Doing Research

The processing of requests to perform research is limited to those submitted by individuals or institutions conducting studies of interest to the academic community or students pursuing advanced degrees for whom such research is a major part of their academic studies. Exempted from these procedures are requests for data from state, federal, or other agencies with which the school system must cooperate.

Requirements

The Maplewood Richmond Heights School District (MRH) requires that research be well-designed, adhere to child protection laws, not place unreasonable demands on students, staff, or parents nor interfere with regular system operations, and it must be in the interests of the school system to participate. Research should support MRH goals, which are listed in the district’s strategic plan. MRH will carefully consider the best interest of its students prior to granting access to them, their data, or our staff and their data. Only data that is directly relevant to the request will be approved.

MRH requires that researchers make materials available for inspection by parents and eligible students (emancipated minors 18 or older) if those materials are provided to students in connection with a survey, analysis, or evaluation in which their children participate. Schools and researchers must obtain consent or be allowed to opt out before minor students participate in any survey, analysis, or evaluation.

Limits

Our guidelines seek to balance the need for advancement through research with our overriding priority of uninterrupted instructional activities that maximize student learning. The District goal is to serve our schools, and our focus is on student achievement. For those reasons:

Interference with school instruction and operations must be kept to an absolute minimum. MRH prohibits non-school personnel videotaping educational programs.
No research will be approved that takes place during mandatory State assessments and other local formative assessments. These dates can be found on our District posted Assessment Calendar.
Due to the number of requests that we receive, our ability to review and support external research projects, and to provide student data and data that require substantial manipulation (e.g., merging different data sources or across multiple years), is limited.
MRH reserves the right to charge fees at any time for data and research requests not covered by the Freedom of Information Act. Requestors will be notified of the cost prior to the agreement/approval being reached.
Potential researchers should be aware that permission to do research is a multistep process, and permission to conduct research in the District does not guarantee any individual school’s willingness to participate. Although all submissions require approval from the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, each school's principal will have input regarding their school's participation.

Additionally, MRH requires consent or the opportunity to Opt Out for student participation in focus groups and one-on-one interviews or assessments.

Finally, researchers must obtain active informed, written parental consent before minor students participate in any survey, analysis, or evaluation that asks students for information concerning the following topics:

Sex behavior and attitudes
Gender Identity and sexual orientation
Mental and psychological problems potentially embarrassing to the student and his/her family.
Critical appraisals of other individuals with whom respondents have close family relationships.
Illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating, or demeaning behavior (e.g., violence, drug use).
Communications with persons in legally recognized privileged or analogous relationships, such as with lawyers, physicians, or ministers.
Religious practices, affiliations, or beliefs of the student or student’s parents.
Income (other than that required by law to determine eligibility for participation in a program or for receiving financial assistance under such program).
Parents must be informed of the topics of the survey, analysis, or evaluation before being asked to consent to their children’s participation.

Data Privacy

In alignment with Policy EHBC, the district must “Accurately maintain and protect data is important for efficient district operations, compliance with laws mandating confidentiality, and maintaining the trust of the district's stakeholders. All persons who have access to district data are required to follow state and federal law, including FERPA and PPRA, district policies and procedures, and other rules created to protect the information.”

It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and justify the relevant FERPA exception. For example, research conducted on behalf of the school district to improve instruction may be permissible under the school official exception. Suppose the school is providing Personally Identifiable Information (PII) under the school official exception. In that case, the researcher is considered a school official with a legitimate educational interest, and the researcher must be under the direct control of the district regarding the use of the data. A written agreement outlining the researcher's responsibilities under FERPA, including data security, permitted uses, and destruction of data, is required.

Suppose the proposed research or data request does not fit a FERPA exception. In that case, the requestor must obtain the written informed consent of participants or of a parent on behalf of a student prior to conducting research activities or collecting personally identifiable information from or on students.

Students under 18 years old cannot participate in research without the informed consent of a parent or legal guardian. For students who are 18 or over (or an emancipated minor), the requestor must receive written informed consent from the student.

All persons whose research is approved must adhere to the following:

Comply with all laws pertaining to student confidentiality, including FERPA and PPRA.
Student information will be used only for the specific purpose outlined in the approved research proposal.
Student information will be destroyed within 90 days after the completion of the research.
Student information will not be released to any other party without explicit written consent from the district.
Notify MRH immediately in the case of any breach of data security.
Implement appropriate data security measures, including encryption expectations.
Submit a data security plan as part of the research proposal.
Before being implemented, any modifications or changes from the approved proposal must be cleared through the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment.
Any research project is subject to termination if the procedures described in the proposal are not adhered to or the research is conducted so that the administration judges it to unduly disrupt the flow of work in the schools.
MRH reserves the right to restrict survey and interview topics for any reason at any time.

Data Security:

To safeguard student data, researchers must implement robust security measures. These measures include, but are not limited to:

Encryption: All PII must be encrypted both in transit and at rest using industry-standard encryption protocols.
Secure Data Storage: Data must be stored on secure servers or in encrypted cloud storage environments with restricted access.
Access Controls: Access to PII must be limited to authorized personnel only, using strong passwords and multi-factor authentication.
Data Minimization: Only collect data that is absolutely necessary for the research purpose.
Regular Security Audits: Conduct periodic security audits to identify and address vulnerabilities.
Incident Response Plan: Develop and implement an incident response plan to address any data breaches or security incidents.

