Amendment Would Affect School-Based Research

by Patricia C. Kobor, Public Policy Office

Both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate have passed extensive bills to reform elementary and secondary education programs, and a conference committee will continue to meet this fall to reconcile differences in the two versions. APA is actively working against proposals in the final bill that would threaten the ability of scientists to conduct survey research in schools.  

In its version of the education bill, the House included an amendment authored by Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) that would require prior written parental consent for any survey research conducted in elementary or secondary schools in which questions pertained to politics, religion, or risk behaviors. The Tiahrt amendment would also impose restrictions on medical testing and treatment of minors in schools by requiring prior written and informed consent of the parent or guardian of a minor to undergo any medical or mental health examination or evaluation. The Senate bill does not contain a companion to the Tiahrt amendment.  

APA has argued that the Tiarht language would impose a “one-size-fits-all” consent policy on nearly all school-based research, usurping the jurisdiction of Institutional Review Boards (IRBs). Written consent is often deemed necessary for research with children, but IRBs do have the flexibility to waive written informed consent when the proposed research would constitute less than minimal risk to participants and meet certain other criteria. A written consent requirement often means multiple follow-up contacts are necessary to produce the same sample size, adding substantial costs and administrative burden. Additionally, such a requirement may dramatically skew the sample, since children who are members of minority groups or other at-risk groups are less likely than others to return consent forms.

 APA has pulled together a coalition of organizations that worked on a similar legislative issue in 1995 and 1996, the Family Privacy Protection Act. Now named the Coalition to Save School-Based Research, its members include the National PTA, Consortium of Social Science Associations, American Educational Research Association, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and National Mental Health Association, among others. The coalition, along with many other organizations, has produced joint letters and other materials and met with conferees and their staff members to prevent the Tiahrt amendment or something similar from being included in the final education bill. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) deserves the credit for keeping the Tiahrt amendment off the Senate version of the bill.

 Unfortunately, the account of the Senate vote in the July/August issue of this publication was incorrect. After press time, additional information was made available on two other Senate amendments. An amendment by Sen. Tim Hutchinson (R-AK) would require schools to establish policies on privacy and to involve parents in the setting of those policies. That amendment was not intended to be a companion or a compromise on the Tiahrt bill, as incorrectly reported. The coalition intends to suggest that the conferees adopt report language to clarify that the Hutchinson amendment would not apply to federally funded or non-profit funded research that had been reviewed by an IRB.

 A House-Senate conference committee will meet periodically through the summer and into the fall to work out differences between the two versions of H.R. 1, the education bill. APA’s science policy staff will continue lobbying against the Tiahrt amendment and advocating to maintain a predictable and reasonable infrastructure of regulation for school-based research.

 Additional information about the Tiahrt amendment is available on the APA Public Policy Office website at www.apa.org/ppo/grassroots/s.schlrsch_links.html.