1 2015
- 16 NATIONAL TEACHER AND PRI NCIPAL SURVEY (NT PS) PRELIMINARY FIE LD AC TIVI TIES

SCHOOLDI STRICTS AND SCHOOL S PRE
- CONTACT MATERIALS

OMB# 1850
- 0598 v .10

September 2014 National Center For Education Statistics (NCES)2 

## Special District Contact Call Script 2015 - 16 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) Label Information

A. Special District Research Application
- Contact Person’s Information Contact Name: Contact Title: Contact Phone Number: Contact E - mail: **Notes**

A. INTRODUCTION and CONTACT INFORMATION A1. **Hello, this is _____ from the U.S. Census Bureau. Have I reached (district name)?**  **d**

_ Yes  GO TO item A2.

_ Different district name  Probe for district name if necessary and correct the district name in the address area above. If the difference is significant, record the change in the Notes section. Try to confirm the name change (e.g., respondent says, “We used to be Jefferson District but are now Washington District.”). GO TO item A2.

_ No  Verify that you dialed correctly. _ Correct number dialed  Probe for the respondent’s name, location, and whether the person or organization reached is related to the district in any way. Record information in the Notes section. Thank respondent and end call. _ Wrong number dialed  Dial correct number. GO TO item A1 above.

_ District closed  Probe for the respondent’s name, former position, the closing date, and any other information to confirm that it is a closure rather than change in status . Record information in the Notes section. Thank respondent and end call.

_ District merged  Probe for the name of the merged districts , location and the date of the merge. Record information in the Notes section. GO TO item A2. Refer case to supervisor following the call. A2. **This call may be monitored to evaluate my performance and should only take a few minutes. During the upcoming school year we will be conducting the**  **National Teacher and Principal Survey (**  **NTPS )**  **for the U.S. Depar tment of Education.** 3

**The NTPS**  **is a series of integrated questionnaires that provide data on education to Federal, state ,**  **and local policymakers as well as education researchers.**  **This voluntary survey is authorized by law ( 20 U.S. Code §9543 of the**  **Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA)**  **). The Office of M**  **anagement and Budget approval number**  **for this study is**  **1850 -**  **0 598**  **. The**  **data provided by the**  **school and staff may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identi**  **fiable form for any other purpose except as required by law ( 20 U.S. Code §957**  **3 ).**  A3. **I would like to verify your mailing address for the purposes of delivering a research application**  **. Is the**  **following address correct?** Read address from label on cover p age. Make any necessary corrections on the label. Then GO TO item A 4 . A4. **Can you tell me the name of the person most appropriate to receive this request (for research approval)?**

_ Yes  Record contact name and title in the appropriate spaces of the Con tact Information section on the cover page. Probe for the contact person’s direct phone line and email address and record it in the Contact Information section. GO TO item A5.

_ No  Try to probe for a contact name. If unsuccessful, set appointment and re cord on the call record. GO TO item A5. A4. **Can you tell me about how long the district spends reviewing research applications?** _ Yes  Record inf

ormation in the Notes section. Thank respondent and end call.

_ No  Thank respondent and end call.4 **District Cover Letter**

[Name] December 15, 2014 [Position, Department] [School District] [Street Address] [City, State, Zip] [Name] The National Center for Education Statistics is requesting approval for the administration of the 20 15 - 16 National Teacher and Principal Survey ( NTP S) in some of the schools within the [School District Name] School District during the 20 15 - 16 school year. The NTPS is a redesigned successor to the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS)
. Like SASS, the NTPS is designed to measure critical aspects of schools and teaching, the composition of the principal and teacher workforce, and conditions in schools. The National Teacher and Principal Survey is administered once every 2 years to a sample of schools, principals, and teachers. **No student or classroom time is involved** . With the results from the NTPS , the National Center for Education Statistics produces estimates of public school characteristics and comparisons among eleme ntary and secondary schools at the national level. The information provided by the principals, schools, and teachers in your area will represent the uniqueness and diversity of your school district and will contribute to a robust portrait of education in t he United States. By participating in the NTPS, schools in your district will provide important information that will improve the primary source of official statistics on characteristics of schools, teachers, and principals in the U.S. Further information can be found on the NTPS website at http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ntps/
. Any of our publications can be ordered w ithout charge from the website. The enclosed materials describe the purpose, survey topics, sample sizes, and respondent burden for the su rvey. D raft versions of the 2015
- 16 NTPS questionnaires are included for your review. In addition to these application materials, a District Administration Form is enclosed that , when filled out, will indicate whether or not your district has approved the partic ipation of sampled school(s). This form will facilitate participation in NTP S. Please return this form at your earliest convenience . Th is form may be returned by fax to Aniekan Okon at (301) 763
- 6192 or by email to aniekan.a.okon@census.gov. If you requir e further information, please let me know, and I will be happy to provide it. Sincerely, Andrew Zukerberg Project Director, National Teacher and Principal Survey National Center for Education Statistics 1990 K St. NW, Suite # 9046 Washington, D.C. 200065 

