Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) Data File User's Manual, 1999-2000. NCES 2004-303

The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) is conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) on behalf of the United States Department of Education in order to collect extensive data on American public and private elementary and secondary schools. SASS provides data on the characteristics and qualifications of teachers and principals, teacher hiring practices, professional development, class size, and other conditions in schools across the nation. SASS is the largest, most extensive survey of K-12 school districts, schools, teachers, and administrators in the United States today. It includes data from public, private, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and public charter school sectors. Therefore, SASS provides a multitude of opportunities for analysis and reporting on elementary and secondary educational issues. This document is organized into the following sections: (1) Overview; (2) Changes in SASS Design, Content, and Methodology from 1993-94 to 1999-2000; (3) Preparation for the 1999-2000 SASS; (4) Sample Design and Implementation; (5) Data Collection; (6) Response Rates; (7) Data Processing; (8) Imputation Procedures; (9) Weighting and Variance Estimation; (10) Reviewing the Quality of SASS Data; (11) Restricted-Use vs. Public-Use Data Files; (12) Sampling, Created, Weighting, and Imputation Flag Variables; and (13) User Notes and Cautions. Twelve appendices include items such as: (1) Key Terms for SASS; (2) Questionnaire Availability; and (3) Selected Unweighted and Weighted Response Rate Tables. (Contains over 125 tables and 1 exhibit.)