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 Education/tribal schools. In 1999-2000, public charter schools were also included in the sample. For the 2003–04 and 2007–08 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 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..
Highlights
September 2011:
July 2011:
- Average hours public and private third grade students spent on various subjects and recess during a typical full week of school: 2007–08
- Average hours public and private third grade students spent on art and music during a typical full week of school, by selected school characteristics: 2007–08
- Number and percentage distribution of hours spent in a typical week in self-contained classrooms by regular full-time public school teachers of grades 1 through 4, by type of activity: Selected years 1987–88 through 2007–08
- Number and percentage of regular full-time public school teachers of grades 1 through 4, by classroom organization: Selected years 1987–88 through 2007–08
June 2011:
2007-08 SASS Documentation Report Now Available to AllThe Documentation report provides information about all phases of SASS, from survey questionnaire revisions to survey data collection and all phases of data processing. The associated data files for the 2007-08 SASS are available in restricted-use version only.
June 2011:
Education and Certification Qualifications of Departmentalized Public High School–Level Teachers of Core Subjects: Evidence from the 2007-08 Schools and Staffing SurveyThis newly released report examines the postsecondary majors and teaching certifications of public high school-level teachers of departmentalized classes.
May 2011:
Direct Downloads for 1987-88 through 1993-94 SASS and 1988-89 through 1994-95 TFS Public-Use DataDownload data files, documentation and User's Manuals for past years of SASS and TFS.
Recent Publications
September 14, 2011:
Beginning Teacher Attrition and Mobility: Results From the First Through Third Waves of the 2007-08 Beginning Teacher Longitudinal StudyJune 1, 2011:
Education and Certification Qualifications of Departmentalized Public High School-Level Teachers of Core Subjects: Evidence from the 2007-08 Schools and Staffing SurveyApril 12, 2011:
Documentation for the 2008–09 Teacher Follow-up SurveyApril 5, 2011:
Digest of Education Statistics, 2010
