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How can I access raw, student-level survey response data?

Programs:           Ascend           Catalyze          ✅ Elevate

Raw, student-level survey response data is only accessible as a paid, premium service and requires a Confidential Data Access Addendum (CDAA) to ensure students’ confidentiality is protected, the data is only used in the way it was intended, and the data is only accessed by authorized parties. This article describes exactly what is included in the raw survey data, as well as the process for receiving the data.


Note: Access the CDAA at http://perts.net/cdaa-form.

A. What raw, student-level data can PERTS provide?

The raw, student-level data provided from Ascend and Elevate is a survey response dataset, with one row per survey response, and columns indicating:

  • the identifier that students used to access the survey, 

  • their survey responses, and

  • timestamps


You may review the Ascend or Elevate codebook to learn more.

B. When is raw, student-level data shared?

The schedule for requesting and receiving raw, student-level data for the current or preceding school year is as follows:

Date range for survey responses included in the dataset

Deadline for annual CDAA submission*

Date data can be received*

August 1 - December 31

December 15

January 15

August 1 - June 15

June 1

July 1

August 1 - June 30

August 15

September 1

*Any dates that fall on a weekend or national holiday will revert to the next Monday after the date has passed.

Note: The last date to submit the CDAA at the end of each school year is August 15. The data are not available for the preceding year after September 1 because PERTS deletes all student PII every September.

C. What is the process for accessing raw, student-level data?

Raw, student-level data is only accessible as a paid, premium service and requires completion of a CDAA according to the schedule above. Note, the last date to submit the CDAA and request data at the end of each school year is August 15.


Once premium services are established, the process for submitting a CDAA and accessing raw, student-level data is simple and can be facilitated by the Ascend/Elevate Lead:

  1. An Executive Authorizer from the school(s) or district(s) that the data belong to must sign and return PERTS’ CDAA.

    1. The Executive Authorizer must be an executive (e.g., President, Chancellor, Provost, Dean, Principal, Superintendent, Executive Director, CEO) with authority to legally bind the school(s) or district to the terms of the CDAA.

  2. Authorized Parties must be explicitly named by the Executive Authorizer. Authorized Parties may be members of the school(s) or district, or they may be third parties who the Executive Authorizer wants to have access to the data.

    1. The Executive Authorizer will need to specify the names and email addresses of each Authorized Party that is allowed to receive the raw data. 

    2. Individuals who are not explicitly listed as an Authorized Party cannot receive raw data.

  3. The Ascend/Elevate Lead must communicate to their Partnership Manager the date(s) they prefer to receive the raw data, according to the schedule above.

D. Does the raw, student-level data include Personally Identifiable Information (PII)?

Yes, raw, student-level data includes both direct identifiers (e.g., student email addresses or IDs), as well as indirect identifiers (student demographic information). Many schools and districts are curious about how well students’ survey responses explain patterns in other data, e.g., to what extent their students’ math grades are associated with the relevance of math courses to their lives. The raw data we offer contains Personally Identifiable Information so that it can be linked to other data sources, such as grades, test scores, etc.


Even when students use an arbitrary identifier to access the program survey, the raw student-level data still likely contains PII. The reason for this is that students fill out their demographic information as part of the survey. In reports, data points are never revealed when a group is smaller than five individual students. Raw data is included for all students, regardless of how unique their responses are to demographic questions. Therefore, the raw, student-level data are treated as PII, even if they do not contain direct identifiers. (For more information on PII, visit perts.net/privacy.)


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