Research Requests

The Fort Bend Independent School District and the Department of Innovation and Continuous Improvement supports high-quality research that addresses well-informed 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 confidential data, facilities, time involved for faculty and staff, and access to students. In order to conduct research in the District, a proposal must be submitted to and reviewed by the Fort Bend ISD’s Research Review Board. The Research Review Board meets monthly to review proposals.

External research proposals must demonstrate clear and direct educational value to the District and not just to the profession of education in general, be of minimal intrusion on instructional time and duty time of District employees, manifest a sound research methodology, and comply with current privacy laws. The potential direct benefit to Fort Bend ISD must outweigh demands on District resources, most importantly on student and staff time. Proposals must also align with Fort Bend ISD’s policies, teaching and learning guidelines and practices, and programs and services offered in the District.

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.

To view or request existing data the District normally collects and has readily available, please submit a Public Information Request. 

In order to address the issue of survey fatigue that is impacting survey response rates in Fort Bend ISD, please consider other options before proposing surveys as part of your proposal. If you have research questions that can be answered with existing Fort Bend ISD survey items, we are happy to consider sharing existing data. The Research Review Board will be very selective in accepting proposals that include surveys.

Researchers should submit their proposal at least 60 days in advance of the date they plan to begin research activities.

Please note the following:

• You must submit an application if your proposal includes collecting or using individual-level data from or about Fort Bend ISD students, staff or parents.

• 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 Fort Bend ISD Research Review Board. District or campus staff cannot provide data to external researchers. The DSA template will be sent electronically after the research proposal approval is received.

• If you are an external applicant whose research involves direct contact with students, you must complete a criminal history background check after your research proposal is approved by the Fort Bend ISD Research Review Board.