Frequently asked questions

The most important information we get from the SHARP survey isn’t knowing how many adolescents face challenges, or engage in risky or harmful behaviors. The most important information we get helps us connect the dots about what actually works to help kids navigate this time in their lives and keeps them from making harmful choices (often called protective factors).  

Parents, schools, and public health use this information to provide resources and better help kids navigate adolescence. The survey drives evidence-based prevention programs and informs us what to focus on. The data tells us: 

• What types of things actually work to help adolescents make good decisions, and the types of things that put them at risk.  
• Areas adolescents may need extra help, support, or education so they can make good decisions in hard situations. 
• How much influence friends, parents, and community have on an adolescent’s choices; especially how much influence friends, parents, and community have on whether or not adolescents choose to use or try drugs, alcohol, or tobacco. 
• Information about how adolescents feel at school, home, and in their communities. 
• The effect different things, people, or environments have on their health and well-being and the decisions they make during adolescence. 

Research shows when schools, parents, families, and communities work together, students: 

• Earn higher grades. 
• Attend school more regularly. 
• Stay in school. 
• Are more motivated. 

This is true for students of all ages, all backgrounds, and across race and ethnicity. Success in school for children often relies on a variety of supports that meet their social, health, and academic needs. Connecting community resources and families improves student outcomes in all domains of development. This is exactly what SHARP allows us to do—make data-informed decisions and bring families and communities together to help make sure all kids in Utah have the opportunity to live healthy and safe lives.  

Yes. Parent consent is—and has always been—required. SHARP is an opt-in survey. Only students who have parent permission are allowed to take the survey. Students who don’t have permission or who don’t return the consent form are not allowed to take the survey. Parents must be given at least 2 weeks to consider the survey and return the consent form. Only students who have parent permission are allowed to take the survey.

Students also get to choose whether to take the SHARP survey. They can choose to skip any questions they don’t understand or don’t want to answer. Students are not rewarded for taking the survey—or penalized if they don’t. Nothing happens if students choose not to take the survey. They just do a different, ungraded activity at their desk if they choose to not to take the survey. Students are given this information before they decide to take SHARP.

No. The SHARP survey is completely anonymous and the data is confidential. The results can in no way be linked to an individual student or their family. Students are not asked for identifying information, like their name or student ID.

Schools which choose to give the survey online are given a unique URL. Students who have permission to take the survey use the URL specific to their school. The online survey does not require students to log in and does not track any identifying information or data associated with their device (like their computer or tablet).

There are 5 different sets of questions used in the SHARP survey. Each form has a core set of questions.

• 6th graders could get 1 of 2 sets of questions, sometimes referred to as the SHARP-PNA 6th grade forms A or B. The set of questions for 6th graders have been modified and changed to better meet younger students’ abilities and needs, based on feedback from parents, school administrators, and public health professionals.
• 8th graders could get 1 of 2 sets of questions, sometimes referred to as the SHARP-PNA forms A or B.
• High school students (grades 9 through 12) could get 1 of 3 sets of questions, sometimes referred to as the SHARP-PNA forms A or B or the SHARP-YRBS form.

The online SHARP survey has skip logic built into it. This means a student won’t be asked follow-up questions that don’t apply to them. This shortens the number of questions and time it takes to finish the survey. For example, students won’t be asked any of the follow-up questions about alcohol if they answer “no” they have never drank alcohol.

Why are there different sets of questions on the SHARP survey? 

Years ago, 3 different health surveys were administered at different times to students; the Prevention Needs Assessment (PNA), Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), and Youth Tobacco Survey (The Youth Tobacco Survey was stopped in 2009. The questions from this survey are now asked as part of the Prevention Needs Assessment). 

Having 3 different surveys created a burden on schools. It also meant students were spending more classroom time taking similar health surveys. The surveys were combined into a single survey in 2003 at the request of the Utah State Board of Education and local school districts. This single survey is now called the Student Health and Risk Prevention (SHARP) survey and is given during the Spring of odd years (typically from February to May). The survey still includes sets of questions from both surveys. This change has helped to streamline the process, lessen the burden and time required of schools and students to take the survey, and made the data easier for parents and others to use.  

