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Researcher Access to the SLDS

Researcher Access to the SLDS. Facilitating Researcher Access to Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) Kathy Gosa , Kansas Department of Education Bethann Canada, Virginia Department of Education Wednesday, February 13, 2013. Overview. Overview: Supporting Data Access for Researchers

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Researcher Access to the SLDS

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  1. Researcher Access to the SLDS Facilitating Researcher Access to Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) Kathy Gosa, Kansas Department of Education Bethann Canada, Virginia Department of Education Wednesday, February 13, 2013

  2. Overview Overview: Supporting Data Access for Researchers Kansas Virginia Questions & Answers

  3. Forum Guide To Supporting Data Access for Researchers: An SEA Perspective • Recommends a set of “core” practices, operations, and templates that can be adapted and adopted by SEAs • Focuses recommendations on • Managing the flow of data requests • Establishing response priorities • Monitoring appropriate use • Protecting privacy • Ensuring that research is beneficial to the agency as well as the research community • Collaboration • National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) • National Center for Education Evaluation & Regional Assistance (NCEE) 3

  4. Data Partnerships • Data are an integral component of our education system • Most SEAs view responding to requests for data as a major responsibility to their stakeholders and a wise investment in education • Partnerships with researchers can lead to numerous tangible benefits to education agencies, such as: • Encouraging research projects that reflect an education agency’s information needs and priorities • Supporting data-driven decisionmakingby educators and policymakers • Providing an SEA with access to additional research, statistical, and program expertise • Building the research skills of SEA staff who will work with members of the research community while reviewing and servicing data requests 4

  5. Foundations for Data-Sharing • Data governance • Data sharing infrastructure • Priorities and goals of the agency • Recognize the numerous dimensions of a research proposal • Which data are being requested and for what purpose? • Are requested data appropriate to address the research question(s)? • Which data are actually available from the agency? • Which data can be shared? • Which data need to be masked, de-identified, or otherwise altered to protect individual privacy? 5

  6. Challenges to Sharing Data • Supplying data to the research community comes at a cost to the SEA • Responding to the growing volume of data requests can become a full-time job for one or more staff members • There are also practical concerns about sharing education data • Confidentiality and security issues • Data ownership conflicts • Concern regarding the potential for misusing or misinterpreting data • Resource allocation • Staff time required to establish an infrastructure, implement core data sharing practices, and manage and monitor requests can create a significant resource burden for an SEA • Data limitations • Data collected by SEAs are intended for specific purposes and may not necessarily meet the precise needs of research projects 6

  7. Kansas

  8. Kansas Data Request/Access Process • Requests are submitted online http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=4201 • Overseen by Data Request Review Board (DRRB) • Reports to Data Governance Board • DRRB is five member Board representing agency Divisions • Meets monthly in person; ad hoc virtually • Review status of routine requests • Approval of denials, charges, and non-routine requests • All requests for PII must be presented to DRRB • Mission … to implement processes for the provision of accurate, timely data and information to our internal and external customers while protecting personally identifiable student information and other confidential information • Provides consistent treatment of data requests • Considers, prioritizes, and assigns requests for data 8

  9. Kansas Data Request/Access Process • Defined Roles • Data Request Review Board • Request Manager • Data Steward • General Counsel • Requester • Customer • Agency Staff 10

  10. Kansas Data Request/Access Process • Decisions • Routine or requires DRRB action? • Data Availability? • Do we have it? • Is it publically available? • KORA? • Restricted data? • Charge? • Reformatting • Requires significant staff time • Alignment with State Research Agenda/BOE Goals? 11

  11. Kansas Data Request/Access Process • Decisions (continued) • Routine or requires DRRB action? • Requests handled as Routine are summarized and reviewed by DRRB monthly • DRRB must approve • Requests for which fees are charged • Denials • Requests involving PII/Restricted Data • PIA is assigned • Requester is invited to attend/defend 12

  12. Kansas Streamlining the Process with Researchers • Why? • Research aligns with state research agenda • More efficient for us! • How? • Training 13

  13. Kansas Videos Exercises (includes opt out) Streamlining the Process with Researchers • How? (continued) • Training http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=4201 14

  14. Kansas Streamlining the Process with Researchers • How? (continued) • Training http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=4201 • Primary Investigator Advocate (PIA) • Assigned when “supported” research request is submitted • Assists the researcher in navigating our process • Provides summary to DRRB • Templates/Agreements/Forms • FERPA Agreement template • Data destruction template 15

  15. Kansas Critical Success Factors • Automated tracking • Essential for FERPA Recordation • Greatly enhances efficiency • Informs priorities for public reporting 16

  16. Kansas Critical Success Factors (continued) • Automated tracking • Centralized request process with defined roles • Process for routine requests and for exceptions • Process for prioritization and denial Miscellaneous • Request History Report http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=83 • Follow-up is a challenge! 17

  17. Virginia 18

  18. Virginia Data Access Policy for non-sensitive data • Non-sensitive data are published on the web with cell suppression • Check out our data for researchers page http://www.doe.virginia.gov/statistics_reports/research_data/index.shtml • “Service Request Tracking System” • Ad Hoc/FOIA requests are logged and tracked • All requests must be approved by a director 19

  19. Virginia Data Access Policy for PII • A contract must nearly always be in place • A Restricted Use Data Agreement (RUDA) must be in place • Specifies the data, data protection plan, data destruction plan • Each individual accessing must sign a non-disclosure agreement • The RUDA must have three internal reviewers 20

  20. Virginia The federated model • State law does not allow us to house multi-agency data in a single data store • The data must be de-identified, merged by a third party, then de-identified again (double de-identification) • The participating agencies (Data Governance Council) had to agree on • A research agenda • The approvals needed for researchers to request data • Data requests are made by the researcher through a portal • Microsoft Dynamics CRM manages the workflow behind the scenes • Research purpose must “fit” the research agenda • All agencies whose data are being requested must approve 21

  21. Virginia The initial research agenda • How can Virginia improve high school graduation rates while increasing students' preparation for college and careers? • How can Virginia improve the preparation, recruitment, and retention of Virginia's educational personnel, including their meaningful and ongoing professional development, especially in teacher shortage areas and in hard-to-staff schools? • How can Virginia improve performance of the public workforce system? • By what means can Virginia's public workforce development system meet the needs of job seekers/workers and employers? 22

  22. Virginia The current participating agencies Department of Education State Council on Higher Education Virginia Community College System (Workforce) Virginia Employment Commission Coming on board in 2013 Department of Social Services (DSS) Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) The Child HANDS Project 23

  23. Virginia Process Steps 24

  24. Virginia Bridging the Data Divide Project to improve state agency-university researcher partnerships Facilitated by Virginia Commonwealth University Case study of state-university partnerships Study of successful partnerships in other states 26

  25. Virginia Bridging the Data Divide – areas of analysis Organizational culture, value, and roles Data governance and access State agency-researcher perspectives Lessons and recommendations 27

  26. Contacts and Additional Resources Contact information: Bethann Canada, Bethann.Canada@doe.virginia.gov Kathy Gosa, kgosa@ksde.org Keith Brown, keith.brown@sst-slds.org Jeff Sellers, jeff.sellers@sst-slds.org For more information on researcher access to the SLDS: Data Use Issue Brief 2: Forming Research Partnerships with State and Local Education Agencies: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/pdf/Data-Use-Issue-Brief-2_Research-Partnerships.pdf Webinar: Using SLDS Data ⎼ Working with Researchers:http://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/webinars.asp Forum Publications: Forum Guide to Supporting Data Access for Researchers: https://nces.ed.gov/forum/publications.asp

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