Data Security Plan:

Researchers are required to submit a data security plan as part of their research proposal. This plan must detail:

The specific security measures that will be implemented to protect PII.
The roles and responsibilities of personnel involved in data handling.
The procedures for reporting and addressing security incidents.

Data Destruction:

All PII collected for the research must be securely destroyed within 90 days after the completion of the research project, unless a longer retention period is required by law. Secure destruction methods include, but are not limited to, cryptographic erasure, shredding, or secure wiping of digital media.

General Data Obligations:

All individuals conducting research within MRH must:

Comply with all applicable data privacy and security laws, including FERPA and PPRA.
Use student information solely for the purposes outlined in the approved research proposal.
Refrain from disclosing PII to any unauthorized third parties.
Report any suspected or actual data breaches to MRH immediately.
Adhere to all MRH policies and procedures related to data privacy and security.
Any breach of the security agreement can result in the termination of the research project, and may result in legal action.

After Completion

Upon completion of the research project, the researcher is required to provide a final report to the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. This report will be made available to district staff via the district intranet.

Data Ownership and Intellectual Property:

All raw data collected during the research project, as well as any derived data or analyses, shall remain the property of the Maplewood Richmond Heights School District (MRH). Researchers are granted a limited license to use the data for the specific purposes outlined in the approved research proposal.
Intellectual property rights related to any inventions, discoveries, or other patentable or copyrightable material developed during the research project, which utilize MRH data or resources, will be jointly owned by MRH and the researcher, unless otherwise agreed upon in a separate written agreement.

Publication and Citation:

Researchers are permitted to publish, present, or utilize results from the research or data analysis, provided that no Personally Identifiable Information (PII) of MRH students or their parents is disclosed.

When publishing or presenting research findings, researchers are required to appropriately cite the Maplewood Richmond Heights School District as the source of the data and/or the location where the research was conducted. The specific citation format will be provided by MRH.
MRH may, at its discretion, require that the names of specific schools or the district itself not be explicitly identified in publications or presentations.

Review and Approval of Publications:

To protect the confidentiality of previously identified confidential information disclosed to the researcher, all proposed publications or presentations intended for public release must be submitted to MRH for review and comment at least 14 days prior to submission of a manuscript for publication or the date of the presentation.

MRH reserves the right to review and approve all publications and presentations before they are released to the public. Researchers are expected to be receptive to modifications, changes, and suggestions provided by MRH staff members.

In certain instances, MRH may require the right to approve the proposed publication or presentation and may require co-authorship of MRH staff members. The determination of whether a co-authorship is required will be made by the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, in consultation with the Superintendent and legal counsel if necessary.
Researchers are responsible for the secure destruction of all copies of raw data and PII after the publication of their work, or after the completion of the work if there will be no publication, within a time frame that will be provided by MRH.

Any breach of this agreement can result in the termination of the research project, and may result in legal action.

Steps

The following are the steps involved in securing approval to perform research in the Maplewood Richmond Heights School District.

Step 1: Application

The researcher completes an application to perform research and submits it to the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment.

Application

Step 2: Evaluation

The Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, will follow up with the researcher to clarify the request and collect additional information as needed. This research review request will then be presented for approval at the next Central Office Administrator meeting. If needed, district legal counsel and other district administrators, as appropriate, will review the application.

In addition to assessing the purpose of the study, the methodology to be employed, analyses to be
conducted, survey to be given, and other research factors, evaluation of the request will be based on:

Potential benefits of the research to the Maplewood Richmond Heights School District.
Potential value of the study to the general field of research.
Whether the research is part of a national study or major project requiring Board participation for validity, and
If the request comes from a majority organization or agency with whom the district would particularly like to maintain cooperative relations.
Adherence to FERPA and other guidelines to protect the privacy of the individuals (staff, students, parents, and school (s) participating in the project and
Clarity of the project procedures and processes.

In addition to these considerations, attention will be given to practical aspects of the research including:

Time requirements for staff or students.
Impact on other school activities (e.g., study occurring during testing or near the end of the year),
Sensitivity of the data to be collected and how it will be used, and
Administrative demands on the school system.

Step 3: Communication

The researcher will be notified of the decision.

A research request can be (1) accepted, (2) accepted subject to certain modifications in the study’s
design, or (3) rejected.

If the decision is to approve the request, the researcher will be informed of the name(s) and location(s) of the person(s) with whom to make initial or subsequent contact.

Step 4: Completion

Data will be provided to you to complete your research for your assignment, limited to what was requested.

The researcher will provide monthly updates to the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment regarding progress, updates to the process, and updates on data security.

Step 5: Conclusion

After the research, within 90 days. Student data will be securely deleted outlined in the Data Destruction section. Confirmation of the deletion will be required. The final report or assignment will be submitted to the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment.

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