## Middle	Grades	Longitudinal	Study	of **2016 –**  **17 (MGLS:2017)**  **Recruitment for**  **2016 Item	Validation**  **and Operational	Field	Test** **s**

Request	for	OMB	Clearance OMB# 1850 - 0911	v.3 

## Supporting	Statement	Part **B**

National	Center	for	Education	Statistics U.S.	Department	of	Education Institute	of	Education	Sciences Washington,	DC February 2015ii 

## Table	of	Contents

B.	Collection of	Information	Employing	Statistical	Methods ................................ ................................ ................. 1 B.i Item	Validation	Field	Test................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... 1 B.i .1	Respondent	Universe ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... 1 B.i . 2 Procedures	for	the	Collection	of	Information ................................ ................................ .......................... 2 B.i .3 Maximizing	Participation ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 5 B.i .4 Purpose	of	Field	Test	and	Data	Uses ................................ ................................ ................................ ............ 6 B.ii Operational	Field	Test ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............... 6 B.ii .1	Respondent	Universe ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........ 6 B.ii .2 Procedures	for	the	Collection	of	Information ................................ ................................ ......................... 7 B.ii .3 Maximizing	Participation ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ 7 B.ii .4 Purpose	of	Field	Test	and	Data	Uses ................................ ................................ ................................ .......... 7 B. 5 Individuals	Consulted	on	Study	Design ................................ ................................ ................................ ............ 71



## B.	Collection	of	Information	Employing	Statistical	Methods Part	B	of	this	submission	presents	information	on	the	collection	of	information	employing	statistical	methods. As	the	methodological	approaches	for	the	Item	Validation	Field	Test (IVFT) and the Operational	Field	Test (OFT) are	distinct,	p art	B presents inf ormation	pertaining	to IVFT in	section s B. i.1 - B.i. 4 and to	OFT in	section s B. ii.1 - B.ii. 4 . This	OMB	clearance	request	is	limited	to	the	recruitment	of	schools	and	participants for	the	two field	tests . A	separate	OMB	clearance	request with	details	of the field	test	data	collection s will	be	submitted later	in	2015 . Please	note	that	the sampling	methodology	provided	in	this	document	may	be	subject	to	change upon	award	of	the	MGLS:2017 data	collection contract.	Any	revisions	will	be	submitted	to	OMB for	appro val as a	change	request	as soon	as	they	become	available. 

### B. **i Item	Validation	Field	T**  **est (IVFT)**  **B. i**  **.1	Respondent	Universe** The	MGLS:2017 Item	Validation	Field Test (IVFT)	will include 5 th through	8 th grade	students and	will be conducted	during	the	2015 - 2016	school	year, with	data collection scheduled	to	begin in January	2016.	The IVFT	will use	a	convenience	sample	of schools representing the	variability	in	student	achievement	that	is required	for	robust	psychometric	analysis of	the	MGLS	reading,	mathematics,	an d	executive	function assessment,	and will	also	aim	to	maximize	geographic	diversity	to	the	extent	possible . There	may	be	some overlap	in the districts	and	states	in	which sample schools	will	be recruited	for both IVFT	an d	OFT,	but	no school will	be	asked	to participate	in	both	field	tests . While	not	required	to	be	nationally	representative for	psychometric	analysis , the	IVFT wi ll	include	students in the typical age	range found in	grades	6 – 8 in	the United	States and in	the typical range	of	abilities on	the constructs	being	measured	by	the	MGLS	item	pool . T o	help	ensure that the	assessments that	will be	used during	the	2017	MGLS	base	year will	be appropriate	for	6 th grade students with	lower	achievement	level	in mathematics, the field	test sample	will	also	include	a	selection	of	5 th grade rs . In	addition,	the	sample	will include a	subset	of	students	from	the	three	focal disability groups ( specific learning	disability,	autism, and emotional	disturbance) who	are	able	to	take	sta ndardized	tests	using	accommodations. Schools	will	be selected for recruitment from	the	most	recent available universe files: the	2012 - 13 Common	Core	of	Data (CCD)	to	develop	the	public	school	list	and from the 2012 - 13 Private	School Universe Survey	(PSS) to	develop the	private	school	list. The	less restrictive	sampling	requirements	of the IVFT mean that schools	that require extensive	research	applications may not	be	included . **Students** For IVFT to	support	psychometric	analyses , at	minimum	approximately 400 student responses should	be obtained per direct assessment	item	and	200	per survey item. To	support	the	number	of	responses	per	item, the	sample	yield	needs	to	be at	least 1 , 200	students	from	each	of	6th,	7th,	and	8th	grades.	The	sample will also include	s chools	with	a	grade	5	so	that	an	additional	5th	grade	sample	of	350	students	can	be	selected	in	order to	examine	possible	floor	effects	of	the	mathematics	items. Within	th e yield	of 3 , 950 students ,	the	sample will include at	least 350	students	in	the	three focal disability categories (as	defined	in	IDEA	section	300.8) :	150 students	with a specific	learning	disability,	100 students with	autism, and	100 students with an emotional disturbance. I n	the	IVFT, u nlike in	the	OFT, the	students with an Individualized	Education	Program	(IEP) required	for	Differential	Item	Function	study	will	not	be	sampled	separately	but	will	be	sought	first	as	part	of the	sample	drawn	in	general	education	schools.	If	the	numbers	of students with IEP s are	not	a dequate, districts may be	contacted directly,	similarly to	the	procedures	outline d below	for	the	OFT. Disability	code s will	be	either	obtained	from	schools	as	part	of	the	initial	student	roster	collection	or	from	districts	(see appendix	S - T) when	the	information	is	not	available	or	easily	obtainable	from	the	school,	or	when	additional students	in	particular	disability	categories	are	needed	to	complete	the	sample . If	needed,	in the	IVFT, special schools (where more	than	80%	of	students	have	an IEP) may be recruited to	reach	the target sample	sizes in the	three disability categories . T he	field	test	data	collection will be	conducted	with	as	many	students	as each	school is willing	to	make available, with	an estimated average	of 120	students	per	sc hool . Based	on	the	number and	grades of	students2

