Tips and other things to remember when making a research request

Review process

The Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) and the Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) sponsor research from a variety of sources:

• their own internal educational research and external research projects from the Ministry of Education and Training,
• Wilfrid Laurier University,
• University of Guelph,
• University of Waterloo, and
• private companies and organizations.

For University of Waterloo researchers, the review process for school-based research projects is a two-tiered process.

1. Your application first undergoes ethics review and clearance through the Office of Research Ethics (ORE).
2. Once your application has received ethics clearance, complete the research request for the WRDSB and/or the WCDSB for approval.
   • WRDSB accepts applications 4 times per year
   • WCDSB currently accepts applications 3 times per year

Researchers should plan ample time for reviews and revisions.

Acceptance process

The school board research committee will review the application and may approve the project, provide feedback to researchers and invite them to submit revisions, or disapprove the project. This decision is sent to the researcher by email.

School selection

Researchers will identity their preferred schools on the Request forms, however, access to preferred schools is not guaranteed. Approval by the school board research committee does not obligate a school principal to accept a study for placement in their school.

Further, not all Waterloo Region school principals agree to have their schools involved in research projects. Generally, schools will sponsor one project per year.

The number of schools available as research settings is finite. Researchers may only contact school principals once the project has received school board approval. Should contacted principals decline participation, an amendment must be submitted to the school board and the ORE outlining additional schools to be contacted prior to communicating with these schools.

Legibility

Each application and accompanying materials (e.g., forms, instruments, parent information-permission letters etc.) must be typed. Proposals must be legible and readable.

Correct grammar

School board personnel review all application materials therefore the text of the documents must be grammatically correct.

Researchers are asked to avoid use of technical language, colloquialisms or slang unless justified in the proposal.

Applications found to contain grammatical or typographical errors may be returned to the researcher for revisions.

Appropriateness of reading level

The reading level of tasks must be appropriate for the specific grade levels of the students involved in the study. Consider that there can be large variability of reading levels among students in the same grade.

Task difficulty

The task difficulty must be appropriate for the students' age and/or grade levels.

Parent information letter and permission form

Parents' information letters and permission forms must be:

• explicit (i.e. explaining all aspects of the project including amount of out-of-class time, if applicable, risks, consent withdrawal, etc.)
• written at an appropriate conceptual and reading level for the general public (approximately Grade 7 to 8)

Letters to parents which do not meet these requirements may be returned to the researcher.

Generally, an active consent process, in which parents/guardians provide explicit consent for their child to participate, is preferred by the WRDSB and the WCDSB.  Only students who have their parents’ permission to participate in a study, and who agree themselves, will be included in the study.

Prioritizing

Proposals are prioritized by the school boards in the following order (highest to lowest):

• Faculty/Ph.D. level research
• Master’s level research
• Undergraduate level theses

Time constraints may limit the feasibility of conducting undergraduate thesis research within schools. Faculty Supervisors should carefully consider WRDSB/WCDSB, ORE, and personal and student timelines in their planning.

Undergraduate level course projects normally are not accepted because there is insufficient time to accommodate them in the context of the University’s thirteen week terms.

Partial disclosure, deception and risk to participants

The primary mandate of the WRDSB and WCDSB, when reviewing research projects, is the welfare and well-being of students under their respective jurisdictions.

Projects involving partial disclosure or mild deception may be accepted by the school boards. When using partial-disclosure or deception, principals and parents/guardians must be fully informed during the consent process. Students must be debriefed using age-appropriate language and explanations following their participation.

Access to other groups

Neither school board will serve as a vehicle by which researchers can access persons not directly within board jurisdiction.

Examples of these situations include studies which request access to students who have dropped out, former students, etc.

Grade structure

When requesting students, researchers should be aware that Junior Kindergarten to Grade 3 form the Primary level; Grades 4 to 6 comprise the Junior level; Grades 7 and 8 represent the Senior level; and 9 to 12 are the Secondary level.

Within the WRDSB, elementary schools normally include (Junior) Kindergarten to Grade 6; senior schools include Grades 7 and 8; and secondary schools include Grades 9 through 12. Projects requiring students at more than one level or crossing levels (e.g., Grades 6 and 7) are more difficult to place.

Within the WCDSB, elementary schools include Junior Kindergarten through Grade 8, and secondary schools are comprised of Grades 9 through 12.

Level of detail to be provided

The requirements of the research must be described concisely in terms of:

• the number of children, teachers and/or parents;
• grade levels;
• amount of group and/or individual contact time (including all out-of class time);
• type of tests to be administered (e.g. individual or group);
• location of testing (i.e. within a classroom setting or in a separate room); and
• any special observational or recording techniques to be used (e.g. video or audio).

Researchers must outline how their proposed research fits within the values, strategic priorities and goals of the school board. 

Individual versus group sessions

Group testing sessions are preferred to individual testing sessions since they tend to create less disruption in the classroom.

School staff involvement

Teacher/staff time commitment should be minimized as much as possible. Generally, teachers may distribute and collect information packages, but should not be responsible for data collection (e.g., distributing surveys).

If teachers are invited to take part in a research project during class time, funds for a supply teacher must be provided by the researchers.

Remuneration

Researchers may wish to provide remuneration to schools as a thank you for their time and efforts. This is optional, and is not a factor in determining whether the research proposal is accepted by the school boards.

Remuneration cannot be based on student participation rates.

At the WRDSB, remuneration is provided through the Waterloo Education Foundation Inc. The WCSDB invites researchers to provide gift cards to participating schools.