Appendix I Appendix I NAEP 2019 HSTS MSTS Instruments

NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

2019 and 2020

Appendix I

High School Transcript Study (HSTS) and Middle School Transcript Study (MSTS) Data Collection Instruments

OMB# 1850-0928 v.11

October 2018

Contents

Appendix I-1: HSTS School Information Form (SIF) 2

Appendix I-2: Requested Data for the High School Transcript Study 8

Appendix I-3: Requested Data for the Middle School Transcript Study 10

Appendix I-4: Sample Communication with Districts Regarding Course Catalogs and Relevant School Information for Middle School Transcript Study (MSTS) 12

Appendix I-1: HSTS School Information Form (SIF)

Authorization and Confidentiality Assurance

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is authorized to conduct NAEP by the National Assessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act (20 U.S.C. §9622) and to collect students’ education records from education agencies or institutions for the purposes of evaluating federally supported education programs under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA, 34 CFR §§ 99.31(a)(3)(iii) and 99.35).

All of the information provided by participants may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose except as required by law (20 U.S.C. §9573 and 6 U.S.C. §151). By law, every NCES employee as well as every NCES agent, such as contractors and NAEP coordinators, has taken an oath and is subject to a jail term of up to 5 years, a fine of $250,000, or both if he or she willfully discloses ANY identifiable information about participants. Electronic submission of information will be monitored for viruses, malware, and other threats by Federal employees and contractors in accordance with the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015. The collected information will be combined across respondents to produce statistical reports.

Paperwork Burden Statement, OMB Information

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 control number. The valid OMB control number for this voluntary information collection is 1850-0928. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 60 minutes, 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 estimate, suggestions for improving this collection, or any comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual submission, please write to: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Potomac Center Plaza, 550 12^th St., SW, 4th floor, Washington, DC 20202.

2019 NAEP HSTS School Information Form (SIF)

The following survey asks important questions about your high school’s policies concerning course credits, graduation requirements, and other subjects. It also asks questions about the transcripts that your school will submit for the students sampled in the 2019 NAEP Grade 12 assessments. Thank you in advance for the time and effort needed to answer these questions. Please complete the entire survey before Thursday, January 31, 2019.

A. School Information

In responding to the questions in this section, think only about the graduating Class of 2019.

1. How many credits does a student earn for a year-long course; that is, a course taken for a single period over the 2018-19 school year or its block equivalent?

# of credits: _____________

1. Has this value changed during the last four school years?

□ Yes

□ No

2. If Yes to Question 1a: How many credits were earned for a year-long course or its block equivalent for the following years?

2017-18 # of credits: _____________

2016-17 # of credits: _____________

2015-16 # of credits: _____________

2. Are credits earned for the following courses the same as the credits listed in Question 1?

Honors courses (including AP and IB) □ Yes □ No

Special education courses □ Yes □ No

English as a Second Language courses □ Yes □ No

If No for any of these courses, please describe the differences below.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

3. How many hours of instruction does a student receive for a year-long course or its block equivalent? (Please report using whole numbers.)

# hours of instruction: _______________

4. What are the total number of credits a student must earn to graduate with a standard high school diploma from your school?

Total # of credits: _________________

5. What are the number of credits required for a Standard diploma in your high school in the following subject areas? If the subject area is not required, please write NA on the credit line.

English/Language Arts # of credits: _____________

1. Mathematics # of credits: _____________

2. Computer Science # of credits: _____________

3. Social Studies/History # of credits: _____________

4. Science # of credits: _____________

5. Foreign Language # of credits: _____________

6. Physical Education/Health # of credits: _____________

7. Other (specify: ______________) # of credits: _____________

8. Other (specify: ______________) # of credits: _____________

9. Other (specify: ______________) # of credits: _____________

Note: The number of credits entered for Questions 5a through 5j should add up to the credits entered for Question 4.

6. Do credits earned prior to ninth grade count toward graduation?

□ Yes

□ No

If Yes, please explain:

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

7. Are there any courses or activities required for graduation that do not receive credits?

□ Yes

□ No

If Yes, please explain:

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

8. Must the student meet a minimum overall grade point average (GPA) to graduate with a Standard diploma in your high school?

