Letter to Senator Hutchinson on School Based Research

July 18, 2001

The Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) is concerned about the potential ramifications of amendment SA 582 (submitted by Senator Hutchinson [R-AR]) to the Senate’s Education bill (S.1). The amendment requires educational agencies that receive funds under the Act to "develop and adopt guidelines regarding arrangements to protect student privacy that are entered into by the agency with public and private entities that are not schools."

This would apply to scientific research administered in schools. COSSA is concerned about the interests and privacy of all subjects of research. That is why we have been providing guidance on the implementation of the federal law already in place to protect student privacy.

This law, known as the Common Rule (Title 45 CFR, Part 46), requires that any federally funded research with human participants be approved by an institutional review board (IRB), comprised of local people (some scientists, some lay). These boards determine the risk of a proposed study and require a level of consent appropriate to the research. At a minimum, the Common Rule requires federally-funded, school-based studies to inform parents about any research their child might participate in and give them the opportunity to withdraw their children from participation. Furthermore, IRBs may determine that a study warrants stricter controls, and require prior, written parental consent.

New privacy regulations spurred by this amendment may or may not protect students as effectively as those already in place. It is unclear how the amendment would relate to existing regulations. If new policies are uninformed by the current regulations, the resulting patchwork of rules and policies would stifle important research and create unnecessary regulatory burdens.

Much of the research the amendment would affect takes place across time (longitudinal) and at multiple sites. If a single scientific study is exposed to a host of differing conditions, the results are no longer comparable and the integrity of the research as a scientific product will be compromised.

The research being conducted in our schools is so important because it is often a "first warning" of harms to which our children may be exposed. The national study, "Monitoring the Future," for example, keeps a pulse of children’s exposure to illicit drugs, violence, delinquency, and other harms. If such studies are compromised, so too will the ability of parents, school administrators, and policymakers to be aware of and address the dangers our children may face.

Protecting privacy is certainly top priority, but this can be done without compromising the benefits of scientific research. I would be happy to discuss these issues further with you. Please feel free to call me at 202/ 842-3525.

COSSA is an advocacy organization whose mission is to promote attention to and federal funding for the social and behavioral sciences. COSSA is supported by more than 105 professional associations, scientific societies, universities, and research institutes. COSSA serves as a bridge between the academic research community and the Washington policymaking community. A list of our members follows.

Sincerely,

Chris F. Ryan
Associate Director for Public Affairs

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