Overview

In the mid-1980's, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) conducted a number of separate surveys concerning schools and school personnel. In 1985, NCES undertook a critical review of its elementary and secondary school data system, identifying gaps in content and in design. As a result of this review, NCES redesigned the SASS survey system to emphasize teacher demand and shortage, teacher and administrator characteristics, school programs, and general conditions in schools. SASS also collects data on many other topics, including principals' and teachers' perceptions of school climate and problems in their schools; teacher compensation; district hiring practices and basic characteristics of the student population.

From its inception, SASS has had four core components: the School Questionnaire, the Teacher Questionnaire, the Principal Questionnaire, and the School District Questionnaire, which was known as the Teacher Demand and Shortage Questionnaire until the 1999–2000 SASS administration. These questionnaires are sent to respondents in public, private, and Bureau of Indian Affairs/tribal schools. In 1999-2000, public charter schools were also included in the sample. For the 2003–04 SASS, a sample of public charter schools are included in the sample as part of the public school questionnaire.

Many of the same survey questions have been used in each cross-sectional cycle of the survey, allowing researchers to investigate trends over time. The questionnaires for each round of SASS are available online and can be downloaded from the Questionnaires page.

For More Information

For questions about any of the SASS questionnaires, telephone the Census Bureau at 1-800-221-1204. SASS staff can also help you with questions you might have on survey content. E-mail your questions to sassdata@ed.gov..