Change Memo

Memorandum United States Department of Education

Institute of Education Sciences

National Center for Education Statistics

DATE: November 18, 2020

TO: Robert Sivinski, OMB

THROUGH: Carrie Clarady, NCES

FROM: Maura Spiegelman, NCES

SUBJECT: 2020-21 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS 2020-21) Teacher E-mail Change Request (OMB# 1850-0598 v.36)

The National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), conducted every two to three years by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), is a system of related questionnaires that provides descriptive data on the context of elementary and secondary education. Redesigned from the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) with a focus on flexibility, timeliness, and integration with other ED data, the NTPS system allows for school, principal, and teacher characteristics to be analyzed in relation to one another. NTPS is an in-depth, nationally representative survey of first through twelfth grade public and private school teachers, principals, and schools. Kindergarten teachers in schools with at least a first grade are also surveyed. NTPS utilizes core content and a series of rotating modules to allow timely collection of important education trends as well as trend analysis. Topics covered include characteristics of teachers, principals, schools, teacher training opportunities, retention, retirement, hiring, and shortages.

The NTPS 2019-20 preliminary activities were approved in July 2019, with a change request approved in November 2019 (OMB# 1850-0598 v.26-27). OMB approved the main study for 2020-21 in March 2020 (OMB# 1850-0598 v.28-30). In December 2019, NCES received OMB approval (OMB#1850-0803 v. 259) for cognitive interviews to test new and revised items about virtual schools and online course offerings in the NTPS School Questionnaire. Questions about virtual schools and online course offerings were revised, based on the results of this cognitive testing. This testing occurred in the winter and spring of 2020. During the end of this testing window, in March 2020, it became clear that questions needed to distinguish between typical practices (the intent of these questions) and changes implemented by schools due to the coronavirus (COVID-19). Questions on virtual schools and online course offerings were added to all NTPS questionnaires (OMB# 1850-0598 v.31-33), and references to the coronavirus pandemic were added to correspondence with sampled schools and principals (OMB# 1850-0598 v.34-35).

This request adds an additional e-mail that will be sent to schools that have not yet completed a Teacher Listing Form, which creates the sampling frame for the Teacher Questionnaire. Black font demarks the text that remains unchanged from the last approved, while text in red font shows the revisions that were made. This requested change does not affect the approved total cost to the federal government for conducting this study nor the estimated respondent burden.

Modifications to the Contact Materials (Appendix A)

Second Reminder E-mail – TLF (Appendix A, p.74)

Subject: Please provide your teacher list for the NTPS.

Dear <NAME>,

We’ve contacted you throughout this school year to request a list of your school’s teachers for the 2020–21 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS). We need your list of teachers so that we may sample teachers to take part in the teacher survey. Only a small percentage of schools and teachers are selected to participate; therefore, your school’s participation is important to ensure that we can provide policymakers and researchers with reliable, nationally representative data on teachers’ experiences in the teaching profession.

The Teacher Listing Form collects the name, e-mail address, and subject matter taught for each teacher in your school. Please complete your school’s Teacher Listing Form or forward this e-mail to the person who can best provide this information as soon as possible.

Click here to complete the Teacher Listing Form.

Log in using this User ID: <USERID>

The NTPS also includes a School Questionnaire and a Principal Questionnaire. Login information for these questionnaires was sent previously in separate emails.

Thank you for completing this survey promptly.

Sincerely,

National Teacher and Principal Survey Team

U.S. Census Bureau, on behalf of the

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

1-888-595-1338 | ntps@census.gov | http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ntps

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