Study of School-Level Expenditures (SSLE) Form A and Form B

U.S. Department of Education

Study of School-Level Expenditures

Form B:

Data Reporting Instructions for State Educational Agencies to Submit School‑Level and Personnel-Level Expenditure and Staffing Data

April 19, 2010

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB number. The valid OMB control number of this information collection is 1875-0255. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 18 hours per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection.

If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimates(s) or suggestion for improving this form, please write to: U.S. Department of Education, Washington, 20202-4537.

If you have comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual submission of this form, write directly to: Policy and Program Studies Service, Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Room 6W203, Washington, DC 20202-8240.

General Instructions for This Data Collection

Purpose of data collection. In addition to the school-level aggregate expenditure data to be collected from all states, as required under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the Study of School-Level Expenditures is also selecting five states to provide more detailed personnel-level and school-level data in order to (1) validate the aggregate data collected in the primary, universe data collection by comparing them to the more detailed data collected in the five states; and (2) carry out more in-depth analyses of possible variations in resource levels across schools. Some states currently have data systems that already include detailed data on school personnel and expenditures and can provide these data relatively easily.

Data collection year. Please provide personnel and expenditure data for the full 2008-09 school year. You may use the standard start and end dates that are commonly used to define “school year” in your state.

Format of materials. States should submit the personnel and expenditure data in electronic form via email, ftp transfer, or regular mail. To minimize reporting burden for states, we will accept data in whatever format is most convenient for you to provide. Data can be in ASCII (text) format, in spreadsheet files (e.g., Excel, Access), or in word processing files (e.g., WordPerfect or Microsoft Word). Please indicate the type of file and format (Windows or Macintosh):

• Email. Files may be sent via email to SchoolLevelExpend@rti.org.

• Secure electronic file upload site. Larger files may be submitted electronically through RTI’s file upload website at https://edsurveys.rti.org/SchoolLevelExpenditures/Login.aspx. If you would like to use this option, please contact Ruth Heuer at RTI at (919) 541-6457 or heuer@rti.org to obtain a unique username and password.

• Regular mail. Data may be sent on a CD-ROM or diskette to:

Ruth Heuer

RTI International

P. O. Box 12194

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2194

A data collector from RTI International will contact each SEA to discuss this data collection to help determine the least burdensome way for states to provide the required information.

If you have questions or would like more information about this study, you may contact Ruth Heuer at RTI International at (919) 541-6457 or heuer@rti.org, or Stephanie Stullich at the U.S. Department of Education at (202) 401-2342 or stephanie.stullich@ed.gov.

Thank you for your cooperation with this data collection.

Requirement to Cooperate With This Data Collection

Section 1501 of the ESEA authorizes the Secretary to “assess the implementation and effectiveness of programs under [Title I],” and states are required to cooperate with Department evaluations of the Title I program, as a condition of receiving Title I funding (see Section 9304(a)(4) of ESEA).

Because these data will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the Title I comparability requirement under Section 1120A(c) in ensuring the equitable distribution of state and local resources at the school level, this data collection is covered under the requirement for mandatory participation in Department evaluations of Title I.

Description of Detailed Personnel-Level and School-Level Data to Be Collected From Five States

We are asking five SEAs that currently maintain personnel-level datasets and/or school-level financial datasets to provide the following information, to the extent that it is available in their current data systems (in addition to reporting the school-level expenditure data specified in Form A that is required for all states):

• Personnel-level dataset showing the following information for each school staff member:

• School district name and NCES district id code

• School assignment and NCES school id code

• Job classification

• Base salary

• Other salary

• Benefits

• Years of experience

• Highest degree attained

• Name of degree-granting institution

• Other data elements that are available in the state personnel-level database

For teachers, we would also like each SEA to include other information related to teacher background and qualifications, if available in the SEA’s current data system, such as college major, coursework equivalent to a major, academic subject(s) being taught, certification(s), number of times teacher took certification test, score on tests of teacher content knowledge, whether the teacher is teaching “in field” or “out of field”, whether the teacher has met the NCLB “highly qualified” requirement.

Please do not include staff names or social security numbers in this dataset.

• School-level dataset showing the following information for each school:

• School district name and NCES district id code

• School name & NCES school id code

• Total expenditures – general education

• Total expenditures – special education

• Total state and local expenditures – general education

• Total state and local expenditures – special education

• Total expenditures from federal sources

• Title I expenditures

• Other expenditure categories that the state uses to track school expenditures

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