the	school will	allow to	participate	in MGLS , the	study staff will	collect	rosters	and	draw a	sample	of	students within grades 5 - 8	and	of appropriately	aged	students	in	ungraded	classrooms to	obtain	the	maximum	number of	students	permitted. Purpos ively,	all eligible students	identified	as	having specific	learning	disability, autism, or	emotional	disturbance will be	included	in	the	sample. Depending	on	each	school’s	policy,	either active	(exp licit) or passive (implicit) p arental consent materials (appendices	F - G) will	be	distributed	to the sampled	students, with	an e stimated 80 percent rate	of	granted consents . Among	those	with	granted	consent,	an	estimated	80	percent	of	students	are	expected to	be	present and	take	the	assessments. Therefore, to	get	to	a	yield	of	3,950	assessed	students,	the	parents	of	approximately 6,172	students	will	need	to	be	contacted	for	consent	(6,172*0.8*0.8=3,950). **Schools** To	send consent materials	to parents	of 6 , 172 students, with an	average of 120	students	per	school	for grades 6,	7,	and	8 ,	we will	need	to	recruit approximately	51	schools.	The	High	School	Longitudinal	Study of 2009 (HSLS:09)	reported a	base - year	weighted	school response	rate	of	55.5	percent.	Assuming the	same response rate in	MGLS , a sample	of approximately	92	schools	will	need	to	be	selected. If a	selected school	offers	grade 5 , the	goal	will	be	to	assess all of	the 5th - graders	within	the	school.	If	the participating schools	do	not	provide	sufficient numbers	of	5th - grade	students	to	meet	the	sample	targets,	we will	supplement	the initial	school	sample	with schools serving 5th - grade	students.	We	will first seek	schools with	5th	grades	in	close	proximity	to other schools participating in	MGLS .	If	additi onal	schools	need	to	be recruited	to	obtain	the	5th - grade	targets, they will	be selected for	cost	effectiveness	of	field	administration. Also,	i f	the	schools	do	not	provide	sufficient	numbers	of	students	with in	the three focal	disability categories to meet the	sample	yield	targets,	we	will	supplement participating	schools with	a	sample	of	special	schools where more	than	80	percent	of the students have	been	identified	as	having an	IEP.	We	will	initially	seek	to identify these schools in	or	near districts that	already	contain schools that	have agreed	to	participate . If we need	to	recruit additional	special	schools ,	we	will	choose	schools	that	allow the	most	cost	effective	field administration, given	the	geographic	deployment	of	the	field	assessment	staff. **B .i.**  **2 Procedures	for	the	Collection	of	Information**  **School Recruitment	Approach**  Gaining	schools’	cooperation	in	voluntary	research	is	increasingly	challenging.	For	example,	in	1998 – 99	the Early	Childhood	Longitudinal	Study	had	a	weighted	school - level	response	rate	of	74	percent, 1 whereas	12 years	later,	the	complementary	ECLS - K:2011	study	had	a	weighted	school - level	response	rate	of	63	percent. 2 Additionally,	there	is	evidence	that	response	rates	may	be	lower	for	schools	that	serve	older	students,	as in the High School	Longitudinal	Study	of	2009 ,	which had	a	weighted	school - level	response	rate	of	5 6 percent. 3 Therefore,	effective	strategies	for	gaining the cooperation	of	schools	are	of	paramount	importance. Schools will	be	recruited	both	directly	and	at	the	district	level. Direct	School	Recruitment. In	the	interest	of	time,	a sample	of	schools that	do	not	require	district	level approval wi ll	be	id entified	for	direct	recruitment. As	part	of	the	school	recruitment,	we	will	send	an	advance notification	letter	to their	state	(a ppendix B )	and	district	(a ppendix C )	education	agencies ,	and	then a	trained school	recruiter will initiate	contact	with	the	school.	Schools	will	receive	an	attractive, introductory information	packet	via	FedEx	that	includes	a	cover	letter	(a p pendix D ),	a	colorful	recruitment- oriented brochure	(a ppendix H ), and	a	sheet	of	Frequently	Asked	Questions	(FAQs)	about	the	study	(a ppendix I ) with

