The Putney School Longitudinal Study
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July 2008 Dear Parents and freshmen, We at The Putney School are constantly seeking to improve the educational experience of our students. In keeping with this desire to provide a unique and enriching experience, we are initiating a longitudinal study that will help us to find out what we are doing that works, and what needs changing. As the name implies, the study will collect data over a long period of time. Our policies and practices will be observed from a broad time perspective to identify correlations that may not be obvious in the short term. Some of the areas that we are interested in for inclusion in the study are: personality traits, cultural competence, health behaviors, course/activity/work job selections, and living conditions. We want to see how these and other variables relate to class attendance, academic success, days lost from illness, stress level, well-being, and career and life success. In order to obtain data for our study, we need participants. Our plan is to begin the study with entering 9th graders this September. We are asking freshmen to consider taking part in what we believe will be a groundbreaking project that will yield invaluable information. Please understand that participation in the study is entirely voluntary. You may cease participation at any time without consequence. All data collected will be kept secure by standard data security measures which we take very seriously. Random numbers will be assigned to participants and the code kept locked up. Only the Director and the study’s Principal Investigator will have access to the code and the raw data. Data will be reported only as a group, not as individuals. If you and your child choose to participate in the study, your child will be asked to complete a series of surveys at scheduled time intervals over his or her Putney School career and beyond. Initial data collection will commence before registration in the fall, take place again in December and before the end of the school year. We are trying to limit the time necessary for filling out the data forms, but the temptation to collect as much information as possible is tough to resist. We will appreciate your feedback as the study progresses. If you and your child wish to be in the historic first year of what we hope will be a very long-term study, please complete the Parental Consent and the separate Student Assent forms and return to me before Registration: Judith Petry I am happy to answer any questions you have regarding the study. You can reach me by e-mail at jpetry@putneyschool.org, or by phone at 802-387-6225, or 802-722-3410. Sincerely, Judith J. Petry, MD |