## 201 **5 -**  **1 6**  **NTPS Generic Research App lication**  **CONTACT** Applicant: Andy Zukerberg Title: Statistician Affiliation: National Center for Education Statistics

United States Department of Education Address: 1990 K Street NW, Suite # 9046

Washington, DC 20006 Phone: (202) 219
- 7056 Fax: (202) 502
- 7475 E
- mail: andrew.zukerberg@ed.gov U.S. Census Bureau Contact: Aniekan Okon 301.763.6192 aniekan.a.okon@census.gov **TITLE** National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) , 2015
- 16 **PURPOSE** The need for contextual data on teachers, school principals, and school policies and programs has been well established. In response to concerns about the status of teaching and education, state and local education policy

makers have sought more information about the sc hool environment, the composition of the school workforce, and policies affecting the recruitment, retention, and retirement of teachers. The National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) is sponsored by

the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the statistical agency for the United States Department of Education, to gather data on the teaching and working conditions in public elementary and secondary

schools in the United States. NTPS is authorized by

the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, 2 0 U.S. Code §9543. NTPS provides data on the characteristics and qualifications of teachers and principals, teacher hiring practices, class size, and other conditions in schools across the nation. NTPS is a redesigned successor to the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). NTPS will maintain the role SASS served as the Department of Education’s primary source of information on the teacher labor market and what is happening in K
- 12 schools from the teacher’s and administrator’s perspectives. NTPS is integrated with other ED data collections to reduce requests for redundant information from schools and districts. NTPS, which is conducted on a 2
- year c ycl e, is a large survey of K
- 12 schools, teachers, and principals in the United States today . Its data will be us ed b y a wide variety of people interested in K
- 12 education, including teacher professional organizations, education advocacy groups, legislators, researchers, and journalists. NTPS provides a unique resource for information on elementary and secondary edu cation by linking data provided b y schools with their respective principals and teachers. Data can be anal yz ed not only within each component (i.e., the school, principal, and teacher data files), but also across components or data files. This linkage acro ss the different respondent groups makes NTPS data unique among school survey s and allows researchers to study the complexities of the American education system from multiple perspectives. For example, researchers can study teacher attrition using information from not only teachers but also from their schools and principals. The integrated survey design also allows NCES to collect information from the school personnel who can best supply it, causing less inconvenience to respondents and providing more accurate information.6

**HYPOTHESES** Congress, the Department of Education , and other Federal agencies, State Departments of Education, education associations, and the education research community will use data from the 2015
- 16 NTPS to conduct research on a range o f issues. In the past, some of the most frequently published topics have included class size, new teachers, out
- of
- field teaching, professional development, teacher attrition/retention, and teacher qualifications. Based on previous administrations of NTPS, the data will be used to produce national statistics on:
 Teacher capacity

as defined by

teacher qualifications, career paths, professional development activities, and support for these aspects of teachers’ careers b y s chool s and district; and
 School capac ity

as defined by

school organization and decision
- making, management of curriculum and instruction, school programs, and school safety. **SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY** The primary

purpose of the National Teacher and Principal Survey is to provide valuable info rmation about schools and school staff, and the teaching and working conditions in the nation’s schools. With the help of survey

participants, the National Center for Education Statistics is able to produce national estimates of public school characteristi cs and facilitate comparisons among elementary , middle, high, and combined elementary