1 Tourangeau,	K.,	Nord,	C.,	Lê,	T.,	Sorongon,	A.G.,	Hagedorn,	M.C.,	Daly,	P.,	and	Najarian,	M.	(2001). Early	Childhood	Longitudinal	Study,	Kindergarten	Class of	1998– 99	(ECLS-K),	User’s	Manual	for	the	ECLS-K	Base	Year	Public- Use	Data	Files	a nd	Electronic	Codebook (NCES	2001 - 029).	U.S.	Department	of Education.	Washington,	DC:	National	Center	for	Education	Statistics. 2 Tourangeau,	K.,	Nord,	C.,	Lê,	T.,	Sorongon,	A.G.,	Hagedorn,	M.C.,	Daly,	P.,	and	Najarian,	M.	(2012). Early	Childhood	Longitudinal	Study,	Kindergarten	Class of	2010– 11	(ECLS-K:2011),	User’s	Manual	for	the	ECLS-K:2011	Kindergarten	Data	File	and	Electronic	Codebook (NCES	2013 - 061).	U.S.	Department	of Education.	Washington,	DC:	National	Center	for	Education	Statistics. 3 Ingels,	S.J. ,	Pratt,	D.J.,	Herget,	D.R.,	Burns,	L.J.,	Dever,	J.A.,	Ottem,	R.,	Rogers,	J.E.,	Jin,	Y.,	and	Leinwand,	S.	(2011). High	School	Longitudinal	Study	of	2009 (HSLS:09).	Base - Year	Data	File	Documentation (NCES	2011 - 328). U.S.	Department	of	Education. Washington,	DC:	National	Center	for	Education Statistics.3

