Dear Parent or Guardian,
Oakland Promise is a local non-profit organization that partners with your child’s school to support students on their path to postsecondary education and careers. You can learn more about us and the services we offer a student of your child’s age at www.oaklandpromise.org. To make sure we are providing high quality services, we may ask your child survey questions when they participate in activities with Oakland Promise or one of our partner organizations during this 2024-2025 school year.
We want you to be fully aware of the information we may ask your child and how their information will be used if they take one of our surveys. Please know that our surveys are not anonymous: we collect your child’s name and student ID to track the changes in their responses to our questions over time. We do not report any of the data we collect at the student level externally, and your child’s anonymity will be protected. This is an opt-out form; your child will be offered surveys unless you return this form saying you DO NOT want your child to be surveyed.
What is the purpose of this form?
The purpose of this consent form is to let you know ahead of time that your child might be asked survey questions if and when their classrooms participate in events or activities with Oakland Promise during this 2024-2025 school year. We use their data to help make our programming better and to see if what we are doing is helping prepare students for postsecondary education and careers.
What happens if I don’t complete this form?
Nothing! This form is meant to make you aware that your child might be surveyed by Oakland Promise. If you do nothing, your child may be asked to participate in surveys and will have the choice about whether they want to participate or not.
What kinds of questions will my child be asked?
All Oakland Promise surveys will be brief, and will be completed by filling out an online survey. The surveys will ask your child about themself, including their name, birth date, race, gender, and other information. These questions are used to identify your child over time and to see if our services are reaching students of all backgrounds. Your child may also be asked about how they felt about Oakland Promise events and activities, what they know about postsecondary education and careers, and how they feel about college.
How will my child’s data be used and protected?
If your child participates, they will help Oakland Promise to improve our services and help students from Oakland achieve their education and career goals. We will not share your child’s survey responses with anyone outside of Oakland Promise and our partner organizations. No names will be included in any reports or presentations. When we share survey responses, we will share what a whole group of students said, not just your child.
It is always possible that someone might get access to your child’s information either by accident or through a data leak. If this happens, your child’s school district will be notified. We protect your child’s data by having secure data use practices and safeguards on our technology. No one else outside of Oakland Promise and our partner organizations have access to the data.
Are there risks to my child if they participate?
There is very little risk to doing Oakland Promise surveys. There are no right or wrong answers to survey questions and your child may skip any questions they do not want to answer. The surveys do not impact your child’s grades. If your child does not participate in surveys, they can still receive Oakland Promise programming and services. Your child can refuse to participate in surveys at any time.
What if I have questions?
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding Oakland Promise surveys or research in general, you may contact Vinh Trinh at OUSD vinh.trinh@ousd.org or Lauren Reed at Oakland Promise lauren@oaklandpromise.org. If you would like to view the exact survey questions your student will be asked, the surveys will be provided to you.