January 30, 2013

Private School Universe Survey

(PSS)

August 2013—July 2016

Supporting Statement

Part A

Request for OMB Review

OMB# 1850-0641 v.5

Submitted by

National Center for Education Statistics

U.S. Department of Education
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SUPPORTING STATEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. JUSTIFICATION .................................................................................................................... 2

Al. Why Is This Information Needed? ................................................................................... 2

A2. Purpose and Uses of the Data .......................................................................................... 2

A3. Appropriate Use of Information Technology................................................................... 3

A4. Efforts to Identify Duplication......................................................................................... 3

A5. Small Business or Entities ............................................................................................... 3

A6. Frequency of Data Collection .......................................................................................... 3

A7. Special Circumstances of Data Collection....................................................................... 3

A8. Consultations Outside the Agency................................................................................... 3

A9. Payment or Gifts to Respondents..................................................................................... 5

A10. Assurance of Confidentiality ........................................................................................... 5

A11. Need for the Use of Sensitive Questions ......................................................................... 5

A12. Estimates of Information Collection Burden ................................................................... 5

A13. Capital and Operating Costs to Respondents................................................................... 6

A14. Estimates of Cost to the Federal Government ................................................................. 7

A15. Changes in Burden........................................................................................................... 7

A16. Publication Plans/Time Schedule .................................................................................... 7

A17. Request Not to Display Expiration Date.......................................................................... 8

A18. Exceptions to the Certifications....................................................................................... 8

APPENDIX A. STATE LIST REQUEST LETTER

APPENDIX B. ASSOCIATION LIST REQUEST LETTER

APPENDIX C. TELEPHONE SCRIPT

APPENDIX D. PSS QUESTIONNAIRE

APPENDIX E. EXAMPLES OF TABLE SHELLS
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Request for Clearance for the Private School Universe Survey

This is a request for clearance to conduct the 2013-14 and 2015-16 Private School Universe Survey (PSS) 

data collections and the 2015-16 PSS frame-development activities.

A. JUSTIFICATION

Al. Why Is This Information Needed?

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), within the U.S. Department of Education, conducts 

PSS, a national survey of private elementary and secondary schools. The PSS is designed to collect 

biennial data on the total number of private schools, teachers, and students; and create an NCES universe 

frame of private schools that then serve as a sampling frame for NCES surveys of private schools. This 

survey is an ongoing project to improve NCES universe and sample data on private schools.

Since 1980, NCES has annually collected descriptive universe data on the number of public school 

teachers, students, and high school graduates through the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) for the 

public schools. Private schools represent approximately 25 percent of all elementary and secondary

schools in the United States and enroll an estimated 10 percent of the nation’s elementary and secondary

students. With increasing policy concern about choice and alternatives in education, the interest and need 

for data on private education has also increased. NCES has recognized this need to assure that the 

collection of data on private schools be comparable to public school data.

In 1989, NCES established an Interagency Agreement with the U.S. Census Bureau to collect and process 

private school data. The PSS was conducted in 1989-90, 1991-92, 1993-94, 1995-96, 1997-98, 1999-

2000, 2001-02, 2003-04, 2005-06, 2007-08, and 2009-10 and those data have been released. The 2011-12

PSS data have been collected and are scheduled to be released in April 2013. NCES is authorized to 

conduct this survey under the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA: 20 U.S.C., § 9543).

A2. Purpose and Uses of the Data

NCES has conducted several national sample surveys of private elementary and secondary schools 

beginning in the 1970s. Recently, Schools and Staffing Surveys (SASS) for 1987-88, 1990-91, 1993-94, 

1999-2000, 2003-04, 2007-08, and 2011-12 provided estimates of the numbers and characteristics of 

private schools, teachers, and students for comparison among private schools and with public schools.

Even with successive administrations of SASS providing detailed trend data on a sample of private 

schools1, there is a need for biennial universe data on a limited number of key statistics and a need to 

update the private school sampling frame for births/deaths of private schools every several years.

Except for previous PSS, the sampling frames available for private school surveys have not been timely

nor have they provided complete coverage. Commercial lists, such as those developed by QED, are not 

complete and lack sufficient detail on school characteristics to select samples according to NCES 

specifications. Lists maintained by organizations of private schools are also incomplete because they only

contain listings of their member schools. The purposes of this project are, therefore, to: collect biennial 

 

1

SASS is scheduled to end with the 2011-12 collection; it is unclear at the present time whether its replacement, the National 

Teacher and Principal Survey, will have a private school component.
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data on the total number of private schools, teachers, and students; and create an NCES universe frame of 

private schools that can serve as a sampling frame for NCES surveys of private schools.

