Research Review Board

Conducting Research in the Dallas Independent School District

The Dallas ISD supports high quality research that addresses well-formed research questions of educational importance. At the same time, the district has moral and legal obligations that require oversight of research activities that make use of district resources such as data, facilities, employee time, or access to students.

In order to conduct research in the Dallas ISD, a proposal must be submitted to and reviewed by the district's Research Review Board (RRB). The RRB is housed within the Department of Evaluation & Assessment, and draws on the expertise of district researchers and program evaluators, as well as the professional knowledge of staff from the departments of Teaching and Learning, Student Services, School Leadership, and Legal Services, among others.

External research proposals must demonstrate clear and direct educational value to the district and not just to the profession of education in general, be minimally disruptive to the educational process, manifest a sound research methodology, and comply with current privacy laws. The potential direct benefit to Dallas ISD must outweigh demands on district resources, particularly on staff and student time. Dallas ISD strongly encourages and gives priority to external research projects that contribute to or complement the district's research agenda and strategic plan.

If you are planning a research study or evaluation that will use secondary data, you must complete a Data Sharing Agreement (DSA) after your research proposal is approved by the Dallas ISD RRB. School or network staff cannot provide data to external researchers. Researchers need to request a DSA template after the RRB has approved their research proposal.

We strongly encourage researchers to first explore the school-level data already publicly available. Researchers wishing to use publicly available data do not need to submit a research application to the district.

For additional information, contact:
Larry Featherston, Ph.D.
Chair, Dallas ISD Research Review Board
research@dallasisd.org