The questions are validated and carefully vetted. Nearly every state in the U.S. uses a set of the same questions to better understand the health of teens across the nation. Data experts still look at the data like it came from 2 different surveys—even though we only give one survey. They do this so we can compare what is happening with Utah kids to what is happening with other kids across the country. That can be confusing to parents if they hear the surveys being called by different names. The following are the different sets of questions included in the SHARP survey.   

Prevention Needs Assessment (PNA) questions 

Students in 6, 8, 10, or 12 grade are the primary audience for the SHARP-PNA questions. Some larger school districts choose to administer the SHARP survey to all students in grades 6 through 12. However, this is rare. Sixth graders still only get the SHARP-PNA 6th grade forms A or B in these instances. Students in grades 7 and above only get one of the SHARP-PNA forms A or B.  

Form A mostly asks questions about substance use (drugs, alcohol, tobacco). Form B mostly asks questions about risk factors and behaviors related to asthma, diabetes, healthy weight, physical activity, nutrition, and violence and injury.  

The SHARP-PNA questions are designed to gather school district level data at minimum for the data to be valid and reliable. This requires about 500 students per grade. School districts do have the option to survey all students in grades 6 through 12 to get school-level data, rather than just district-level data.  

About 15 to 20 schools are randomly selected for the sample in large districts that choose to administer the minimum sample (500 students per grade). Classes are randomly selected to participate in the SHARP survey in those schools. Districts with more than 500 students per grade may choose to opt-in to a bigger sample designed to gather quality school-level data. The survey can only be given to all students grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 in smaller school districts with fewer than 500 students per grade.  

Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) questions 

Only students in high school (9 through12 grade) can get the YRBS questions on the SHARP survey. The YRBS questions are used by nearly every state in the U.S. as part of a national survey conducted by the CDC. It’s most likely data from the YRBS questions when you hear about a trending health topic among American high school students in the news. YRBS collected data from more than 5 million high school students from 1991 through 2021. 

The YRBS questions are designed to gather state-level data. About 2,000 students are randomly sampled to participate by randomly selecting class periods. For example, the survey may only be given to students in their 4th period class who have parental permission to take it. About 50 to 60 schools in Utah are randomly selected for that sample by the CDC.   

Youth Tobacco Survey  

This survey was discontinued in 2009. The questions from this survey are now asked as part of the Prevention Needs Assessment. 

• Students in grades 6 through 12 in Utah public schools. Most schools or districts give it to 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th graders. Some districts or schools choose to give it to all 6 through 12 graders. Charter schools may also participate in the SHARP survey.  
• Students don’t take the survey every year. It’s given in odd years in the Spring. 
• Sixth graders do not get the same survey as older students. They are not asked demographic questions about sexual orientation or gender identity. The set of questions for 6th graders were modified and changed to better meet younger students’ abilities and needs, based on feedback from parents, school administrators, and public health professionals.  

Do all students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 take the SHARP survey? 

It depends. Each school district and charter school has the option to participate in the SHARP survey. Then a sample of classrooms in each school in the district are selected to participate. Superintendents can also choose to do a census-level survey. This means they can choose to survey all of the students in those grades (instead of just a random sample of students) or may choose to survey all students in grades 6 through 12. This helps them have better local-level and school-level data for prevention efforts.  

Can my child take the survey if they are in 7th, 9th, or 11th grade? 

It depends. For those schools which are selected to do the SHARP-YRBS forms, students in 9-12 grades participate. School districts may also choose to do a census-level survey on all students in grades 6-12.  

Questions included on the SHARP survey are a combination of questions from reputable sources which use evidence-based data collection practices and are qualified to write and develop these types of survey questions.  

• The questions on the SHARP survey have been rigorously tested and validated with thousands of students. 
• New questions are only added to the survey after being thoroughly reviewed and vetted. 
• The SHARP survey uses validity questions and scales to determine answer consistency from each student. 

It takes 30-45 minutes at the most, depending on whether the student is taking the survey online or on paper. It’s OK if a student doesn’t finish the survey.  

Can students really finish the survey in only 30-45 minutes? 

Yes. Three out of every 4 sixth graders who take the survey complete it in this time. About 95% of students who had parent permission to take the SHARP survey in 2023 took it online, with a completion time of around 30 minutes.  

In the last 20 years—no student has ever told us they weren’t able to get through the survey, found it exhausting or hard, or that it was too long to take. More than 545,000 students have completed the survey in the state of Utah in the past 20 years.  

