Research/Evaluation Requirements for Submission - Minneapolis Public School District

External Research Proposal Guidelines & Submission Tool

External research or evaluation proposals are reviewed once all requirements have been attached to the proposal and the application fee of $150 has been received.

All research and evaluation proposals must include letters of support from:

An MPS District staff member, co-sponsor; Executive or Director level, and;
MPS principals for the schools that have been asked to participate.

Current MPS Staff Completing research or evaluation projects for a Master's degree should contact the REA department prior to submitting an application: rea@mpls.k12.mn.us

Application Requirements

Please submit a proposal that is 6 pages or less that includes all of the following elements:

Purpose of the Research: Explanation of the research project, including research questions and hypotheses, and how the research may benefit Minneapolis Public Schools students, staff, or sites, and which of MPS' Strategic Plan goals this research supports.
Description of the Study: Specific information on what the proposed study will observe or assess, the proposed dates and duration of the study, and any time expectations of students, staff, etc. who are participating. This should also include which school(s) and grade(s) are participating, and the theoretical background of your study. Include at least three references that assist with identifying and defining the research probelm the proposed study seeks to address.
Data Collection and Sample: Your study methodology, including information on how data will be collected (e.g. survey, observation, interview, assessment data, etc.), the proposed sample size, how participants will be asked to provide data AND/OR the data being requested from REA to fulfill the study's data needs.
Data Analysis: Your proposed methodology for data analysis and how it will address the research questions. To asses REA with evaluating this portion of the study, please include a Research Design Table - see example below.
Informed Consent: Describe the procedures you will use to provide informed consent to all participants, including whether it is active or passive. If the proposal is for passive consent, please provide a rationale. More information can be found below in the Informed Consent section. (This may submitted as a separate attachment).
Dissemination: Provide a summary how you plan to communicate your study findings. If approved, you are required to provide a study report with both REA and the building leaders of sites that participated. For multi-year projects, a data results summary must be shared annually for the duration of the research. Reports can be emailed to rea@mpls.k12.mn.us
Funding: List all funding sources and the budget for your study.

Research Design Table Example

Research/Evaluation Question(s)

Data Collection Instrument(s)

Sampling & Data Collection Methods

Time Demand on Participants

Proposed Analysis

Guidelines for Submitting a Research/Evaluation Project

Application Fee

Informed Consent (Active or Passive)

Description of the procedures you will use to secure and acknowledge informed consent of all participants, including active or passive consent. If you are proposing to use passive consent, please provide a rationale.

Outline how subjects will be identified and the criteria used for recruitment, who will make the initial contact with subjects, and whether or not inducements will be used to secure participation.
Attach consent forms for study participants (e.g., parental consent forms, student assent forms, teacher consent forms). Consent forms do not count toward the six-page maximum.
If the study is likely to involve second-language students, the parental consent letters must also be translated into Hmong, Spanish, and Somali before the study can proceed. Copies of translated consent forms must be submitted to the MPS Research Review Committee; however, we recommend waiting to translate consent forms until all consent forms have been approved by the Committee.
Researchers should retain all consent/assent forms and must be prepared to make them available to the building principal or to a district official.
If you plan on video-recording students as part of the study, please see the section entitled Information on Video recording.
If your research could be considered “sensitive” in nature, please see the section entitled Information on Studies Involving Sensitive Material.

Student Data and Privacy

MPS defines data as any information provided by the school and/or district (individual or aggregate student data) as well as any information that outside organizations collect directly from students and/or families.

This includes observations, surveys, focus groups, or individual interviews.
Read more about individual and aggregate student data here.

Researchers and evaluators must comply with all District policies, and state/federal laws regarding student data privacy including the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, Minnesota Statute Chapter 13 and The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

Information on Video Recording

Researchers must make a reasonable case for how videotaping is important to the research. Any research that will use videotaping must obtain ACTIVE parental consent. Parents must be informed:

That they have the option of saying “yes” or “no” to their child being in the videotape; and
That the videotaping will be structured so that students who do not have consent can remain in the room during instruction but be assured that they will not be in the videotape (describe the process for how you will do this).

The consent form must also include the following information:

The purpose of the videotaping
How the videotape will be used (e.g., to verify agreement between observers and/or to be used to present at conferences)
How long the videotape will be kept / used
When / how the videotape will be destroyed
Who will have access to the videotape

NOTE: District media releases are for District purposes only and cannot be used as a substitute for the researcher obtaining his/her own release.

Studies Involving Sensitive Material

The following must be addressed if you will be conducting research about information of a sensitive or risky nature (e.g., drug use, sexual activity, bullying behavior).

Typically, surveys of a sensitive nature would require active parental consent (whether connected to a student ID or not). Your consent form must:

Indicate that the information obtained is for research purposes only and will not be shared with the school district;
Be clear about what data you (as the researcher) will be collecting and what you will/will not do with the information;
Indicate whether the information collected will be “identifiable” (i.e., whether the student data will be connected to the student’s name/ID). If the information is connected to a student, the researcher must let parents and students know that the researcher will intervene if there is a need based on responses.

Your data collection instruments must:

Indicate that the research is not being done by MPS and no one from the school will know the answers;
Provide information about who students can talk to about issues raised in the study;
Indicate, for instruments connected to a student, that if the student indicates he/she is ‘in trouble/at risk,’ someone will follow up with them.

Ready to Apply?

MPS Research and Evaluation Application Form

Have all of your documents ready to upload/attach to this form.

Attachments required for your submission:

Letter of Support from Minneapolis Public School District staff member, co-sponsor; Executive or Director level.
Letters of Support from Minneapolis Public School principals for the schools that have been asked to participate.
The research proposal.
IRB Decision Letter (or add a blank document stating this is in progress).
Assent/Consent forms for the research study participants.
Data collection tools (Sample documents such as the survey questions, interview protocol, etc.)

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