National Center for Education Statistics

School Pulse Panel

Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology Conference

U.S. Department of Education

October 26, 2022
Overview

2

Purpose and Design

Select Findings

Dissemination

Challenges

Future Plans
3

Purpose and Design of the School Pulse Panel 
Purpose and Design of the 

School Pulse Panel (SPP)

• COVID-19 learning disruptions led 

to directives in Executive Order 

14000 and the American Rescue 

Plan Act to conduct studies on 

those disruptions

• A key response was to start a 

monthly pulse study of public 

schools

• Coordinated with federal agencies 

and K-12 public schools and 

systems

4
Original Study Design – June 2021

5

• 1,200 public elementary, middle/combined, and secondary/high schools

• Two additional samples were drawn as reserve samples

1)Reserve sample #1: sample to be used due to special district rejections (N = 1,200)

2)Reserve sample #2: sample to be used due to within-district school rejection (N = 1,200)

• Intend for a committed panel of 1,000 schools

• 4–5-hour monthly survey sent electronically to principals or designated points of 

contact at the school

• Survey open for two weeks each month

• $5,000 reimbursement for commitment to participating for 12 months – loaded debit 

cards to be sent on a quarterly basis reflecting months of response

• Recruitment began in July 2021
Redesigned Study Design – January 2022

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• 2,400 public elementary, middle/combined, and 

secondary/high schools (Initial + 1st Reserve 

Sample)

• Intend for a committed panel of 1,000 schools

• Screener for updated point of contact 

information – Nov & Dec

• 30-minute monthly survey sent electronically to 

principals or designated points of contact at the school

• Survey open for two weeks each month

• $400 reimbursement for each month a completed survey is submitted – debits 

cards to be sent after each month
Monthly Content: School Year 2021-22

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January

Learning 

Modes

Quarantine

Staffing

February

Learning 

Modes

Quarantine

Mitigation 

Strategies

March

Learning 

Modes

Quarantine

Concerns

Lunch 

Programs

April

Learning 

Modes

Quarantine

Mental Health

May

Learning 

Modes

Quarantine

Absenteeism

Student 

Behavior

June

Learning 

Modes

Quarantine

Learning 

Recovery

Summer Plans

Staffing
Monthly Content: School Year 2022-23

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August

Community 

Partnerships

Technology

Staffing

September

Learning 

Modes

Quarantine

Mitigation 

Strategies

After-school 

Programs

Summer School 

Programs

October

Learning 

Modes

Quarantine

Lunch 

Programs

Supply Chain 

Issues

Staffing

November

Learning 

Modes

Quarantine

School Crime 

and Safety

December

Learning 

Modes

Quarantine

Learning 

Recovery 

Strategies
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Select Findings 
Learning Mode Offerings in Public Schools

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62%

100% 97% 99% 99% 100% 99% 98%

40%

34%

40%

34% 33% 33% 33% 33%

44%

4% 7% 10% 8% 9% 9% 10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

END OF

2020-21 SY

SEPTEMBER JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE

2021 2022

Inperson

Remote

Hybrid

Estimates represent: All public schools
Quarantine Prevalence

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Are any students or staff at home and not allowed to attend school in person because they have been potentially exposed to 

COVID-19, displayed COVID-19 like symptoms, or have tested positive for COVID-19? 

94%

74%

31% 32%

8%

30%

15%

47%

34% 35%

24%

Students Staff

January

February

March

April

May

June

Average Number of Students in 

Quarantine in June (change from May)

4 (-4)

Average Number of Staff in 

Quarantine in June (change from May)

2 (0)

Universe: All public schools

Public schools with at least 1 student/staff member quarantining
Chronic Absenteeism by Public School Characteristics

