PAYS is supported by:
Pennsylvania Department of Education, Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, and Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency
What is the Pennsylvania Youth Survey?
The Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) is a biennial survey of youth in the 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th grades. PAYS asks questions about students’ perspectives of their school environment, as well as attitudes, knowledge and behaviors concerning alcohol, tobacco, other drugs (ATOD), violence, depression, and other problem behaviors. The survey also collects information about risk factors which are the conditions that increase the likelihood that a child will develop problem behaviors later in life, and it also collects information about protective factors – people or conditions in a community that can buffer a youth from risk.
What is the purpose of PAYS?
PAYS serves to gather local data and information needed to select appropriate prevention and intervention programs to address such problems as alcohol, tobacco, other drug use, and violence in our schools and communities. Schools, government agencies, local stakeholders, and community prevention coalitions use PAYS data to assess issues facing youth in a community, benchmarking the levels of use of various ATODs, identifying programming that can be used to address locally-identified issues, selecting curricula, and demonstrating the need for funding through grant submissions and presentations to potential funders. It also helps schools, districts, and counties to judge the effectiveness of current prevention and intervention efforts and to make appropriate corrections. PAYS seeks youth input on protective factors or supports in their communities, family lives, and interpersonal relationships that help them to succeed in life. Through the use of local PAYS data, especially the risks faced by and protections available to youth, communities can utilize a data-driven decision-making process to make the best use of limited prevention resources.
Why should my school district participate?
PAYS is the only survey offered in Pennsylvania that collects the level of detailed risk and protective factor data used to identify individual community needs. Schools, school districts, and counties can then work with local prevention partners to select and implement appropriate services to address the specific risk and protective factors identified by PAYS data. Reports (generated at state, county, and school district levels) produced from the survey results will provide information regarding health-related behaviors; alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use; antisocial behavior; the factors that place students at risk for problem behaviors; and those that protect them from high risk behaviors. PAYS gives youth a voice in the decisions being made on their behalf, a perspective that is often missing from prevention planning discussions.
Furthermore, PAYS results can be used to help ensure that the state and participating counties continue to make available important prevention funding which directly or indirectly benefits area school districts, schools, and the community at large. Information gathered through PAYS can be used to inform local funding decisions, can be included in grant applications to state and federal government, and can be included in requests for funding from foundations and private sector funders.
Is student participation anonymous?
Yes, completely anonymous and confidential.
Students who complete the survey online are given an anonymous link. Online responses do not include the student’s name or other identifying information. Are sensitive questions asked?
The survey includes questions related to alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use; violent behaviors; mental health; other health risk behaviors; and related risk and protective factors. The survey questions have been designed to measure knowledge and behaviors. Unless questions in these topic areas are asked directly, prevention planners cannot know the degree to which the youth in Pennsylvania engage in these health risk behaviors. It is important to remember the survey is anonymous and confidential, so no student’s responses will ever be able to be connected with that student. Students are informed that they may also skip any questions that they do not feel comfortable answering or that they do not understand. They are also informed that if they have any questions or concerns after taking the survey, they can talk with their school counselor or a trusted adult.
What if a parent does not wish their child to participate?
Parental consent forms will be sent to parents and caregivers. If you do not want your child to participate, please submit opt out request to building principal in writing. Students who do not have parental or caregiver permission will not be required to take survey.
If a parent does decline, their son or daughter will be allowed to read or participate in some other alternate activity while his or her classmates are taking the survey.
Contact your building principal for more information about specific consent policies and procedures.
What will students be asked to do?
The students will be asked to complete a self-administered survey questionnaire online during one class period at school. The student will be asked to read each question and select the answer that most closely matches the way he/she feels. All questions are self-reported, and no individual student information can be identified from the completed surveys. PAYS is also available in a Spanish language version.
How long does it take to complete PAYS?
The survey will take approximately 40 minutes to complete and is designed to be administered during a single class period. Although it is expected that the students will have sufficient time to complete the entire survey, they will be informed they should answer as many questions as possible during the class but not be concerned if they are not able to finish all of them.
When will PAYS be conducted?
The survey will be administered on Friday, November 5, 2021.
How will the results be made available?
Summary Reports containing local data will be generated at the state, county, and school district levels. The reports will provide levels of health-related behaviors; alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use; antisocial behavior; the factors that place students at risk for problem behaviors and protect them from problem behaviors. School district level reports will be provided to school district superintendents in both hard copy and electronic formats no later than April 30, 2022. County level reports will be available through County Drug and Alcohol Offices and will also be available on the PAYS website at www.pays.pa.gov then click “2021”. The statewide and county-level reports will contain only aggregate information; individual district results will not be listed separately in these reports.
How can my school district and community benefit from this survey?
PAYS is a holistic approach to learning about students’ attitudes and behaviors that represents the entirety of a student’s environment – the community, their school, their family, and their peers/self. Information gained from participating in the Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) allows schools, districts, and communities to receive detailed reports (as described above), and also provide the community with a wealth of data to be used for grant writing, program and school safety planning, as well as targeting interventions to meet a school’s and community’s specific needs. The survey provides information that can be used to identify the incidence of various problem behaviors. Additionally, by tracking data over multiple PAYS administrations, prevention planners can assess the impact of programs and services over time. Results of the survey are used to determine the need for prevention services and services to support their work toward achieving academic and personal goals.