links for accessing	the MGLS:2017	recruitment	website,	following the	study on	NCES ’s	Twitter	account, and j oin ing the	study’s	Facebook	page.	The	Twitter	and	Facebook	accounts	will	provide	an	outreach	service, offering	updates	on	the	progress	of	the	study and posting	information	on	recent	articles and other	material relevant	to	education	in	the	middle	grades. Wi thin 3 business	days of the	information	packet	delivery (confirmed	via	FedEx), a	school	recruiter	will	follow up	with	a phone call	to	secure	the	school’s	cooperation	and	answer	any	questions the	school	may	have .	During this call,	the	recruiter	will	establish who	from	the	school’s	staff	will	serve	as	the school	coordinator	for	the study. T he	MGLS:2017	study	team	will then work	with	the	school	coordinator	to	schedule IVFT activities	at	th e school,	including gathering	student	ro sters,	distributing	consent	materials	to	parents	of	sample	students ,	and arranging	the onsite	assessments. In	early	communications, the	recruiter will	also gather	information	about what	type	of	parental	consent	procedures	need	to	be	followed at	the	school; any requirements	for collecting data	on the IEP	status of	students and	student- teacher	rosters ;	hours	of	operation,	including	early	dismissal days,	school	closures/vacations,	and	dates	for	standardized	testing;	and	any	other considerations	that	may impact scheduling	student	assessments (e.g.,	planned	construction	periods,	school	reconfiguration,	or	planned changes	in	leadership). Participation refusals	will be	referred	to an MGLS:2017	data	collection	task	leader	and examined	for	possible	approaches	to	refu sal	conversion. District- Level Recruitment. In	addition	to	school	recruitment, some districts	may	be	asked	for	student	rosters to	enable	MGLS	staff to	recruit	enough	students	in	the three	focal disability	categories, or	they	may	be	asked	to endorse	the study	to	aid	the	study’s	school	recruitment	efforts .	Generally,	for	district- level	recruitment,	a similar	protocol	will	be	followed	as	with	direct	school	recruitment. Distri cts	will	receive	an introductory information	packet,	including a	cover letter	(a ppe ndix C ), brochure (a ppendix H ),	and	FAQs	(a ppendix I ) . Three	days	after mail	delivery of	the	packet, a	recruiter will make	a call to	secure	the	district’s	cooperation, answer	any	questions	the	superintendent	or	other	district	staff may have,	review	the	lis t	of	schools	in	the district	serving	grades	6 – 8,	confirm	key	information	about	the	schools	(e.g.,	grades	served,	size	of	enrollment , enrollment	of	students	with	disabilities ) ,	and	discuss	obtaining students ’	IEP	information that	is	necessary	for drawing	th e	IVFT	student	sample .	Information	collected	during	this	call	will	be	used	to	confirm which schools in	the	district	are eligib le for	participation	in	th e study, and to	obtain contact	and	other information helpful	in school	recruitment. Once	district	cooperation has	been obtained	and	the	school	sample has	been selected,	we	will	complete	any required additional district- level	paperwork, such	as research	application s .	Recruitment	of	schools	in	these districts will	follow	the	same protocol	a s outlined above under “D irect S chool Recruitment” ,	with	the additional	inclusion	in	the	school introductory	information	packet of the	district’s	l etter	of	approval	and support. Participation refusals by	districts	or	individual	schools will be	referred	to an MGLS:2017	data collection	task	leader	and	examined	for	possible	approaches	to	refusal	conversion. Private	and	Charter	School Recruitment. If a private or	charter school	selected	for	the	field	test	operate s under a	higher	level governing	body	such	as	a diocese, a	consortium of	private	schools, or	a	charter	school	district, we	will	use the	district- level	recruitment approach with	the appropriate higher	level governing	body. If a private or	charter school	selected	for	the	field	test does not	have	a	higher level	governing	body,	we	will	use	the direct school	recruitment approach outlined	above. Student	Rosters	Collection . O nce	a	school	or	district	has	agreed	to	participate, the	MGLS	contractor will	gather student	rosters	with	the	assistance	of	the	school	coor dinator .	Or	in	the	case	of	the	OFT, where	districts	may	be directly	recruited	to	identify	students	with	disabilities , the	appropriate	district	personnel will	be	contacted . Gathering	information	on	the	students	will	be	a	two - step	process.	First,	a	complete roster	of	all	students eligible	for	sampling will	be requested,	including key student characteristics,	such	as:	name; ID	number; date of	birth;	grade	level; gender; race/ethnicity;	and	IEP	status	with	disability	code(s), when applicable.	Based	on this	info rmation the	student sample will	be	drawn . Next, to complete	the	roster information, within 3 - 5 business	days,	the	MGLS	contractor	will	request	from the	school	coordinator	or	designated	district	personnel the	following	information	for each student selected into	the	sample :	student’ s	parent	and/or	guardian	contact information	(e.g.,	mailing	address;	landline	phone	number;	cell	phone	number;	e - mail	address);	student’ s math	teacher;	and	student’ s	special	education	teacher, when applicable. If	the	school	and/or district	is unwilling	to	provide	parent	contact	information,	the	MGLS	contractor	will	work	with	the	school	and/or4

