When the Pennsylvania Department of Education shares data with third party researchers, it follows a process that ensures:
- researchers obtain only the data they need to answer their research questions;
- confidentiality is maintained and human subjects research protocols are followed;
- PDE has opportunities to comment on and publicize the results.
The PDE Data Governance Research Committee convenes on the first Wednesday of each month. All letters of intent submitted by researchers one week prior to the meeting will be placed on the agenda and reviewed by the committee. Recommendations coming from the committee will be communicated to the researcher within ten (10) business days, and may include direction to complete and submit the IRB Research Application and appropriate attachments.
The PDE Institutional Review Board convenes every other month. Research projects recommended by the PDE Data Governance Research Committee (and include completed IRB research applications) will be placed on the agenda of the next IRB meeting and reviewed.
The process for requesting and receiving data for research studies is depicted below, captioning below graphic.
Researcher Data Request Process. The data request process at PDE includes multiple steps. For Step 1, the Data Requestor reviews the Letter of Intent template and data access policy to ensure that they can meet the security requirements. For Step 2, the Data Requestor submits Letter of Intent for proposed research project to PDE. For Step 3, the PDE Research Committee reviews the Letter of Intent research data request, and may seek clarification. For Step 4, the PDE Research Committee may amend the request based on knowledge of the data or request the data requestor amend the request. Then the data requestor approves the amended request. For Step 5, PDE sends the decision for the proposed research project to Data Requestor. For Step 6, Once approved, the Data Requestor can then prepare their PDE Institutional Review Board (IRB) Application. For Step 7, the Data Requestor sends their completed IRB Application to PDE. For Step 8, the PDE Institutional Review Board (IRB) reviews the IRB application. For Step 9, the PDE Institutional Review Board (IRB) may seek clarifications or request amendments based on knowledge of the data and the Data Requestor may need to amend their application. For Step 10, the PDE Institutional Review Board (IRB) will inform the Requestor of the final decision. For Step 11, the Data Requestor receives the PDE IRB decision. For Step 12, submits PDE IRB approval document to PDE Research Committee providing notification of the approval that leads to Step 13, and the creation of a data sharing agreement for the IRB approved research application that will meet research needs and protect confidentiality. Step 14 includes the submission of the data sharing agreement for review and signing, and signature by the Data Requestor. For Step 15, PDE will work to provide data to data requestor. Step 16 includes analysis of data by the requestor as outlined in their IRB and request and data sharing agreement. In Step 17, the Data Requestor may consult with PDE and data contributors as needed to understand the data, write a report detailing the results of the analysis, and submit the report to PDE allowing a 30-day review period and feedback of any reports prior to publishing. In Step 18, the Data Requestor will evaluate any comments and feedback received from PDE during the review period, make revisions to the report as needed, and publishes the results. In Step 19, PDE may publish the results on their website as is stipulated in all data sharing agreements.