The New York State Education Department (NYSED) uses a modified version of a parent survey developed by the National Center for Special Education Accountability Measures (NCSEAM) to collect data for Indicator 8. Twenty-five (25) items from NCSEAM’s Parent Survey – Part B have been selected based on the rules established for item selection to ensure reliability and validity of the use of the survey.
Each year, one-sixth of the school districts in New York State plus the New York City Public Schools are selected to report data on Indicator 8. School districts are responsible to provide the parent survey to a sample of parents of students for whom their school district has IEP responsibility (i.e., parents of students who are provided special education services in district-operated programs or under contract with other service providers). Parents of both preschool and school age students must be surveyed. All school districts have a choice of reporting data on all eligible students for this indicator or they may submit data on a randomly selected sample of minimum number of students using the sampling guidelines provided by NYSED. Schools are encouraged to over sample to ensure statistically sound response rates.
NYSED has a contract with the Potsdam Institute of Applied Research (PIAR) at SUNY Potsdam to administer the Parent Survey. Surveys are collected only for school districts scheduled to report on Indicator 8 in a given year. The school district must provide the parents of students with disabilities with an authorized copy of the survey along with directions on how to complete and submit the survey. School districts are directed to employ a variety of methods to encourage parents to complete the survey. The surveys may be distributed between September 1 and August 31 of the year in which a school district is required to report on Indicator 8. Surveys must be postmarked by August 31 of the reporting year. Authorized copies of the Parent Survey are available only through PIAR. The surveys are printed in a scannable format in English and Spanish, and by request in eight other languages. The school district may also instruct the parent to complete the survey online, providing the identifying code of the school building and school district codes. A parent’s individual responses are confidential. Whether submitted electronically or in hard copy, the surveys are forwarded directly to PIAR, not to the school district, for processing to ensure confidentiality. School districts should not photocopy the surveys for dissemination and should only use the official scannable parent surveys provided by PIAR.
The PIAR Parent Survey website provides information for school districts, including Frequently Asked Questions, the link to order survey forms and check submission status; and the link to the online survey form or parents. If you experience technical difficulties with the PIAR web site or with any of the online surveys, please contact PIAR at SUNY Potsdam directly at 888-419-2698 (toll free) or 315-267-3466 or send an e-mail to parentsurvey@potsdam.edu.