district	to	determine	the	best	way	to	contact	parents	(e.g.,	the	school	coordinator	or	designated	district personnel	would	facilitate	contacti ng	parents	and/or	mail	the	required	materials	to	parents	using	the	contact information	they	have	on	file). Schools	and	districts	will	be provide d with a	template	and	secure	transfer	options	to deliver the	rosters (appendices	S	and	T) . T he	data	quality	of	the student rosters will	be	then	evaluated by:  reviewing	and	assessing	the	quality	and	robustness	of	student	and	parent	information	available	at	each school,	including	contact	information	for	parents;  reviewing	and	assessing	the	quality	of	the	data	on	stude nt- teacher	linkages;  reviewing	and	assessing	the	quality	of	the	data	on	IEP	status;  a ddress ing any	incompleteness	or	irregularities	in	the	roster	file;  r equesting additional	information	as	needed	from	the	school	coordinator or	designated	district personnel ;	and  (re)verifying that the	sampled students are currently	in	attendance in	the	school . **Parent	Recruitment** I nformation	about schools’ procedures	for obtaining	consent	for students to	participate	in the	study will	have been gathered during	school recruitment. Schools	generally	require	one	of	two	types	of	consent:	implicit	or explicit.	Both	types	of	consent	require	that	parents	be	notified	that	their	children	have	been	selected	for	the study.	With	implicit	consent,	the	school	does	not	require	verbal or	written	consent	for a	student to	participate in	the study – p arents	are	asked	only	to	notify	the	appropriate	person	if	they	do	not	want	their	child	to participate (appendix F).	With	explicit	consent,	children	may	participate	only	if	their	parents	provi de	written or	oral	consent	for	their	children	to	do	so	(appendix G). In	the	field	test, proactive p arent	recruitment	will	be focused	on	maximizing	the	number	of	parents (1) returning	signed explicit	consent forms and	(2) completing the	parent	survey. After the student s ample	is	drawn within a school, the	initial	communication	with	parents consisting	of introductory	and	consent	materials (Appendixes F - I )	will	be	distributed	to	parents	in	a	way	each	school believes	to	be	most	appropriate	and	effective	(e.g., sending the materials	home	with	students;	the	school	or district	sending the materials	directly	to	parents;	and/or	trained	MGLS	recruitment	staff	contacting	parents directly	by	mail,	email,	and/or	phone). The	initial	materials will	introduce	the study,	exp lain the	study’s purpose	and	the	importance	of student	and	parent participation, describe what	is	involved	in	participation, and	specify	the	consent	procedure	that	is	being	used	by	their	school . The	materials	will	include a	co nsent seeking letter to all parents plus	a	consent	form	where	explicit	consent	is	required (a ppendi ces	F - G) ,	a	colorful recruitment- oriented	brochure	(a ppendix H ),	and	a	sheet	of	FAQs	about	the	study	(a ppendix I) with links for accessing	the MGLS:2017	recruitment	website,	following the	study on	NCES ’s	Twitter	account 4, and join ing the study’s	Facebook	page.	The	Twitter	and	Facebook	accounts	will	provide	an	outreach	service,	offering	updates on	the	progress	of	the	study and posting	information	on	recent	articles and other	material	relevant	to education	in	the	middle	grades. Additionally,	i n	schools	using	explicit consent,	the	parental	consent form	for student’s participation,	which	will	be	included	in	the	initial	communication	materials,	will	ask	parents	to provide	their	contact	information (appendix	G) . T he	IVFT	(but	not	the	OFT)	will	include	a	parent	incentive	experiment.	All	parents	of	sampled	students	within the	same	school	will	be	assigned	to	the	same	incentive	level . Within	the	schools	selected	for a parent	incentive other	than	$0 ,	the $20	or	$40 incentive	amount	will	be	indicated	in	the	letter	that	will	accompany	the	initial parent	contact	materials and will	be	referenced on	the	explicit	consent form (appendices	F - G) . In	schools	that	use	an	explicit	consent	procedure,	the	methods that	will	be	used	to	follow- up	with	parents	who do	not	respond	to	the	initial	contact	materials	will	depend	on	whether	the	school	or	district	provided	contact information	for	these	parents and on	the	ways	each	school	considers	to	be	appropriate	for	contacting	parents (either	through	the	school’s	staff	or	by	MGLS	trained	staff	directly).	The non - response follow- up	will	focus	on 4 Note that Twitter and Facebook accounts can be set to disallow for responses or re -tweeting, thereby avoiding participant disclosure.5

