Research Requests

Apply to do Research Within KSD

The Kent School District (KSD) has a formal process for applying to do research within our district.

The process applies to external research requests which are:

  • Initiated by an outside agency or agent to be conducted in the school district; or

  • Initiated by a KSD staff person as an individual for purposes beyond his or her job role (e.g., thesis, course requirements, dissertation).

Research is defined as:

  • Any data collection to be conducted from or about KSD students, staff, or parents; or

  • Any analyses of internal databases containing KSD student, staff, or school data.

The following activities are not considered research:

  • Observations or class visitations by university students or by individuals in such classes that are not covered by these procedures when no data collection is involved.

  • Piloting of curricular/instructional materials or techniques where no data collection for external purposes occurs.

The purpose of the research request process is: 

  • To protect student and staff time from unauthorized or excessive data collection (and thereby protect instructional time).

  • To review the request in light of FERPA guidelines and ethical research practices (and thereby protect students and staff from unintended negative consequences from research conducted in areas that have potential to be politically, emotionally, racially, and/or socially sensitive).

  • To ensure that the research is of high quality and supports KSD Strategic Plan goals (and thereby improves educational practices and benefits education in KSD).

Initial Point of Contact

The first contact regarding external research should be with the KSD Research & Evaluation team rather than directly with school staff, principals, or individual staff members.

Complete an Application

To apply to complete a research project at KSD, please complete our Research Request Form (PDF) and Research@kent.k12.wa.us

Review Process

Research applications will be reviewed by a small committee four times a year.

  • October 21, 2024

  • February 3, 2025

  • May 12, 2025

  • August 11, 2025

An initial review for application completion will be done upon receipt. If the application is found to be incomplete, the requestor will be notified so updates can be made.

Applications turned in less than two days before committee review and found to be incomplete may have to wait until the next review cycle.

More details regarding research requests are available on the Research Request Form (PDF).