Access
Over 1.4 billion data observations are available through The University of Texas at Dallas Education Research Center. To access these data, a project approval process was established to:
- Assure that research projects are within the scope of data available.
- Assure that research projects abide by FERPA regulations.
- Provide a streamlined system for obtaining Joint Advisory Board approval.
Click here for a list of data holdings.
Click here to review synthetic data.
Data Access
Approved researchers may access data on-site at The University of Texas at Dallas Education Research Center facility or from the facilities of an Education Research Center institutional partner.
All research jobs must be run on The University of Texas at Dallas Education Research Center servers. The researcher may never remove any student-level data or protected data of any kind from the servers.
All documents that use Texas Education Research Center data must be submitted for FERPA compliance review prior to removal from The University of Texas at Dallas Education Research Center or institutional partner facilities. These documents include work products, such as working papers, log files, tables, and graphs, and research products, such as manuscripts for publication, papers for conferences, and dissertations.
Research Proposal Process
STEP 1 – Submit Complete Proposal Packet
Submit the following via email to Research Support:
- Data Access Protocol
- Information on your software needs
Submit the following via USPS mail to Research Support:
- Signed Abide By Statement, which requires that you read the following documents:
- UTD-ERC Terms and Conditions for Using Confidential Data
- ERC Data and ERC Research policies(Sections 1.5 and 1.6 from the document titled “Joint Advisory Board of the Texas Education Research Centers”)
STEP 2 – Internal Review
Upon receipt of your complete proposal packet, we will submit your proposal to a qualified panel of reviewers appointed by The University of Texas at Dallas Education Research Center. Reviewers will respond in one of three ways: denied, approved with revisions, or approved.
If a proposal is approved with revisions, we will contact you to discuss such revisions. You may then either provide written revisions for us to submit on your behalf or you can personally attend the upcoming Joint Advisory Board (JAB) meeting to defend your proposal. In fact, you are welcome to attend the JAB meeting and present your proposal to the JAB even if your proposal has been approved without revisions.
STEP 3 – Joint Advisory Board (JAB) Meeting
Proposals that have satisfied the requirements of the internal review process are forwarded to the JAB for approval. JAB meetings occur quarterly at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in Austin, TX. (For more information about the JAB, click here.)
At this meeting the JAB will either deny, approve or provide conditional approval for each proposal submitted.
You are encouraged to attend the JAB meeting to answer any questions posed by board members.
STEP 4 – Notice of JAB Decision
Within days of the JAB meeting you will be contacted with their decision and any needed follow-up.
STEP 5 – Access Set-Up
Once your proposal has been approved, before you can begin accessing data, we must first complete your set-up process:
- Determine mutually agreeable dates for data access. (Use the "Schedule a Visit" form to submit preferred dates.)
- Receive your signed Confidentiality Agreement*.
- Receive your Personnel Form*.
* These forms will be provided to you after your proposal has been approved.
Existing Partners
Access to data is strictly related to an individual working on an approved project. Therefore, if a designee is no longer working on an approved project, please contact Research Support promptly to remove this person’s access.
For additional questions about data access, please email Research Support.
Page last updated on December 17, 2010.
