The SASS underwent a content redesign in preparation for the 1999-2000 round of SASS. Public charter schools became a new school sector for SASS and quesionnaires were sent to charter schools, principals and teachers. The 1999-2000 SASS discontinued the student records survey and library media specialist survey, but retained the library media center survey. For help viewing PDF files, go to the Technical Issues page.
(218 KB)The Teacher Listing Form collects the full list of teachers from a school, along with information on grades and subject matter taught, demographic characteristics and full or part-time teaching status. This information is necessary to draw the teacher sample and send out the Teacher questionnaire.
The School District Questionnaire consisted of items about student enrollments, number of teachers, teacher recruitment and hiring practices, teacher dismissals, existence of a teacher union, length of the contract year, teacher salary schedules, school choice, magnet programs, high school graduation requirements, and professional development for teachers and administrators.
The 1999-2000 SASS School District Questionnaire added new items concerning:
Some items that appeared previously in SASS were dropped, such as layoff data and counts of students by grade level.
The SASS School Questionnaires were sent to public schools, private schools, BIA schools and public charter schools. Items covered grades offered, number of students enrolled, staffing patterns, teaching vacancies, high school graduation rates, programs and services offered, and college attendance rates.
The 1999-2000 version for public, private and BIA schools incorporated new items on:
In 1999-2000, data collection for the private school component of SASS coincided with the administration of NCES' Private School Survey (PSS) which is not a component of SASS. PSS is administered to all of the nation's private schools every two years and is the sampling frame for other NCES surveys of private schools.
Since both PSS and SASS were administered in 1999-2000, in an effort to reduce respondent burden, the private schools in the SASS sample were not sent a PSS questionnaire. Instead, the SASS Private School Questionnaire contained the PSS items.
The School Principal Questionnaire collected information about principal or school head demographic characteristics, training, experience, salary, and judgments about the seriousness of school problems. The 1999-2000 School Principal Questionnaire also covered new data on:
The four versions contain only minor differences in phrasing to reflect differences in governing bodies and position titles in the schools.
The SASS Teacher Questionnaire collected data from teachers about their education and training, teaching assignment, certification, workload and perceptions and attitudes about teaching. The 1999-2000 SASS Teacher Questionnaire expanded data collection on teacher preparation, induction, organization of classes, and professional development. It also collected new data on the use of computers.
The four versions of the teacher questionnaire were virtually identical, except that charter school teachers who worked in the school prior to its becoming a charter school were asked if they supported the conversion.
The School Library Media Center Questionnaire asked public, private and BIA schools about their access to and use of new information technologies. The questionnaire collected data on: library collections, media equipment and use of technology, staffing, student services and collaboration between the library media specialist and classroom teachers.
Schools could respond to the School Library Media Center Questionnaire in the usual paper and pencil mode or by using a web-based survey form on the Internet.