20%

13%

18%

17%

16%

16%

14%

21%

13%

17%

20%

21%

15%

21%

15%

16%

17%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

West

South

Midwest

Northeast

Rural

Town

Suburb City

0 - 25% Minority Students

26 -75% Minority Students

75% + Minority Students

High Poverty

Low Poverty

High

Middle Elementary

All Public Schools

Average Percent of Chronically Absent Students in 2021-22

12

Estimates represent: All public schools (May 2022)
Teacher and Staff Well-Being

Percentage of Public Schools Reporting the Following Concerns Related to Teaching and Staff as Becoming More 

Pressing during the 2021-22 School Year 

Teachers and 

staff retiring 

early

30%

Teachers and 

staff leaving 

the profession

42%

Inability to fill 

vacant 

positions

62%

Teacher and staff 

burnout 88%

Teacher and staff 

mental health 82%

Teacher and staff 

physical health 50%

Well-being Staffing

Estimates represent: All public schools (June 2022)
Teacher Vacancies to Fill for 2022-23 School Year

Average Number of Anticipated Teaching Vacancies per School, by School Characteristics

3.4 3.1

3.7 3.7

3.1

4.2 4.4

3.2

2.6

4.1 3.8

2.5 2.5

3.1 3.0

4.2

2.7 2.7

3.2

3.6

5.3

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0

Estimates represent: All public schools (June 2022) 14
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Disseminating Results 
SPP Data Dissemination 

• Estimates are released 5-6 weeks after each monthly collection on an interactive dashboard 

• The dashboard is here - https://ies.ed.gov/schoolsurvey/spp/

• An Excel file with estimates and standard errors are released – microdata have not been distributed publicly

• The study and findings are considered experimental
What does “experimental” mean?

Experimental data products are innovative statistical

products created using new data sources or methodologies.

Experimental data may not meet all NCES quality standards

but are of sufficient benefit to data users in the absence of

other relevant products. NCES clearly identifies experimental

data products upon their release. While the results presented

in the dashboard have been weighted and adjusted for nonresponse, these experimental data should be interpreted with

caution.

• No imputation and only minor editing

• No microdata files released for disclosure avoidance

• Limited nonresponse bias analysis

• Excel files and dashboard have limited QC 
Uses of SPP Findings: News Outlets

To date, SPP findings have been cited in 

around 200 news articles in 2022

• The Washington Post

• The Wall Street Journal

• The New York Times

• NBC News

• Fox News

• K-12 Dive

• Politico

• MSN

• Education Week

• Chalkbeat

• PBS
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Challenges
Challenges

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Insufficient lead time for development of SPP 1.0

High monetary incentive did not garner anticipated participation relative to response 

burden

Rotating monthly content is resource intensive and limits pretesting the ability to reuse 

quality control procedures from month to month

Clearance challenges

Managing demand for content given high number of stakeholders with varying information 

needs

Continued experimental labeling
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SPP 2.0
Importance of School Pulse PostPandemic

• Many topics in the study are important to 

understand irrespective of COVID-19

• Prevalence of students behind grade level 

• Problems due to staff vacancies

• Approaches to address student mental health 

• School safety needs and policies

• Availability and use of technology for learning

• School infrastructure and transportation

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SPP 2.0 Redesign

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Extensive research on 

SPP 1.0

• Survey of school operations

• Focus group for district respondents

• Thorough nonresponse bias analyses

• Release of data files – disclosure 

review

• Summary reports

Redesign for SPP 2.0

• School and District surveys 

• Smaller incentive – likely 

$100/response

• Longer lead-up time for recruitment

• 2-week data collection window

• Release of data in 5-6 weeks

• Content beyond pandemic
Institutionalizing Fast-Turnaround Collections: Recommendations

• Carefully and regularly communicate with OMB to ensure proper 

clearance processes are applied

• Plan ahead with all parts of your agency product review units to get 

agreements in advance on key issues

• Likely need new procedures for most quality control operations

• Consider new statistical standards for fast-turnaround studies 

• Balancing timeliness with quality – some standards have to be applied 

differently or retrospectively
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Thank you! 

Questions and comments are most welcome:

Rachel.Hansen@ed.gov