/secondary

schools at the national level. The ability of NCES to provide this beneficial service is contingent upon the voluntary participation of schools, principals, and teachers whose inclusion is dependent upon their districts’ approval. The National Teacher and Principal Survey provides respondents with the opportunity to participate in a unique national survey and thereb y contribute to data that are used b y researcher s interested in improving the education s ys tem in the United States. The [ District Name ] benefits from being a sampled district by representing itself and also the state of [ State ] . Consequently, yo ur district’s participation will improve the estimates, which will result in higher quality data. By choosing to participate, the policies and characteristics of the [ District Name ] will be reflected in the 201 5
- 1 6 NTPS
. The important information provided b y yo ur district’s schools, principals, and teachers will better inform and shape future education policies. **MEASUREMENT** Each topic is briefl y described below in terms of the broad education issues in need of measurement. **Teacher Qual ity and Career Paths**  Teacher quality and the factors that influence it have become the focus of many educational researchers and the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. The movement of teachers in and out of the teaching workforce has be en a central concern of NTPS/SASS since 1987 when data describing these phenomena were first collected. Building upon this base, more detailed indicators of teachers’ career paths may help explain entry

into teaching and teacher attrition. Teachers’ experi ences during the recruitment process and their first ye ar of teaching can greatly influence decisions to continue teaching. Teacher quality items help inform NCES about the characteristics of training, which can be related to teaching assignments. Quality is defined as the match between teacher preparation (degrees, certification, and endorsements) and teaching assignment fields. These topics are measured in fine detail in the NTPS. **Teacher Recruitment, Retention, and Evaluation** Recruiting and retention methods for teachers are a major topic of interest as schools and districts investigate way s to recruit and retain high
- quality teachers. Questions in the School Questionnaire explore teacher vacancies and the ease with which positions are filled. Teachers are asked about their plans to remain in the teaching profession in the Teacher Questionnaire. Recent additions to the Principal Questionnaire explore the evaluation of teachers.7

**School Reform** An important role of NTPS is to document the evolution of majo r reforms, especiall y as they affect schools and teaching practices. Topics continued from the 1999
- 2000, 2003
- 04, 2007
- 08, and 2011
- 12 SASS questionnaires to the NTPS questionnaires include the amount of influence principals and teachers have in setting s chool policies. **School Safety** School safety is frequently reported as a major problem in public schools in the United States. Violence and drug abuse in schools put huge constraints on teachers, students, administrators, and schools. In creased attention to school safety has led policy makers to begin examining school safety at the national level. The school safety i tems include the principal’s knowledge of violence and other school problems as well as incidents of teachers being threatened or phy sicall y attacked. **Basic Descriptive Information** Each of the NTPS surveys contains questions that provide basic descriptive information on the respondent:

▪ The Principal and Teacher Questionnaires include items on gender, age, and race/ethnicity ;

▪ The Principal Questi onnaire includes items on principals’ licensure, highest degree earned, years of teaching experience, and salary ;

▪ The Teacher Questionnaire contains items on years of teaching experience, education degrees and fields, certification, salary, and main teaching assignment; and

▪ The School Questionnaire contains items on enrollment, programs and services in the school, and counts of various types of school staff. **CONTENT DESIGN** As mentioned previously, the NTPS will replace the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS ), which the Department of Education has conducted since 1987. The revision process involved an anal ys is of items on the SASS survey s. Items that were gathered on other NCES survey s (such as EDFacts and the Civil Rights Data Collection) were removed from the NTPS questionnaires. These items will instead be pulled from these extant data sources and included on the NTPS data files. Items that had low response rates, were difficult to answer, or had other grammatical and clarity issues were revised or deleted. Before the survey s were finalized, new and revised items underwent cognitive lab testing with teachers, principals and school staff to determine whether items were likel y to be understood correctl y and uniformly across the survey population. Three of the five core components of the 2011
- 12 SASS remain: the School Questionnaire, Principal Questionnaire, and Teacher Questionnaire. These surveys are linked so that researchers may anal yz e school
- level phenomenon at the national level. In the 2015
- 16 administration, NTPS will retain or expand many of the topics covered in previous SASS administrations, maintaining the capability for trend anal ys is. At the same time, new items developed for the NTPS will collect additional information on a number of topics crucial to education reform. **QUESTIONNAIRES** We have enclosed a draft version of the questionnaires intended for public schools for the 201 5
- 1 6 administration of NTPS. The 2011
- 12 SASS questionnaires, as well as those from earlier admini strations, are available on our website: http://nces.ed.gov/survey s/SASS/questionnaire.asp.8