□ Yes

□ No

1. If Yes, what is the minimum GPA? __________________

9. Are there state or district competency tests or performance assessments that are required for graduation with a standard diploma?

□ Yes (please answer a and b)

□ No

1. What content areas (e.g., Reading, Citizenship, Mathematics) do the competency tests or performance assessments cover?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

2. If a student does not pass the tests or assessments, what is his/her graduation status?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

B. Transcript Information

1. On the transcripts, are the following types of courses identified in any special way (e.g., indicators within the course ID or course title, such as letters or numbers)?

1. Vocational courses □ Yes □ No

2. Remedial courses □ Yes □ No

3. Honors, AP, or IB courses □ Yes □ No

4. Dual or college credit courses □ Yes □ No

5. Special Education courses □ Yes □ No

6. Courses taught off-campus □ Yes □ No

7. Online courses □ Yes □ No

8. ESL or bilingual courses □ Yes □ No

If Yes for any of the above categories, please list what specific indicator to look for to identify the courses on the transcript.

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

2. What type of grading system is used at your high school? Mark all that apply.

□ Letter grades (A, B, C, …)

□ Numeric grades (63, 78, 100, …)

□ Proficiency levels (Exceed expectations, Meets expectations, …)

□ Pass/Fail

□ Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

□ Other (please specify): ______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

1. If you use a letter, numeric, or proficiency level grading system, what is the lowest possible grade a student can have to pass a course?

____________________________________________________________________

2. If you use a letter, pass/fail, or satisfactory/unsatisfactory grading system, what do the grades stand for numerically? (Example, A=90-100, B= 80-89, P = 61-100, etc.)

Grade	Numeric Range (or description)	Grade	Numeric Range (or description)
A+		D+
A		D
A-		D-
B+		F
B		Pass
B-		Fail
C+		Satisfactory
C		Unsatisfactory
C-

3. Do courses listed on the transcripts contain the course ID numbers that are listed in the school’s course catalog or listing?

□ Yes

□ No

4. How are transfer courses identified on the transcripts? Mark all that apply.

□ Different school name

□ Different city or state name

□ Different student ID

□ Different set of course IDs

□ In the course name (e.g., “Transfer credits”)

□ By a special code or symbol (please specify: _____________________________________)

□ There are no markers to indicate transfer courses on the transcripts.

5. Are there abbreviations or symbols on the transcripts that are not common or self-evident? For example, an “H” is a common abbreviation used for honors courses but using the code “XA” for honors courses would not be common.

□ Yes

□ No

1. If yes, please indicate the symbols and explain what they mean.

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

C. Transcript Submission

The final set of questions asks about how the high school transcripts for the sampled 2019 NAEP Grade 12 assessment students will be provided. There are several methods of collection: a) electronic transmission of the transcripts by the state or TUDA districts on behalf of all participating schools; b) electronic transmission by the school; c) and school visit by NAEP field staff for hard copies of the transcripts.

If the school will transmit transcripts electronically, you will receive a follow-up e-mail in late spring (before the end of your school year) with instructions on how to upload the transcripts to the secure FTP site designated for 2019 NAEP HSTS transcripts collection. Along with the transcripts, you will also be asked to supply an additional file of student information. You will be asked to transmit the transcripts by the end of August 2019, but it would be greatly appreciated if the transcripts were sent before then.

If the school chooses to submit paper copies of the transcripts, a separate procedure will be used to collect the transcripts. During the summer, when transcripts are ready, NAEP field staff will return to the school to make copies of the sampled students’ transcripts. Once the transcripts are copied, all personally identifying information will be removed from the copies, and the copies will be sent to the NAEP HSTS processing center.

Our normal procedures for the transcript study, as specified by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), are to provide FERPA notices for the school, but not to notify parents of their child’s inclusion because no student time is involved and all transcript information is used for statistical purposes only.