Each school district and charter school in the state will be invited to participate in the SHARP survey in early Spring 2025. Districts that choose to participate are then required to send out a parent consent letter and form before the survey can be administered.  

School districts have the freedom to choose how parent consent will be collected and tracked. Talk to your school district or school principal if you have questions about how and when you will be asked for consent.  

• Some school districts may choose to get parent consent during fall registration or the beginning of each term, when other classroom consent forms are gathered.  
• Others may choose to send out the parent consent letter and form a few weeks before the survey is administered.  
• School districts can use electronic or paper-based consent forms.  

Schools must track which students have parent consent. Schools do not share this information with the Utah Department of Health and Human Services or any other agency. The parent consent letter provides a link to view the survey questions, explains the purpose of the survey, and includes contact information for SHARP staff as well as the DHHS institutional review board (IRB) if they have questions or concerns. Parents must sign the form and check that their student does or does not have permission to take the SHARP survey. Only students who have parent permission are allowed to take the survey. Students can choose to not take the survey at all, stop the survey at any time, or choose to skip any questions they don't understand or don't want to answer.  

The Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) would like to express our appreciation to the thousands and thousands of Utah students who choose to participate in the SHARP survey each year; as well as our appreciation to their parents for allowing them to do so. Your willingness to participate is such an important and critical piece of so many important efforts and has helped communities throughout the state in many different ways.  

The knowledge we’ve gained from the SHARP survey is invaluable— because it tells us where to look for problems—and solutions.  

We’ve used insight from SHARP data to prevent problems years before other available data sources even determined there was a problem. The process of early detection, finding health problems or concerns early, when they are most easily treated, and before they become more serious, is one of the most important parts of our work. The long-term effects of information we’ve learned from adolescents aren’t just limited to one particular topic. The reach of this knowledge has a ripple effect into things that may seem unrelated. 

Here are a few of the many, many examples of ways your participation have made things better for all kids in Utah:  

• Utah was the first state in the nation to pass legislation to protect children from the harms of social media. Data from the SHARP survey on mental health and screen time were used in these discussions. Governor Cox has also created the Social Harms campaign to educate parents on the harmful effects of social media on kids.  
• We were able to pass legislation that stopped the sale of vaping products on the internet years before anyone knew it was a problem—only because of your honesty answering questions about vaping.  
• We created the See through the Vape program to help educate parents on the dangers of vaping and how to start a conversation with their child. There’s also resources and quit tools parents can use to help their child.  
• We know parents have a better chance of keeping their kids from ever experimenting with drugs or alcohol if they eat dinner together as a family—no matter what’s on the table—only. 
• There are many mental and emotional health resources and supports that were developed using information from the SHARP survey. The SafeUT app and Live On program are just 2 of these resources that are being used by parents, families, teens, and schools across the state to better understand and support those who are struggling with mental health or suicide.  
• Utah lawmakers have used data from the SHARP survey to expand access to mental and behavioral health resources for all Utahns—and especially our children and teens—across the state.  
• A community-based effort to teach grandparents and older adults to use Ipads to help students that began as a result of SHARP survey data may not seem like it would benefit the older adults as much as it did the students. However, the ripple effect of that effort meant that when the pandemic hit—there were grandparents and older adults in Utah who may have experienced less loneliness—because they were already better prepared and equipped to use technology. 

Contact your local health department, local prevention coordinator, or local school district to learn how the SHARP data is being used in your child’s school and community. 

Reports with aggregate data at the state, region, and demographics level are available online. These reports do not contain any identifying information about students. Local health departments, local prevention coalitions, local schools and school districts, superintendents, health systems, public health professionals, and most importantly, parents use these reports to develop programs and services to help Utah youth and families.  

School district or school-level data reports are not shared publicly online. These reports are only available from your local school district or school. District authorities (like superintendents or lead administrators of charter schools) have password-protected access to see their district-level data in the webtool. These reports do not contain any identifying information about students.  

The raw data is very limited in who can or can't use it and is protected under strict Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Institutional Review Board (IRB) controls. The DHHS IRB controls any data sharing agreements for the raw data files. Only respected researchers in good standing and who are expanding the general sphere of knowledge are considered for data sharing agreements. Individuals wanting to use the raw data for their own purposes are not considered. However, no identifying information about a student is collected in the SHARP survey.  

We do not release data in any of these reports unless there are a minimum of 20 students. This helps protect the confidentiality and data privacy of students and school districts. 

