Delaware Student Testing Program DSTP

The Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP) is a test designed to measure progress towards the Delaware Content Standards. Students are tested in grades 2–10 in reading and mathematics, grades 5, 8, and 10 in writing, and grades 4, 6, 8, and 11 in science and social studies. The following procedure is developed for potential researchers who request the Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP) data and/or testing materials for the purposes of research studies. The potential researchers include those who are not currently employed by the State of Delaware or the state employees, such as teachers, who request the DSTP data beyond the school or school district they are currently employed. Please read the procedure carefully and follow the steps.
Step One: A cover letter and a 2-page proposal for the study should be submitted.
a. The letter should include the general purpose, a brief description of the study, the request for DSTP data and/or test materials, and contact information (e.g., e-mail address, phone number). The signature of the supervisor or advisor of the researcher(s) is requested.
b. The proposal should include purposes of the study, research questions, methodology, and the implications of the study. Detailed data request should be specified in the proposal (e.g., subject area, grade, year, variables).
c. Both the cover letter and the proposal should be in written format with original signature(s).
Step Two: The request will be reviewed by the professional staff at the Department of Education.
a. The researcher(s) may be contacted for clarification questions and/or a follow-up discussion regarding the scope of the research and requested information.
b. A letter will be mailed directly to the principal researcher on the status of approval or non-approval.
Step Three: Upon the approval, all the researchers involved in the research study must sign the following forms.
a. The Confidentiality Agreement (Form A).
b. If the researcher requests secure test materials, the Non-Disclosure Form (Form B) must be signed.
Step Four: The researcher(s) shall submit a written report to the DOE upon the completion of the study.
a. The Department of Education reserves the right to review the preliminary publication of the results of the study and narrative interpretation of study results.
b. The Department of Education reserves the right to deny the publication that includes the DSTP data and related information.
c. The final paper may be published on the Research Section of the Department Web Site.
Important Notes:
a. It is the responsibility of the researcher(s) if the data request involves additional work (e.g., re-code, match the data, develop sub-score) to the available database.
b. It is the responsibility of the researcher(s) and the cost incurred are charged to the researcher(s) if requested items are not readily available (e.g., student work).
c. If the researcher(s) requests the DSTP data for selected schools and/or school districts, the researcher(s) should contact the target school(s) or school district(s) directly for permission.
d. If the data request involves student identification (e.g., student ID, name, family economic status), the researcher(s) should submit the request to the Secretary of Education.
e. Please submit the request to
Dr. Liru Zhang
Assessments and Analysis
Townsend Building, 401 Federal Street, Suite 2
Dover, DE 19901
f. Please contact Dr. Liru Zhang at (302) 735-4090 or by e-mail lzhang@doe.k12.de.us for additional questions.

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