assuring	that	parents	receive	the	introductory	and	consent	materials,	encourage	them	to	sign	and	return	the consent	form,	and	answer any	questions	they	may	have.	In	schools	that	use	an	implicit	consent	procedure,	no follow- up	will	be	required	given	that	absence	of	parents’	reply	indicates	consent. If	parents	indicate	that	they	would	prefer	not	to	participate	at	a	rate	that	suggests	ref usal	conversation	is necessary	for	the	success	of	the	field	test,	trained	recruiters	may	contact	parents	in	an	attempt	to convert refusals	by address ing any	concerns parents	may	have over	participation	in	the	study.	Depending	on	the	mode of	initial	contact,	parents	may	be	contacted	by	phone,	email,	or	a	mailing	sent	home	from	the	contractor	or from	the school	or	district	personnel . Refusal	conversion	experiences	in	the	IVFT and	OFT	field	tests	may inform	parent	recruitment	materials	and	procedures that	will be	used	in the	main	study. **B .i.**  **3 Maximizing	Participation**  Studies	increasingly	experience	c hallenges in	obtaining	the	cooperation	of	districts	and	schools.	Loss	of instructional	time, competing	demands ( such	as	district	and	state	testing	requirements ), lack	of	teacher	and parent	support, and	increased demands	on	principals	impede	gaining	permission	to	conduct	research	in schools. MGLS:2017 recruitment	teams	will	be	trained	to	communicate	clearly	to	districts,	dioceses,	private school	organizations,	scho ols, teachers, parents ,	and	students the	benefits	of	participating	in	the	field	test	and what	participation	will	require	in	terms	of	student	and school	personnel time. MGLS	staff will seek	to	utilize conferences	to	educate m iddle grades	professionals	about the	study and	its	field	tests	and	to	increase MGLS name	recognition. Recruiters	will	be	trained	to	address	concerns	that	districts	and	schools	may	have	about participation,	while	simultaneously	communicating	the	value	of	the	study and the	school’s key	role	in developing	instruments	that	ensure	high - quality	data	focusing	on	middle - grade	students.	Early	engagement	of districts	and	school	administrators	will	be important.	The	study	will	also	offer	monetary	incentives	to	schools ( see P art	A), which	have	proven in	other	NCES	studies	to	increase school	participation rates. Along	with	offering	monetary	incentives,	our	plan	for	maximizing	district , school	administrator,	and	parent engagement	includes the	following:  **Experienced	recruiters** .	T he	recruiting	team	will	include	staff	with	established	records	of	successfully recruiting	school	districts	and	schools.	To	maximize	district	approval,	senior	staff	will	make	the	initial district	telephone	contacts.	Their	familiarity	with	the	study	and	its future	impact,	as	well	as	their experience	in	working	with	districts	to	overcome	challenges	to	participation,	will	be	crucial	to	obtaining district	approval.	Recruiters	contacting	schools	will	be	equally	adept	at	working	with	school administrators	and	providing	solutions	to the many obstacles associated	with	student	assessments, including conflicts related	to scheduling	and assessment space,	minimizing	interruption to instructional time,	and	obtaining	teacher	and	parent buy- in.  **Persuasive	written	materials** .	Key	to	the	plan	for	maximizing participation	is developing	informative materials and professional	and	persuasive requests for	participation .	The	importance	of	the	study	will	be reflected	in	the	initial	invitations	from NCES	(a ppendices C - G)	sent	with	a	c omprehensive	set	of FAQs (a ppendix I )	and a	colorful	recruitment- oriented	brochure	describing	the	study (a ppendix H ). Reviewing these study	materials should provide	districts	and	school	administrators with a good understanding	of	the study’s	value,	the	imp ortance	of	the	field	test,	and	the	data	collection	activities	required as	part	of	the study.	A	full	understanding	of	these	factors	will	be	important	both	to	obtain	cooperation	and	ensure	that schools	and	districts accept the	data	collection	requests	that	f ollow.  **Persuasive	electronically	accessible	materials** . In addition	to	written	materials,	we	will	develop	a recruitment- focused	website which, drawing heavily	on	the	written	materials, will present	clear	and concise	information	about	the	study	and convey th e	critical	importance o f participating	in	it. The study’s Twitter	and	Facebook	accounts	will	provide	an	outreach	service,	offering	updates	on	the	progress	of	the study and posting	information	on	recent	articles and other	material	relevant	to	education in the middle grades.  **Buy -**  **in	and	support	at	each	level** .	During	district	recruitment,	the	study	team	will	seek	not	just permission	to	contact	schools and	obtain	student	rosters but also	to	obtain support	from	the	district.	This may	take	the	form	of	approval	of a	research	application and a	letter	from	the	district’s superintendent6

