The New Haven Public Schools Pre-K Application Survey

The aims of the survey are to better understand:

Who applied to the New Haven Public School’s magnet pre-kindergarten program over the last several years.
The perceptions of the pre-K program for those who attended.
How the pre-K program affected households that enrolled.
What childcare and pre-k options were utilized for those who applied but were not allocated a slot through the school choice process.

Primary Investigators:

Seth Zimmerman is an Associate Professor of economics at the Yale School of Management. His research focuses on topics in (a) the economics of education, (b) labor economics, and (c) policy evaluation. He has published work in top economics journals and worked with policymakers at the local, state, and national levels to put policy recommendations based on his work into practice. He is a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He has been working with New Haven Public Schools for over a decade. He has provided guidance to the district on the design of school choice policy, and helped design informational tools to improve equitable access to information in the district’s school choice process.

Chris Neilson is a tenured professor in the Economics Department at Yale University. His research focuses on (1) the economics of education and (2) the design of education systems. He has worked closely with New Haven Public Schools for over a decade, resulting in top academic publications and benefits to the community. He has provided guidance to the district on the design of school choice policy, and helped design informational tools to improve equitable access to information in the district’s school choice process. He is a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

John Eric Humphries is an assistant professor in the Department of Economics at Yale University. His research focuses on topics in (1) the economics of education, (2) labor economics, and (3) policy evaluation. As part of his research, has experience designing and administering surveys, as well as working with local, state, and federal agencies. He is a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He helped design and implement one of the largest surveys of the US childcare workforce, and has published multiple works on the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on childcare centers and providers as part of a multidisciplinary team.

Research Team:

Sergio Arango is a Predoctoral Research Fellow at the Tobin Center for Economic Policy. During the last year, he has worked closely with the New Haven Office of School Choice and Enrollment to help inform families about the options available to them during the school choice period. Previously, he worked at the Colombian Institute for the Assessment of Education (ICFES) in Colombia to provide evidence that informs education policy.

Manuela Cardona Badillo is a Predoctoral Research Fellow at the Tobin Center for Economic Policy. Her research focuses on the impact of education and public policies, with an emphasis on the role of education quality.

Florian Caro is a Predoctoral Research Fellow at the Tobin Center for Economic Policy. Prior to coming to Yale, he received a B.A. in philosophy and M.Sc. in Economics from the Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, where he also worked as a research assistant for three years.

Anna Esenther is a Predoctoral Research Fellow at the Tobin Center for Economic Policy. After teaching first grade in Buckeye, Arizona during the 2019-2020 school year, Anna Esenther spent two years at the University of Oxford studying neuroscience and econometrics, where she also ran an afterschool program for 3-4 year olds at a local nursery.

Naomi Shimberg is a Predoctoral Research Fellow at the Tobin Center for Economic Policy and a senior at Yale University studying Ethics, Politics, & Economics. She is interested in applied microeconomics and environmental economics. Naomi has worked as a Research Assistant in the Yale Department of Economics and as an intern at the Council of Economic Advisors.

New Haven Public Schools Pre-K Applicant Survey: Common Questions & Answers for Parents