Yes. While there are other data sets and surveys that collect some of the same things or similar data, the SHARP survey is the only survey that gives us a comprehensive picture at the local community level of what adolescents are facing and the things that help protect them from harmful behaviors and health problems. The SHARP survey gives us information directly from adolescents that isn’t found in other data sources. Most importantly, it provides us with data about what things worked to prevent other adolescents from those types of behaviors and what put them at risk. No other survey in Utah provides this type of information.  

The SHARP survey is free to school districts statewide and gives us data at the local level. This means a parent or school can see what is happening to the students in their own communities and school districts.  

Public comments have been made recently that treat data collected by the SHARP survey as trivial or insignificant, and imply adolescents don’t take stuff like this seriously. We want Utah students and families to know the Utah Department of Health and Human Services disagrees with any statement that undermines or devalues the importance of the thousands of adolescents who voluntarily take the opportunity to share their perspective and lived experiences to help others. The culture of help and service to others for which Utah is known for does not begin in adulthood. Utah’s students don’t have to participate in the SHARP survey—they choose to.  

The number of students completing the survey and the data they provide has remained fairly consistent throughout the last 20 years. Any increase in trends found on the SHARP survey have also been seen later with through increases in mortality and morbidity. This means students aren’t lying or making up answers on the survey.  

The survey also has a built-in honesty scale to prevent situations where students may not take it seriously or just answer random things. The honesty scale is calculated  based on 5 criteria: 1) used drugs (not including alcohol or tobacco) on more than 120 occasions in the past 30 days, 2) reported using a fictitious drug, 3) reported that they were “not honest at all” in completing the questionnaire, 4) more than one marking of a 30-day use for a substance that they had not used in their lifetime, or 5) their age and grade did not match, such as a student 19 years of age who marked grade 6.  

Asking students about substance use or mental health does not cause psychological or other harm. This is a misconception that is not backed by research. Research shows simply asking students about a behavior does not lead them to do it. Talking about substance use or suicide does not cause students to turn to the behavior. The opposite is true—the open discussion of the behavior can prevent it.   

We believe each parent should have the right to decide whether their child should take the survey or not. We rely on the active parental consent process to make sure parents can make the best choice for their children and family. Parents can review the surveys online, at their schools, or by requesting a copy be sent to them before deciding if their child has permission to take the survey. We leave it to parents to do their due diligence in reviewing the survey if they choose before signing the parent consent. We explicitly tell students they may opt-out of the survey entirely or skip any question they don’t want to answer. 

Surveys like SHARP are administered in a majority of states in the U.S. There is absolutely no evidence of epidemics of drug use, domestic violence, child abuse, or suicides in the wake of each survey administration. In fact, we have seen a decrease in problem behavior since SHARP began more than 20 years ago, not an increase. This suggests there is not a negative impact from the survey itself.  

The level of exposure students have to the survey is incredibly small relative to everything else youth are exposed to each day of their lives. The average student will take between 30-45 minutes to complete the survey and will see it only every 2 years. Most students will likely only encounter the survey a few times (at most 4 times) in their life. With 80+ questions taken in a 30–45 minute period, students give only 15 to 25 seconds of attention to each question. There isn’t much time to interact with the content as they move through the survey. Students can complete it as they choose, and answer and skip questions as they see fit. We do not have school districts contacting DHHS or the institutional review board (IRB) with concerns about the survey causing distress to a large number of students.  

Regarding concerns the survey will influence family relationships. Research and experience do not support this at all. There isn’t any evidence in the data to suggest students are reporting decreased levels of attachment to their families after taking the SHARP survey. In contrast, over time, rates of family protective factors in Utah have typically been steady over the past 10 years or so.   

Helpful research articles: 

• Testing the Question-Behavior Effect of Self-Administered Surveys Measuring Youth Drug Use 
• Does asking about suicide and related behaviours induce suicidal ideation? What is the evidence? 
• What’s the Harm in Asking about Suicidal Ideation? 
• Does screening high school students for psychological distress, deliberate self-harm, or suicidal ideation cause distress--and is it acceptable? An Australian-based study 
• Do surveys change behaviour? Insights from digital trace data 
• Should we ask our Children about Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll?: Potentially Harmful Effects of Asking Questions About Risky Behaviors 
• Does Asking Adolescents About Pornography Make Them Use It? A Test of the Question–Behavior Effect 

No. The SHARP survey is anonymous. No data is collected that could identify a student or family. We understand parents want to know if their child answers a question in a way that may indicate they’re struggling with something. But we don’t collect any identifying information that could tie a student’s answers back to them in order to protect student and family privacy and confidentiality.  