1. Is there any reason that we should use different procedures in your school?

□ Yes □ No

[PARENT INFORMATION and CONSENT LETTERS ARE AVAILABLE IF THE SCHOOL INSISTS ON HAVING PARENT LETTERS]

Comments:

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

2. When will the final transcripts for the Class of 2019 students be available?

Date: _________________________________

3. Does your school plan to submit electronic or paper copies of the transcripts for the sampled NAEP students?

□ Electronic (please answer Questions 4, 5, 6, and 9 below)

□ Paper (please answer Questions 7, 8, and 9 below)

□ State/TUDA district will submit (please answer Question 9 below)

4. In which format would the transcripts be sent?

□ Microsoft Excel workbook

□ Microsoft Access database

□ Microsoft Word files

□ Comma separated value (CSV) files

□ XML files

□ Plain text files

□ Adobe Acrobat PDFs

□ Other (please specify): _______________________________________________

5. To whom should the follow-up e-mail with the instructions on how and where to upload the electronic transcripts be sent?

□ To myself

□ To the person listed below

Name: ______________________________________________________________

E-mail: ______________________________________________________________

6. Along with the transcripts, your school will be asked to supply additional student information that is traditionally found on paper transcripts. This additional information is optional, but would be useful for additional education research. Can your school supply the following information in a separate electronic file?

1. Type of diploma received

□ Yes □ No □ Included on electronic transcripts

2. Number of days student was absent for each school year

□ Yes □ No □ Included on electronic transcripts

3. Class rank and size

□ Yes □ No □ Included on electronic transcripts

4. Total credits earned by student

□ Yes □ No □ Included on electronic transcripts

5. Overall grade point average of student

□ Yes □ No □ Included on electronic transcripts

6. If Yes to any of the five variables above, in which format would the student information be sent?

□ Microsoft Excel workbook

□ Microsoft Access database

□ Microsoft Word files

□ Comma separated value (CSV) files

□ XML files

□ Plain text files

□ Adobe Acrobat PDFs

□ Other (please specify): _______________________________________________

7. When will be a convenient time for NAEP field staff to return to the school to pick up copies of the transcripts?

Date: Hours:

8. Whom should we contact to let NAEP field staff into the school and to give access to the transcripts that need to be copied?

□ To myself

□ To the person listed below

Name: ______________________________________________________________

E-mail: ______________________________________________________________

Phone Number: _______________________________________________________

9. Can the school supply a sample transcript? Sample transcripts are collected for locating and reviewing the coursetaking information on the transcripts. Sample transcripts are especially important for school supplying either Adobe Acrobat PDF or paper transcripts.

□ Yes

□ No

1. If Yes, then if the sample transcript is in an electronic format, please attach a sample transcript in the reply to the e-mail containing this School Information Form. If the sample transcript is in a paper format, then please list your mailing address below. A follow-up mailing will be sent to you containing FedEx mailing labels so that you can mail the sample transcript.

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

Appendix I-2: Requested Data for the High School Transcript Study

Authorization and Confidentiality Assurance

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is authorized to conduct NAEP by the National Assessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act (20 U.S.C. §9622) and to collect students’ education records from education agencies or institutions for the purposes of evaluating federally supported education programs under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA, 34 CFR §§ 99.31(a)(3)(iii) and 99.35).

All of the information provided by participants may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose except as required by law (20 U.S.C. §9573 and 6 U.S.C. §151). By law, every NCES employee as well as every NCES agent, such as contractors and NAEP coordinators, has taken an oath and is subject to a jail term of up to 5 years, a fine of $250,000, or both if he or she willfully discloses ANY identifiable information about participants. Electronic submission of information will be monitored for viruses, malware, and other threats by Federal employees and contractors in accordance with the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015. The collected information will be combined across respondents to produce statistical reports.

Paperwork Burden Statement, OMB Information

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 control number. The valid OMB control number for this voluntary information collection is 1850-0928. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 10 hours for states and TUDAs that submit electronically, 2.5 hours for schools that submit electronically, and 2 hours for schools that submit paper, 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 estimate, suggestions for improving this collection, or any comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual submission, please write to: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Potomac Center Plaza, 550 12^th St., SW, 4th floor, Washington, DC 20202.

