The School Pulse Panel is a new study
conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES),
part of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), within the
United States Department of Education, to collect extensive data on
issues concerning the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students
and staff in U.S. public primary, middle, high, and combined-grade
schools. The survey will ask school district staff and sampled
school principals about topics such as instructional mode offered;
enrollment counts of subgroups of students using various
instructional modes; learning loss mitigation strategies; safe and
healthy school mitigation strategies; special education services;
use of technology; use of federal relief funds; and information on
staffing. Because this data collection is extremely high priority
and time sensitive, it will undergo Emergency Clearance. The
administration of the School Pulse Panel study is in direct
response to President Biden’s Executive Order 14000: Supporting the
Reopening and Continuing Operation of Schools and Early Childhood
Education Providers. It will be one of the nation’s few sources of
reliable data on a wealth of information focused on school
reopening efforts, virus spread mitigation strategies, services
offered for students and staff, and technology use, as reported by
school district staff and principals in U.S. public schools. About
1200 public elementary, middle, high, and combined-grade schools
will be selected to participate in a panel where school and
district staff will be asked to provide requested data monthly
during the 2021-22 school years. This approach provides the ability
to collect detailed information on various topics while also
assessing changes in reopening efforts over time. Given the high
demand for data collection during this time, the content of the
survey may change on a quarterly basis.
In September 2021, NCES
made the decision to suspend data collection for the months of
October, November, and December 2021, as the response rate for the
first month of the collection was under 10 percent and not expected
to provide sufficient data for accurate and unbiased estimates to
be produced. The reason for the delay was to provide the Institute
of Education Sciences sufficient time to redesign the study to
improve response rates. A primary strategy is to reduce burden in
each month’s collection and to rotate content to address data needs
of the agencies across months. The January SPP collection will be
based on updated materials cleared through OMB in previous
submissions for the study. The SPP study itself is extremely
important particularly now that COVID-19 has not waned, and the
pulse model is one that the agency will need after the pandemic
subsides for other quick-turnaround data needs.
US Code:
20
USC 9573 Name of Law: Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002
In a bid to improve response
rates, NCES is lowering the burden for participating schools. The
reduction in burden per response results in a program change
reduction in burden of 21,600 hours. The total hours and responses
are 4,752 hours and 17,280 responses.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Appendix A & B Comms Materials & Screener.docx
School Pulse Panel Preliminary Activities