Assessing the Role of Noncognitive and School Environmental Factors in Students' Transition to High School in New Mexico

Attachment A-7. Principal Telephone Script

Hello! We are calling from REL Southwest—one of the Regional Education Laboratories funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

The Regional Education Laboratory Southwest (REL Southwest) and the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) would like to invite your school to participate in a REL Southwest study investigating relationships between measures of students’ noncognitive factors (e.g., persistence, learning strategies academic behaviors, academic mindsets) and their transitions to high school, as well as student’s perceptions of their school climate. The goal of the study is to identify factors that help students transition to high school and have a successful ninth grade year.

Your district superintendent has agreed to support our project by allowing schools to participate in our study. I’m calling to provide you with more information about our study, to answer any questions you might have about the study and the survey, and see if your school is interested in participating in our study.

High schools in participating districts will be asked to allow REL Southwest researchers to administer a survey to all ninth grade students during their grade 9 English class. The survey asks students to respond to questions about their teachers, schoolwork, transitions to high school, peers, parents’ assistance with planning for the future, and plans for the future. It should take students approximately 20 minutes to complete the survey. Students will not be asked questions about any sensitive topics.

REL Southwest researchers will be responsible for survey administration, including survey dissemination and collection. A REL Southwest researcher will contact the administrative staff member that you designate to coordinate dates for survey administration and to collect classroom rosters. Parents will have the opportunity to opt their student out of participating in the study by signing an opt-out form or contacting the research team via email or telephone.

In return, you will receive a customized survey report for your high school. The survey report will present aggregated results for all survey items and scales contained on the survey. Each customized school report will present the results for the individual high school, as well as the results for all other participating high schools combined. You will also receive a copy of the final study report, if desired. Teachers and administrative staff who participate in the study will also receive a $25 Amazon.com gift card for their time and effort.

All study results published in public reports will be aggregated across all participating high schools, and results for any group of less than 5 students will be omitted to protect confidentiality. Absolutely no individual, school, or district results will be made public in any way.

The Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, Title I, Part E, Section 183, prohibits disclosure of individually identifiable information as well as making the publishing or communicating of individually identifiable information by employees or staff a felony. Per the policies and procedures required by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, Title I, Part E, Section 183, responses to this data collection will be used only for statistical purposes. The reports prepared for this study will summarize findings across the sample and will not associate responses with a specific school, district, or individual. Any willful disclosure of such information for nonstatistical purposes, except as required by law, is a class E felony.

What questions do you have about the survey and its administration?

Are you interested in participating in the study?

Which school staff member should we contact regarding administration of the survey?

Do you have any other questions?

This study is voluntary. If you have questions about the survey or the study after this phone call, please contact Deborah Van Kummer at (512) 391-6551 or deborah.vankummer@sedl.org.

Thank you!