Staff Research Approval
The mission of the Chandler Unified School District is to provide students with the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to be lifelong learners and responsible citizens. To that end, we value and admire your commitment to improving your classrooms, school, and the district. Educator-led inquiry and innovation are essential to growth and learning across our District.
Major research interests of the District are studies that explore:
- methods to increase student achievement
- approaches to assist with school improvement
- evaluation and monitoring of program effectiveness
What research needs to be approved:
- Collecting data from students or staff for the purpose of producing generalizable fundings (e.g., publication, presentation, thesis, dissertation, or any other external sharing).
- Administering surveys, interviews, or focus groups with students or staff outside of normal instructional activities.
- Using student data or information for purposes beyond classroom instruction, including sharing aggregate results to external entities for grant and research purposes.
- Conducting experimental or quasi-experimental studies that fall outside of the purview of your course content.
- Research conducted in partnership with universities, external organizations, or grant-funded projects.
- Any survey or study that involves sensitive/protected topics or populations.
Which does NOT need to be approved:
- Using existing district data systems (Tableau, Infinite Campus reports, etc.) to guide instruction, grouping, planning or intervention.
- Adjusting instructional strategies based on formative and summative assessments or classroom observations.
- Trying a new approved teaching strategy, curriculum resource, or instructional tool within your own classroom for instructional improvement.
- Collaborating with colleagues in professional learning groups to refine lesson planning.
- Reflecting on your own teaching practice for professional growth or evaluation purposes.
- Collecting informal feedback from students (e.g., exit tickets, reflections) that are not used beyond the classroom.
- Participating in District-led pilots, initiatives, or evaluations that have already received District approval.
A Helpful Rule of Thumb
If the activity is designed to improve your own classroom practice, it typically does not require approval. If the activity is designed to produce research findings that will be shared, published, or used beyond your classroom, approval is required.
Approval will depend on Site and District capacity, alignment with District priorities, student protections, and operational feasibility, among other considerations.
Timeline
We encourage you to complete your application as far in advance as possible. Requestors can expect to be contacted within a month of submission, but depending on the complexity of the request, additional review time may be necessary. In turn, we cannot guarantee that your request will be evaluated in time for the intended start date of your research.
To successfully be considered for research at CUSD, you will need to complete all steps listed below:
- Complete this online application in full, which will be submitted to the Chandler Unified School District Office of Accountability, Assessment and Research. Applications must be submitted via Google form.
- Download, print, sign, and email research@cusd80.com the following documents:
- Declaration of Research Request Submission
- Declaration of General Understandings, Stipulations, and Conditions for Application
- Affidavit of Review and Understanding of the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 45, Public Welfare, Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Office for Protection from Research Risks, Part 46, Protection of Human Subjects,
- Chandler Unified School District Affidavit of Data Confidentiality.
- Include your IRB acceptance letter and CITI training in your email to research@cusd80.com. If you do not have these yet, the Declaration of Research Request Submission form has a space for you to explain why you do not yet have them and when you anticipate receiving them
CUSD supports research that provides meaningful and impactful data and results for the district, such as national or state research. Because of limited resources, however, CUSD does limit the number of external research requests that are approved.
Click here to access all documents discussed in the above paragraph. The attached application provided is strictly for reference only, to assist with preparation for completing the Google form.. Also included in the documents is an FAQ section.
Submissions missing necessary responses to the application will be denied. We will contact you upon making a final determination.