NCES Site Licensing

You should understand that each data set is also available in a "public use" format. The problem with these public-use versions, however, is that they turn interval-level data (e.g., school size, test scores, and so forth) into categorical variables. This seriously compromises the suitability of the public-use data sets for serious statistical analysis. Only the restricted-use data set permits the sorts of analyses we expect in a research enterprise.

Federal law about gathering information on individuals is, of course, quite stringent. At the same time, gathering information for this massive data sets is very costly - and that means that it makes sense to get the data into the hands of responsible researchers. Otherwise, only the government would be able to use the data.

For this reason, NCES some time ago devised a way to straddle the horns of this particular dilemma - the dilemma of providing access while safeguarding the confidentiality of individuals. The resolution of the dilemma is the restricted-use data site license. By completing an application, including affidavits of non-disclosure from researchers who will use the data, developing a security plan, and agreeing to submit to on-site inspections, researchers can obtain the datasets.

ACCLAIM, via the Research Initiative at Ohio University, has obtained a site license from NCES. We can add researchers to the license (OU faculty, ACCLAIM doctoral students, other colleagues), but these researchers must use the secure machine on site at the RI offices in McCracken Hall. Data cannot be duplicated or shared by a license holder.

Obtaining your own site license, if at a university or other research setting, is not difficult. NCES materials guide you very clearly through the process. Their procedures manual (accessible via the preceeding link) provides templates for the application letter, for the security plan, together with blank affidavits and a very clear explanation of the three computer security alternatives. The expense involved pertains to the computer set up (we opted for a non-networked, standalone computer) and secure (i.e., locked) storage for the computer and data.

For descriptions of the various NCES data sets (some do not contain individually-identifiable information and are freely available in their original format), check out the NCES gateway page to its "Survey and Program Areas." Of particular interest for many ACCLAIM researchers, however, will be the elementary and secondary data sets.