NonResponse Follow-up Letter

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION SCIENCES NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS

[Date]

Dear Superintendent:

Recently, you were asked to complete a district-level survey on dropout prevention services and programs for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), U.S. Department of Education. This study, approved by the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB No. 1850-0733), will provide national data that can only be obtained from public school districts. If your district has already completed the questionnaire, I wish to thank you for your participation. It is only through the help of district personnel such as yourself that NCES is able to provide policymakers with valuable national data on dropout prevention services and programs.

If your district has not yet completed the survey, I ask that you do so as soon as possible because the data are urgently needed to report a current picture of dropout prevention services and programs in public school systems. Your district’s participation, while voluntary, is vital to the development of national estimates. Your input is needed because your district is one of a small sample selected for the study. It is only through the participation of the selected districts that we can represent the full range of dropout prevention services and programs available to students across all types of public school districts.

The online version of the survey is available at www.frss-XXX. Your username and password appear on the enclosed Web Survey Information Sheet. If you prefer, you may fax the paper version of the survey to 1-800-254-0984. Westat, an independent research firm, which is conducting the survey for NCES.

If you have any questions, please contact Priscilla Carver, the Westat survey manager, at 1-800-937-8281, ext. 4596 (toll-free) or 301-279-4596, or by email at priscillacarver@westat.com. You may also call me at 202-502-7497. Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,

Peter Tice

Project Officer

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20006