Division Research Screening Committee
Office of Research and Program Evaluation
The FCPS Division Research Screening Committee (DRSC) in the Office of Research and Program Evaluation (ORPE) approves requests to conduct external research in FCPS. External research includes the collection of non-public data in FCPS by external parties. External parties are the following:
- Non-FCPS individuals and entities collecting data for a purpose that is neither commissioned by nor conducted on behalf of FCPS.
- FCPS employees collecting data that is not required by their jobs (i.e., for coursework or a degree program).
Application Pathways
The two application pathways are for FCPS employees or for non-FCPS applicants. For more information, view the pathway that applies to your role.
Learn about Employee Application Pathways Learn about Non-FCPS Applicants Application Pathways
Summary of Guiding Policies
All external research in FCPS must follow federal, state, and FCPS policy and regulation. Applicable policies and regulations that guide the external research approval process are:
The DRSC reviews applications with criteria that reflects the above policies and regulations:
- Benefit: The project provides a direct benefit to FCPS.
- Relevance: The project strongly supports the FCPS Strategic Plan 2023-30 .
- Demand: Time and resource requirements for the project avoid undue burden on staff, students, and instruction. Direct benefits to FCPS outweigh project burden.
- Legal Standards: The project complies with federal, state, and FCPS policy and regulation.
- Ethical and Technical Standards: The project aligns with best practices endorsed by professional research and evaluation organizations (i.e., American Evaluation Association, American Educational Research Association, National Council on Measurement in Education, American Sociological Association, and American Psychological Association).
- Political Considerations: The project avoids negative political consequences that detract from FCPS’ educational mission.
Who Can Apply
- Non-FCPS researchers or research organizations
- Non-FCPS applicants conducting dissertations
- FCPS employees conducting course projects, master’s theses or capstones, or dissertations
Who Cannot Apply
- Non-FCPS applicants conducting course projects or master’s theses or capstones
- Vendors who are seeking to test a product for commercial purposes
Blackout Windows
External research activities are not allowed in schools during these time periods:
- During beginning-of-year activities: August 3 through September 8, 2026
- During divisionwide standardized testing and end-of-year activities: April 5 through June 4, 2027
Please also consult the FCPS School Year Calendar for time periods when students and/or staff may be unavailable or not in school buildings.
Project Sponsors
All FCPS external research applications must have an FCPS sponsor. Sponsor responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Review the submitted application
- Submit a signed Sponsor Commitment Form directly to the committee on the applicant’s behalf
- Provide justification for the use of FCPS resources
- Help applicants identify schools to participate in the study and timelines for data collection
- Serve as a liaison between the applicant and FCPS
- Monitor compliance with signed project agreements between FCPS and the external researcher
- Facilitate recruitment of any project participants from which information is being collected
- Receive written products associated with the project
The position level of the project sponsor should match the application pathway and site selection. The project sponsor should have expertise in the project area. The project sponsor should also be in a position to understand how the project will benefit FCPS and if it will conflict with ongoing FCPS initiatives.
For more detailed sponsor requirements, please click on your selected pathway.
Learn about Employee Application Pathways Learn about Non-FCPS Applicants Application Pathways
Project Requirements
For approval, all projects must meet these requirements:
Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval
All external research projects must have proof of approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) and/or proof of CITI Training completion.
Applicant CV/Resume
All applicants must provide a copy of their CV or resume with their application.
Conflict of Interest (COI) Disclosure
All applicants must disclose potential conflicts of interest for themselves, their advisors, and/or project team members in application materials. Any existing relationships (e.g., partnerships, consultancy, etc.) with FCPS must be described in the external research application.
Participant Consent Requirements
- FCPS requires active (opt in), written informed consent for data collection and release of non-public data when the data identifies individual students, parents, or staff. FCPS reserves the right to require active consent even if it is not required by state code or has been waived by an Institutional Review Board (IRB).
- FCPS requires written parent consent if participants are students (children younger than 18 years of age who are not emancipated minors). Student assent is also required when students have the capacity to understand the proposed research. Child assent must explain informed consent in language appropriate for the student’s age and/or developmental level. Child assent procedures must also inform students that parents have given permission for participation and that the student may decide for themself whether to participate.
