Research Request Process

  • Apply to do Research Within ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp

    The Kent School District (ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp) has a formal process for applying to do research within our district.

    The process applies to external research requests which are:

    • Initiated by an outside agency or agent to be conducted in the school district; or
    • Initiated by a ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp staff person as an individual for purposes beyond his or her job role (e.g., thesis, course requirements, dissertation).

    Research is defined as:

    • Any data collection to be conducted from or about ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp students, staff, or parents; or
    • Any analyses of internal databases containing ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp student, staff, or school data.

    The following activities are not considered research:

    • Observations or class visitations by university students or by individuals in such classes that are not covered by these procedures when no data collection is involved.
    • Piloting of curricular/instructional materials or techniques where no data collection for external purposes occurs.

    The purpose of the research request process is: 

    • To protect student and staff time from unauthorized or excessive data collection (and thereby protect instructional time).
    • To review the request in light of FERPA guidelines and ethical research practices (and thereby protect students and staff from unintended negative consequences from research conducted in areas that have potential to be politically, emotionally, racially, and/or socially sensitive).
    • To ensure that the research is of high quality and supports ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp Strategic Plan goals (and thereby improves educational practices and benefits education in ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp).

    Initial Point of Contact

    The first contact regarding external research should be with the ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp director of strategic initiatives rather than directly with school staff, principals, or individual staff members.

    Complete an Application

    To apply to complete a research project at ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp, please complete our Research Request Form (PDF) and email it to Research@kent.k12.wa.us.

    Review Process

    Research applications will be reviewed by a small committee four times a year.

    • October 16, 2023
    • February 12, 2024
    • May 13, 2024
    • August 12, 2024

    An initial review for application completion will be done upon receipt. If the application is found to be incomplete, the requestor will be notified so updates can be made.

    Applications turned in less than two days before committee review and found to be incomplete may have to wait until the next review cycle.

    More details regarding research requests are available on the Research Request Form (PDF).

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Last Modified on January 2, 2024