Initial Letter to Survey respondents

Appendix F

Initial Letter to Survey Respondents

[U.S. Department of Education Letterhead]

[date]

Dear Colleague:

In a few days, you will receive an email asking you to complete a survey about technical assistance from one of the Comprehensive Technical Assistance Centers supported by the U.S. Department of Education. I am writing to urge you to take a few minutes to complete this survey and to provide feedback that will help the Department of Education evaluate and improve the technical assistance provided to you and others around the country.

The survey is part of a Congressionally mandated evaluation of the Comprehensive Centers program. Under the direction of the Institute of Education Sciences, the evaluation will assess how the Comprehensive Centers are supporting states in implementing the No Child Left Behind Act, improving academic achievement, closing achievement gaps, and encouraging and sustaining school improvement. The Department will use this feedback to report to Congress on the performance of the Comprehensive Centers program and to inform future policy on federally supported technical assistance.

The Department has contracted with Branch Associates, Inc. (BAI), and its partners, Policy Studies Associates (PSA) and Decision Information Resources (DIR), to carry out the evaluation.

Before the end of this week, you will receive an email from Policy Studies Associates containing an electronic link to the survey, which will take only 20 minutes to complete. Your prompt response to this survey is crucial. Because you were selected to receive this survey through a carefully designed process, we are counting on your response.

Every effort will be made to protect the confidentiality of the data collected through this survey. Responses to this survey will be used only for statistical purposes. The reports prepared for this study will report all data in the aggregate and will not associate responses with a specific organization or individual.

If you have any questions or concerns about the survey or the evaluation of the Comprehensive Centers, please contact Paul Strasberg at the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Paul can be reached at 202-219-3400 or paul.strasberg@ed.gov.

Christina Simko of Policy Studies Associates will provide you with an electronic link to the survey in the event that PSA’s email does not reach you this week. Christina can be reached toll-free at 1-866-xxx-xxxx, or by e-mail at csimko@policystudies.com.

I know there are many demands on your time. Nevertheless, I ask that you respond to this survey so that we may strengthen the technical assistance that supports your agency. I truly appreciate your time, consideration, and effort.

Sincerely,