Description
Abstract: The purposes of this data collection activity are; a) to generate biennial data on the total number of private schools, teachers, and students; and b) to build an accurate and complete list of private schools to serve as a sampling frame for NCES surveys of private schools. The PSS began with the 1989-90 school year and has been conducted every two years since. The PSS consists of a single survey that is completed by administrative personnel in private schools. Information collected includes: religious orientation; level of school; size of school; length of school year, length of school day; total enrollment (K-12); number of high school graduates, whether a school is single-sexed or coeducational and enrollment by sex; number of teachers employed; program emphasis; existence and type of kindergarten program.
Methods: The target population for the survey consists of all private schools in the U.S. that meet the NCES definition (i.e., a private school is not supported primarily by public funds, provides classroom instruction for one or more of grades K-12 or comparable ungraded levels, and has one or more teachers. Organizations or institutions that provide support for home schooling without offering classroom instruction for students are not included.). The survey universe is composed of schools from several sources. The main source is a list frame, initially developed for the 1989-90 survey. The list is updated periodically by matching it with lists provided by nationwide private school associations, state departments of education, and other national private school guides and sources. Additionally, an area frame search is conducted by the Bureau of the Census.
TechnicalInfo: The most recent PSS data are from the 2021–22 collection. The last PSS collection occurred during the 2023–24 school year; we anticipate these data will be available in fall 2025. Data are available for download in SAS, SPSS, and text formats. Text files are ASCII files in tab-delimited (TXT) format (1989–90 through 2011–12) or comma separated values (CSV) format (2013–14 and on) with a minimum of formatting and can be read into statistical processing programs or spreadsheet applications such as Excel. To produce standard errors, the user needs a statistical application capable of estimating standard errors from a complex sample design (e.g., R Survey package; SAS SURVEY Procedures; SPSS Complex Samples; Stata svy functions; or SUDAAN). The BRR method (design) should be used. When merging PSS data files from different survey years, "*PIN", the Permanent Identification Number, should be used for the merge variable. For 2001–02 and earlier years, information on the design, data collection methodology, and data processing procedures for each PSS collection is contained in the technical notes section of the PSS report for that respective collection. The methodological data files include PSS frame variables associated with data collection status and can be used with PSS data files to longitudinally track non-responding schools or entities determined ineligible for the PSS across survey years.
Methods: The target population for the survey consists of all private schools in the U.S. that meet the NCES definition (i.e., a private school is not supported primarily by public funds, provides classroom instruction for one or more of grades K-12 or comparable ungraded levels, and has one or more teachers. Organizations or institutions that provide support for home schooling without offering classroom instruction for students are not included.). The survey universe is composed of schools from several sources. The main source is a list frame, initially developed for the 1989-90 survey. The list is updated periodically by matching it with lists provided by nationwide private school associations, state departments of education, and other national private school guides and sources. Additionally, an area frame search is conducted by the Bureau of the Census.
TechnicalInfo: The most recent PSS data are from the 2021–22 collection. The last PSS collection occurred during the 2023–24 school year; we anticipate these data will be available in fall 2025. Data are available for download in SAS, SPSS, and text formats. Text files are ASCII files in tab-delimited (TXT) format (1989–90 through 2011–12) or comma separated values (CSV) format (2013–14 and on) with a minimum of formatting and can be read into statistical processing programs or spreadsheet applications such as Excel. To produce standard errors, the user needs a statistical application capable of estimating standard errors from a complex sample design (e.g., R Survey package; SAS SURVEY Procedures; SPSS Complex Samples; Stata svy functions; or SUDAAN). The BRR method (design) should be used. When merging PSS data files from different survey years, "*PIN", the Permanent Identification Number, should be used for the merge variable. For 2001–02 and earlier years, information on the design, data collection methodology, and data processing procedures for each PSS collection is contained in the technical notes section of the PSS report for that respective collection. The methodological data files include PSS frame variables associated with data collection status and can be used with PSS data files to longitudinally track non-responding schools or entities determined ineligible for the PSS across survey years.