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A before the Indiana state Senate could undermine researchers’ ability to get data widely used to inform school policies on bullying, crime and diversity.

The Indiana bill includes a provision that would require districts to get parents鈥� permission before students take any survey that 鈥渞eveals or attempts to affect the student鈥檚 attitudes, habits, traits, opinions, beliefs or feelings.鈥� Parents say such surveys violate student鈥檚 privacy and could encourage students to question their mental health or sexual identity.

The legislation stems from a 鈥減arents鈥� rights鈥� movement in Republican-led states across the country that has featured efforts to get and dealing with race and sexuality. Arizona was among the first states to require parent permission for surveys six years ago, but concerns from parents about prying questions have recently spread to districts in Colorado, North Carolina and elsewhere.

鈥淧arents are saying 鈥榃hat is this intended to do? What are you doing with the data, and how do we opt out of it?鈥欌�� said Dawn Lang, who has a fourth grader in the Hamilton Southeastern Schools, north of Indianapolis.

Schools use such surveys to get a read on what students think about their teachers, relationships with peers, access to weapons and, increasingly, issues related to race and diversity. Educators, researchers and others providing services to schools say it鈥檚 important to get 鈥渟tudent voice鈥� about topics such as substance use, mental health and student engagement. Under pressure to spend billions in federal dollars to address precisely those issues, many are relying on surveys to inform how they spend the money.

Indiana districts, and many across the country, offer parents an opportunity to opt their child out of taking surveys 鈥� referred to in the field as passive, or implied, consent. Requiring all students to get permission in advance, or opting in, would reduce participation and leave schools less informed about what students think, experts say.

鈥淪chools often use climate surveys to get a sense of what I call conditions for learning,鈥� said Sandra Washburn, a researcher with the Center on Education and Lifelong Learning at the University of Indiana. 鈥淒o students have input into decisions, someone at school they trust? That鈥檚 really good data. When we have 50 percent of the student population saying they’re bored on a daily basis, we take note of that.鈥�

If the bill passes, she worries it could limit the number of districts that participate in the , which has been running for more than 30 years and asks students questions about topics ranging from drug and alcohol use to whether their schoolwork is meaningful.

With U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy recently issuing about increases in youth suicide attempts and substance use, Washburn said, 鈥淲e need local data that tells us how our kids are doing.鈥�

Requiring written parental consent in advance 鈥渉as the potential for compromising the validity of the sample of participating students,鈥� said Mikyoung Jun, a survey statistician at Prevention Insights, the Indiana University center that runs the Indiana Youth Survey. 

She pointed to that compared survey samples using both active and passive consent. The active consent group was less likely to include older students, as well as those with behavior problems, single parents or academic struggles. Basing decisions on such results could lead to 鈥渕istargeted鈥� policies and programs, the authors wrote.

鈥楪ood faith, important questions鈥�

Lang and parent groups in other states have especially raised concerns over from Boston-based Panorama Education, which now has 1,500 client districts, including Hamilton Southeastern Schools. 

Among questions on the survey given to third-through-fifth graders are: 鈥淗ow often did you get your work done right away, instead of waiting until the last minute?,鈥� 鈥淗ow well did you get along with other students who are different from you?鈥� and 鈥淗ow often do you worry about violence at your school?鈥� 

Surveys for middle and high school students include additional diversity, inclusion and cultural awareness questions, such as, 鈥淎t your school, how often are you encouraged to think more deeply about race-related topics with other students?鈥�

Survey questions about race and diversity are among those that Brooke Lawson, coordinator of mental health and school counseling for the district, said parents call about the most. 

The district posts opt-out information in multiple ways: the , the superintendent鈥檚 weekly video message, a district email to families and principals鈥� newsletters. She stressed that parents can request to see their child鈥檚 responses to the survey report.

Lang, a parent in the district, said she missed the notice about the survey last fall. 鈥淚t was maybe bundled in with a newsletter at the end of the week,鈥� she said.

Some parents are uncomfortable staff members analyzing students’ thoughts on personal matters.

鈥淭hey are picking these programs because they鈥檙e being told the kids are depressed,鈥� said Kelli Moore, who pulled her eighth grade son out of the Catawba County Schools in North Carolina. She is among those who protested the district鈥檚 contract with Panorama, which the district in December. 

Moore added that the demographic questions might plant seeds of 鈥済ender confusion鈥� in students鈥� minds.

鈥淭hey might make a child think, 鈥楳aybe I am gay or maybe I鈥檓 supposed to be a girl, or maybe I鈥檓 supposed to be a boy,鈥欌�� she said.

Districts using Panorama surveys can choose to offer just male or female as options, or add a third choice for a student to 鈥渟elf-describe,鈥� explained Brendan Ryan, a spokesman for the company.

But he added that districts can 鈥渕odify the language or options however they deem appropriate for their students.鈥� Districts, he added, own the data, not Panorama. District officials decide who has access to it and whether to give teachers access to an individual student鈥檚 responses. 

鈥淭here are very fair, good faith, important questions that we think parents should be asking,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd we鈥檙e trying to separate that out from the folks who think we shouldn’t be talking about Rosa Parks because it makes white kids feel bad.鈥�

鈥楩alling through the cracks鈥�

Brandan Keaveny, a data ethics consultant and former chief accountability officer in the Syracuse Public Schools in New York, said federal relief funds for pandemic recovery have likely prompted more districts to conduct surveys without first gauging parental support

鈥淚t鈥檚 like, 鈥楾his is what we鈥檝e decided. What do you think?鈥欌�� he said, adding that districts need to ensure they communicate the purpose of the surveys, the opt-out process and how parents can request their child鈥檚 data 鈥� and do it in multiple languages. 

鈥淪chools need to be communicating to parents all the places where data is shared on their child,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 always said to principals, 鈥榊ou really need to get people actively involved.鈥欌��

But he added that moving to an opt-in process, which he compared to voter suppression, 鈥渃reates obstacles that keep families鈥� from participating, especially if they don鈥檛 speak English or have other reasons for missing messages from their children鈥檚 schools. 

Beth Lehr, an assistant principal in the Sahuarita Unified School District in Arizona, south of Tucson, said her school has a hard time getting student perception data because of , passed in 2016, that like the Indiana proposal, requires active consent for student surveys.

Her district received this school year to implement training programs for teachers and pay stipends to those leading afterschool programs for students with additional social and emotional needs 鈥淏ut we can鈥檛 do the data gathering to figure out who really needs that intervention because we are required to get active consent,鈥� she said.

Of the 1,063 students in her school, only 160 returned permission forms, she said, adding that even if parents don鈥檛 object to the surveys, many don鈥檛 read their emails or get the forms from their children in the first place. 

Parents who sign the forms 鈥渁re probably already doing as much as they can to help their kids,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e’re missing the kids who are falling through the cracks, because they’re falling through the cracks for a reason.鈥�

Panorama isn鈥檛 the only organization facing pushback for its surveys. A parent in a said she was 鈥渂lindsided鈥� by her child taking a survey created by San Francisco-based non-profit YouthTruth.

Even so, more than half of the 2,100 schools using the survey requested an optional set of questions related to diversity, equity and inclusion the organization introduced for the first time this year, said Sonya Heisters, deputy director of YouthTruth.

Parents, she added, aren鈥檛 limiting their concerns about surveys to school board meetings. 

鈥淲e鈥檙e hearing from parents who are even contacting us directly,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat didn鈥檛 used to happen.鈥�

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