Normal Educational Practices
Considered Exempt from Full Committee Review

Kinds of Data:

• students' curriculum-related written work, test scores, grades, artwork and other work samples produced by children
• students' curriculum-related oral and non-verbal communicative responses individually, such as in an interview, in small groups and with the whole class
• students' responses (written, oral or behavioral) to curriculum-related activities
• students' level of active participation in curriculum-related activities
• "a normal educational setting" means preschool, elementary, secondary, and higher educational facilities, and after-school programs (if the project relates to tutoring, or homework help.)
• in Special Education, normal educational practices correspond to the Individualized Educational Program (IEP), which is tailored to each student with an identified disability and may be implemented in diverse settings (e.g., school, home, work, community).

Collection Methods:

• videotapes and photographs of curriculum-related classroom activities
  " audio tapes of teacher-student and student-student discourse related to the assignment
• teacher's non-participant observation of curriculum-related activity of individual children or groups of children, noting what will be observed and how it will be analyzed, or whether it will be used as anecdotal evidence in the study
• teacher's commentary on students' curriculum-related written work, artwork and other artifacts produced by children
• student journals and communication books related to the curriculum
• student grades and test scores
• teacher journals, notes and reflective comments on student responses and participation in curriculum-related activities
• questionnaires or interviews with students, parents and family members, teachers and administrators
• non-participant classroom observations by colleagues, with the class teacher's permission, stating what will be observed and how it will be used, i.e. how data will be analyzed or whether it will be used as anecdotal evidence
  

Last Updated: June 3, 2009