A3. Appropriate Use of Information Technology

Imaging and CATI

As in the 2003-04, 2005-06, 2007-08, 2009-10, and 2011-12 PSS collections, the data from all 2013-14 

and 2015-16 PSS paper questionnaires will be imaged and stored electronically. And, as in all previous 

PSS collections, CATI follow-up will be used in 2013-14 and 2015-16 for mail/internet nonrespondents 

(an estimated 20 percent of all responses will be collected by CATI). Furthermore, the 2013-14 and 2015-

16 PSS, like the 2011-12, 2009-10, and 2005-06 PSS, will offer an internet response option to most 

schools (Amish and Mennonite schools will not be offered an internet response option).

A4. Efforts to Identify Duplication

One of the criteria for PSS is to collect only data that are not available elsewhere. The 

Elementary/Secondary Sample Survey Studies Program reviewed existing private school data collection 

efforts and found no other private school data collection effort existing or planned that will update the 

private school universe.

A5. Small Business or Entities

The PSS collects data from elementary and secondary private schools. Private schools are small entities. 

The respondent burden is minimal because of the limited questionnaire size (22 items) and because the 

data that are being collected are readily available from the administrative files of most private elementary

and secondary schools.

A6. Frequency of Data Collection

The current plan is to continue to conduct the PSS for the entire private school universe biennially. If the 

PSS were collected less frequently, NCES would be forced to use sampling frames with significantly

poorer coverage for its surveys of private schools.

A7. Special Circumstances of Data Collection

There are no circumstances that will require special data collection efforts.

A8. Consultations Outside the Agency

Key offices inside the U.S. Department of Education have reviewed the draft survey. Prior to the first PSS 

in 1989-90, NCES discussed its data collection plans with a number of private school associations. 

Representatives from the following private school associations participated in these initial discussions.

Association Contact

Accelerated Christian Education Dr. Donald Howard

Agudath Israel of America Rabbi Morton Avigdor

American Association of Christian Schools Dr. Robert Stashesky
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American Montessori Society Ms. Bretta Weiss

Association of Christian Schools International Dr. John Holmes

Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches Mr. Kretzman

Association of Military Colleges and Schools Lt. General Willard

W. Scott

Christian Schools International Dr. Sheri D. Haan

Council for American Private Education Ms. Joyce McCray

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Mrs. Billie Navarro

Friends Council on Education Ms. Kaye Edstene

General Conference of Seventh Day Adventists Dr. G. L. Plubell

Jesuit Secondary Education Association Rev. Carl E. Meirose

Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod Mr. Carl Moser

National Association of Episcopal Schools Ms. Ann Gordon

National Association of Independent Schools Dr. Peter Relic

National Association of Private Schools for Ms. Sherry L. Kolbe

Exceptional Children

National Catholic Educational Association Mr. Frederick Brigham

National Coalition of Alternative Community Schools Ms. Pat Montgomery

National Independent Private School Association Ms. Carolyn Crider

National Society of Hebrew Day Schools Rabbi Fishman

Oral Roberts Educational Fellowship Dr. David Hand

Solomon Schechter Day Schools Mr. Meir Efrati

U.S. Catholic Conference Father William Davis

Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod Dr. Daniel Schmeling

Since the 1989-90 PSS, private school group meetings have been held annually with affiliation 

representatives to inform them of the PSS status. The last meeting was held in November 2012; the 

following private school groups were represented at the meeting:

Agudath Israel of America David Tanenbaum

American Association of Christian Schools Courtney Holloway

Association of Christian Schools International George Tryfiates

Association of Christian Teachers and Schools R. J. Nelson

Council for American Private Education Joseph McTighe

National Association of Independent Schools Amada Torres

Hilary LaMonte

Martha Galindo

National Catholic Educational Association Dale McDonald

National Christian School Association Philip Patterson

Oral Roberts University Education Fellowship Donnie Peal

Southern Baptist Association of Christian Schools Edward Gamble

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Suzanne Bellenoit

Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod Schools Scott Gostchock
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A9. Payment or Gifts to Respondents

Not applicable.

A10. Assurance of Confidentiality

The law does not require disclosure protection of institutions, such as schools; therefore, no assurance of 

confidentially is provided to respondents. 

A11. Need for the Use of Sensitive Questions

The questions contained in this survey—grade levels taught, length of the school day and school year, 

religious orientation, type of school, number of teachers, enrollment, race/ethnicity of students, and 

number of graduates—are not considered to be sensitive.