Who is conducting this survey?
- This survey is a collaboration between NHPS and researchers at Yale University.
Why are you surveying parents?
- The New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) Pre-K Applicant Survey is an important tool for students and parents to provide feedback to NHPS about their experiences with the choice process and pre-Kindergarten programs.
- Your opinions are important and will inform our strategy for improving our pre-k programs.
Who will be surveyed?
- The survey will be available to all families of students who applied for the NHPS Pre-K enrollment in and before 2022.
- The survey includes all students who participated in the choice process, even those who did not receive a placement or enroll in a pre-K program.
How will my survey response be used?
- Your survey response will help NHPS, policymakers, and researchers understand and improve pre-Kindergarten programming.
- Your responses are confidential. No identifying information will be shared with anyone outside the research team.
- Your responses will not affect access to any educational programming.
How can I take the survey?
- The survey will be conducted by online survey questionnaire or phone interview.
- You will receive an email from NHPS with instructions and a link to the online survey questionnaire.
- You may also receive a phone call from NORC at the University of Chicago for a phone interview.
- You can use either of these two methods to complete the survey.
How has the survey been designed and who will conduct the phone interview?
- NHPS has worked with research partners at Yale University to design the Pre-K Applicant Survey. The phone interview will be conducted by professionals from Yale University and NORC at the University of Chicago. You will probably receive a phone call from a trained caller from NORC at the University of Chicago for the phone interview.
What is NORC at the University of Chicago?
- NORC at the University of Chicago is one of the largest independent, non-partisan social research organizations in the United States.
- NORC helps public and private sector organizations conduct high quality surveys.
How long will the survey take?
- The survey should take about 10 minutes to complete.
When will the survey open?
- Surveys will go out via email and phone calls on a rolling basis. You will have at least 14 days to respond to the survey after your first email.
Is the survey available in Spanish?
- Yes, both the phone survey and the online survey questionnaire are available in Spanish.
Will the survey affect my children’s enrollment opportunities in the New Haven Public Schools?
- No, the survey will NOT affect any individual student’s enrollment or other outcomes in the New Haven Public Schools. The survey responses will help New Haven Public Schools to provide better schooling opportunities for all in the near future.
Is the survey confidential?
- All responses are confidential. No individually identifying information will be shared back with the school or anyone else outside of the research team. Only aggregated results will be shared.
Will anyone follow up on my survey responses?
- Because the surveys are confidential, we never follow up with any individual person about their survey responses. If you have questions or concerns about this survey, you can reach the survey team at 203-432-5820. The survey team cannot directly help or advise you regarding New Haven Public Schools' pre-kindergarten program or school choice program. If you have specific questions about school choice in New Haven Public Schools, please contact the Office of School Choice & Enrollment at 475-220-1430 or 475-220-1431.
How did NHPS get my personal information?
- New Haven Public Schools collects contact information for parents and legal guardians whose children participate in the school choice process.
- This information has been and will continue to be kept confidential.
How will you keep the results private?
- The confidentiality of your responses is of the utmost importance to our survey efforts. All survey administration and analysis follow the Yale Human Research Protection Program with approval from the Yale University Institutional Review Board. The online survey and phone interview are administered through NORC at the University of Chicago. NORC has a set of tools to ensure that data in transit are safe, secure, and available only to the intended recipients. Please review the data security page here. NORC will provide survey responses to the research team and will then destroy their copy of the data.
How will New Haven Public Schools use results from the survey?
- New Haven Public Schools values feedback from our families. After administration, the district will publish summarized reports. We will analyze the data for emerging themes on strengths and areas for growth. This will eventually be incorporated into the district’s evaluation of the Pre-K programs.
Does a parent who has more than one child having applied for the NHPS Pre-K programs complete a survey for each child?
- A parent can complete a survey for each of their children who have applied for the NHPS Pre-K programs, regardless of whether the students received a placement or enrolled in an NHPS school.
Can I opt-out of the survey?
- Yes, survey participation is completely voluntary. You are free to stop at any time.
- We strongly encourage you to complete the survey to provide your valuable feedback for the improvement of schooling opportunities for children in New Haven and neighboring towns.
Are you selling something?
- No, we are not selling anything.
- This survey is only to help NHPS and the research team understand your experiences with Pre-kindergarten programming and improve program design going forward.
Do I get anything for participating in the survey?
- Yes, you will be entered into sweepstakes for the chance to receive one of 25 $100 rewards for taking our survey.
I have more questions about NHPS’ pre-K programming. Can you answer them for me?
- Please visit www.newhavenmagnetschools.com to review videos and helpful information before completing your application. Should you have any questions, please contact the Office of School Choice & Enrollment at 475-220-1430 or 475-220-1431.

If you have questions or concerns about this survey, you can reach the survey team at 203-432-5820.