Apply for a Data Research Project

Step 1: Letter of Intent

Applying for a data research project begins with the researcher submitting a letter of intent(Word) describing the proposed research study.

PDE Data Governance Research Committee reviews the proposed research study and makes a recommendation for the research project application process to proceed or not;

Recommended research projects must have a completed research application submitted for PDE’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) review.

Step 2: Complete the official IRB application

For Submission of Applications. the Pennsylvania Department of Education Institutional Review Board (PDE IRB) has a standard deadline date of the 2nd Thursday of every month. A fully completed application must be submitted on or before the 2nd Thursday of the month to be reviewed at that month's IRB meeting. Full board IRB meetings are scheduled to meet on the 3rd Thursday of the month. If the application materials are not received by the submission deadline date, they will be scheduled for review at the IRB meeting that occurs in the following month. Investigators are advised to plan accordingly and submit a fully completed application and all necessary attachments early enough to meet the required deadline.

The following documents must be submitted, along with the IRB research application (where applicable):

• Attachment A: Research Information (PDF)
• Attachment B: Project Information (PDF)
• Attachment C: Project Timeline (PDF)
• Attachment D: Evidence that the Researcher is working as an “Authorized Representative” (PDF)
• Attachment E-1: Research Involving Pregnant Women, Human Fetuses, and Neonates as Subjects (PDF)
• Attachment E-2: Research Involving Prisoners as Subjects (PDF)
• Attachment E-3: Research Involving Children as Subjects (PDF)
• Attachment F: Recruitment, Consent/Assent, and Authorization Documents (PDF)
• Attachment G: Data Element Crosswalk (PDF)
• Attachment H: Resource Requests (PDF)
• Attachment I: Consent/Authorization Waivers (PDF)
• Attachment J: Requests for Use or Disclosure of Records (PDF)
• Attachment K: Data Collection Instruments (PDF)
• Attachment L: Miscellaneous Study Documents (PDF)
• Attachment M: Project Budget (PDF)
• Attachment N: Conflict of Interest Reporting – Required for all applications (PDF)

Step 3: Enter the Data Access Agreement

PDE will contact the researcher to enter into the appropriate data access agreement once the IRB has approved the research application.

Step 4:

Upon both parties completing and signing the Data Access agreement, PDE will work to pull together the identified research data and provide it to the researcher.