Educational information

High school graduation requirements

Credits earned for completing a year-long course

Common grading standard (for course grade standardization)

State or district assessments students take for graduation requirements

Course catalog

Course name

Course ID number (linkable to transcripts)

Course description (if available)

Credits earned for passing the course

Course rigor level

Course sequence

Special education course designation

English Language Learner course designation

Online course designation

Designation if course earns student college credits

Student ID and demographic information

Unique Student Identifier (to match with NAEP)

Student name

Month and year of birth

Gender

Race and ethnicity

National School Lunch Program eligibility status

Student with Disability/English Language Learner status

Student educational information (optional)

High school graduation status (yes/no)

Number of days absent by grade level

Student transfer status

Class rank and size

Transcript record data

Course name

Course ID number (linkable to catalog)

Grade level taken

School year taken

Length of course (semester, quarter, etc.)

Number of credits earned

Grade earned (letter, numeric, proficiency level)

Course level flag (regular, honors, etc.)

Online course flag

Special education course flag

English Language Learner flag

College credit earned flag

Transfer course designation

Appendix I-3: Requested Data for the Middle School Transcript Study

Authorization and Confidentiality Assurance

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is authorized to conduct NAEP by the National Assessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act (20 U.S.C. §9622) and to collect students’ education records from education agencies or institutions for the purposes of evaluating federally supported education programs under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA, 34 CFR §§ 99.31(a)(3)(iii) and 99.35).

All of the information provided by participants may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose except as required by law (20 U.S.C. §9573 and 6 U.S.C. §151). By law, every NCES employee as well as every NCES agent, such as contractors and NAEP coordinators, has taken an oath and is subject to a jail term of up to 5 years, a fine of $250,000, or both if he or she willfully discloses ANY identifiable information about participants. Electronic submission of information will be monitored for viruses, malware, and other threats by Federal employees and contractors in accordance with the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015. The collected information will be combined across respondents to produce statistical reports.

Paperwork Burden Statement, OMB Information

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 control number. The valid OMB control number for this voluntary information collection is 1850-0928. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 12 hours, 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 estimate, suggestions for improving this collection, or any comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual submission, please write to: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Potomac Center Plaza, 550 12^th St., SW, 4th floor, Washington, DC 20202.

TUDA educational information

Academic requirements for advancement to ninth grade

Credits earned for completing a year-long course

Common grading standard (for course grade standardization)

State or district assessments students take in grades 6-8 (if any)

District-wide educational programs available to students in grades 6-8

TUDA district catalog

Course name

Course ID number (linkable to transcripts)

Course description (if available)

Credits earned for passing the course

Special education course designation

English Language Learner course designation

Online course designation

Designation if course earns student high school credits

Student ID and demographic information

Unique Student Identifier (to match with NAEP)

Student name

Month and year of birth

Gender

Race and ethnicity

National School Lunch Program eligibility status

Student with Disability/English Language Learner status

Student educational information

Eighth-grade completion status (yes/no)

Number of days absent (sixth, seventh, eighth grade) (optional)

Student transfer into TUDA between grades 6 - 8? (yes/no)

Number of credits earned between grades 6 - 8 (optional)

Grade point average combined for grades 6 - 8 (optional)

State and/or district assessment scores (optional)

Transcript record data

Course name

Course ID number (linkable to catalog)

Grade level taken

School year taken

Length of course (semester, quarter, etc.)

Number of credits earned

Grade earned (letter, numeric, proficiency level)

Level of course (regular, honors, etc.) (optional)

Location, if not taught at school (optional)

Special education course designation (optional)

English Language Learner course designation (optional)

Transfer course designation

Appendix I-4: Sample Communication with Districts Regarding Course Catalogs and Relevant School Information for Middle School Transcript Study (MSTS)

Sample Communication with Districts Regarding Course Catalogs and Relevant School Information

(NOTE: The communication has been set up as a pair of telephone scripts with a TUDA representative who is not familiar with us. The first script is for collecting the contextual data about their electronic school catalogs and student course records, and about setting up the electronic submission of their school catalog. This script can also be modified to be sent as an email survey. The survey may be necessary if the TUDA representative does not have the information available and would need to contact another person to get that information, or if the representative does not have time to complete the survey over the phone.)

