Steps for RRC Proposal Submission

Before submitting a proposal to the Research Review Committee, review the Board Goals. Be sure that you can answer “YES” to each of the following questions.

1. Does your proposal fall into one of the permitted research categories? (See below.)

2. If your proposal is an academic study, a Ph.D. or Ed.D. dissertation, or a national survey, does it align with the Board Goals outlined in the District’s Goals and Guardrails?

3. Will findings from your proposed research provide actionable information that can help improve the education experiences and outcomes of children in Philadelphia?

4. If requesting data or survey administration: Have you thoroughly explored all publicly available data, including the Philly School Experience Survey (PSES) results, before determining the need to make a specific data request and/or administer your own survey instruments?

Ready to Submit?

As of October 9, 2018, all proposals are submitted online.

To use our new online submission option, click here.

If you are interested in submitting a research proposal for the committee’s review, please use our descriptions below to identify the  submission track to which your proposal belongs. Please follow all directions within each submission track to assure your submission is complete. All research activities must adhere to the District’s policies and procedures. Your proposal must follow our guidelines.

For details and submission materials (including amendment forms), click here.

Please refer to our RRC deadlines for monthly review by downloading our Deadlines handout. Please also read about our submission fees. 

Progress Monitoring (Grant-Mandated Reporting)

Progress Monitoring is considered by the RRC to be minimally-invasive data collection and/or requests of administrative data required by programs for delivery to funders. Activities will NOT include: any work attempting to measure outcomes. This proposal type is included to allow SDP partners who required such information to submit a proposal without undue burden.

Program Evaluation

Program Evaluation is any project that involves activities attempting to measure the outcomes of a particular program or intervention. Because of the nature of program evaluation, the RRC requires all Program Evaluation applications to be submitted by Third Party Evaluators. Programs are not permitted to evaluate themselves.

National Survey

National Surveys are broad-scale, nationally-sampled studies that typically contribute to federally supported or mandated work.

Academic Study (Non-Dissertation)

Academic Studies are any study, whether grant-funded or not, proposed for the sole purpose of answering a specific question and/or expanding upon the current literature in any given field. Academic studies are not being completed in fulfillment of a degree (see Ph.D. or Ed.D. dissertation, below).

Ph.D. or Ed.D. Dissertation

Ph.D. or Ed.D. dissertations are accepted for review by the RRC but are subject to additional requirements. The RRC does not accept applications for research from master’s-level students or undergraduates. Please see our student researcher requirements document for more information.

Questions?

Please email: researchreview@philasd.org