If you receive an invitation to participate or a letter requesting permission for your child’s participation in a research study, it should have contact information for both the study investigators and the Education Research IRB. You can contact the study investigators if you have questions about the study, but if you are not satisfied with response of research team, have more questions, or want to talk with someone about your rights as a research participant, you should call the Education Research IRB Office at 608-262-9710 or email at mbingham@education.wisc.edu.
The Education Research Institutional Review Board is concerned with the protection of human subjects, and it reviews all research conducted in educational settings, including the classroom, by investigators affiliated with UW-Madison. This research may be conducted by investigators who are not affiliated with the school district, or in some cases, a project may be collaboration between UW-Madison investigators and the school or school district.
Depending on the purpose and scope of the research, investigators may ask permission to look at a student’s records or class work, try out a new curriculum, implement an educational test, interview a student, or they may ask permission only to observe a class. The Education Research IRB evaluates these projects before the research begins to assure that all risks to subjects are minimized and that these studies are conducted with the highest ethical standards.
When reviewing research, the Education Research IRB evaluates each proposed research study to make sure investigators treat subjects with respect and that there is a voluntary consent process in place, or that a waiver of parental consent has been properly justified. Investigators must get permission from the school or the school district before beginning recruitment or observation of students for research purposes.
Both parents and students have the right to refuse or withdraw from research projects at any time. You should contact the investigator and tell the investigator you want to withdraw your child from participation.
This letter is not a consent or permission form, but an informational notice to inform you of guests who may be present in the classroom, with permission from your child’s school. If there are concerns, you can contact the investigators or your child’s school.
Generally, no, but in a few cases the IRB does waive parental consent for research, if the investigators demonstrate that they cannot conduct the study without the waiver and if the research poses no more than minimal risk. In other cases, if the investigators are only observing and not interacting with the students, the project may have been exempt from IRB review. In either case, the investigators still need to get permission from the school to conduct the research.
If the research will take place during instructional time, the investigators are generally asked to provide an alternative activity.
Education research that takes place during instructional time may include a curriculum that the school has adopted, in which case all of the students would be expected to participate in the curriculum as part of normal classroom activity. Participating in the research can still be optional even if the curriculum is adopted, as participants can say no to having their data – coursework or observations, for example – used for the research project.
Generally not, as students may answer differently if they know that their parents might see the answers. The investigators should let you know in the consent document who will be able to access the information, which is usually only members of the research team. But you can inspect the survey questions before giving permission for your child to complete it by contacting the investigators for a copy.
It depends, but the investigators should let parents know in the consent document whether or not you can view the results in the consent document. The main reason that the results would not be shared with you would be if the test is not yet validated and the results may be unreliable.
Investigators are often required to provide a written consent document for students 11 and older. If this is the IRB approved consent process for a project, the parent must sign if the student is a minor or the student cannot participate. Minors are asked to assent to research but they cannot participate unless the parent has already agreed, they can only refuse. Younger minors may be asked verbally whether or not they would like to participate.
Investigators who are not affiliated with the school must ask the schools for assistance in identifying students who might be appropriate for a study. The letter and form you then receive is from the investigators, but it has been sent from the school which does not share your name or contact information with the investigators until you consent. If you do not respond, the investigators will not even know who you are.
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Education Research IRB
123 Education Building, 1000 Bascom Mall, Madison, WI 53706
Phone: 608-262-9710, Fax: 608-265-2512
Email: mbingham@education.wisc.edu
Website: http://www.education.wisc.edu/subjects/
Questions, Suggestions or Concerns about your participation in human subjects research at UW-Madison? Email: HRPP@bascom.wisc.edu