This section describes scenarios that are specific to education research where the social dynamic of the study could be problematic for the participant. The Consent section provides a general explanation of a basic consent scenario and will apply to most education studies as well. Ultimately it is important that you develop a process that adequately informs all of the parties involved (i.e. students, teachers, parents, administrators) and obtains the appropriate documentation of consent where needed, in addition to creating an atmosphere where consent can be obtained voluntarily. One aspect that you should also consider is that if a student is in a classroom, he or she is generally obligated to participate in the classroom activity. The participant may be required to do classroom activities and assignments, but they should not feel obligated to release data to you. Please consider how you will handle situations where a participant wants to withdraw from the study and make sure that parents and students are aware of what is required by the instructor and what is requested by the investigator.
If you hold any grading authority or have any potential to affect your participants’ academic progress (including letters of recommendation), you will need to construct a recruitment and consent process that removes you as the direct contact for both. For example, if you are a university professor recruiting your students, you will need to have another individual contact students about participating. Participants will need to be informed of the following:
- You are the principal investigator for the study but that another individual (such as a research assistant) will be the contact for the study.
- You will not know who will participate in the study until after grades are submitted. All recruitment, consent, and data collection will be handled by the research assistant and you will not have access to this information until after grades are submitted.
- Participating in the research will have no impact on grades in the course and is not required. If you are gathering materials that the students will produce as part of the course, you can inform them that they need to produce the materials for their grade but they are not required to allow you to use them for research.
If your students are minors, the same information will need to be communicated to a parent using a parent consent/minor assent consent procedure. Some university students are still minors and you will either need to state that you will exclude minors from your study or you will need to provide a parent consent/minor assent form and procedure in your protocol in addition to the adult consent form and procedure.
Studies that qualify for exemption are not required to obtain signed consent from participants. These studies include studies that are deemed “normal educational practice” by the Board; in addition, studies that involve public observations, secondary use of existing materials, or educational tests can be considered exempt as well. Surveys, interviews, and benign interventions cannot be exempt if they include minors and require parent consent. In addition, federal regulations such as the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) or the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) have specific requirements regarding parent consent. PPRA states that parental notification or permission is required when the topics include personal information about political beliefs, psychological problems, sexual behaviors or attitudes, illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating or demeaning behavior, religious practices, and information about personal relationships. At a minimum, parents must be notified and be given the opportunity to opt their child out of the activity. FERPA regulates access to student records and requires signed permission to access specified information from student records; please see Student Records for more information. The Board has the option to alter or waive consent requirements but the protocol needs to meet specific requirements. Unless providing a parent notification creates the potential for harm for the participant, the Board will require that you provide parents with a notification about the study. A Parent Notification covers all of the same topics in a consent form but does not require the parent to sign and return the form. Parent Notification should provide parents with instructions on how to opt out of the study (if possible) and with contact information for the principal investigator and the IRB-SBS. The classroom teacher can help distribute the Parent Notification but should not be involved in recruiting participants.
For an educational study that requires signed consent forms, most studies will follow the basic Minor Assent/Parent Consent scenario, namely that a parent is provided with a consent form and the student is also provided with an age appropriate assent form. In addition, federal regulations such as the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) or the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) have specific requirements regarding parent consent. PPRA states that parental notification or permission is required when the topics include personal information about political beliefs, psychological problems, sexual behaviors or attitudes, illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating or demeaning behavior, religious practices, and information about personal relationships. At a minimum, parents must be notified and be given the opportunity to opt their child out of the activity. FERPA regulates access to student records and requires signed permission to access specified information from student records; please see Student Records for more information. The classroom teacher can help distribute recruitment materials but should not be involved in recruiting or consenting participants.
In general, the rules for consent for any adult participant apply for parents, teachers, and administrators, particularly if you don’t have a role with the participants that could compromise their ability to participate voluntarily. If you hold a position of authority within the school system, you will need to create a recruitment and consent procedure that will allow participants to consent without feeling pressured to do so.
Regarding parent consent, you may be obtaining consent from parents to include their student in a study but if the parent is a participant, you will need to obtain consent from them as well. Whether you combine the information into one consent form or provide a separate consent form, you will need to distinguish the different elements of the study and help parents to understand that they are consenting as parents but also consenting as a participant.
Researchers are allowed to offer incentives to participants as long as the incentives allow for voluntary participation. If the principal investigator is the course instructor or classroom teacher, you can offer extra credit for participating but you need to offer alternate opportunities to earn extra credit that are similar to participating in the study and the credit needs to be awarded in a way that does not alert the instructor as to who is participating in the study. If the study is conducted through a participant pool and offers course credit, alternate opportunities for earning course credit need to be made available to participants.
If you are collecting materials such as writing samples, drawings, exercises, etc, or if you are using video tape, audio tape, photography, or other recording devices, please describe this process in your letter to parents and/or in the parent consent form, student assent form, teacher consent form, etc. Include in the consent or parental notification under “What you will do/ What your child will do” a statement that the teacher/ child will be recorded and for what purpose. You may also need to explain what you will do if a child isn't participating in the study but may be part of the recording.
However, if you will publish a piece of a writing sample or a drawing, or if you will use a video tape in a presentation, in a class, etc, then you will need to use the Materials Release Consent Form to gain permission to use the materials in this way. The Materials Release Consent Form gives participants the opportunity to participate in the study but not allow their recordings for uses beyond the study. If the materials you collect will only be used for research purposes and they will be reported in such a way that will not identify any individual, it is not necessary for you to use this form.
For more information on recording devices, please see Recording Devices.