Collier County School District Guidelines for Conducting Research
Overview
Collier County PublicSchool (CCPS) Board Rules specify all research conducted in the district must be approved by the CCPS District Research Committee as the Superintendent's designee. (Reference School BoardPolicy 2416). All research requests are handled by the Department of Assessments & Data Management.
(1) For district employees, all research must be vetted through the CCPS District Research Committee.
(2) For non-employees, there are no exceptions, all research (independent, corporate, organizational, etc.), must be vetted through the CCPS District Research Committee.
To protect the privacy of students, and ensure schools are not overwhelmed by research and pilot study requests, the following information is required for consideration of research requests by the CCPS District Research Committee:
If research involves the collection of data from students, details of the study, (survey questions to be asked, etc.) and parent permission must be secured. The committee may first issue a PROVISIONAL APPROVAL to allow the collection of the signed parental permission for the proposed research and, upon receipt of the signed parental permissions, the committee may then issue FINAL APPROVAL to conduct the research.
If the research involves confidential employee information, (e.g. psychological/physical well-being, or other sensitive information) employees must first be notified and given the option not to participate. All participation in any approved study is strictly voluntary and any individual may refuse to be involved, or to continue once a study is underway.
District administrators receive many requests to participate in marketing research and employee evaluations (e.g. on the part of universities interested in getting feedback on current employees – teachers). Generally, the District is not receptive to activities that necessitate extensive survey or testing of students. Activities that entail surveys of students or teachers regarding preferences of academic materials (e.g., books, software, visual aids) require the approval of the Associate Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction.
Submittal of New Research Requests
It is strongly recommended that all researchers read this page in its entirety prior to submitting a new research request.
Research requests or proposals are evaluated by the CCPS District Research Committee which maintains a standardized process for evaluating requests based on relevance, quality and whether the research is in the best interests of the district’s students, staff, and community. New research requests are submitted by clicking New Request (located in the menu on the left side of this page) and completing the application.
Only research proposed through the digital form referenced above will be reviewed by the CCPS District Research Committee. Failure to disclose any information, or information found to be inaccurate, may preclude the organization and its ancillary alliances from any release of data.
If you are visiting this website in search of existing data reports that illustrate District data trends across Collier County Public Schools, please visit http://www.collierschools.com/about/testresults.asp.
Review Timeline
The CCPS District Research Committee values research and hopes to provide a response as soon as possible upon completion of each individual committee member’s review. The District School Board of Collier County requires review of all research requests as to the impact the research may have on our staff members, teachers, administrators and students. The committee includes district leaders from the following departments:
1) Assessment and Data Management
2) Elementary Programs
3) Human Resources
4) Professional Development
5) Response to Instruction/Interventions (RtI, Multi-TieredSystem of Supports (MTSS)
6) Secondary Programs
The review process generally takes between four to eight weeks depending on the time of year the request is submitted.
Research Timeline
Research conducted on accepted proposals must be actively underway within one year of the date of acceptance. Researchers must request an extension for approved research proposals that was not initiated and actively underway or completed by this time. Again, if any changes were made to the original proposal, the researcher(s) is/are responsible for notifying the CCPS District Research Committee of such developments. The committee reserves the right to rescind its approval if the modifications do not satisfy the conditions detailed above.
Criteria
1) Proposals that require a minimal amount of District Resources (e.g., personnel, material) are more likely to be accepted than those requiring more resources.
2) Proposals that address district knowledge needs are more likely to be accepted than those that do not address district knowledge needs.
3) The District must maintain confidentiality of employees and students.
4) Proposals must be comprehensive and include copies of surveys, interview protocols and/or any other tools used to gather information.
5) Revisions and updates must be presented to the committee.
6) Proposed research must not exert undue burden upon students or employees’ expenditure of time and energy.
7) Proposals should detail how results will be disseminated.
8) Proposals should be clearly written, and a rationale for the conduct of the proposed research should be included.
