The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has instituted the Private School Survey in recognition of the importance of private education in the United States. Results from previous surveys have shown that approximately 23 percent of all elementary and secondary schools in the United States are private schools. These schools enroll 8 percent of the nation's children and employ 13 percent of the nation's teachers.
The purpose of this survey is to obtain current information about private schools such as type of school, length of school year, number of students and teachers, and number of high school graduates, if any. The data will be useful to researchers and providers of private education in the United States.
The survey is estimated to take about 20 minutes.
Private schools are a significant segment of the nation’s educational system. NCES has instituted this survey in recognition of the important role of private education in the United States. While there is no penalty for not responding, a high response rate is very important to maintain high data quality. The Private School Survey is used to generate an NCES ID number for your school which many private and federal grants require as part of their application process. NCES also uses the survey to update the private school search tool on our website: http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch/. This resource is used by parents looking to find a private school for their children. Importantly, your response to this survey ensures that your school’s voice will be heard in policy decisions. We encourage you to participate in this voluntary survey.
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), within the U.S. Department of Education, is authorized to conduct this survey by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA 2002, 20 U.S.C. §9543). The U. S. Census Bureau is collecting this information on behalf of NCES and the U. S. Department of Education. We are collecting this data from all private elementary and secondary schools in the United States.
Basic school information such as school name, contact information, school type or program emphasis, religious orientation or affiliation of the school, association membership, grades taught and the number of students by grade, number of students by race/ethnicity, and the number of full-time-equivalent teachers are published on http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch/. The remaining information is 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).
Education researchers, private school associations, and private and public school educators are some of the users of Private School Survey data. These data will provide information about how many of the nation's children are being educated in private schools, how many of the nation's teachers are employed by private schools, and how many students graduated from private high schools last year.
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