Procedures for Research and Researchers
Research to be conducted at Fanny Edel Falk School must first pass approval by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the University of Pittsburgh, and then goes up for approval by our own Falk School Research Committee.
Research requests fall into two broad categories. The types of educational research activities conducted at Falk School typically fall into the “exempt” category. A complete description of the concept of exempt research and an identification of exempt research activities can be found on the IRB Exempt Research page at http://www.irb.pitt.edu/exempt/.
All researchers should review the policies governing educational research conducted at Falk School and the Guidelines for administering this policy found in Research Activities at Falk School. (Pdf)
1. While the review process for exempt and non-exempt research differs, all researchers must apply for approval via the OSIRIS application found at http://www.irb.pitt.edu/OSIRIS/osiris.asp. You are advised to submit your application well in advance of your intended start date.
2. Once approval from the University of Pittsburgh has been procured, submit your application to the Falk School Research Committee for approval. This involves filling out the Research Project Information Form and attaching it as a cover to a copy of your full OSIRIS application along with your letter of exemption for the IRB chair (if applicable). Please submit four copies to the Chair of the Falk School Research Committee.
3. You will receive a letter from the Falk School Research Committee notifying you whether approval for your project has been granted. Upon approval, please contact Falk School by phone or email to work out the start-up details. New researchers and all research assistants will need to book a time for a brief orientation session with the director to review the procedures for withdrawing children from the classroom at Falk. Please direct any new research assistants joining the project at any time to the director for this orientation.
4. The director will provide information about consent for the children involved. We do have a blanket consent form that is received from all families at the start of each year. In most cases it will also be necessary to procure additional consent for each study. The school policy on consent forms is this: if your study passes through the University of Pittsburgh IRB with a consent form attached, then we are obliged to use that form. The researcher is responsible for bringing a copy of this letter to the director and for handing the letter and return form out to the parents of the children invited to participate. The return forms will be collected by the classroom teachers or school office and given to the director. The director will have copies made for the school files, and give the originals to the researcher. Research will not be able to begin until the signed consent forms have been returned.
5. Check with the director to find out whether there are any children of the age group you need whose parents did not give permission to be tested for research purposes. THIS STEP IS VERY IMPORTANT. As well, please note that children in the lab school may have received standardized tests for prior research purposes. You may wish to ask the director for the testing history of the children who will participate in your study before you begin so you can find out who has recently been given the same standardized test and you can plan accordingly. In order to keep track of each child's testing history, we ask all researchers to keep a record of the nature of each child's participation on a tracking sheet, and hand it in to the director at the completion of your study. This information will then be added to our school research files/database.
6. Spending time in the classroom before beginning to withdraw children may be a requirement. Especially for the younger children, researchers and research assistants may need to visit the participating classrooms to help the children feel more familiar and comfortable with them before the study begins. You will receive a “Suggestions for Establishing Rapport” handout to read and share with your research assistants. Classroom teachers will introduce the children to any researcher who will be working with the children. Children may also be taken on a tour of the testing site with the teacher and researcher at the discretion of the teacher.
7. Please contact the classroom teachers (by email) to arrange when and how to withdraw participating children, and when to visit the classroom beforehand. The director will give you the relevant email addresses during your orientation session.
8. Please contact Edie Smith at 412-624-1274 to book any testing rooms.
9. For the children's security, we require that all researchers, both outside and in-house, wear an identification tag when doing research with children in the lab school. All researchers and assistants will check -in with the receptionist and pick up your ID/Visitor tag. You will also sign your name in the research/visitor logbook each day that you come to do research in the school. Please remember to return the tag to the receptionist on your way out, and sign out in the logbook.
10. When withdrawing children, please inform the teacher in charge. Return the child to the classroom and let a teacher know that the child has returned. As well, we ask the researcher to take the time to help the child become engaged in an activity before moving on to the next child.
11. Please remember that it is the child's right to refuse to participate. For younger children, it is especially important to be aware of non-verbal signs that a child does not wish to participate. The comfort level of all children should be given a priority and the researchers may need to provide some flexibility where needed, such as performing tests in more familiar settings.
12. Please familiarize yourself with the fire safety information posted in the testing rooms. In case of an alarm sounding when you are with a child, take appropriate actions for fire drills. Once outside, proceed immediately to the person holding a clipboard and wearing an orange vest. Let that person know which child you have and which class he/she is from. You can then take the child to meet up with the rest of the class, letting the classroom teacher know that the child is there.
13. Researchers are to be aware of the approved time period for their study and if your research is expected to go beyond, you will be required to renew your approval for the study. In addition, use the Research Project Information Form to renew your approval with the Falk School Research Committee. Upon completion of your study, please follow the University of Pittsburgh IRB procedures for closing your file. At Falk School, we ask that you please let the research committee know by phone or email that the lab school's involvement in your study is complete. We also ask that you inform the lab school when your research is published and/or presented.
14. For current research continuing into a new school year, a new Research Project Information Form should be filled out and submitted to the director, to have your study (ies) placed on the school research calendar. This will inform the research committee, help to prepare the teachers, and enable the school to coordinate the various research projects. As well, some of this information will be included in a handout to inform families about the current research projects in the school.
15. Finally, we request that you take the time to fill out our Research Evaluation Form at the end of your study, or at anytime during the process, and return it to the director. We are interested to get valuable feedback from you, and to continually monitor and improve our research procedures. We also ask that you inform the lab school when your research is published and/or presented so we can add it to our records.
The Falk School Research Committee
The research committee is comprised of the director and faculty representatives from each team. For further information or assistance, please contact:
Dr. Wendell McConnaha, Director
(412) 624-8022
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