All research projects must adhere to the federal regulations that stipulate protection of human research subjects (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services--45 CFR Part 46) and the privacy rights of individuals (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act—20 USC &1232 34 CRF Part 99).

Application Process

All individuals wishing to conduct research at any Ysleta ISD site, or use Ysleta ISD related data for research, must complete and submit an Institutional Review Board (IRB) application. Upon receiving the paperwork, the case manager will contact you to inform you if any additional materials or modifications are required. Once your paperwork is complete, the request will be presented to the IRB committee for approval or to make recommendations to modify the request. Upon final approval, the listed principal investigator will receive an approval letter with a Ysleta ISD IRB number. District approval does not ensure campus approval or subject participation.

Incomplete IRB applications that have not been updated by the principal investigator for more than six (6) months will be considered abandoned. The principal investigator must resubmit the application after this time period.

Incomplete IRB applications will not be presented to the IRB committee until all required documentation is submitted to the case manager.

The IRB application can be submitted via mail, email, or in person to the A.R.E.A. office. Feel free to contact us with any questions about the IRB process.

Online application access

Ysleta ISD IRB application packet

Requirements

• Completed IRB application form (required from all applicants)

• Adult consent form in English (required when teachers, administrators, or other staff will be invited to participate)

• Parent consent form in English and Spanish (required for research involving minors)

• Student assent form in English and Spanish (required for research involving minors)

• Copy of the instrument(s) that will be used (e.g., surveys, interview questions, etc.)

• Legible copy/scan of a government issued ID (required from all individuals who will be going to any YISD school to collect data)

• Completed and signed Background Check form found in the IRB application (required from all individuals who will be going to any YISD school to collect data)

• Completed and signed Research Agreement form found in the IRB application (one form signed by the principal investigator is required)

• Completed and signed Confidentiality Agreement form found in the IRB application (one form signed by the principal investigator is required)

• Institutional IRB approval letter. The IRB letter should be valid during the duration of the research period (required when interacting with human subjects)

Timeline 

Applications will take about 30 working days to process and review. There may be a request to modify parts of your application and this may delay the approval of the request. The district application timeline does not include the time that might be needed to get campus approval, recruit research participants, or data retrieval (data retrieval may take additional time depending on the request). Additional time could be required to complete the background check of all researchers if required. Therefore, it is highly recommended that each research proposal be planned with appropriate timelines. Please do not contact any school for participation until after the YISD approval letter has been issued. Participants should not be recruited until the approval letter has been issued and, for researchers visiting a school, until the campus principal has agreed for the school to participate in the study. 

The time required to process an IRB application is contingent on the completeness of the documentation and on the responsibilities and assignments of the IRB committee members.

Informed Consent

It is mandatory that informed consent be obtained prior to beginning the research project. In the case of students as research subjects, parental consent is required. A list of students whose parents have signed the parental consent form must be submitted within 30 days of IRB approval. In some cases, assent forms from students will also be requested. Research projects that request aggregated data are not required to obtain consent unless the data is based on personal identification.

University Projects Whose Primary Purpose is to Provide a Learning Experience in Research Methodologies

• All students will require IRB approval from the district even when their institution exempts them

• An Institutional IRB exemption letter is required from all students 

• Projects must involve only minimal risk to subjects (risks of harm anticipated are not greater than those ordinarily encountered in daily life)

• Projects cannot involve sensitive topics or confidential information that could place a participant at risk if disclosed (any method that investigates opinions, behaviors, or experiences regarding sexual orientation, incest, rape, sexual molestation, deviant sexual behaviors, sexual conduct, practices of contraception, abortion, pregnancy, substance use, substance abuse, suicide, depression, obsessive compulsive behaviors, traumatic experiences, or any other mental health issue)

• Project participation must be voluntary, with full informed consent given in writing (in English and Spanish) from every research subject before any research activity is started

• Project results must never be distributed outside the classroom. The collected data cannot be used on future projects meant for dissemination (thesis, dissertations, journal articles, presentations, etc.) without the re-submission of an IRB request to both the student's university and the district

• Student data must be aggregated and masked to avoid personally identifiable information

• Students who are YISD employees are discouraged from doing research with students they teach or otherwise oversee as part of their job responsibilities

Contacts

Elea Herrera
Email Elea Herrera
(915) 434-0718
fax: (915) 435-9562

Francisco Martinez
Email Francisco Martinez
(915) 434-0721
fax: (915) 435-9562