encouraging	schools	to	participate.	Active	support from	a	higher	governing	body	or	organization,	such	as	a district	or a diocese, encourages	cooperation of	schools .	Similarly,	when	pri ncipals	are	interested	in	the research	activity,	they	are	more	likely	to	encourage	teacher participation	and provide an	effective	school coordinator.  **Avoiding	refusals** . MGLS	r ecruiters	will	work	to	avoid	direct	refusals	by focusing on	strategies	to	solve p roblems	or	meet obstacles to	participation faced	by	district	or	school	administrators . They will	endeavor to	keep	the	door	open	while	providing	additional information and seeking	other	sources	of	persuasion. **B .i.**  **4 Purpose	of	Field	Test	and	Data	Uses**  T he IVFT is designed to	obtain	the	cooperation	of	enough	schools	in	order	to	sample	and	collect sufficient data from	students ,	parents,	teachers,	and	administrators to evaluate the	psychometric	properties	of	items	and the predictive	potential	of	scale	variable s .	This	will	allow valid, reliable	and	useful	assessment	and survey instruments to	be	composed	for	the	main	study. Additionally,	as	described	in	Part	A	section	A.9,	the	IVFT will include	a	school	and	a	parent	incentive	experiment	to	determine	whether	diffe rent	levels	and/or	types	(in case	of	schools)	of	incentives	can	significantly	improve	participation	rates. 

### B. **ii Operational	Field	Test**  **(OFT) B**  **.ii. 1	Respondent	Universe**  The	MGLS:2017	Operational	Field	Test (OFT) will	be	conducted	during	the	2015 - 2016	school year, with	data collection scheduled	to	begin in January	2016.	The	OFT will be conducted in 5 - 10 geographic	locations	that adequately simulate	the	diversity	of	the	50	States	and	the	District	of	Columbia. The	OFT may	include up	to two quasi - nationally	representative samples of	students	in	the	United	States .	The	Sample	1	universe would	include all	students enrolled	in 6th grade and attending	general	education	schools ,	and	Sample	2	would	include students	in	the	three	focal	disability	categories	who	are enroll ed	in	6 th grade or	are	of	equivalent age	in an ungraded	classroom.	Sample	2	would	be	used	i f	Sample	1	proves in sufficient	to	meet	the target student sample yield s for	the	three	focal	disability	categories ,	and would	be	selected from district- level student rosters . The	MGLS:2017	will	employ	a	multi - stage	probability	proportional	to	size sampling design,	with	schools selected	in	one	stage,	and	students	selected	within	schools. For OFT	Sample	1 ,	s chools would be	selected	for recruitment	from	the	most	recent	available Common	Core	of	Data	( CCD 2012 - 13 )	to	develop	the	public	school list	and	from	the	Private	School	Universe	Survey	( PSS 2012 - 13 )	to	develop	the	private	school	list. In Sample	1 , once	schools	are	selected and	recruited,	students	enrolled	in 6th grade	will	be	selected	from	the	provided student	rosters.	For OFT	S ample	2,	on c e	the	geographic	regions	are	identified,	districts would be	contacted	to provide	rosters	of	students	enrolled	in 6th grade along	with	their	disability	codes	(see	appendixes	S - T) . Stude nts in	the autism,	specific learning	disability,	and	emotional	disturbance categories would be sampled from	the	provided	rosters,	and	their schools would be	contacted	for	recruitment. During	the 2016	administration	of	the OFT, students will	participate	in	the	full	protocol	as	designed	for implementation	in	the	main	study, including student	assessments;	student	surveys;	and	surveys	of	the students’	parents,	math	teachers,	special	education	teachers	(when	applicable),	and	school	administrators. In the	subsequent	two OFT follow- ups planned	for	2017	and	2018 , when	most	students will	be in 7th grade	and then 8th grade, respectively, only student tracing	and	tracking	activities	will	be	conducted	to	test	approaches, materials,	and procedures	nee ded	to	locate	the sample students	as	they	move	and change schools. **Students** The	specified	desired	yield	for OFT is 1 , 120 students enrolled	in	6 th grade ( included	in	the 1 , 120 cases is	a sample	of 120	students in the three	focal disability	categori es ). As in	IVFT,	depending	on	each	school’s	policy, either	active	(explicit)	or	passive	(implicit)	p arental	consent	materials	(appendices	F - G) will	be	distributed	to the	sampled students,	with	an	estimated	80	percent rate	of	granted consents . Among	those	with	granted consent,	an	estimated	80	percent	of	students	are	expected	to	be	present	and	take	the	assessments.	Thus	to	get to	a	yield	of	1,120	assessed	students,	the	parents	of	approximately	1,750	students	will	need	to	be	contacted for	consent	(1,750 * 0 .8* 0 .8= 1,120) .7

