Standard CERR Approval Process

Please download and thoroughly review the Standard CERR Proposal Template document, embedded below, prior to submitting your proposal. This document outlines LAUSD’s legal and procedural requirements for research (e.g., strategies for recruitment or data collection). Any proposal not adhering to the guidelines specified in this document will not be considered.

During the open submission window, the proposal submission link can be located at the bottom of this webpage. 

Anyone wishing to conduct research in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) must obtain approval from the Committee for External Research Review (CERR). Only proposals for research that will result in a clear and direct benefit to the district will be approved. If you have any questions, please contact the CERR Team.

2024-25 SY Application Windows:

We will be accepting proposals to conduct research involving LAUSD resources for one week in February 2025, for data collection beginning in Summer or Fall sessions. Please be aware that the proposal and approval process can take several months to complete so CERR strongly encourages researchers to plan accordingly. 

No late submissions will be accepted. Researchers who miss the submission window will be encouraged to apply during the next submission window. CERR only processes District-sponsored research projects outside of submission windows. For more information regarding District-sponsored research projects, please contact Carolin Alexander or call (213) 241-4100.

Due to the difficulties experienced by our school and District communities, only those research projects found by program decision-makers to be of concrete and timely benefit to the District will be approved. CERR, in concert with program staff, will determine the benefit to the District proposed by the researcher(s). In addition, please note that we are NOT accepting proposals from graduate students who wish to distribute and collect surveys. Graduate students may still submit proposals that focus on qualitative research and/or administrative data (quantitative).  

A. General Directions

This process and form are for External Research Requests, to be used by all research entities requesting to conduct research within the District, including employees who aim to conduct research as university students. 

Please review the following Standard CERR Proposal Template document for the online research proposal submission form as these items are required for completing the form. Footnotes with red text describe District legal and procedural requirements regarding research. CERR expects researchers to proactively address District requirements in their proposals. For more information about research requirements, please see the FAQs linked in the right panel of the webpage. Proposals that do not adhere to the format (e.g., are missing required documents) or address legal or procedural requirements delineated in the guidelines will not be considered for review.

We strongly recommend you complete the research proposal submission form’s sections in this Microsoft Word document, save it, and then copy and paste the text into the online proposal form’s sections. This document will also be useful if you are asked to revise your proposal. 

Do not save your submission unless all required fields are completed. You are unable to save information to edit later. We recommend that you copy and paste information into the required fields to ensure all information is saved. Each field has a character limit of 2500 characters. You can use the character count tool in Microsoft Word to count all characters. 

The link to complete and submit your proposal is available on our proposal submission webpage and will be active only during the submission window. 

You will receive a confirmation email with a proposal identification number once your proposal is submitted. Please refer to this identification number in any correspondence regarding your research application. 

Download all LAUSD research guidelines and approval process files in one zip folder here.