Federal regulations require that the researcher seek consent only under circumstances that minimize the possibility of coercion or undue influence (45 CFR 46.116). When faculty propose to conduct research studies with students (or parents) in their own classrooms or with students that they directly oversee, the potential for coercion or undue influence increases and additional protections are required.
Regardless of how well a classroom teacher presents the recruitment and option not to participate, students may feel compelled to participate, or risk having their non-participation impact their grade or relationship with the teacher. Parents and students will always feel compelled to participate, in spite of your intentions and assurances, or they may perceive some intangible benefit to participation that does not exist. As a result, the NYC Department of Education IRB expressly forbids their teachers from using their own students as research participants. Teachers College (TC) IRB will only allow teachers to recruit their students as research subjects under limited circumstances.
Students may also struggle with distinguishing between typical classroom activities and research-related activities. Ongoing voluntary participation is a potential issue if a student decides they want to discontinue their participation after initially consenting. Researchers should make it clear that no consequences will follow if a student decides to withdraw from the study.
The NYC Department of Education IRB expressly forbids their teachers from using their own students as research participants. Teachers College (TC) IRB will only allow teachers to recruit their students as research subjects under limited circumstances.
In many cases, working with students in another class or involving a co-investigator, research assistant, or neutral third party may be an effective way to address perceived coercion or undue influence.
Researchers working with students as research subjects must:
In studies where students are research subjects, TC IRB will consider the following:
Researchers may consider these examples to help minimize coercion of undue influence:
Students are an easily accessible research population. However, ethical considerations may dictate that you select a different population for your study. Students as participants are often appropriate for research, provided that elements of coercion and undue influence can be minimized. Researchers must ensure that students and their families have full freedom of choice regarding participation in research studies. TC IRB stresses the importance of Family Educational and Rights Privacy Act (FERPA) in education-based research settings.
When a researchers wishes to work with their own students they should consider clearly stating in their recruitment & consent (parent permission/assent) form a disclosure like this (as appropriate to the study)
IRB Reviewers will also clarify the following in their review when the researcher wishes to "work with their own students":
Certain additional protections for students and parents are provided by federal regulations. The proposed use of student education records for research must comply with the requirements of the Family Educational and Rights Privacy Act (FERPA). For researchers conducting research at other institutions, please note that FERPA restricts researchers’ access to student records without written permission from parents of minors, or permission from students over the age of 18. While some exceptions to FERPA may be available in a particular case, investigators must contact each institution in which they will be conducting research and follow that institution’s FERPA policy, in addition to the requirements of the IRB.
Researchers interested in working with students as research subjects must consider how coercion and undue influence will impact the study procedures, the subject population, and other components of the specific research plan. For TC researchers considering working with their own students, please download and submit the Guide for Working with Your own Students with your IRB protocol.
Other researchers have written about the impact of students as research subjects. Please visit the following links before conducting research with your own students: