Consent To Participate In Research (video)

CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH (VIDEO)

On The Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL) Program

For Parents/Guardians and Students

Your child’s school is interested in receiving training from the Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL) program. The training for teachers is designed to enhance the quality of instruction and the achievement of English Learners. Your child is being asked to participate in a research project designed to evaluate the effects of that training on the quality of teaching and on student achievement. Berkeley Policy Associates (BPA) is conducting the research in partnership with WestEd, with funding from the U.S. Department of Education. It is directed by Dr. Johannes Bos and Dr. Raquel Sanchez of BPA. Please read all the information below and ask any questions you have before deciding to allow your child to participate.

Your child’s ESL/ELD or Language Arts class will be observed and video recorded by a researcher for three to five days during Spring 2008, Spring 2009, and then Spring 2010. If you choose to permit your child’s classroom participation and behavior will be observed along with other children in the classroom setting. It is important to understand that participation in this study is completely voluntary for you and your child. You and your child may withdraw at any time without penalty and without any consequences for your child or for the school.

All information about your child will be kept confidential, and will be disclosed only with your permission or as required by law. Observation or suspicion of abuse or neglect is reportable by law to the appropriate authorities. Only research staff in BPA’s offices will view the resulting video recordings. No one at the school will be allowed to view the recordings, and there will be no public viewing of the video. Your child will not be identified in any report on the research results. Results will be analyzed and reported only in terms of groups of classrooms; your child will never be identified by name.

The privacy of the information collected about your school will be protected by keeping all video data in locked files at the offices of BPA. All computer records will be kept in password-protected, secure storage under the direct control of the researchers. All original data including video recordings will be destroyed at the conclusion of the study.

There are no known risks associated with this study. Your child may benefit from improvements in the quality of instruction from the QTEL training. In addition, the results of the research may influence policy and promote public investments in quality instruction for English Learners and teacher professional development.

If you do not want your child to participate in this study, please contact ______________ (principal’s name) at ______________ (phone number) to arrange for your child to be placed in a different classroom during the scheduled video observation periods.

If you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to contact Raquel Sanchez, Project Director, Berkeley Policy Associates, 440 Grand Avenue, Suite 500, Oakland, CA, 94610, (510) 465-7884. In addition, if you have questions about your child’s rights as a research participant, or if you have complaints, concerns, or questions about the research, please contact Fannie Tseng, Human Subjects Protection Administrator, Berkeley Policy Associates, (510) 465-7884 or [email protected]; or Independent Review Consulting at 800-472-3241 or [email protected].

Thank you for your time and consideration.