Early Childhood Data System (ECDS) for Kindergarten Data, Public Prekindergarten, and Private Prekindergarten Providers

The Early Childhood Data System (ECDS) is a state reporting feature in the Texas Student Data System (TSDS). All public schools and open-enrollment charter schools (LEAs) must report assessment data, aligned with the Texas Education Data Standards (TEDS), that are collected using assessments that are on the commissioner’s list of approved assessments. 

The ECDS application will be available for LEAs to load kindergarten data from November 7, 2022, through January 26, 2023. LEAs are encouraged to begin submitting kindergarten data on November 7th to allow sufficient time to work through any challenges that may arise. 

The ECDS application will be available for LEAs to load prekindergarten (PK) data from November 7, 2022, through June 22nd, 2023. *LEAs are encouraged to begin submitting PK beginning-of-year (BOY) data on November 7th to decrease the amount of data being submitted at the end of the year. 

Data elements to be reported in the 2022–2023 school year vary by type of program. Separate sections below outline the data elements for each of the following: 

• Public Kindergarten Programs 
• Public Prekindergarten Programs 
• Private Prekindergarten Programs (voluntary) 

Full details regarding the state reporting data standards can be accessed in the Texas Education Data Standards.

Public Kindergarten Programs (November 7, 2022, through January 26, 2023) 

The reporting of kindergarten program data into ECDS is mandatory for all LEAs that administer an approved tool from the commissioner’s list, which currently includes the following: 

• Texas Kindergarten Entry Assessment (TXKEA) by CLI Engage 
• mCLASS Texas Edition by Amplify Education 

More detailed information about the requirements can be found on the TEA Data Driven Instruction in Early Childhood Education page.

Data Collection 

Each LEA using TXKEA or mCLASS Texas Edition will load the following data extracted from their Student Information System (SIS): 

• demographic information 
• special program information 
• course section information on students enrolled in district kindergarten classes

CLI Engage (TXKEA) and Amplify (mCLASS Texas) will provide the BOY assessment data (under the academic subject “Composite” for Language and Literacy) directly to the Texas Education Agency (TEA). The assessment vendors will notify their LEAs of the schedule that they will use to deliver their data to TEA. 

ECDS data will be ready to promote data on November 7, 2022. Vendors will contact LEAs to establish frequency of submissions. LEAs must validate their student, staff, course section, and assessment data, and resolve any fatal business validations, prior to completing the final ECDS kindergarten submission. 

Public Prekindergarten Programs (November 7, 2022, through June 22, 2023) 

The reporting of public prekindergarten program data into ECDS is mandatory for LEAs that administer a prekindergarten program. The collection includes the following data: 

• demographic information 
• special program information 
• sources of funding for prekindergarten classes 
• course section data needed to determine:
  • students enrolled in LEA prekindergarten classes, including the number of children who are eligible for free prekindergarten under Texas Education Code (TEC), §29.153
  • the number of half-day and full-day prekindergarten classes offered by the LEA and campus (calculated by TEA)
  • class size (instructional staff-to-student ratio will be calculated by TEA) 
• the curriculum used in the program 
• the appropriate assessment tool from the list provided (if the one used is not available as an option, select “Other”) 
• the BOY and end-of-year (EOY) scores from a commissioner approved prekindergarten progress monitoring tool
  • Commissioner’s List 
• the childcare operation number of the childcare facilities with which an LEA has a prekindergarten partnership (defined as students enrolled in both the childcare and the LEA) 

In addition to the data elements above, the following data is also required to be submitted into ECDS for those public prekindergarten programs serving eligible four-year-old students: 

• BOY and EOY student assessment data collected using assessments from the commissioner-approved assessment vendors who provide a raw score for each of the following five (5) academic domains: health and wellness; language and communication; emergent literacy reading; emergent literacy writing; and mathematics

• additional teacher qualifications:
  • certification offered through a training center accredited by the Association Montessori Internationale or through the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education
  • at least eight (8) years of experience teaching in a nationally accredited child care program
  • employment 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) 
• URL (link) to the family engagement plan (the link should connect directly to the high-quality prekindergarten (HQPK) family engagement plan document) 
• program evaluation type 
• high-quality prekindergarten program indicator (student level) 

Additional Information 

If a student is served in a stand-alone PK3 (PK for three-year-old students) classroom, specific progress monitoring is not required. Progress monitoring is required in prekindergarten classrooms serving eligible four-year-old students. If a student is served in a mixed classroom (PK3 with PK for four-year-old students—PK4), where progress monitoring is required, a teacher should implement progress monitoring that is developmentally appropriate for students and may adjust monitoring for 3-year-olds or exclude 3-year-old students if it is deemed developmentally inappropriate. Student progress monitoring is a very important part of the teaching cycle and is considered a best practice with all age groups, as it enables a teacher to effectively adapt the daily classroom instruction to meet the needs of their students. If a district conducts student progress monitoring with its eligible three-year-old students using a tool from the commissioner’s list, the BOY and EOY data must be submitted into ECDS annually. This is true for both standalone PK3 classes and mixed PK3/PK4 classes (TEC, §29.1532). 

Private Prekindergarten Providers (November 7th, 2022, through June 22nd, 2023) 

The reporting of private prekindergarten program data into ECDS is optional. The data collection includes the following data: 

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

Support 

LEAs should contact their regional education service centers (ESCs) or their assessment vendors for training and support. There are staff at each ESC who have completed training for TSDS and data loading and will be able to assist in this process. 

Technical Assistance  

To provide more guidance and resources throughout the school year, the Early Childhood Education (ECE) team has been developing strategies to support LEAs with collecting and using data to monitor student progress. Potential technical assistance may include touchpoints on progress, webinars, office hours, training, surveys to understand support needs, and regular communication. As soon as the support plan is finalized, pertinent information will be posted on this webpage: Data Driven Instruction Best Practices 

Additionally, in the coming months the ECE team will solicit feedback from early educators regarding future implementation of tools to support early childhood instruction. This input will guide future plans for a comprehensive set of aligned prekindergarten through grade 2 instruments to help educators implement data-driven instruction. 

For more information regarding ECDS, visit the Data Driven Instruction in ECE page. The 2022-2023 ECDS Assessment Specifications are now posted to the TSDS Web-Enabled Data Standards (TWEDS), available on the ECDS Assessment Specifications  page. 

For more information regarding the high-quality prekindergarten components, visit HQPK . All program or policy questions should be sent to TEA staff via email at Early Childhood Education earlychildhoodeducation@tea.texas.gov. All technical questions should be submitted via the TSDS Incident Management System (TIMS), which is available within the TSDS Portal using a TEAL log in.