Jan 23 -- The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Department of Education (ED), invites comment by March 24, 2023 regarding the National Teacher and Principal Survey of 2023-2024 (NTPS 2023-24) Data Collection.
The National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), conducted every two or 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. NTPS also functions as the base-year for the longitudinal studies Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS) and Principal Follow-up Survey (PFS).
A previous request (OMB #1850-0598 v.41) to conduct the NTPS 2023-24 preliminary activities, namely special district recruitment, recruitment of endorsers, and Screener Survey for the NTPS and the NTPS follow-up surveys, was approved in December 2022.
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=202210-1850-001
This request for public comment and OMB review is for the NTPS 2023-24 Main Study final procedures and materials, including all contact materials and survey questionnaires. Public comment and OMB approval for the follow-up surveys to NTPS 2023-24—the Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS) and the Principal Follow-up Survey (PFS)—will be requested in an additional package in winter 2023-24.
SASS, the predecessor to NTPS, was conducted by NCES seven times between 1987 and 2011. SASS was an integrated study of public school districts, public and private schools, principals, teachers, and library media centers, designed to provide descriptive data on a wide range of topics including teacher demand, teacher and principal characteristics, general conditions in schools, principals' and teachers' perceptions of school climate and problems in their schools, teacher compensation, and district hiring and retention practices. After 2011-12, NCES redesigned SASS and named it the NTPS to reflect the redesigned study’s focus on the teacher and principal labor market and on the state of K-12 school staff. NCES first conducted NTPS during the 2015-16 school year, and then again during the 2017-18 and 2020-21 school years. The next collection will take place during the 2023-24 school year.
NTPS recruitment and data collection are administered for NCES by the U.S. Census Bureau. As with prior NTPS administrations, OMB approval for NTPS 2023-24 is being requested in two parts: 1) a clearance for preliminary field activities including contacting and obtaining research approvals from public school districts with an established research approval process (“special contact districts”), where applicable, notifying sampled schools of their selection for the NTPS and inviting them to complete a short screener survey to verify eligibility for the NTPS and establish a point of contact at their school, and contacting key public and private school associations to seek their endorsement for the NTPS (OMB# 1850-0598 v.41); and 2) a clearance for main study data collection activities with schools and school staffs (this request). Cognitive interviews to test new or revise existing NTPS 2023-24 survey content (OMB #1850-0803 v.311) and focus groups and usability testing for the NTPS 2023-24 Respondent Portal Instrument (OMB #1850-0803 v.311, 315, and 319) were conducted earlier in 2022.
NTPS:
https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ntps/
Draft data collection instruments and technical documentation:
https://www.regulations.gov/search?filter=ED-2023-SCC-0019
FRN:
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2023-01157