- Informed consent forms must include the following elements:
- Purpose of the study
- What participants will do in the study
- Time requirements
- Risks and benefits to participants
- Privacy and/or confidentiality
- Data linked with identifying information (if applicable)
- Anonymous data (if applicable)
- Confidentiality cannot be guaranteed (if applicable)
- Voluntary participation
- Right to withdraw from the study
- How to withdraw from the study
- Compensation and/or payment (if applicable)
- Contact information for questions about the study
- Signature and date line for consent to study participation
- Additional signature and date line for consent to audio/video recording (if applicable)
Data Collection Involving Sensitive Topics
Data collection involving sensitive topics requires specific procedures. Parents and/or guardians must receive information about the study thirty days before data collection. Study information to parents/guardians must include all data collection instruments and materials.
- How to decline their child’s participation
- The nature and types of questions that will be asked
- The purpose and age appropriateness of the survey
- How the information collected will be used and who will have access
- How student privacy will be addressed
- Whether and how the findings will be disclosed
The following topics are considered sensitive topics that must follow the above procedures:
- Political affiliations or beliefs of the student or the student’s parents
- Mental health information including psychological problems of the student or the student’s family
- Sexual behavior, attitudes, or any other sexual information (not permitted for grade 6 and under)
- Illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating, or demeaning behavior
- Critical appraisals of other individuals with whom respondents have close family relationships
- Legally recognized privileged or analogous relationships, such as those of lawyers, physicians, and clergy
- Religious practices, affiliations, or beliefs of the student or student’s parents
- Income (other than that required by law to determine eligibility for participation in a program or for receiving financial assistance under such program)
- Medical information
- Information on student health risk behaviors pursuant to § 32.1-73.8
- Information on controlled substance related to alcohol, tobacco, or illegal drugs, or controlled substances
The superintendent reserves the right to identify other sensitive topics that must meet these requirements.
Recruitment Requirements
- Identification of potential study participants must occur through the project sponsor. The project sponsor must not share identifying information for potential participants. The researcher must not receive identifying information for potential participants.
- Potential student participants must have parent consent for project participation before study recruitment. Students cannot receive any recruitment materials before parent consent.
- All recruitment must occur through the project sponsor. Researchers must not directly recruit participants. The project sponsor or sponsor designee must distribute all recruitment materials.
- All interested potential participants must start contact with the researcher. They must use researcher contact information distributed by the project sponsor. The researcher must not start contact with potential participants.
- Students cannot receive monetary compensation. Students may receive small gifts, such as school supplies.
- The researcher must not compensate staff for study participation during contract hours. Staff may receive monetary or non-monetary compensation for study participation outside contract hours.
Privacy Requirements
All external research activities must ensure protection of participants’ privacy and legal rights. Privacy protection must address the following:
- Individual participants, schools, and the school system are anonymous in reports and presentations.
- Data are identified with alphanumeric codes or pseudonyms as applicable.
- Data access aligns with Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval as applicable. Identifiable data should only be accessible by the project team.
- Secure data storage
- Study data and any list connecting codes and pseudonyms to participants are kept in an encrypted and password protected file. Study data and participant lists are only accessible by the research team.
- Any hard copies of study documents and notes are kept in a locked location only accessible by the research team.
Non-Public Data Request Requirements
Non-public data is data on FCPS students, staff, volunteers, parents, or the community that is protected by federal law, state law, FCPS policy or regulation, or is exempt from disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (VFOIA); has not previously been collected and recorded; or, is not available to the public through existing sources such as the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) website or FCPS website (e.g., existing reports or aggregate information available on the internet, also see FCPS Regulation 1475.4). Examples of non-public data include student education records protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ( FERPA ) and employee demographic records.
External research applications that include non-public data requests must follow requirements:
- The DRSC handles all external research release of non-public data from FCPS. Researchers may not go to schools or other FCPS offices to receive non-public data.
- The researcher must complete data security forms after approval of the research application. The FCPS Department of Information Technology (DIT) must approve forms before any release of non-public data. See the description of the data security process and copies of the forms .
- Any requested identifiable student or employee data must be described in informed consent form(s). Identifiable data refers to personally identifiable information (PII) that can be linked to individual identities, whether through names, alphanumeric codes, or other information (e.g., addresses, phone numbers, etc.).
- Researchers must request the data after completing the data security process. The DRSC will draft a Data Agreement that the researcher must sign to receive FCPS data. Research application approval does not guarantee access to or release of data.
- Requests for non-public data have fees. The fee covers staff time to review the data request. The fee also covers staff time to de-identify, manage, and create requested datasets. All fees must be paid before the creation and provision of the requested datasets.
