Plan Your Data Request | Washington State Education Research and Data Center

This web page provides potential data requesters with guidance to prepare for submitting a data request.

Everyone who submits a data request to ERDC must provide information about how they plan to use the requested data in their project and what type of data is needed.

Ask yourself these five questions to help you plan your ERDC data request. Key data request terms and definitions are also included at the bottom of the page.

1. Is the data I want to request already available?

Education data exists in multiple places, depending on what information you are looking for. Explore this list of resources first to see if the data you are seeking exists somewhere else.

2. Does my project require single-sector data or cross-sector data?

Identifying your project scope and what sectors of data you need are important steps to complete before submitting a data request. ERDC receives and links data from multiple sources that span early childhood education, K-12, public 4-year colleges and universities, 2-year public community and technical colleges, and employment sectors in Washington State. Linking data across these sources enables ERDC to fulfill requests for cross-sector data. ERDC typically does not fulfill single-sector data requests (i.e., requests for only K-12 data or only workforce data). To request data from a single sector, contact the data provider. Not sure if your request is for single-sector or cross-sector data? Contact the ERDC.

Be prepared to tell the ERDC about your research questions, the purpose of the project, funding, study population, variables and the data elements you want to request. Consider ERDC’s privacy priorities as you think about what data elements are necessary for your analysis. If you plan to request individual-level data, you may need to receive approval from our data contributors. Be prepared to contact them and answer questions about your data request, including your research questions and the data elements you may need. 
 
These ERDC tools can help you understand the types of data that may be available to you through the ERDC P20W Data Warehouse.

3. Is my request for (a) redacted aggregate data or (b) individual-level data or unredacted aggregate data?

Understanding the type of data that you need is key to your data request process. Redacted aggregate data is summarized information about individuals with no direct or indirect identifiers. These data requests do not require a data-share agreement with ERDC. Requests for redacted aggregate data have fewer requirements and often take less time to fulfill than individual-level or unredacted aggregate data requests. ERDC also prefers sharing redacted aggregate data to minimize disclosures and risk.

Individual-level data is record-level information about individuals with indirect identifiers. Unredacted aggregate data is summarized information where small cell sizes are not redacted. These data requests require a data-share agreement with ERDC and must be for (a.) audits/evaluations of education program with cross-sector data or (b.) projects that meet the conditions of the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Requests for individual-level data or unredacted aggregate data require an extensive review to determine if your request is allowable under FERPA , WSIRB review, and data sharing agreements. Learn more about ERDC and WSIRB’s review processes.

Data requesters must complete a data request form for each type of data they are requesting. Some questions vary depending on whether you are requesting redacted aggregate data or individual-level / unredacted aggregate data. This compiled list of form questions helps requesters know what information ERDC expects you to provide.

4. Is my request compliant with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)? 

FERPA safeguards the confidentiality of individual student information. That's why ERDC will consider the following when they review your request:

Does your request fall under a FERPA exception? The most common exceptions for ERDC cross-sector data are 1) the audit and evaluation exception or 2) the studies exception. 

Learn more about FERPA exceptions or explore the Integrated Data System guidance. 

Does your request relate to an education program? FERPA defines an education program as "any program that is principally engaged in the provision of education, including, but not limited to, early childhood education, elementary and secondary education, postsecondary education, special education, job training, career and technical education, adult education, and any program that is administered by an educational agency or institution."

5. Can my agency sign a data-use agreement?

If there is not a data-use agreement in place, ERDC will create a data-use agreement with the data requester. Key components of this agreement include data privacy, constraints on how you can use the data, data security, and data destruction. If individual-level or unredacted aggregate data is necessary for your project, then ERDC will work with you to gain approval from data contributors and create a data-sharing agreement. ERDC also requires time to review any future publications that use the ERDC’s P20W data. If you / your organization are not able to agree to the terms of a data-sharing agreement or complete a WSIRB application, then ERDC strongly encourages you to submit a request for redacted aggregate data.

Learn more about data-use agreement guidelines by reading the Guidance for Reasonable Methods and Written Agreements.

Key Terms

Term	Definition
Aggregate data: redacted vs. unredacted	Redacted aggregate data does not reveal any student's personal information, either directly or in combination with other available information. This is typically summary data that does not allow someone to learn information about a specific student. This data can be shared without a data-use agreement, as it doesn't violate FERPA standards. Unredacted aggregate data may allow individuals to be identified. Such data is protected by FERPA and other privacy laws. To prevent sharing personal information, the ERDC either excludes numbers from summary tables (redacted aggregate data with suppression of information where the total number of students is less than 10) or requires a data-use agreement under FERPA.
Cross-sector data	Data that is linked across more than one education/workforce data provider. ERDC receives data from the early learning, K-12, postsecondary, and workforce sectors and then links this data across sectors for analysis purposes.
Data-use agreement	A contractual agreement with the ERDC and the requester. This designates the requester as an authorized user of the data.
Data Request Panel	Representatives from each data-contributing agency will review the data request and either allow or deny ERDC to share the data with the requester.
FERPA compliance	FERPA refers to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. This act outlines the conditions when ERDC can share education data without individual/student consent.  The most common exceptions for ERDC cross-sector data are 1) the audit and evaluation exception or 2) the studies exception.
Identifiable vs. De-identifiable data	Identifiable data includes any information that can be used to distinguish an individual. Even without direct identifiers (such as a name) a record-level dataset is not necessarily a de-identified dataset. Identifiable data is protected by FERPA and other privacy laws.  De-identifiable data means that direct and indirect identifiers have been removed, and there is no reasonable basis to believe that the remaining information can be used to identify an individual. These de-identified data may be in the form of aggregate results or individual-level data. This data can be shared without a data-use agreement, as it doesn't violate FERPA standards.
Personally Identifiable Information (PII)	Any information, such as a name or identification number, that can be used to distinguish a person’s identity. This may be through direct identifiers, such as name or ID number,  or through indirect identifiers, such as a student’s date of birth, or other information which can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity through linkages with other information.
WSIRB review	The Washington State Institutional Review Board is tasked with reviewing all human subjects research to ensure that ethical, privacy, and other considerations are properly evaluated.