We encourage you to talk to your child when you get the parent consent letter and then again after your student takes the survey. Let them know what types of questions they might be asked, talk to them about your family’s values, and help them know where to turn for support if they need it. The SHARP survey can be a conversation starter for many of the hard conversations we face as parents.  

We have strict protocols that schools are to follow to make sure only students with parent permission take the SHARP survey. Violation of these protocols is taken very seriously. Contact your school or school district right away if you feel your student was given the survey without your permission. You can also contact staff at the Utah Department of Health and Human Services Institutional Review Board (IRB) at dhhs_ir@utah.gov.   

We encourage you to talk to your child about the SHARP survey and let them know what your family has chosen to do. Your child has the choice to not take the survey at the time of administration.  

No. The SHARP survey is voluntary at all levels. 

• Districts and local education associations (LEAs) choose to participate. 
• Parents choose and give consent for their child to participate. 

• Students may choose not to take the survey, even if their parents have given permission.  

However, the Utah Department of Health and Human Services has an obligation and broad legal authority to protect the public’s health and gather information and data on the health of Utahns. We also have a duty and legal authority to be involved in public health, substance use, and mental health issues among others.  

What happens if a school district doesn’t use the SHARP survey? 

Nothing. The SHARP survey is only there as a tool to help schools, public health, and parents better understand how to reach and help kids. Since the survey began, 40 of the 41 school districts in Utah have participated. Charter and private schools may also participate and in 2023, 11 charter schools and 1 private school did so. Schools or communities do not lose any services or funding from the state for not participating.   

However, schools and community partners use data and information from the SHARP survey to apply and get funding from other sources to help schools or provide services to students. Millions of dollars used for prevention programs at the local level have been received because of SHARP data. This funding could be at risk without SHARP because community organizations must use data to explain why they need funding. They won’t have this data without SHARP. 

School districts are required by the Utah State Board of Education to collect and report many of the same types of information, even if they don’t use the SHARP survey. That means schools will have to fund this data collection instead of using the free SHARP survey that is not paid for out of school funding. The SHARP data is also an important piece of information used in required legislative reports (Youth Electronic Cigarette, Marijuana, and Other Drugs Prevention Program, Parents Empowered, and Utah Alcohol Abuse Tracking Committee).  

It depends. There are 5 sets of questions your child may get, depending on their grade level. The survey takes about 30-45 minutes to complete, depending on whether the student is doing the survey online or paper.  

The online SHARP survey has skip logic built into it. This means students won’t be asked follow-up questions that don’t apply  to them. This shortens the number of questions and time it takes to finish the survey. For example, students won’t be asked any of the follow-up questions about alcohol if they answer “no” they don’t drink alcohol.   

6th grade students get 1 of 2 sets of questions:  

• SHARP-PNA 6th grade form A - this has 86 questions 
• SHARP-PNA 6th grade form B - this has 82 questions 

8th grade students get 1 of 2 sets of questions: 

• SHARP-PNA form A - this has 127 questions 
• SHARP-PNA form B - this has 124 questions  

High school students (grades 9-12) get 1 of 3 sets of questions: 

• SHARP-PNA form A - this has 127 questions 
• SHARP-PNA form B - this has 124 questions  
• SHARP-YRBS form - this has 99 questions  

No. Students may choose not to take the survey, even if their parents have given permission. They can skip questions on the survey they don’t feel comfortable answering or don’t understand.  

We know how important it is for adolescents to feel like their voices are heard. Giving students the option not to participate makes the data more reliable. Students want to have their voices heard, and want to tell us about their experiences and challenges—not because they have to. 

It is given by local school districts. Our survey contractor, Bach Harrison, meets with districts and helps them throughout the entire process. The local authority prevention team provides support to the schools in some areas. The school districts have the autonomy to decide if they will administer it, and how it is administered.  

Learn more about the survey protocols and what information is provided to school districts and teachers who help administer the survey.  

