Introduction

In making a request for data to support research, the user must understand:

1. The individual character of the data, even when it is anonymized, is exempt from public records law and is highly confidential under state and federal law; therefore, the Florida Department of Education is under no obligation to provide these data.
2. In all cases, these data will not be provided unless there is a clear connection to policy or program evaluation that serves students and the education systems of Florida. In effect, should a request be considered, the work would have to be viewed as being done on behalf of The Florida Department of Education.
3. While desiring to support research projects outside the department, workload priorities must be considered and balanced.  Once a research proposal is approved, it is integrated into the work schedules of staff according to an assigned priority level.  From time-to-time, schedules are altered to address concerns from the Governor, the Legislature, or the State Board of Education.  Unfortunately, this may mean that the Education Data Warehouse (EDW) cannot deliver information in accord with timelines required by the research.

User Requirements

All persons who gain access to information from the EDW in any form must adhere to the following requirements:

Users must:

1. Understand the EDW was conceived and developed as a tool to serve the education information interests of the Legislature, the Governor, Florida Department of Education, public education systems as well as the general public. Its primary purpose is to support funding of local education agencies, required state and federal reporting, education accountability, and public reporting. As such, research outside the department can only be accommodated when resources are available.
2. Have an existing knowledge of Florida education policies, understand these policies, and use information obtained from EDW in a manner consistent with these policies.
3. Recognize that research is supported only when there is a direct benefit to the department and a correlation between the proposed research and the development of education policies within the state of Florida.
4. Include a list of requested data elements with the research proposal by using the EDW Metadata.  
5. Be responsible for the information obtained, use it appropriately ,and only for authorized purposes.
6. Destroy student-level records that have been provided from the EDW pursuant to a formal agreement within the time limitations defined in the agreement and provide certification to the EDW staff that such records have been destroyed.
7. Prior to publication/release, requester will provide any documents generated as a result of using data received from the EDW for review and verification that the intended purpose has been adhered to.
8. Understand that deliberate or accidental misuse of information may result in one or more of the following: loss of access, disciplinary action, dismissal or prosecution under the scope of all applicable federal and state laws.

 
Users must NOT:

1. Share detail data with any other individual.
2. Use data for any other purpose or research other than the specific research approved by the Florida Department of Education.
3. Make or allow any unauthorized use of information provided/generated.
4. Use the results of information provided/generated in an effort to determine the identity of any student or employee for whom data is included in the EDW.
5. Publish reports with a cell size of less than 10.  (Reports must mask these cells so that results are not revealed.)

Documents

 Security and Access Agreement

 Information Form