Research Partnerships: Data Requests & Letters of Support

Requesting Research Data and Letters of Support from NCDPI

Thank you for your interest in partnering with NCDPI for research on issues related to improving student learning and instructional strategies in North Carolina public schools.

Prior to requesting data, please confirm that requested data is not publicly available (see below). NCDPI provides extensive public reports and data; please review the reports and data listed in the menu on the right side of this page and in the lists below before submitting a request.

Researchers requiring Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or record-level data (i.e., data at the individual student or staff level rather than aggregated school, district, or statewide summaries) are required to complete the following forms as the first step in partnering with NCDPI:  

Please note that if you are requesting only a letter of support for a grant or other proposal and the letter references or anticipates the use of NCDPI record level or PII data, once you are notified that the project will proceed (for example, upon receipt of a grant award notice), you will still be required to submit a formal Research Data Request form.

Approval Criteria

Consideration will only be given to data requests that meet one or more of the following criteria:  

  • NCDPI Sponsorship. Data requests may be approved when the proposed research is sponsored by a program area within the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Sponsorship should be documented through a DPI division, office, or program lead (for example, the Office of Research & Promising Practices).
  • Strategic Alignment. Data requests may be approved when the proposed research clearly aligns with the goals and objectives of the State Board of Education or the Superintendent of Public Instruction. For example, requests may describe how the study supports the joint strategic plan Achieving Educational Excellence: 2025–2030 Strategic Plan for North Carolina Public Schools.
  • Evidence for Practice. Data requests may be approved when the proposed research clearly focuses on improving teaching and learning in North Carolina public schools. Priority is given to studies that generate actionable evidence and/or tangible products for improving student outcomes, instructional practice, and school- and district-level decision making.

Prior to submission, we strongly encourage researchers to identify a program sponsor and discuss the request. Once the appropriate form is submitted, it will be reviewed by our internal Research Review Committee for approval during the next monthly meeting.

Please note that we do not process research requests from undergraduate students and are unable to process requests from graduate students at this time. Any such submissions will not be approved. We encourage you to make use of the publicly available data sources listed below to support your research efforts or to contact the North Carolina Education Research Data Center at Duke University (see below). 

Prior to making a request, please review this slide deck on the NC DPI Data Request process: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/153rcYEYPfOW2B26doXOUm8UvAOJaqEjPmwrT3jDZ3RU

The link below inlcudes a sound recording of the presentation: https://dpi-nc.zoomgov.com/rec/share/oB1SNZBK44mRnBa_B8E5EA3iSdV5gX-aA6…
Passcode: UyU@k9g7

The Review Process

All Research Data Request and Letter of Support forms are reviewed by the NCDPI Research Review Committee, a cross-agency group of DPI directors that meets monthly to consider new requests. The committee evaluates whether each proposal meets statutory requirements under G.S. 115C-402.5, aligns with agency priorities, and has an appropriate NCDPI sponsor before making an approval decision. Typical steps in the review process include: 

  1. an initial staff review to confirm that the request is complete and to identify a potential NCDPI sponsor;
  2. discussion and decision by the Research Review Committee at its next monthly review meeting (2nd Tuesday of each month);
  3. notification to the requester with the decision and, if approved, next steps for privacy review, data sharing agreements, and timelines for data delivery.

To be considered in a given month’s meeting, Research Data Request and Letter of Support forms must be submitted by the first Monday of each month; requests submitted after this deadline will not be considered until the following review cycle.

Researcher Responsibilities After Approval

If a request is approved, researchers are expected to work closely with their NCDPI sponsor to refine research questions, confirm the study design, clarify data availability, plan how results will be shared with practitioners and policymakers. 

Researchers must complete and share with NCDPI all required documentation, including: 

  • Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with NCDPI
  • Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval from their institution
  • Privacy or security forms (e.g., a Privacy Threshold Analysis) that may be required by NCDPI or their home institution

Researchers are expected to comply with the data security and access provisions outlined in those agreements. Once data are provided, researchers must: 

  • use the data only for the approved purposes,
  • protect confidentiality consistent with state and federal privacy laws, and
  • follow all requirements for termination of access and data destruction at the end of the project. 

When the study is complete, researchers must submit a one-page summary of methods and a two-page summary of findings for use in communicating results to educators and decision-makers at least 30 days before publishing or publicly presenting results based on NCDPI data.

Researchers Who Do Not Meet Criteria for NCDPI Sharing

If you do not meet the criteria above (for example, undergraduate or graduate students, or projects that do not have NCDPI sponsorship), you may wish to explore alternative sources of North Carolina education data:

  • North Carolina Education Research Data Center (NCERDC) at Duke University. NCERDC maintains anonymized, longitudinal data on North Carolina students, educators, schools, and districts and provides access to eligible university, nonprofit, and government researchers through its own application process, review timeline, and fee structure. Please note that NCERDC charges data preparation, data linking, and/or access fees; these costs are set and collected solely by NCERDC and cannot be waived or covered by NCDPI. For more information about NCERDC data, application procedures, and terms of use, please visit the NCERDC website.

  • North Carolina Longitudinal Data Service (NCLDS). NCLDS provides secure access to deidentified, cross-sector, longitudinal data that link early childhood, K–12, postsecondary, and workforce information to address statewide education and workforce questions. Researchers and other partners can request custom, cross-sector datasets through NCLDS’s own data request process, which includes its own review criteria, timelines, and potential cost structures. For more information about access pathways, available data, and request procedures, please visit the NCLDS website.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about research data requests or letters of support from NCDPI, please email research@dpi.nc.gov.

North Carolina Public Data Sources for Researchers

NCDPI has publicly available data sets on Student, Educator, and School Performance which can be used to assist in research at the school and/or district level; and supports a set of dashboards.

Requests for email addresses and other contact information for parents/guardians and school/district staff should be directed to the administrative points of contact in Local Education Agencies (LEAs) and other Public School Units (PSUs).

Dashboards:

Interactive Websites:

  • EDDIE: School Characteristics/Staff interactive website and reports, including contact information for all LEAs and PSUs in North Carolina.
  • NC School Report Cards - Interactive website that allows users to view student performance and growth, school characteristics, student demographics, and more at the district and school levels.
  • Statistical Profile (Tips for Using the Statistical Profile): Interactive website of financial and school data

Websites, Workbooks and Surveys:

External Public Data Sources for Researchers

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