Public School Principal Letter

Public School Letter

I am writing to ask you, as principal of <name of school>, to complete the Public School Principal Survey for an evaluation of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) that the U.S Congress has mandated.

As you may know, the OSP is a federal program that provides scholarships to low-income residents of the District of Columbia so that they can attend local private schools instead of the public schools available to them. There is great interest in understanding how both private and public schools admit students, organize instruction, and encourage parents to participate in school efforts, as well as what types of services and programs are offered. These are the main topics covered by the survey, which will be conducted each spring, 2013-2016.

The survey should take approximately X minutes. We ask that you complete it by Y date.

The easiest way to fill out the survey is on the web:

• Go to www.(name of website).com.

• Enter the unique username and password we have assigned to you, listed below:

Username:

Password:

If you would prefer a paper version of the survey, please email, (insert email address), or call 888-xxx-xxxx.

All information from this study will be kept confidential as required by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (Title I, Part E, Section 183). To ensure privacy, no personally identifiable information will be disclosed as part of the evaluation. All of the information that is collected will be stored separately from school records in a secure location. 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, or individual. We will not provide information that identifies you or your school to anyone outside the study team, except as required by law.

If you have any questions or need help completing this survey, please contact me or Sylvia Segovia, Data Collection Manager, at Westat (phone: 1-888-xxx-xxxx; email: <email address>).

Although your participation is voluntary, we appreciate your participation in this important evaluation. We look forward to working with your school over the next several years to make this study a success.

Sincerely,

Juanita Lucas-McLean

Project Director

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number.  The valid OMB control number for this information collection is xxxx-xxxx.  Public reporting burden for this collection is estimated to average 20 minutes per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection.  Although your participation is voluntary, we appreciate your participation in this important evaluation. Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to the U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, S.W., LBJ, Room 2E117, Washington, DC 20210-4537 or send electronically through the Federal eRulemaking  Portal at http://www.regulations.gov by selecting the Docket ID number.