Although the focus of the CCPS District Research Committee’s review is not on methodology, or other issues of academic merit, proposals that are methodologically sound, well written and formulated are more likely to be accepted than those that are problematic or lack clarity of purpose and execution.
Contingencies for Approval
Approval of any research project will be contingent upon the following criteria:
1) 1) The study will be conducted as outlined in the proposal and will be subject to any special instructions designated by the CCPS District Research Committee.
2) 2) When individual tests or questionnaires which could be interpreted as sensitive in nature or as an invasion of privacy are to be administered to students as part of an approved study, the following provisions apply:
(a) Parental permission will be obtained for any upcoming surveys that reveal information concerning one or more of thefollowing items. The parental permission form must be accompanied by a brief overview of the project summarizing the study and its purpose:
- Political affiliations or beliefs of the student or the student's parent
- Mental and psychological problems of the student or the student's family
- Sexual behavior or attitudes
- Illegal, anti-social,self-incriminating, or demeaning behavior
- Critical appraisals of other individuals with whom respondents have close family relationships
- Legally recognized privileged or analogous relationships, such as those of lawyers, physicians,and ministers
- Religious practices, affiliations, or beliefs of the student or student's parent
- Income (other than that required by law to determine eligibility for participation in a program or before receiving financial assistance under such program)
(b) Participation is voluntary. No student shall be required to participate in such a survey if the student or student's parent, if the student is less than 18 years of age, objects to participation.
(c) A student or the student's parent, if less than 18 years of age, has the right to inspect any such survey instrument before the survey is administered or distributed to students if a request is made within a reasonable period of time. Parents also have the right to be advised of arrangements that will be made to protect student privacy.
(d)Student survey instruments and teacher directions for administering the survey will be available at each participating school within a reasonable period of time prior to the survey administration.
(e)Parents will be notified of this policy annually at the beginning of the school year and within a reasonable period of time if any substantive change is made to this policy. Such notice shall include the specific or approximate dates during the school year when any such survey will be administrated.
3) Information is collected anonymously, and no personally identifiable information is obtained from or reported on any individual student, person, group, or organization.
4) District students or staff members who participate in a research study during school time may not receive remuneration for their participation.
5) If the district is to be identified in any manner in the final report of an approved study, prior permission must be secured.
6) The cooperating organization or individual will furnish a copy of the final results to the district.
School Board Policy on Survey, Questionnaire and Other Educational Research
The District recognizes the use of surveys, questionnaires or other data gathering instruments as a means of improving the quality of educational services that the public school system provides. The use of surveys can also provide a means for feedback from various elements of the community. Therefore, the District encourages research studies, which have relevance to education whether initiated by district personnel or by other organizations or individuals.
Definition of Educational Research
Educational research will be regarded as those data gathering efforts having relevance to the School Board Mission and district goals. They will be characterized by an educational rationale, a design for testing that rationale, and a plan for reporting the findings and conclusions.
Studies governed by this policy exclude:
- Informal survey activities involving parents, teachers and/or students approved by the principal for making school-level decisions or conducted as part of a class assignment.
- Routine inquiries by district staff or the Board for information necessary to carry on the district's program.
- The collecting and reporting of information from existing public records to satisfy legitimate requests from local, state, and federal governmental agencies.
Provisions Governing Educational Research
Requests to conduct studies shall be submitted to the CCPS District Research Committee insufficient detail to permit their evaluation in terms of the following factors:
- The background of the organization or individual proposing the research.
- The purpose of the study and the use of the findings.
- The benefit to the students involved, the school district, and the education community in general.
- The time required of students and of staff who will be involved in the project.
- The additional cost to the district (if any).
- A copy of the survey, questionnaire or other data gathering instruments shall be submitted along with the proposal for review and approval.
After completing a review of a research proposal, the CCPS District Research Committee will either approve or decline the proposed research and then notify all interested parties of the decision. Any appeals may be submitted to the Superintendent for final decision.