Research with Miami-Dade County Public Schools

The purpose of this document is to help facilitate the process for FIU investigators who are planning to conduct research in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools System (M-DCPS) as part of their studies.

Note: M-DCPS Research Review Committee (RRC) approval is required anytime M-DCPS students or staff are being recruited into a human subject research study (regardless of where the research study will actually take place).  For example, if a researcher will be posting flyers at M-DCPS schools, but will be having participants come to FIU to participate in the study, then this project would still require RRC approval.

The steps below were developed jointly between the FIU Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the M-DCPS RRC.

  1. Obtain FIU IRB Approval: All research studies involving human subjects must be submitted to the FIU IRB for review and approval prior to conducting the study. For more information please visit: https://research.fiu.edu/irb/
  2. Obtain M-DCPS RRC Approval: Upon approval from the FIU IRB, the investigator should then submit the M-DCPS RRC application form, which must include a copy of FIU IRB Approval letter. This application complies with the School Board rule 2605, which states that “Any request from
    people outside the public school system, or from employees seeking university degrees, must be submitted to the Research Review Committee (RRC).” The application form can be found at: http://oer.dadeschools.net/ResearchReviewRequest/ResearchReviewRequest.asp
  3. Submit M-DCPS RRC Approval Letter to FIU: Upon approval from M-DCPS RRC, the investigator must submit a copy of the M-DCPS RRC approval letter to the FIU IRB Office (Office of Research Integrity) via an IRB Amendment Form submission to complete the process.