A12. Estimates of Information Collection Burden

2013-14 PSS

Approximately 8,000 screener calls will be made to institutions discovered in the area-frame operation

(see Part B.2) to determine their eligibility for the PSS. The average length of these calls is 3 minutes, 

resulting in 400 hours of respondent burden for the area-frame screener operation.2

Survey questionnaires will be sent to all of the cases on the 2013-14 universe. The requested data can be 

easily obtained from school records. The average completion time will be 20 minutes (based on the 2011-

12 PSS experience) per respondent (27,000), for a total of 9,000 hours of questionnaire respondent 

burden. The total respondent burden for the 2013-15 PSS, frame development (400) plus questionnaire 

(9,000), is 9,400 hours

Table of 2013-14 PSS Data Collection Instruments

Document Type

Instrument 

File Respondents Responses

Burden Time 

per Response

Available 

Electronically

Percent Responding 

Electronically Electronic Capability Total Burden Hours

Private Schools 

Telephone Script Appendix C 8,000 8,000 3 min no 0% Telephone only 400

PSS Questionnaire Appendix D 27,000 27,000 20 min yes 18% Both electronic and 

paper versions 9,000

Total Burden 27,000 35,000 9,400

The standard NCES procedure for estimating costs to school staff is to multiply the estimated total survey

reporting hours (9,400) by the average salary of school employees (estimated to be $20.00 per hour). 

Following these conventions, the “cost” to the respondents is estimated to be about $188,000 for the 

2013-14 PSS.

2015-16 PSS

During the development of the list-frame portion of the 2015-16 PSS universe (see Part B.2), lists of 

private schools will be requested and received from approximately 100 state agencies and private school 

associations. It is estimated that each list response will take an hour, resulting in 100 hours of respondent 

burden. Approximately 6,600 screener calls will be made to institutions discovered in the list-frame 

 

2 The respondent burden for the 2013-14 PSS list-frame operation is included in the July 2010-June 2013 PSS clearance. 
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operation to determine their eligibility for the PSS. The average length of these calls is 3 minutes, 

resulting in 330 hours of respondent burden for the list-frame screener operation. Total response burden 

for 2015-16 PSS list-frame development activities is 430 hours.

Approximately 8,000 screener calls will be made to institutions discovered in the area-frame operation to 

determine their eligibility for the PSS. The average length of these calls is 3 minutes, resulting in 400 

hours of respondent burden for the area-frame screener operation. The total response burden for 2013-14

PSS frame development is 830 hours.

Survey questionnaires will be sent to all of the cases on the 2015-16 universe.3The requested data can be 

easily obtained from school records. The average completion time will be 20 minutes (based on the 2011-

12 PSS experience) per respondent (27,000), for a total of 9,000 hours of questionnaire respondent 

burden. The total respondent burden for the 2015-16 PSS, frame development (830) plus questionnaire 

(9,000), is (9,830) hours

Table of 2015-16 PSS Data Collection Instruments

Document Type

Instrument 

File Respondents Responses

Burden Time 

per Response

Available 

Electronically

Percent Responding 

Electronically Electronic Capability Total Burden Hours

State Agencies 

(Education, Social 

Services, Child Care)

School List Request 

Letter

Appendix A 70 70 60 min no 0.9 Both electronic and 

paper versions 70

Private School 

Association School 

List Request Letter

Appendix B 30 30 60 min no 0.5 Both electronic and 

paper versions 30

Private School 

Telephone Script Appendix C 14,600 14,600 3 min no 0 Telephone only 730

PSS Questionnaire Appendix D 27,000 27,000 20 min yes 0.18 Both electronic and 

paper versions 9,000

Total Burden Hours 27,100 41,700 9,830

The standard NCES procedure for estimating costs to school staff is to multiply the estimated total survey

reporting hours (9,830) by the average salary of school employees (estimated to be $21.00 per hour). 

Following these conventions, the “cost” to the respondents is estimated to be about $206,430 for the 

2015-16 PSS.

The average annual burden for the 2013-14 and 2015-16 collections over the three year period is:

18,034 respondents

25,567 responses

 6,410 burden hours

A13. Capital and Operating Costs to Respondents

Respondents will not incur any costs other than their time to respond. 

