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In January through March of 2006, the American Community Survey (ACS) conducted the first test of new and modified content since the ACS reached full implementation levels of data collection. The results of that testing will determine the content for the 2008 ACS. To meet the primary objective of the 2006 ACS Content Test, analysts evaluated changes to question wording, response categories, instructions, or examples relative to the current version of the questions.
School Enrollment
The questions on school enrollment and grade enrolled were examined in response to concerns about question interpretation and by increased data needs at the Department of Education. The test included minor revisions of question wording and the addition of a write in response option for recording enrollment in grade levels 1 through 12. The objective of the proposed changes is to improve the data collected and provide information on the school enrollment of the US population ages 3 and older.
Analyses compare responses of the current ACS wording to the proposed question wording and relate these to respondents’ answers on the follow-up interview. The control version replicated the current ACS question. The test version modified the stem by substituting “school” for “regular school” and including home school students in the instructions and response categories. The test version also modified the response categories by adding the qualifier of “beyond a bachelor’s degree” to the graduate or professional level of enrollment and including a write in response for enrollment in grades 1 through 12. The Content Follow-Up attempted to get at response bias by asking more detailed questions about type and level of school enrollment.
The test version of the question performs as well as the original question in almost all respects and provides additional information by partitioning level of enrollment into single grades. Furthermore, adopting the test version of level of enrollment along with the
test version of educational attainment will provide consistency in the format of ACS education questions. So although the empirical findings do not conclusively suggest the test or control version, the benefits of having consistent format between education items
and obtaining single grade level of enrollment suggest adoption of the test version of the school enrollment question.
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