Schools and school districts are responsible to:  

• Pick a SHARP coordinator to help train teachers (sometimes called a survey proctor) give the survey, select a sample of classes to participate in the survey, and make sure administration protocols are followed. The survey is usually given by a teacher in the classroom. Some communities have opted to allow local prevention coordinators to come into schools to proctor the survey in the past. 
• Decide if they will give the survey to just 6, 8, 10, and 12 grade students or do a “census” level survey. This means they will offer the survey to all parents and students in grades 6 through12.   
• Decide how to collect parent consent.  
• Track parent consent according to the administration protocols and make sure only those students with parent permission are offered the SHARP survey.  
• Work with students who have a 504 or IEP plan and their parents to make sure they can take the survey if they choose, so teachers can plan to meet accessibility needs and requirements. We recommend the survey only be taken by students who can complete the survey by themselves (or complete it if someone reads the survey aloud to them) to make sure their answers remain confidential and anonymous. 
• Follow the administration protocols, including showing students the proctor video before administering the survey. Read the class survey script if the video can’t be shown. This lets students with parental consent know what to expect with the survey and how to participate if they choose to.  
• Return paper surveys to Bach Harrison according to administration protocols.  
• Share findings from their school district report with parents.  

Parents are responsible to: 

• Choose whether to allow their child to take the SHARP survey. 
• Sign the parent consent letter or form. 
• Return the parent consent letter/form to their child’s school. 
• Talk to their child about the survey. 

Students are responsible to: 

• Choose whether to take the survey, as long as their parents have given permission. 
• Answer questions on the survey as best they can.  
• Skip any questions they feel uncomfortable with, don’t understand, or don’t want to answer.  
• Talk to their parents if they have any questions or concerns after taking the survey.  

The Utah Department of Health and Human Services and Bach Harrison are responsible to:  

• Oversee the contract with Bach Harrison (the survey company that helps schools administer the SHARP survey). 
• Receive DHHS institutional review board (IRB) approval. 
• Create the parent consent letter or form.  
• Translate the survey forms and parent consent letter or form.  
• Teach school districts and survey proctors how to administer the survey. 
• Work with the CDC to make sure schools are following the SHARP and YRBS sampling and administration protocols.  
• Analyze the findings.  
• Post the findings and data reports online.  
• Share findings with communities including participating schools, school districts, local health departments, and local prevention coordinators.  
• Explain the findings and answer questions about the SHARP survey.  
• Create other educational materials, such as the student proctor video, website, and presentations. 
• Use the data to implement best practice and evidence-based programs, services, and resources in communities.  

Paper or online survey  

The survey can be taken in 1 of 2 formats: a paper/pencil survey or an online survey through Alchemer, an online survey platform. Both administration options offer a high level of privacy, anonymity, and data confidentiality.  

• Both the paper and online survey do not collect any identifying information that could be tied back to an individual student.  
• We have strong protocols to make sure that no teacher or administrator comes into contact with an actual paper survey form.  

For paper surveys, packets are not opened until they arrive at Bach Harrison’s main office, where they are scanned and the data are aggregated.  

For the online survey, each school is provided with a school-specific URL that students type into an internet browser and take as an anonymous form. Once the student closes their browser the data can’t be accessed. If a student tries to revisit the URL, they will be provided with a new form. There is no login required. No IP addresses are collected and stored. There is no way to trace a student’s response back to them. More information on Alchemer’s security features and measures can be found here.  

Who created the SHARP survey?  

The SHARP survey was created in 2003 by the former Utah Department of Health and Utah Department of Human Services (now merged into a single state agency, the Utah Department of Health and Human Services) and the Utah State Board of Education (USBE).  

However, the survey is fully paid for, owned, and maintained by the Utah Department of Health and Human Services; it is not administered by the Utah State Board of Education. The decision to participate in the SHARP survey is—and has always been— a local one. This decision is made by parents, students, and the local education authority only. It has never been made by the USBE. Local education agencies may continue to participate regardless of USBE decisions. The survey will continue to be available for free to Utah school districts and schools. The funding and administration of SHARP are provided by the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. 

Do schools have to pay for the survey? 

No. The survey will continue to be available for free to Utah school districts and schools. The funding and administration of SHARP are provided by the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. 

Any survey CAN be condensed. However, it is very hard to reduce the number of questions because parents and so many agencies, organizations, communities, districts, and schools use SHARP data in their decision making, planning, reporting, and efforts. It’s hard to know what to cut out without sacrificing important data. The good thing is, it’s only given once every 2 years and only takes 1 class period.  

