It is in the interest of the Board of Education to be abreast of changes in educational technology, results
of current educational research, and innovative educational programs. Therefore, the Board welcomes
the opportunity to participate in the development of innovative ideas and quality research in education.
Research and/or stand-alone surveys shall be allowed within the Knox County Schools (KCS) when the
project contributes to a greater understanding of teaching-learning processes, aligns with KCS goals and
is not disruptive to the regular school program.

However, it is the obligation of Board and the Knox County Schools to protect the interests and learning
opportunities of students, teachers, and other stakeholders. These interests and opportunities will not be sacrificed in order to establish a setting conducive to research. To ensure this obligation is met, the
Director of schools will establish a process to evaluate and approve research proposals. All proposals
will be examined carefully on the basis of whether the proposal will contribute significant new and useful
information to the educational program of Knox County Schools and public education as a whole.

In general, permission to conduct research may be denied when the study is deemed to:

1. interfere with instructional time, or
2. be too socially or politically sensitive, or
3. have little or no educational research value, or
4. place too great a burden on Knox County Schools personnel, or
5. use the Knox County Schools for convenience sampling, or
6. require information identifiable to a particular student, or
7. be redundant in that similar data were gathered through another recent project.

PARENTAL RIGHTS

Parents shall have the right to inspect all materials that will be used in surveys, focus groups, interviews,
tests or other research instruments and the proposed analyses of research and/or survey results. Written, informed, and voluntarily signed consent of a student’s parent or legal guardian, or the student if the student is eighteen (18) years of age or older, before the student participates in a survey, analysis, or evaluation. This does not apply if the full survey, analysis, or evaluation is related to classroom instruction of a curriculum and the survey, analysis, or evaluation is distributed to students as a method of evaluating the effectiveness of an instructional curriculum.

No student may, without parental consent, take part in research and/or surveys that cover or discuss:

1. Political or religious affiliations;
2. Potentially embarrassing psychological problems;
3. Sexual behavior or attitudes;
4. Anti-social or demeaning behavior;
5. Critical appraisals of family members;
6. Legally privileged relationships. 

Legal Reference:

1. T.C.A.§ 49-2-211.

Approved as to Legal Form
By Knox County Law Director 8/29/2023 
/Gary T. Dupler/Deputy Law Director