**METHODOLOGY AND SAMPLING** The U.S. Census Bureau is the collection agent for NTPS data on behalf of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). NTPS is a self
- administered survey

that is mailed to sampled participants (some participants will be offered an online survey option). The survey

does not require the use of any school personnel to administer it, other than the direct time it takes for the sampled p erson to complete the questionnaire, and does not involve students. Sampled principals, teachers, and the most appropriate school staff are requested to record their answers either ( a) on the printed questionnaire and return the questionnaire as directed (by mail to the U.S. Census Bureau) or (b) using the online survey option to send in their responses via a secure server link. There is no use of classroom time required for the completion of these questionnaires. The 201 5
- 1 6 NTPS samples wil l include fewer than 9,000 public schools and school principals, and less than 70,000 public school teachers. Sampling for NTPS begins by selecting schools as the primary sampling unit, and then, including the principal and a relativel y small sample of teachers within each selected school. Public schools selected for NTPS are sampled from the Common Core of Data (CCD), the universe of public schools supplied annually by state educational agencies to NCES. NCES modifies the list of schools from the CCD to meet the definiti on of a school as used b y NTPS. To make sure that the sample contains sufficient numbers for estimates, the NTPS uses a stratified probability sample design. The main design objective is to provide the following data for public schools:
 National estimates of public schools and public school characteristics;
 National estimates of combined grade public schools (schools with a grade span that overlaps the elementary, middle, and/or high school levels); and
 National estimates of public charter schools and selec ted school characteristics. After schools are stratified and sampled, teachers within the schools are also stratified and sampled based on the broad level of teaching assignment area, full
- or part - time teaching status, and years of teaching experience. Th e sample of teachers will be selected from a list of teachers provided by the school. For each school in the sample, all teachers who teach students in grades K
- 12 during the fall of 2015 , except for short
- term substitutes, student teachers, and teacher ai des, are eligible for sampling. An average of 10 teachers will be sampled from each selected school. In order to achieve the desired sample size of new teachers, as well as teachers nearing retirement, the teacher sample will be stratified into four teacher groups based on ye ars of teaching experience. This stratification will ensure a sufficient number of teachers in each group to permit estimates for all beginning and new public school teachers (i.e., teachers with 1 to 3 years of teaching experience), an d all experienced and highl y experienced public school teachers (i.e., teachers with 4 or more years of experience). A sufficient number of teachers is defined to be at least 2,400 teachers by experience category

and school ty

pe (i.e., public, public chart er, and private). Within each selected school, teachers will be classified as belonging in one of the following four categories: 1. Beginning (first ye ar in the K
- 12 teaching profession); 2. New (2 to 3 ye ars of teaching experience); 3. Experienced (4 to 19 ye ars o f teaching experience); or 4. Highl y experienced (20 or more ye ars of teaching experience). All experienced teachers, who are more numerous than the beginning , new, or highl y experienced groups, will be sampled with equal probability and at a lower rate than those in the other groups. To avoid placing an undue burden on schools by sampling teachers, NCES intends to survey an average of 10 teachers per school.9

For all public schools, the principal will be included in the survey as a result of the school being s elected. Schools, principals, and teachers will be weighted by the inverse of their probability of selection, multiplied by

various sampling and nonresponse adjustments. The general purpose of weighting is to scale up the sample estimates to represent the target survey population. **DATA COLLECTION** The U.S. Census Bureau handles the data collection and editing phases. The 201 5
- 1 6 NTPS is a mixed mode survey

with paper and internet response options. Follow
- up for sampled entities who do not respond to the ini tial mailing will be handled b y telephone. U.S. Census Bureau staff who conduct NTPS receive training in preparation for the survey
. School principals will be mailed an invitation to participate in the NTPS in September 201 5
. U.S. Census Bureau staff will follow
- up on outstanding questionnaires associated with the schools by telephone from November 201 5 through January 2016 . Teachers will be invited to participate in the NTPS on a flow basis as the teacher sample is drawn from the lists of teachers provide d by the sampled schools. The data collection schedule is outlined below
. **2015 -**  **1 6**  **NTPS Timetable** Initial mail
- out of School, Principal, & TLF Questionnaires September 201 5 Mail first reminder letters for School, Principal, & TLF Questionnaires September 201 5 Mail second reminder letters for School, Principal, & TLF Questionnaires October 2015 Second mail
- out of School, Principal, & TLF Questionnai res November 201 5 Telephone reminder for outstanding school level forms October 2015

– December 2016 Mail T eacher Questionnaires weekl y as they are sampled October 201 5

– February 201 6 Mail first Teacher Reminder letters November 2015

– February 201 6 Mail second Teacher Reminder letters December 2015

– March 2016 Mail secon d Teacher Packages December 2015

– March 2016 Data capture of all questionnaires October 201 5

– April 201 6 **RESPONSE BURDEN** NTPS relies on the voluntary participation of the principal, teacher, and school personnel. The quality of national estimates is limited by the level of respondent participation. Every effort is made to create questionnaires that collect in
- depth data without putting an undue burden on the respondent. The estimated average response time for each questionnaire in the 201 5
- 1 6 NTPS is presented in the following Table 1. The average length of time necessary to complete each ty

pe of questionnaire is estimated from the results of the 2011
- 12 SASS and the number of survey item codes on the 201 5
- 16 NTPS. **Table 1. Number of survey item code**  **s and estimated**  **average response tim e per respondent for**  **each questionnaire in**  **the 2015**  **- 16**  **NTPS Questionnaire**  **Number of item s**  **Estimated average response time per respondent** Teacher Listing For

m N/A 30 minutes School 140 22 minutes Principal 114 17 minutes Teacher 410 34 minutes The National Teacher and Principal Survey does not require any

form of student or parent participation. All respondents will receive a letter that explains that participation in the survey is voluntary . In addition, each questionnaire states on the inside cover, “We hope you will participate in this voluntary survey .”10

SASS has achieved a high response rate in previous administrations. Weighted response rates for the components to the public school sector for the 2011
- 12 SASS are presented in Table 2 below. **Table 2. Sample size and weighted response rate for each survey population for the 2011**  **- 12**  **SASS Survey population**  **Sample size Weighted response rate (%)**  Public School Principal 11,000 72.6 Public School 11,000 72.4 Public School Teacher 51,062 77.7 **ANALYSIS** Once the U.S. Census Bureau receives the completed survey forms, staff enter responses from the survey s into electronic data files, which are checked against the survey forms for accuracy . Names, addresses, and other identifying information for schools, principals, and teachers are removed from the data files to protect respondents’ confidentiality . When the respondents’ identifying information is removed from the data files, a school identification number is used to link principal and teacher da ta from the schools in which they

work. The data are used in statistical summaries only . NCES issues its own reports and allows researchers to access the data through restricted
- use licensing for other analy ses. Onl y users who have official clearance from NCES may

have access to the restricted
- use data files. Several reports may be issued once the data are finalized. These reports may include: a general report on the methodological findings. NTPS publications will be provided for download on the NCES public ations page http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/). Free printed copies of past SASS reports can be obtained from the Pubs Online Ordering S ys tem ( www.edpubs.org or 1

– 877

–433

–7827) or downloaded from the NCES publications page ( http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/ ). **CONSENT** The nature of this self