A committee (made of data, education, and public health experts along with USBE board members) takes a critical look at each survey question and asks, “Is this question being used statewide to drive prevention-related decision making?” before the survey is given each time. This strategy holds us accountable to survey length and to make sure that every question is needed.  

We have made efforts to make the survey shorter and more efficient over the years.  

• In 2019, we launched the online SHARP survey, which trimmed survey-taking time from 40 to 45 minutes to about 30 to 35 minutes. 
• In 2009, we moved to an A/B form structure. Pages 1 through 5 of each survey form are identical (a set of core questions each student answers), but the final pages of the survey use a different set of questions on form A and form B. This allows us to gather more data to help drive prevention and health efforts, without increasing the length of the survey.  
• SHARP has always operated under a one-question-in-one-question-out protocol when it comes to designing each administration's forms. That means we must delete a question in order to add a new one. The intent of this is to make sure the survey doesn’t grow every year, and to keep all agencies aligned with efforts to keep length to a minimum. 

• We added skip logic to the online survey. This means a student won’t be asked follow-up questions that don’t apply  to them. This can significantly shorten the number of questions and time it takes to finish the survey. For example, students won’t be asked any of the follow-up questions about alcohol if they answer “no” they don’t drink alcohol.  
• We ask teachers to only use 1 class period and stop students who don’t finish the survey.  

No. The survey is a validated instrument. Questions come from other validated forms (like the original Communities That Care survey, the Monitoring the Future Survey, or surveys administered in other states), or from other research initiatives featured in peer-reviewed research processes. All questions come from publicly-funded initiatives, which means the forms are publicly owned and open-source documents.  

Occasionally, a validated question is not available when needed. When this happens, new questions are carefully crafted and tested prior to the survey to make sure students are interpreting the questions correctly and consistently. All questions are validated before they are used in the survey. The questions are worded following standard best practice within the research field so the questions are clear, to the point, non-judgmental to any person, and as short as possible. The questions are similar to questions being asked on student questionnaires across the globe.  

Using validated items from other surveys is a best practice in the field of survey development and design; but that said, the Utah SHARP survey is specific to the needs of Utah youth. There is no survey in the nation that mirrors Utah’s survey. It is uniquely built and revised based on the current, ever-changing needs of Utah youth and their families.  

We worked through a major revision of the survey in 2017 to revise many questions some felt were “leading” to include statements such as “if ever” or “if at all.” The video shown to students before they take the survey also reinforces that no one thinks they are doing something just because the survey asks about that behavior and it doesn’t mean anyone thinks it’s OK to do a behavior just because it’s being asked about.  

No. Students only take the survey because they want to. The SHARP survey is voluntary. Teachers must provide an alternate activity for students who either do not have parental consent or who choose not to participate.  

This activity must be an activity students can do quietly at their desk. The activity isn’t graded and should be neutral in terms of encouraging or discouraging participation in the survey. That means it should be an activity that feels similar for students as taking the survey (like a reading or written activity). For example, teachers should not give hard or tedious work that feels like a punishment for those who opt out. But teachers should also not give activities that may seem more fun than taking the survey, like going to the gym or playing games. It should not feel like a reward either. The activity should be similar to taking a survey, so there is no emotional feeling attached to it either way.  

No. From an article published by the Montana Office of Public Instruction (Montana administers a similar survey to the SHARP, specifically the SHARP-YRBS forms):  

“The issue has been researched by federal agency staff and by legal staff at both the federal and state levels. The federal laws in question -- The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment of 1994 (PPRA) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) -- apply to programs which receive funds from the U.S. Department of Education (USDE). Each of these federal laws is specific in its protection of students' rights and privacy when information is part of a student's education record or when a student is required to participate in a project where personal information is revealed… 

…schools participating in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) are not in violation of federal laws protecting students' rights and privacy because the YRBS is anonymous (thus impossible to be part of students' records) and voluntary (ensuring that students are not required to participate).”  

The Utah SHARP survey protects the privacy of a student's education record. The survey responses are anonymous and impossible to link back to an individual student or their family. No correlation is possible between anonymous SHARP data and individual student records. Participation in the survey does not violate the provisions of PPRA. The SHARP survey is a voluntary survey. Therefore it does not violate the provisions of FERPA.