Early Childhood Data System (ECDS) for Public Prekindergarten, High Quality Prekindergarten Grant Program, Private Prekindergarten Providers and Kindergarten Data

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 February 6, 2017

TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED

Subject: Early Childhood Data System (ECDS) for Public Prekindergarten, High Quality Prekindergarten Grant Program, Private Prekindergarten Providers and Kindergarten Data

The Early Childhood Data System (ECDS) is a state reporting feature in the Texas Student Data System (TSDS). In the 2016-2017 school year, several changes will occur to the ECDS application due to House Bill 4 and the changes to Texas Education Code (TEC) 29.1532, Prekindergarten Program Requirements. All public schools will be required to report additional data elements for public prekindergarten programs at the district and campus level through PEIMS and ECDS. Improved collection methods will also eliminate duplication in data entry. The ECDS data submission will be available beginning February 13, 2017 and continuing through August 17, 2017.

Existing and new data elements to be reported beginning in the 2016–2017 school year for public prekindergarten programs, high quality prekindergarten grant programs, private providers and public kindergarten data are:

Public Prekindergarten Programs

  • demographic information on students enrolled in district prekindergarten classes, including the number of students who are eligible for classes under TEC § 29.153
  • the numbers of half-day and full-day prekindergarten classes offered by the district and campus
  • the sources of funding for the prekindergarten classes
  • class size (instructional staff-to-student ratio will be calculated by TEA)
  • the type of curriculum
    • The Texas DLM Early Childhood Express
    • Opening the World of Learning: Texas Comprehensive Pre-K
    • Big Day for PreK Texas Program
    • High Scope Preschool Curriculum and Assessment
    • Frog Street Pre-K Texas System
    • Teaching Strategies System for Pre-K, Texas Edition
    • We Can! Texas Classroom System
    • Locally Developed
    • Other
     
  • the type of commissioner approved prekindergarten progress monitoring tool and results (if administered) for the Beginning of Year (BOY) and End of Year (EOY) which includes a raw score, composite score or overall percentile for each of the following five (5) Academic Domains: Social and Emotional Development, Language and Communication, Emergent Literacy Reading, Emergent Literacy Writing and Mathematics.
    • Behavior Assessment for Children English
    • Behavior Assessment for Children Spanish
    • Bracken School Readiness Assessment English
    • Bracken School Readiness Assessment Spanish
    • CIRCLE Progress Monitoring System
    • Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals – Preschool 2 English
    • Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals – Preschool 2 Spanish
    • COR Advantage
    • Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning, 4th Edition English
    • Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning, 4th Edition Spanish
    • Early Screening Inventory English
    • Early Screening Inventory Spanish
    • Expressive Vocabulary Test, 2nd Edition
    • GOLD
    • Investigator Club Prekindergarten Assessment & Intervention System
    • Istation’s Indicators of Progress Early Reading English
    • Istation’s Indicators of Progress Early Reading Spanish
    • Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, 3rd Edition
    • Learning Accomplishment Profile 3rd
    • Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, 4th
    • Preschool First
    • Preschool Learning Scales-5 English
    • Preschool Learning Scales-5 Spanish
    • Ready, Set, K
    • Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, 3rd English
    • Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, 3rd Spanish
     
  • an LEA is exempt from the ECDS progress monitoring portion of state reporting if they are using a progress monitoring tool other than those listed above. The LEA should notify TEA of its choice of progress monitoring by email at ecds@tea.texas.gov and must also retain the progress monitoring data should the TEA decide to collect the data at a later date. The other data elements listed above are still required to be reported in ECDS.

High Quality Prekindergarten Grant Programs

  • demographic information, classroom link and special programs information on students enrolled in district prekindergarten classes, including the number of students who are eligible for classes under TEC § 29.153
  • the numbers of half-day and full-day prekindergarten classes offered by the district and campus
  • the sources of funding for the prekindergarten classes
  • class size (instructional staff-to-student ratio will be calculated by TEA)
  • the type of curriculum (same list as above)
  • the type of commissioner approved prekindergarten progress monitoring tool (same list as above) and results
  • additional Teacher Qualification:
    • certification offered through a training center accredited by Association Montessori Internationale or through the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education
    • at least eight (8) years experience of teaching in a nationally accredited child care program
    • be employed as a prekindergarten teacher in a school district that has ensured specific early childhood education professional development has been met
    • a graduate or undergraduate degree in early childhood education or early childhood special education
    • a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential or
    • documented completion of the Texas School Ready Training Program (TSR Comprehensive)
     
  • family engagement URL
  • High Quality Prekindergarten Grant Program Indicator (student level)
  • Report each kindergarten student’s raw score on kindergarten BOY reading instrument.  See directions below.  

Private Prekindergarten Providers

  • Demographic, classroom link and special program information on four-year-old students enrolled in a licensed child care or Head Start programs

Public Kindergarten Data

  • Demographic, classroom link and special program information on students enrolled in district prekindergarten classes
  • report each kindergarten student’s raw score on kindergarten BOY reading instruments
  • districts administering one of the reading assessments below will be required to provide BOY kindergarten data:
    • Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, Next (DIBELS Next)
    • easyCBM
    • Indicadores Dinámicos del Éxito en la Lectura (IDEL)
    • Istation’s Indicators of Progress (ISIP)
    • Istation’s Indicators of Progress (ISIP-Spanish)
    • Measures of Academic Progress (MAP)
    • PAPI English/Spanish
    • Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS)
    • Reading Analysis and Prescription System (RAPS 360)
    • Texas Primary Reading Inventory (TPRI)
    • Tejas LEE
    • Woodcock-Johnson III Diagnostic Reading Battery
     

The ECDS data will be used to inform stakeholders, such as educators, parents, and legislators, about the effectiveness of prekindergarten programs in preparing children for success in kindergarten under Texas Education Code (TEC) §29.161. The ECDS prekindergarten data collection is required for public schools and voluntary for Head Start programs, and licensed child care programs to submit prekindergarten data for the 2016-2017 school year.

Organizations should contact their regional education service centers (ESCs) or a certified vendor for ECDS training and support. All ESC staff have completed training for TSDS and data loading and will be able to assist in this process.

If you have additional policy questions, please contact TEA staff via email at ecds@tea.texas.gov. All technical questions should be submitted via the TSDS Incident Management System (TIMS), which is available within the ECDS application.

Sincerely,

 

Marnie Glaser
Executive Director
Early Childhood Education

Attachments: Instructions on the Data Submission Process and Private PK Request to Participate