General Policies
All participation will be voluntary, and it is understood that approval of the proposal, if granted, will not obligate any person, school, or office in NLMUSD to participate. In addition, any person, school, or office can decide to withdraw at any time.
If the research request involves face-to-face interaction with students, all researchers and research team members must submit a document clearing them of criminal history. Listed below are the options to provide this required documentation:
- Researchers from Other School Districts:
- Submit a copy of the LiveScan results completed during the hiring process at your district.
- Submit a copy of the LiveScan results completed during the hiring process at your district.
- Researchers from Universities:
- Submit a signed affidavit from an appropriate department at the university that is requiring the research. This affidavit must appear on university letterhead. If the university is unable to provide such an affidavit, the applicant will likely be referred to LiveScan services.
- Submit a completed background check report that is provided by LiveScan once fingerprinting has been completed. Please note, LiveScan services generally involve a fee. Interested applicants can do an internet search for “LiveScan locations”.
All research carried out at school sites must be conducted under the direct supervision of a certificated administrator or certificated staff member.
All applicants must review and adhere to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA).
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA)
If the applicant is requesting extant data from NLMUSD, the request for release of student information must be included in the parent permission form.
To ensure valid informed consent, student materials must be developed at least one grade level below their current grade to better accommodate the wide range of student reading levels.
Communications intended for parents/guardians must be developed using a 4th to 6th grade readability level. It is department protocol that all parent/guardian communications concerning research requests be translated into Spanish for intended distribution at district schools.
Annual review of multi-year studies is required. There is no automatic assurance of renewal each year.
Questions regarding (a) research hypothesis development, (b) appropriate data selection, (c) research methodology should be directed to your institution’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) department.
Upon completion of your research findings, send a copy to research@nlmusd.k12.ca.us.