- administered, cross
- sectional survey is not considered intrusive, and has been ruled to be exempt under the protection of human subjects’ provisions in federal research. There is no individual student data (such as test scores or Social Security numbers) associated with any of the data acquired in this data collection. Since no data is collected about individual students, it is not necessary to obtain active, informed consent from students’ parents/guardians. Participation in the NTPS is completely voluntary , and individual survey items can be left blank, at the discretion of each respondent. On each questionnaire for each respondent, there is a statement clarifying that participation is voluntary
. The Department of Education has adopted a common set of regulations known as the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects or " Common Rule ." The design of these regulations is based on established, internationally recognized ethical principles. The specific regulation is Title 34, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 97, Protection of Human Subjects, which includes Subpart A, Basic Policy , and Subpart D, Additional Protections for Children. These regulations classify as exempt certain categories of research. Research that is nonexempt is **covered** by the regulations. Research activities in which the only involvement of human subjects will be in one or mo re of the following categories are exempt: (2) Research involving the use of educational tests (cognitive, diagnostic, aptitude, achievement), survey procedures, interview procedures or observation of public behavior, unless the information identifies the subjects and disclosure could reasonabl y place the subjects at risk of criminal or civil liability or be damaging to the subjects' financial standing, employability, or reputation. Subpart D amends this exemption, in part: If the subjects are children, res earch involving interview or survey procedures and research involving observations of public behavior in which the researcher(s) participate in the activities11

being observed are **not** exempt. However, research involving the use of educational tests and resea rch involving observations of public behavior in which the researcher(s) do not participate in the activities being observed are exempt
. For more information, please see http://www2 .ed.gov/policy /fund/guid/humansub/overview.html
. **CONFIDENTIALITY** A security plan for protecting individual respondent data has been developed by NCES and the U.S. Census Bureau. Under this plan, the 201 5
- 1 6 NTPS will conform to the applicable federal regulations

– specificall y, the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), Privacy Act Regulations (34 CFR Part 5b), the Computer Security Act of 1987, the Federal Statistical Confidentiality Order of 1997 (an OMB directive), the U.S.A. Patriot Act of 20 01 (P.L . 107
- 56), the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 ( 20 U.S. Code §9573 ), the E
- Government Act of 2002, Title V, Subtitle A, Confidential Information Protection, NCES Restricted

- Use Data Procedures Manual , and the NCES Statistical Standards
. The U. S. Census Bureau will collect data under an interagency agreement with NCES , and maintain the individually

identifiable questionnaires per the security plan, including : 1. Provisions for data collection in the field; 2. Provisions to protect the data
- coding phase required before machine processing; 3. Provisions to safeguard completed survey documents; 4. Authorization procedures to access or obtain files containing identifying information; and 5. Provisions to remove printouts and other outputs that contain teacher identification information from normal operation. Such materials will be maintained in secured storage areas and will be destro ye d as soon as practical b y burning. From the initial contact with the participants in this survey through all of the follow
- up efforts, potential survey respondents will be informed that all of the information they provide may

only be used for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose except as required by

law [Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA 2002; 20 U.S.C., § 9573). The following language will be included on all survey instruments : Your responses are protected from disclosure by federal statute (20 U.S.C., §9573). All responses that relate to or describe identifiable characteristics of individuals may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose, unless otherwise compelled by law. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this voluntary information collection is 1850
-XXXX. The time required to complete this information co llection is estimated to average XX minutes per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection. If you have any comments concerning the accurac y of the time estimate, suggestions for improving this collection, or comments or concerns about the contents or the status of your individual submission of this questionnaire, please e
- mail: addp.ed ucation.surveys@census.gov , or write directly to: National Teacher and Principal Survey, National Center for Education Statistics, 1990 K Street, N.W., #9046, Washington, DC 20006. A violation of the confidentiality restrictions is a felony , punishable b y imprisonment of up to 5 years and /or a fine of up to $250,000. **INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD (IRB) REVIEW** Under the federal policy

for the protection of human subjects, NTPS is exempt from IRB review because it utilizes survey

