identifies the number of public schools per school district, 

after frame collapsing procedure. 

Number of teachers in public school districts who were dismissed or did not have 

their contracts renewed: A variable created for this analysis by adding D0318— the 

number of teachers without tenure in public school districts who were dismissed or did 

not have their contracts renewed— and D0319— the number of teachers with tenure in 

public school districts who were dismissed or did not have their contracts renewed. 

Percentage of students in district approved for the National School Lunch Program 

(NSLAPP_D): NSLAPP_D is a continuous variable created by dividing the number of 

students approved for free or reduced-price lunches (D0287) by the total number of K-12 

grade students enrolled among districts approved for the National School Lunch Program 

(NSLP) (D0295). Districts that did not participate in the NSLP have valid skip values. 

For this report, NSLAPP_D is re-coded as a categorical variable describing the 

proportion of students approved for free or reduced price lunches. 

Urban-centric district locale code (URBAND12): A created variable collapsed from the 

12 category urban-centric district locale code (DCLOP_07) which was assigned using the 

2000 Decennial Census data and recoded into four categories: city, suburban, town, and 

rural. 

D-4