Request Access to Data

In addition to making a significant amount of information freely available through dashboards and opportunities to build your own data tables, the Cradle-to-Career System will offer a data request process that streamlines access to data by distinguishing the level of information requested.

Expedited Review Process

Requests for de-identified aggregate data that are not available through the query builder will require a data request form to be filled out, reviewed by the managing entity, and approved by the relevant data providers. Data provided through the expedited process should not require a legal agreement.

Comprehensive Review Process

Requests for anonymized individual-level data will require a comprehensive review. The requestor will fill out a data request form; the request will be reviewed by the managing entity; the request will be evaluated by the data providers and an institutional review board (IRB); the requestor will sign a legal agreement and provide proof of research training; analytical outputs will be reviewed to ensure data privacy; and data providers will review any reports submitted for inclusion in the Cradle-to-Career research library.

Documentation will be posted on the Cradle-to-Career System website to provide a list of all requests for data, who made each request, the project abstract, and the status of each request. Data providers will act in good faith to approve requests that are allowable by law. If data providers have questions or concerns about a data request, they will work with the requestor to modify the request. If a data provider denies a request, a rationale will need to be provided, which will be posted on the website.

The proposed process for accessing information on individual students includes several checks and balances to ensure that individual identities will be protected, and that information will only be released in accordance with state and federal laws. For example, all requests for individual-level data must receive IRB approval from the Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects, which is authorized to review education and health data for federal projects and which operates in compliance with the Information Practices Act. Furthermore, all outputs from the data system must be reviewed by a data disclosure specialist to ensure that identities cannot be discerned.

After year one of implementation, the data request process will be reviewed by the Data and Tools Advisory Board, with input from the managing entity and the data providers, to determine if the process could be improved. Each subsequent year, the Data and Tools Advisory Board will review the requests that were approved and denied and will then identify mechanisms that might better foster the fulfillment of appropriate data requests.

Roadmap and Progress

See what C2C’s plans are for the next five years and the data sets and tools that will be available!