Teacher Data Collections

Date

Dear Colleague,

WestEd, an education research and service agency, is conducting a study of a social studies curriculum that uses problem-based instructional approaches to teach high school economics. We wish to determine how this approach affects teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogical practice in economics as well as how these changes influence student achievement in economics.

At this stage in the study, we need you to complete the Teacher Background Survey (TBS) and the Test of Economic Literacy (TEL) within the next seven days to give us information about your previous experience in teaching economics, how well you understand the principles of economics, the way our economy works, and other related information. Both the TBS and the TEL are available online at the following web addresses, and can be accessed at your convenience:

• TBS URL address¹

• TEL URL address²

You have been assigned the following ID and password to access the websites:

• ID xxx

• Password xxx

We estimate that completing the TBS will take less than 10 minutes and the TEL will take less than 45 minutes. We want you to answer the questions as best you can.

Your responses will be kept strictly confidential and will be used only for research purposes. We want to assure you that the results will never be presented in any way that would permit any response to be associated with a specific individual, and only the researchers will have access to the data.

Thank you for your cooperation in this important effort. If you have any questions or would like to have further information about the study, please contact me at (877) 938-3400, ext. 3171 or by email at nfinkel@wested.org.

Sincerely,

Neal Finkelstein, PhD

Senior Research Scientist, WestEd

1 This information will become available in advance of instrument administration.

2 The online administration of the TEL will be in cooperation with the National Council on Economic Education.