Why are we doing this research and writing this report?
We are doing this report to better describe and understand disciplinary alternative schools in the Deep South and to propose better ways to intercept the school-to-prison pipeline. Your participation in this research is entirely voluntary. Even if you begin participating, you can withdraw your consent to participate at any time before the report on the research is published. If you choose not to participate or choose to withdraw later, there will be no penalties or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled.
Why are we talking to parents, teachers and community service providers?
We think it’s very important that the information we collect goes beyond numbers and quantitative data. We want to gather the most accurate information on this issue, so we want to talk to people on the ground who see how alternative schools work and operate. We plan to speak with at least 20-30 parents, teachers and community service providers.
What does participation in this research involve?
If you choose to participate in our report, we will ask that you participate in a one-hour interview by phone or Zoom, followed by a 30-minute follow-up call. In these interviews, we will ask you about your experiences with alternative schools in your geographic area, whether negative or positive. We will also ask for your ideas about what schools can do to improve alternative schools and reduce reliance on alternative schools as a disciplinary intervention. If there are any questions you don’t want to answer during the conversation, you can choose not to answer them. When joining the Zoom meeting, you can opt to participate anonymously by changing your display name and/or turning your camera off.
After we complete the interviews, we will begin writing our final report. We will summarize your statements from the Zoom and phone conversations. We will also need you to provide the name by which you would like to be identified in the report, which could be your full name, part of your name, a nickname, a made-up name, “anonymous” or another option you like more. If we want to use a direct quote of something you said, we will ask for your approval and preferred name before using the direct quote. Please note that we may use information we gathered from you in the report, such as a general description of an incident or a description of common experiences several or many participants may have had (sometimes called “aggregated data”), but we will not identify you in any way without your permission.
Are there any benefits to participating?
There may be no benefits directly to you from participating in this research, but the research may improve disciplinary practices that disproportionately send Black children and children with disabilities to alternative schools in the Deep South where you live and/or work.
Are there any risks to participating?
You may get bored, tired or upset and decide that you do not want to continue sharing your thoughts. If so, just tell us that you don’t want to participate any longer. You do not have to respond to any questions that you would not like to answer, and you can stop participating in the research at any time, both without any negative consequences.
If you choose to withdraw from this process at any point before publication of the report, you can request that we destroy or exclude any information you previously provided to us from further analysis or in our publication. Otherwise, we may retain such information and include it in our report. We will, however, use the information only for the purposes specified in this consent form and in the manner in which you initially agreed to be identified in the report.
Will your information stay confidential?
Aside from your approved written account, the name you choose to go by for the report, and/or other information specifically approved by you, we will take all reasonable measures necessary to keep your statements and identifying information confidential, except as required by law for your protection. SFSU, Loyola and the SPLC will have access now and in the future to any data and information collected during this interview. The experiences you share with SFSU, Loyola, and the SPLC may be used in future reports and materials. Any future reports or materials will use the name or anonymous identity you’ve decided to provide here. If that happens, we may not reach out to let you know, but instead consider this consent as agreeing to those future uses.
Your information may be shared with individuals and organizations that conduct or watch over this research, including:
- The research sponsor
- People who work with the research sponsor
- Government agencies
- Any other agency reviewing this research
If you choose to withdraw or are terminated from participation in the report, we may still use some of the information you provided us in our final report, and potentially in future reports and materials. However, we will delete any of your personally identifiable information from our files and will not use any of your personally identifiable information in the final report nor in any future reports and materials.
If you identify names of any minors during your interview, those names will be kept confidential and removed, and replaced with a pseudonym, in all internal files.
Will you receive any compensation for participating?
Participants in the forum will receive a $25 gift card. If you only take the survey, you will be entered into a lottery for a $25 gift card.
Do you have any questions?
If you have questions, concerns, or complaints, talk to the research team by sending an email to alternativeschools@splcenter.org.