Hello. My name is <NAME> and I am contacting you from Westat, a research company that has been contracted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education, to administer the 2019 NAEP Middle School Transcript Study. Thank you for agreeing to participate in this study. It is the first operational NAEP transcript study that relies solely on the electronic submission of both course catalogs and student course records. The purpose of this phone call is to collect information about the middle school course catalog and student course records. This survey should take about 30 minutes, and you may need access to a copy of the TUDA’s course catalog and an example of the student course records to answer the questions. Do you have time now, or would there be a better time to call back?

Now _____ Call back _____

(If Call Back)

What day and time would be best to call back?

(Get call back time, verify that the current telephone number should be used, and end call. For the second call, introduce yourself again and start with the section below.)

__________________________________________________________________________________

(If Now)

Thank you for taking the time to talk with me. Your participation is voluntary. All of the information provided by you may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose except as required by law. Electronic submission of information will be monitored for viruses, malware, and other threats by Homeland Security in accordance with the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015.

[Note: if asked for more information about the law, please say the following: All of the information provided by participants may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose except as required by law (20 U.S.C. §9573 and 6 U.S.C. §151). By law, every NCES employee as well as every NCES agent, such as contractors and NAEP coordinators, has taken an oath and is subject to a jail term of up to 5 years, a fine of $250,000, or both if he or she willfully discloses ANY identifiable information about participants. Electronic submission of information will be monitored for viruses, malware, and other threats by Federal employees and contractors in accordance with the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015. The collected information will be combined across respondents to produce statistical reports.]

1. First, is there a publicly available online version of your TUDA’s middle school course catalog; that is, a catalog of courses that are available to students in the sixth through eighth grade?

□ Yes □ No

If yes: At what web address can we find this catalog?

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

If no:

1. Can an electronic copy of the middle school course catalog be provided to us?

□ Yes □ No

If no, please ask for an explanation of why there is no TUDA middle school catalog available. Write the explanation below and then skip to Question 4.

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

Note what response was given for this question. It will determine how the script ends.

2. Does the course catalog provide descriptions for the content of the courses or simply list the available courses?

□ Includes course content descriptions

□ Only lists available courses

3. For each middle school course, does the course catalog provide the following information:

1. the number of credits a student earns for passing the course?

□ Yes □ No

2. a designation in either the course title or course description that notes if the course is a special education course?

□ Yes □ No

3. a designation in either the course title or course description that notes if the course is an English Language Learner course?

□ Yes □ No

4. a designation in either the course title or course description that notes if the course is only available online?

□ Yes □ No

4. a designation in either the course title or course description that notes if the student earns high school credit for passing the course?

□ Yes □ No

4. Does the catalog provide an identification number for each course?

□ Yes □ No

If yes:

Is this identification number included (or can be included) on the electronic student course records so that the course records can easily be linked to the catalog?

□ Yes □ No

Next, we will ask some questions about the information that can be found on the electronic student course records.

5. Is the following course information identified on the student course records? If so, how are they indicated (i.e., a field on the record, notation in the course title)?

1. Course level (i.e., regular, honors) □ Yes □ No

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

2. Course taken off campus □ Yes □ No

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

3. Special education course □ Yes □ No

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

4. English Language Learner course □ Yes □ No

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

5. High school credit earned for the course □ Yes □ No

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

6. Course taken online □ Yes □ No

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

7. Transfer course □ Yes □ No

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

6. Are the course titles listed on the student course records the same or abbreviated versions of the course titles listed in the middle school course catalog?

□ Yes □ No

If not, can you explain what differences there are between the catalog course titles and student records’ course titles?

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

Next, we will ask some questions on how to interpret data found on the electronic student course records.

7. What graduation requirements must a student meet to advance from eighth grade to ninth grade?

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

8. Do schools award credits for the successful completion of courses in grades 6 through 8?

□ Yes □ No

If no, skip to Question 10.

9. How many credits did an eighth-grade student earn for a year-long course; that is, a course taken for a single period over the 2018-2019 school year, or its block equivalent?

# of credits, 2018-2019: ____________________

1. Is the number of credits earned for a year-long course different for either sixth or seventh grade?

□ Yes □ No

If yes:

How many credits did a student in the following grades earn for a year-long course?

# of credits, sixth grade: ____________________

# of credits, seventh grade: ____________________

2. Has this number of credits earned for a year-long course by sixth- through eighth-graders changed during the previous two school years?

□ Yes □ No

If yes:

How many credits did a student earn for a year-long course in the following school years?

# of credits, 2014-2015: ____________________

# of credits, 2015-2016: ____________________

10. How are grades reported for sixth- through eighth-grade courses on the student course records? (Mark all that apply.)

□ Letter grade (A, B, C, D, etc.)

□ Numeric grade (60, 85, 100, etc.)

□ Proficiency level (exceeds expectations, meets expectations, etc.)

□ Pass/Fail

□ Other (Please specify)

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

□ District does not award grades for sixth- through eighth-grade courses (skip to question 13)

1. Is the grading system different for either sixth or seventh grade?

□ Yes □ No

If yes:

What grading system is used in the district for sixth and seventh grade students?

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

(If a letter grade or numeric system is used, continue to Question 10. Otherwise, skip to Question 11.)

11. What is the numerical range (on a 0 to 100 scale) for each of the letter grades used in the state/district?

Letter Grade or Alternate Symbol	Range (or description, if range not possible)
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F
Pass
Fail

12. Is the grading system the same for all courses, regardless of course level (i.e., special education, honors)?

□ Yes □ No

If no

Please explain these differences:

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

13. Does the state or district require students to complete one or more assessments in order to graduate from sixth, seventh, or eighth grade?

□ Yes □ No

If yes:

Please list these assessments and at what grade levels the students take them.

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

Next, we will ask you about some additional student data that we would like to collect at the same time as the student course records. These data are all related to the student’s academic standing and coursework in grades 6 through 8.

14. Can the following student information be collected and sent electronically along with the student course records?

1. Eighth grade completion status (i.e., a variable that indicates whether the student advanced to ninth grade at the end of the 2018-2019 school year)

□ Yes □ No

2. The number of days the student was absent in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades (reported by individual grade level, not a combined count)

□ Yes □ No

3. Student transfer status (i.e., a variable that indicates whether or not the student transferred into the TUDA school district in sixth, seventh, or eighth grade)

□ Yes □ No

4. The total number of course credits the student earned in sixth through eighth grades

□ Yes □ No

5. The overall grade point average the student earned for courses taken across sixth, seventh, and eighth grade

□ Yes □ No

If the TUDA can only provide partial data for any of the elements above (e.g., a combined count of absent days or the grade point averages only for seventh and eighth grades), please note it below.

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

If the respondent indicated in Question 1 that there was no online course catalog for sixth through eighth grades, but that a catalog could be sent electronically, read the following script. Otherwise, skip to the final paragraph of the script.

Thank you for answering my questions. Finally, I would like to request an electronic copy of the middle school course catalog that you indicated you could send to us. I have several questions about the format of the school catalog and how it will be sent.

15. In what format is the school catalog stored? For example, a Microsoft Word file, a Microsoft Excel workbook, ASCII data files, rich text format (RTF) files, PDF files, or some other format.

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

16. Will you be encrypting the file containing the school catalog?

□ Yes □ No

If yes:

What encryption program will you be using?

__________________________________________________________________________________

How will you transmit the password to Westat to unlock the encrypted file?

__________________________________________________________________________________

17. Do you have the ability to access and copy files to an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) website?

□ Yes □ No

If yes:

Great. Westat will set up a secure FTP site for your state/school district where the school catalog should be downloaded. A follow-up email will contain the web address for your FTP site. To what email address should we be sending this email?

__________________________________________________________________________________

If no:

No problem. Westat will send you a follow-up email, to which you can reply and attach the school catalog. To what email address should we be sending this email?

__________________________________________________________________________________

This is the final paragraph of the first script.

That is all the information we need. We will be calling back during the summer to set up the electronic submission of your student course records. Thank you for your time today, and thank you again for agreeing to participate in the 2019 NAEP Middle School Transcript Study. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact <Westat contact name> at <Phone number>. Goodbye. (End call.)

Sample Communication with Districts Regarding Student Transcripts

(NOTE: The communication has been set up as a pair of telephone scripts with a TUDA representative who is not familiar with us. This script is a follow-up call to set up the electronic submission of the student transcripts. It can be modified to be sent as an email survey. The survey may be necessary if the TUDA representative does not have the information available and would need to contact another person to get that information, or if the representative does not have time to complete the survey over the phone. There will need to be some information transferred over from the first script, mainly the email address of the TUDA representative and whether or not the TUDA representative can access the Westat secure FTP site.)

