Research Requests
Forney ISD supports high-quality research that aligns with our district priorities and addresses well-defined research questions. We also have both a moral and legal obligation to oversee research activities to protect student information and district resources. Our primary concern is the protection of student and staff privacy, in strict accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), state and federal privacy laws, district policy, and industry best practices.
Anyone seeking access to FISD resources for research—other than studies conducted by FISD—must obtain approval from the FISD Research Review Board (RRB). The RRB is composed of staff from the Curriculum & Instruction, Student Services, Communications, Data & Accountability, Leadership, and Information Technology departments.
The following guidelines outline the principles of our review process and the procedure for submitting a research proposal. Only proposals demonstrating a clear, direct, and immediate benefit to the district in informing practice will be considered for approval.
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FISD receives many requests for research and its capacity to accommodate all of them is limited. Because research facilitation and administration requires a great deal of effort and resources, FISD will use its discretion in determining which research activities will be approved.
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FISD must recognize a value to participating in proposed research. FISD expects to be furnished with copies any final reports or relevant findings.
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No instructional time can be used for research activities. All research interventions planned to take place during regular instructional time must be approved by FISD as standard curriculum. If it is not FISD curriculum, it will not occur during instructional time.
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Please note that the Forney RRB is NOT an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Human Subjects Review Board (HSRB). The RRB convenes after you have university permission and have submitted for review to the IRB or HRSB as appropriate.
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Applications to the RRB must be complete. Typical key elements of a complete application include a complete online Request for Access application form, description of the research protocol, evidence of IRB or HSRB action, and appropriate consent/assent materials. Include any surveys, questionnaires, test forms, interview protocols, and any other instruments to be used.
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To ensure FISD oversight and centralization of project management, researchers should not contact individual principals, teachers, staff, etc. about research planning or coordination. Researchers should not contact building staff prior to submitting a research request to the RRB.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Reflecting state and federal guidelines, FISD cannot freely disclose who receives free and reduced price lunches. To obtain this information, consent forms must explicitly state a researcher’s intent to obtain this information, that the information will be used only for the research indicated and will not be re-disclosed. The signed consent form must also specifically request that FISD provide the lunch status information to the researcher.
Additionally, employees of the District often need access to sensitive information to carry out their jobs, however this access does not grant them permission to use data for reasons other than the specific purposes for which they were granted initial access. Schools and school staff are generally not considered “owners” of data for purposes of determining the appropriateness of its release. A data owner is the administrator, director or supervisor of the division that collects and/or uses data on behalf of the entire District. In other words, just because a teacher has access to testing information does not give them explicit right to use this information without permission.
APPROVAL PROCESS
The RRB will inform the researcher by letter of the action taken on the Research Request Application. Once the researcher has received the approval letter, it will be the researcher’s responsibility to contact the school (or district contact) cited in your application and make arrangements with appropriate personnel for the implementation of the research project.
For any questions, please contact Dr. Lesley Edwards at ldedwards@forneyisd.net.