Wisconsin DPI Data Requests

General Information

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) collects and maintains data about education in the State of Wisconsin required for state and federal reporting. 

Reporting requirements include data about:

• students,
• school finances,
• teacher licensing,
• school performance, and
• agencies. 

You can view, create, and download public reports on this data in the WISEdash Public Portal. The WISEdash Public Portal includes data about:

• non-identifying data about students,
• scholastic resources,
• performance reports and profiles,
• charter and private school data, and
• public library data. 

Help Tickets

If you need help using a DPI application, please create a Help Ticket.

Frequently Requested Data Resources

HSED/GED Transcripts

Do not complete a Data Request for transcripts. 

High School (HSED/GED) Transcripts and Credentials

If you need information for transcripts, please visit the HSED/GED Transcripts and Credentials page. Send other questions specific to HSED or GED  to this email: gedhsedadmin@dpi.wi.gov

If the school from which you need a transcript is closed, please contact the central office of the district in which your school was located. DPI cannot process requests for closed schools.

Non-Confidential Data Requests

To request public data that is not available on the DPI website, or to get help finding data, please complete a Non-Confidential Data Request form.

DPI reviews requests twice a month.

Meeting the public's information needs is one of DPI's most important parts of our work. Under the requirements of department policy and other applicable state and federal laws, DPI responds to requests for data in a timely, cost-effective, and complete manner.

Note:

This form is only for non-confidential public data or records. If you need confidential data, complete a confidential data request. See examples of confidential data and instructions for these requests below.

Confidential Data Requests

Examples of confidential data include:

• individual student-level data
• data including personally identifiable information (PII), such as student name, identification number, or demographic information
• data about groups of students without any information hidden or removed that may directly or indirectly identify individual students
• most Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) data (other than certain county-level YRBS reports),

How to request confidential data:

1. Fill out a Confidential Data Request form.
2. DPI reviews confidential data requests once a month.
3. DPI approves or rejects the request. DPI is only allowed to share confidential data under specific circumstances provided by law.
4. DPI sends you a data use agreement (DUA).
   • Please read the SAMPLE Data Use Agreements (DUAs): Research Studies Sample DUA and Audit or Evaluation Sample DUA. DPI determines which DUA is applicable after receiving a data request.
   • Please review DPI's Student Data Privacy page.
5. You and DPI both sign the DUA.
6. DPI sends you the data.
   • Usually, this is one to two months after you and DPI have signed the DUA.
   • However, this time varies based on the complexity of the request and the number of other requests DPI is processing.
   • It may take DPI six or more months to send confidential Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) data.
7. You destroy the data when you no longer need it for the project outlined in the DUA, or by the termination date listed in the DUA agreement, whichever comes first.
   • Use the Certificate of Data Destruction form to notify DPI that you destroyed all data files.
   • For more information about proper data destruction procedures, please see the U.S. Department of Education's Privacy Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) Best Practices for Data Destruction guide.

How to modify an existing confidential data use agreement

If you have an existing confidential Data Use Agreement (DUA) with DPI and need to make modifications, submit a Data Use Agreement Modification form. DPI reviews the request and notifies you if the modification is approved or if you need to submit a new Confidential Data Request form.