 

3 The PSS and the SASS were originally scheduled to both be collected during 2015-16. In the past, the private schools in the 

SASS sample would receive the SASS private school questionnaire only and not the PSS questionnaire. PSS records for these 

schools were created electronically from the SASS private school file. The respondent burden hours for these schools were 

included in the SASS burden hours. Since SASS is scheduled to end with the 2011-12 SASS collection and it is unclear at the 

present time whether its replacement, the National Teacher and Principal Survey, will have a private school questionnaire, the 

2015-16 PSS burden includes the entire data collection burden hours associated with the 2015-16 universe. 
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A14. Estimates of Cost to the Federal Government

NCES estimates that the total federal cost for the 2013-14 PSS is approximately $3,650,000 ($132,019 in 

FY 2012, $1,511,668 in FY 2013, $1,737,142 in FY 2014, and $269,171 in FY 2015), and for the 2015-16 

PSS is approximately $3,905,000 ($141,234 in FY 2014, $1,617,182 in FY 2015, $1,858,394 in FY 2016, 

and $288,190 in FY 17). This estimate was compiled from individual estimates developed within each 

U.S. Census Bureau division involved in the survey. Estimates were based on the universe size, the length 

of the questionnaire, and required data processing. Administrative overhead, design, printing, and 

mailing costs were included. Thus the average annual cost for the 2013-14 and 2015-16 collections over 

the three year period is $2,518,333.

A15. Changes in Burden

The burden associated with the 2013-14 and 2015-16 PSS (9,400 and 9,830 hours respectively) is 

somewhat greater than that of the 2011-12 PSS (9,127 hours). This increase is the net result of a number 

of factors. The 2013-14 PSS list-frame development burden was included in the last PSS clearance 

(2011-2013) and is not included in this clearance. The estimated number of interviews is increased from 

26,200 (2011-12 PSS) to 27,000 (2013-14 and 2015-16 PSS), reflecting both the inclusion of 3,000 

schools that were included with the 2011-12 SASS collection burden and the reduction in the total number 

of private schools that has been occurring since 2007. The estimated completion time for the PSS 

questionnaire is revised upward from 19 minutes (based on the 2007-08 PSS) to 20 minutes (based on the 

2011-12 PSS). Additionally, because PSS is biannual, the last OMB 3-year clearance cycle (2010-13) 

encompassed only one full scale data collection, while the cycle of this request (2013-2016) encompasses 

two full scale data collections.

A16. Publication Plans/Time Schedule

2013-14 PSS

The first mailing of questionnaires is scheduled for September 25, 2013. A second mailout for schools 

that did not respond to the first mailout is scheduled for November 2013. Telephone follow-up for 

nonresponse will begin in January 2014. Personal visit follow-up for mail/internet noninterviews and 

CATI noninterviews is scheduled for January 2014 through May 2014.

The 2013-14 PSS survey will be conducted according to the following time schedule:

Conduct Screener Calls for Area-Frame Schools 9/3/2013-9/30/2013

1st Survey Mailout 9/25/2013

2nd Survey Mailout 11/2013

CATI/Field Followup 1/2014-5/2014

Check-in, Clerical Edit 9/2013-5/2014

Process Data 11/2013-10/2014

Final File 11/2014

NCES Reports Results 4/2015

2015-16 PSS

The first mailing of questionnaires is scheduled for September 2015. A second mailout for schools that 

did not respond to the first mailout is scheduled for November 2015. Telephone follow-up for 
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nonresponse will begin in January 2016. Personal visit follow-up for mail/internet noninterviews and 

CATI noninterviews is scheduled for January 2016 through May 2016.

The 2015-16 PSS survey will be conducted according to the following time schedule:

Request Private School Lists 8/1/2014

Conduct Screener Calls for List-Frame Schools 8/2014-5/2015

Conduct Screener Calls for Area-Frame Schools 9/2015-9/2015

1st Survey Mailout 9/2015

2nd Survey Mailout 11/2015

CATI/Field Followup 1/2016-5/2016

Check-in, Clerical Edit 9/2015-5/2016

Process Data 11/2015-10/2016

Final File 11/2016

NCES Reports Results 4/2017

One of the purposes of this survey is to produce descriptive statistics about the number of private schools, 

teachers, students, and high school graduates. Survey responses will be weighted to produce national 

estimates. Tabulations will be produced for each data item. Cross tabulations of data items will be made 

with selected classification variables such as religious orientation (Catholic—parochial, diocesan, private; 

other religious—conservative Christian, affiliated, unaffiliated; nonsectarian—regular, special emphasis, 

special education); size of student body (less than 50, 50 to 149, 150 to 299, 300 to 499, 500 to 749, 750 

or more); and level of instruction (elementary, secondary, combined). See Appendix E for examples of 

table shells (for a more comprehensive set of tables see Characteristics of Private Schools in the United 

States: Results From the 2009-10 Private School Universe Survey, NCES 2011-339, which can be 

accessed from the PSS web page at http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss). NCES will publish the 2013-14

survey results in April 2015 and the 2015-16 survey results in April 2017.

A17. Request Not to Display Expiration Date

Not applicable.

A18. Exceptions to the Certifications

Not applicable.