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Research Request

Announcement: 

  • The Richland One Research Committee will accept research applications for the 2026-2027 school year during two review periods: September 8, 2026, through November 13, 2026, and January 4, 2027, through March 5, 2027.

  • Research requests will not be accepted from March through June due to state testing preparation, administration, and completion activities. Additionally, July and August are designated as blackout months because of summer transitions and the start of the school year.

  • Richland School District One will approve a very limited number of research requests during Fall 2027 due to its focus on the district's reaccreditation process.

Conducting Research in Richland One:

Application Review Process: 

All proposals for doing research within the district are to be submitted to the Research Committee administered by the Office of Accountability, Assessment, Research and Evaluation.  A research proposal must be submitted if your research includes any of the following: interaction with students, teachers, administrators, District Staff, and/or observations at a school and/or access to data that is not readily available on the web. 

The Research Committee consists of a chair and two other members from the district and will be expanded to relevant district and school administrators as necessary depending upon the scope of the research request. Each committee member independently reviews research proposals with the following criteria in mind:

  • the proposed study’s potential benefit to the district
  • the soundness of the proposed study’s research design
  • the amount of time required of participants
  • the number of participants required
  • the matter of whether participants should be compensated
  • the legal, physical or psychological risks the subjects are exposed to
  • the extent to which participants will be informed about the study.

Research Application Forms:

The completed application forms must be submitted electronically.  Note: Research requests will not be accepted from March through June due to state testing preparation, administration, and completion activities. Additionally, July and August are designated as blackout months because of summer transitions and the start of the school year.

NOTE: Richland One Teaching Staff:
As a Richland One teacher, you do not have permission to access your student’s data for researcher purposes and must go through the committee.  Richland School District One teachers may gather and analyze data at any time if the data is being used solely for the improvement of their own professional practice and if the collection of such data would be part of ordinary instructional procedures for their own students. Any research that goes beyond individual use that is exclusively for improvement of professional practice requires district approval.

Application Submission Procedures: 

Completed application forms must be submitted electronically, and all supporting documents must be emailed. An application is not considered complete until both the completed form and all supporting documents have been received.  It will take a minimum of 4 to 6 weeks to review your proposal during the “open” research application review window. Research will not be approved and may not be conducted during major statewide testing times (see calendar for confirmation of those dates) and review periods may take longer during peak times of start and end of school. Correspondence asking that the proposal be expedited will not be accepted.

Researchers are not to contact any person of interest for your research at the district or schools directly. All research requests must first be presented to the Richland One Research Committee. The Committee will contact applicable district and/or school administrators and request volunteer participation on the researcher's behalf.  Please note the following:

  • Research in Richland One schools MAY NOT interfere with academic instruction or educational programs.  Research that interrupts instructional time will be denied immediately.
  • Not all Richland One schools are open for research. Certain schools will be closed when they have reached capacity of outside researchers or if the principal has chosen that they be exempt from proposals due to other academic focuses (for example, Turnaround Schools, Priority Schools, schools with major federal grants).
  • Research may be denied if significant amounts of work are required from the AARE office during high volume times (such as testing and release of assessment scores, etc.)
  • Richland One will not act as a funneling agency for research projects (for example, if you want to send flyers home through the school to conduct research outside of the district. 
  • Richland One will not allow researchers to recruit subjects in our schools for research conducted outside of the district.
  • Please note that approval is not guaranteed. We recommend you submit simultaneous requests and/or establish contingency plans in case your proposal is denied.

Application Approval or Denial Process: 

Approval:
Research activities involving Richland One may proceed only after the researcher has received official written approval through the district’s research review process. Approval authorizes the researcher to conduct the study within the scope and conditions specified in the approval.  The approved researcher can use the district's approval letter when approaching interested parties within the district.

All participation in research studies is voluntary.  Principals, teachers, staff, parents and students have the right to refuse participation in any research approved by the Richland One Research Committee. 

  • If approved, your approval is only valid for that school year. If your project extends multiple years, you will need to reapply annually. You may submit the same proposal annually if you have a multi-year project. However, schools will be contacted annually to verify continued interest in participation.
  • All approved researchers must provide the district with a copy of their final report. Failure to do so will negatively influence any future research involvement with the district.

Denial:
A denied research application is not approved by Richland One. A researcher may not conduct the denied study within the district or seek participation, assistance, access, recruitment, data, or other support from Richland One schools, teachers, staff, administrators, departments, or other district personnel.

Researchers may not independently approach or contact Richland One personnel or schools to pursue a study that has been denied through the district’s research review process. Any research involving Richland One must be submitted through the established research approval process and receive written approval before proceeding.