Requesting Access to PELS Data

You may request access to the actual PELS data for research purposes. The PELS team at the Philadelphia Education Fund will review your request and, hopefully, grant a provisional acceptance. However, before any data can be released, a written agreement is required. The Philadelphia Education Fund requires that the agreement include the following items:

• A completed PELS Data Request Form

• Overview of Proposed Research
  Please give a brief description (about 500 words) of your proposed project. Make sure to include your research question(s), your timetable, and the nature of your final report (i.e., a course paper, a publishable academic article, a journalistic article, etc.) Your proposal should explain why you need the requested data sets.

• An anticipated completion date of the project

Decisions will be made by the Philadelphia Education Fund on a case by case basis. Additionally, please note that while the Philadelphia Education Fund is able to link PELS data to official records from the School District of Philadelphia Criminal and Birth Records from the state of Pennsylvania, we are unable to release the city and state information to outside researchers.

If your proposal is accepted, a title/topic will be posted under the research in progress page.

Please allow the staff of the Philadelphia Education Fund 3-5 business days to review your request and respond via email. At that point, if your request is approved, we will ask that you mail a proof of your IRB approval. Thank you for your interest in using the PELS data.

If you have any questions, please contact David Ford, Assistant Director, Social Science Data Library.