The end is near.  Well not really the end.  That just sounds both ominous and optimistic.  I am at the end of my PhD program, but just embarking on my dissertation.  So, end of phase 1.  Starting phase 2.  I want to do research in the urban school district of the city I live in.  In order to do research there, I have to ask permission and go through a whole process.  In the process of writing this post, while multi-tasking, the district has gotten back to me with their research application and I have to admit, I am surprised by the quickness to which they responded.  I have the forms and one line stands out to me:

“Ideas, operating procedures, records, and publications developed in or by the school system shall be made available to outside non-profit or profit organizations for use or distribution when such use will reflect favorably upon the school system and the community.”

I added the bold.  Now, I am not going into this research to expose this district for not being able to effectively education its children.  But I am going into this research to see the impact of pre-made, canned curriculum on instructional choices and the impacts those instructional choices have on students abilities.  I now have to make sure I word my research in a way that the benefit to the district is clear.  I want to make a change and sometimes everything isn’t rosy.  If it was all fine and dandy, then the students would be doing well and not as poorly as they are doing now.  Shouldn’t they want those answers?

I don’t exactly know how I am going to do this.  Let the wordsmithing begin.