Student Participation in the IDEAS Study
Dear Parent/Guardian,
American Institutes for Research (AIR) is partnering with Jobs for the Future (JFF) to evaluate the Increasing Dual Enrollment Access and Success (IDEAS) project, a dual enrollment intervention funded by the United States Department of Education. Your child is enrolled in at least one dual credit course and may be eligible to participate in an interview as part of this study. The purpose of this interview is to understand what obstacles students face, and what factors influence successful implementation of dual enrollment courses as a part of IDEAS.
If you give permission for your child to participate, we may invite your child to participate in a virtual interview/focus group.
If we invite your child to participate:
- We will schedule a 60-minute virtual interview/focus group with them at a time of their choosing (outside of the school day).
- The interview will take place via video (e.g., Zoom) or telephone, depending on your child’s preference and availability.
- Your child will receive a $50 electronic gift card for participating.
Participation does not affect student grades. The interview will be for research purposes only and will not be part of your child’s grade in the course. Your child will face no academic consequences should they choose not to participate in this study.
All information will be kept confidential. Only the research team will see your child’s responses to the interview questions. Your child’s name or personal information will never be reported to teachers, the school, the district, other researchers, or the public. Your child’s interview data will not be shared with any other research studies or people not part of the AIR research team.
Participation in the study is strictly voluntary. Although we hope your child will help us improve dual enrollment options by completing the interview, participation in the study is voluntary and they can stop participating at any time. Your child will not be penalized if they wish to stop participating in the study.
Risks and Benefits: Are there good and bad things about this research?
This research will help us learn more about the experiences of students in dual enrollment courses in the IDEAS intervention to make improvements for future students. It is safe to talk to us. One of the risks of talking to us regarding this study is that the information you provide us may become public if there is a breach of our secured data.
We will do everything we can to minimize that risk and protect the privacy of the participant. Personal information and responses will be stored securely and only accessible to authorized members of the research team. Data will be encrypted and stored on secure servers. Any identifying information will be removed or coded, and the key to that code will be kept in a separate secure location.
If you give permission for your child to be interviewed, please speak with your child to determine if they are interested in participating in the study. If they are interested, please ensure they have read the student assent document linked below, then return to this page, scroll down and complete the form below. By providing the information in the form below, you consent to us contacting your child via email to schedule an interview at a time of their choosing.
If you do not want your child to participate in the study, you do not need to complete the form.
If you have questions about the study, you may contact the project principal investigator, Dr. Kristina Zeiser.
Thank you for your cooperation in this very important effort!
