Sept 8 -- The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) invites comments to OMB by October 9, 2023 regarding the proposed revision to the School Pulse Panel 2023–24 Data Collection.
The School Pulse Panel (SPP) is a data collection originally designed to collect voluntary responses from a nationally representative sample The School Pulse Panel is conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), part of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), within the United States Department of Education. Initially, the purpose of the study was to collect extensive real-time data on issues brought to light by the COVID–19 pandemic on students and staff, as well as other important education-related issues that could inform data-driven policy decisions, in U.S. public primary, middle, high, and combined-grade schools and districts. Specifically, this was accomplished by collecting data on, among other things, the percentage of the student body starting the school year behind grade level, the types of learning recovery strategies being implemented and the perceived effectiveness of those strategies, classroom behavioral concerns, mental health services provided, and staffing issues.
NCES was able to capture each of these pieces in an expedited fashion and report out findings in a matter of weeks, providing rich information to help tell the full story of what students, staff, and administrators were battling on a daily basis. The success of the quick-turnaround nature of the SPP was a clear indication of the immense value of having a real-time data collection vehicle readily available to capture content on prominent events occurring in the school environment. Therefore, stakeholders and ED leadership have asked NCES to continue this type of data collection methodology for the 2023–24 school year and beyond with content extending beyond COVID–19 pandemic impacts on the education environment.
The sample design for the 2023-24 cohort will roughly be the same as the 2021-22 cohort, except the overall sample size will be increased to have a total of 8,000 (4,000 in an initial sample and 4,000 in a reserve sample) public elementary, middle, high, and combined-grade schools, which will be randomly selected to participate in the panel. The goal will be to have national representation from 1,200 responding schools in order to report out national estimates. School staff will be asked to provide requested data monthly during the 2023-24 school year. Given the high demand for data collection during this time, the content of the survey is expected to change monthly. . . .
The current package (v.4) contains the November 2023–January 2024 questionnaires and the full year of communication materials. The November 2023 questionnaire has been finalized but the items in the December 2023 and January 2024 questionnaires were still undergoing cognitive testing at the time of the publication of this 30-day package. A change request (OMB #1850–0803 v.5) will be submitted at the conclusion of the 30-day public comment period for this package to make updates to these instruments, as informed by cognitive testing.
2Q revision memo:
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/DownloadDocument?objectID=135114000
NCES School Pulse Panel:
https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/spp/
Census:
https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/school-pulse-panel.html
NCES submission to OMB:
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=202309-1850-002 Click IC List for information collection instrument, View Supporting Statement for technical documentation. Submit comments through this webpage.
FRN:
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2023-19364
For AEA members wishing to submit comments, "A Primer on How to Respond to Calls for Comment on Federal Data Collections" is available at
https://www.aeaweb.org/content/file?id=5806