procedures and is conducted in established or commonly accepted educational settings, involving normal educational practices. There is no potenti al for harm to human subjects.12 **PARTICIPANT INFORMED CONSENT FORM NATIONAL TEACHER AND PRINCIPAL SURVEY (NTPS), 2015**  **- 16**  You are being asked to participate in a survey called the National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), for the 2015
- 16 school year. [ District ] district has approved your school’s participation in this important study. This form provides you with information about the study, and the Project Director, Mr. Andy Zukerberg, who can be reached at 202
- 219
- 7056 or Andrew .Zukerberg@ed.gov is also available to answer your questions. Please read the information below and feel free to ask any questions you might have before deciding whether or not to take part. The NTPS is sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in order to collect important data on public elementary and secondary schools in the United States. The NTP S provides data on the characteristics and qualifications of teachers and principals, teacher hiring practices, professional development, class size, and other conditions in schools acro ss the nation. Participants are asked to complete a paper questionnair e and return it in the pre
- addressed, postage
-paid envelope provided (some respondents are also given an online option). Details about the data collection instrument, respondent type, and time required to complete the questionnaire are below
. **Data Collect ion Instrument**  **Respondent Type Estimated Time Required to**  **Complete Questionnaire** Teacher Listing Form School Administrator 30 minutes School Questionnaire Principal 22 minutes Principal Questionnaire Principal 17 minutes Teacher Questionnaire Teacher ( sample of teachers at school ) 34 minutes Each NTPS Principal or Teacher Questionnaire contains questions that provide basic descriptive information on the respondent. Some of these items are: gender, age, race/ethnicity, principals’ licensure, highest degree earned, salary, years of teaching experience, education degrees earned and fields, certification, main teaching assignment, teacher salary schedules, and hours worked per week. Once the U.S. Census Bureau receives the completed survey forms, the responses are keyed into electronic data files, which are checked against the survey forms for accuracy. A school identification number is used to link principal and teacher data to the schools where they work. The data are used in statistical summaries o nly. NCES issues its own reports and requires researchers to access the data through restricted
-use licensing for other analyses. Only users who have official clearance from NCES may have access to the restricted
-use data files. Several reports are issued once the data are finalized, which may include: a general report that provides an overvie w of

the data, a teacher report, a school report, and a principal report , all providing only aggregate statistics
. Congress and the U.S. Department of Education use th ese data to critically examine existing educational programs and services to plan new programs intended to improve education throughout the nation. There are no risks involved in participating in this important survey. Your participation is entirely voluntary and you can refuse to participate without any penalty or loss of benefits to you or your school. If you decide to participate, you are free to withdraw your participation at any time during the study without any adverse consequences from the U.S. Department of Commerce or your school. Please check one of the following:

____ I am willing to participate in the research project.

____ I am not wi lling to participate in the research project. I fully understand that my responses may only be used for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose except as required by law ( 20 U.S. Code, Section 9573 ), and that my signature gives my consent to voluntarily participate in this project. Signature ___________

______________________________________________________________________________ Participant Printed Name Date

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------- -------- Please return this form to Aniekan Okon via fax at (301) 763
- 3035 or email to aniekan.a.okon@census.gov or mail to: U.S. Census Bureau Aniekan Okon, 6H030D 4600 Silver Hill Road, Stop 8400 Washington, DC 2023313 **School Pre -**  **contact Letter**

[Name] [Date] [Position, Department] [School District] [Street Address] [City, State, Zip] Dear Principal: Your school has been selected to participate in the 201 5
- 1 6 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) , which will be conducted this fall by the U.S. Census Bureau for the National Center for Education Statistics, the statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Education. The NTPS is a large
- scale, nationwide survey of the teaching and working conditions in American schools , as well as characteristics of the teachers and principals who staff them. You can find additional information about the NTPS and results from prior NTPS administrations at http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ntps
. **Please review your school name and address printed above. If it is not**  **correct, please contact the U.S. Census Bureau to provide us with corrections**  **at 1 -**  **866 -**  **208 -**  **7437. Someone will be available to take your call Monday**  **through Friday, between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. (Eastern Time).**  Thank you for giving this matter your attention. We look forward to your school’s participation in this important survey. The Census Bureau will be in contact with your school at the beginning of the 20 15
- 1 6 school year. Sincerely, Chris Chapman Associate Commissioner for Education Statistics National Center for Education Statistics