Hello. My name is <NAME> and I am calling you back again from Westat, a research company collecting transcript data on behalf of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education, about the 2019 NAEP Middle School Transcript Study. Thank you once more for participating in this study. Earlier this year, we called and collected some information about your middle school course catalog and student course records. The purpose of this call is to set up the electronic submission of the student course records. This call should take about 10 minutes. Do you have time now, or is there be a better time to call back?

Now Call back

(If Call Back)

What day and time would be best to call back?

(Get call back time, verify that the current telephone number should be used, and end call. For the second call, introduce yourself again and start with the section below.)

(If Now)

Thank you for taking the time to talk with me. Your participation is voluntary. All of the information provided by participants may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose except as required by law. Electronic submission of information will be monitored for viruses, malware, and other threats by Homeland Security in accordance with the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015.

[Note: if asked for more information about the law, please say the following: All of the information provided by participants may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose except as required by law (20 U.S.C. §9573 and 6 U.S.C. §151). By law, every NCES employee as well as every NCES agent, such as contractors and NAEP coordinators, has taken an oath and is subject to a jail term of up to 5 years, a fine of $250,000, or both if he or she willfully discloses ANY identifiable information about participants. Electronic submission of information will be monitored for viruses, malware, and other threats by Federal employees and contractors in accordance with the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015. The collected information will be combined across respondents to produce statistical reports.]

I would first like to ask some questions about the electronic student course records.

1. Are the electronic student course records managed and stored within the school district’s data center, or does an outside vendor manage the district’s student course records?

State/School District Data Center

(If Outside Vendor)

Outside Vendor

Would you be the person to contact the vendor to arrange the electronic transfer of the student course records, or would Westat need to contact them? (If Westat, get the name and telephone number of the vendor contact. Call the contact, use the introduction above, and then start with Question 2.)

2. In what format is the electronic student course record data files stored? For example, Microsoft Word files, Microsoft Excel workbooks, Microsoft Access databases, SAS databases, SPSS databases, ASCII data files, rich text format (RTF) files, PDF files, or some other format.

3. Is there personal information about the student listed on the electronic student course records, such as student name or address?

□ Yes □ No

(If Yes)

Westat can strip out this personal identifying information upon receiving the student course records, or this information can be stripped out beforehand by you (or your vendor). Which process of removing the student personal information would you prefer?

Westat removes the data

School/district/vendor removes the data

4. Will you be encrypting the file containing the student course records?

□ Yes □ No

(If Yes):

What encryption program will you be using?

How will you transmit the password to Westat to unlock the encrypted file?

If the TUDA posted the school catalog to the secure FTP web site, then continue with the script below. If the catalog was accessed online, they sent the school catalog via email, or you are dealing with a software vendor to get the student transcripts, skip to Question 5.

Thank you. As before, we request that you upload the student course records to the Westat secure FTP site established for your TUDA. Westat will send you a follow-up email that provides you with the information for the secure FTP site. I have your email address as (filled in from first script). Is that correct, or is there another email address to which we should be sending this email?

Skip to the final paragraph of the script.

5. Do you have the ability to access and copy files to an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) web site?

□ Yes □ No

(If Yes):

Great. Westat has already set up a secure FTP site for your state/school district where the electronic student course records file should be downloaded. The follow-up email will contain the web address for your FTP site.

(If No):

Is there anyone in your office who can access and copy files to an FTP website?

□ Yes □ No

If yes, use the previous script. If no, please note it below, and we will make other arrangements on how to collect the student transcript data.

Thank you. I only need one more piece of information. Westat will send you a follow-up email that provides you with the information for the secure FTP site. I have your email address as (filled in from first script). Is that correct, or is there another email address to which we should be sending this email?

This is the final paragraph of the second script.

Thank you for your time today, and thank you again for participating in the NAEP Middle School Transcript Study. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact <Westat contact name> at <Phone number>. Goodbye. (End call.)