State board approves data-sharing agreement for BYU doctoral research with conditions on access

The Utah State Board of Education approved a data-sharing agreement that will allow researcher Liz Bernfeld to access a Utah-specific student identifier and associated data for doctoral research, after members pressed staff about who would see personally identifiable information and how it would be protected.

Chair Carey put the motion before the board to approve the data-sharing agreement identified in the meeting as "USBE250070RA." Member Boggess asked why this request had advanced when the board had rejected similar agreements in the past; Boggess said, “I found it interesting, chair Carey, that that this came through the committee because the board has rejected many data sharing agreements similar to this in the past.”

Katie Chalice, Director of Privacy at USBE, and Deputy Superintendent Leah Voorhees explained the access provisions. Chalice said that the doctoral researcher’s advisor and some professors listed in the agreement’s “additional researchers” section would have access and that the access would be limited to personnel “inside of BYU.” Chalice also said that the dataset contains a unique USBE student identifier that qualifies as personally identifiable information (PII) but is “the safest version of that that we offer” because it is an agency-specific ID rather than a local education agency identifier or Social Security number.

Several board members asked whether the agreement requires the researcher to return results to the board. Voorhees noted the researcher is contractually required to share publications with the board (page 14 of the agreement), and Member Earl said the project “is 1 of the better research projects I’ve seen” to measure state investments in early literacy. Board members also raised the risk of re-identification if datasets with multiple indicators were disclosed; Chalice and Voorhees reiterated safeguards and institutional accountability, saying Brigham Young University would be accountable if data were leaked.

The motion before the board — to approve the data-sharing agreement with Liz Bernfeld (USBE250070RA) — was then voted on and approved by the board. The transcript does not record a final numeric roll-call tally for that item in the excerpted blocks; board members present voiced support and reservations during discussion and conditioned support on the documented safeguards and the researcher’s obligation to share findings with USBE.

Ending: The agreement permits controlled access to an agency student identifier for doctoral research under the terms in the contract; staff described who would have access, institutional accountability, and the researcher’s obligation to share results with the board.