**Schools** The	MGLS:2017	main	study	design	estimates	that	approximately	20 – 25 students from	each	school will participate,	which is similar to	the	number	of	students who	participated	in each	school in the	ECLS - K:2011 and	the	HSLS:09 .	Therefore,	for OFT to	mi mic	procedures	in	the	main	study, assuming an average participation	of 22 students in each	school, and	a target yield	of	1 , 120	students total, we will need to	recruit approximately	50	schools. As	in	IVFT,	based	on the HSLS:09	base - year	weighted school response	rate	of	55 .5 percent,	the MGLS :2017	OFT	would	need	to	draw	a sample	of	approximately	92	schools. **B .ii.**  **2 Procedures	for	the	Collection	of	Information**  For	sample	schools	that	do	not	require	research	approval	at	the	district	level,	recruitment	will	b egin	at	the school	level ;	otherwise	it	will	begin	with	a	research	application	at	the	district	level.	Additionally,	if	student Sample	1	does	not	yield	sufficient	number s of	students	in	the	three	focal	disability	categories,	requests	for student	rosters	will be	sent	to districts to	draw	student	Sample	2	that	supplements	Sample	1	such	that	target yields	in	the	three	focal	disability	categories	can	be	obtained . In	all	other	ways ,	the	recruitment	approach	for OFT will	be the	same	as	that	described for IVFT in	se ction B .i. 2. The	OFT	field	test	communication	and recruitment	materials	use	slightly	different	language	than	their	IVFT	equivalents	(see Appendi ces A	through I ) in	order	to reflect	the	fact	that : (a) OFT	will	only	sample	6 th grade	students	and their	ungraded	equivalents; (b) sample students	and	parents in	OFT will	be	contacted	again in the	future	for	a	two - year	follow- u p	study	of tracing	and	tracking;	and (c) all	parents in	OFT will	be	offered	a	$20	incentive . Also,	i n	the	OFT	(but	not	IVFT),	as	part	of	the	parent	survey,	we	will	ask	parents	for	additional	contact information	that can be	used	to	reach	them	at a later	date	and for the	contact	information	of	a	friend	or relative	who	may	know	how	to	contact	them	in	the	event	their	contact	information	is	no	longer	effective. While	the	tracking	and	tracing	activities	in	the	OFT	will	largely	rely	on	school	records,	this	contact	information may	be	used in	locating	the	student	and	family	over	time. The	tracking	and	tracing	activities	in	the	OFT	will inform the	procedures	and	materials	for	tracing	and	tracking	sample	members	in	the	MGLS main study. **B .ii.**  **3 Maximizing	Participation**  S imilar	tactics	to	maximize sample	members’ pa rticipation will	be	used	in	OFT as in IVFT (see s ection B .i. 3 ) . **B .ii.**  **4 Purpose	of	Field	Test	and	Data	Uses**  A main	goal	of the OFT is	to	better	understand	the	recruitment	strategies	necessary	for	a	large - scale	nationally representative	effort to	obtain	the	targeted	sample	yield	of 6th - grade general	education	students	and	students with	disabilities , and the subsequent tracing	and tracking strategies	necessary	to	maintain the student sample from the base	year (when sample	students will	be in 6th grade ) to	the	first	follow- up (when	most of	the students will	b e in 7th grade ) and	the	second	follow- up (when	most will	be in 8th grade ) . As	described	in	Part A	section	A.9,	the	OFT	will	include	a	school	and	a	student	incentive	experiment	to	determine	whether	different types	and/or	levels	(in	case	of	schools)	of	incentives	can	significantly	improve participation	rates . **B .**  **5 Individuals	Consulted	on	Study	Design**  The	following	individuals	are	responsible	for	the MGLS:2017: Carolyn	Fidelman,	NCES (202)	502 - 7 312 Jeff	Owings,	NCES (202)	502 - 7423 Chris	Chapman,	NCES (202) 502 - 7414