Child Find (SPPI-11 & SPPI-12) Submission in the Texas Student Data System for the SY 2022–2023

This letter notifies local educational agencies (LEAs) that the Texas Student Data System (TSDS) Child Find collection for the school year (SY) 2022–2023 opened on September 12, 2022, for LEAs to promote data for students with a SPED-ELIGIBILITY-DETERMINATION-DATE (E1716) between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023. LEAs can start completing their Child Find submission on May 15, 2023, and the submission deadline to clear fatal validation errors and complete the submission is July 27, 2023, at 11:59 PM. 

LEAs are strongly encouraged to begin promoting Child Find data as soon as possible to ensure all information systems are working properly and any concerns (e.g., data validation errors and issues with the student information system (SIS)) can be addressed prior to completing the Child Find submission. 

Child Find Background 

Child Find includes State Performance Plan Indicator 11 (SPPI-11; Timely Initial Evaluation) and SPPI-12 (Early Childhood Transition). Both indicators assess procedural compliance with state and federal requirements for the special education evaluation process (Part B Measurement Table). 

Child Find Submission Timeline (SY 2022–2023) 

The following table lists the Child Find submission timeline for the SY 2022–2023. 

Note. The submission timeline is posted on the TSDS Web-Enabled Data Standards (TWEDS) website. 

Child Find Submission Responsibility

LEA special education program staff are responsible for the accuracy and timely submission of data for Child Find. LEA special education leadership should coordinate with their LEA’s TSDS data steward to ensure timely and accurate data are submitted for the Child Find collection. 

LEAs must submit data for all children with a SPED-ELIGIBILITY-DETERMINATION-DATE (E1716) that falls between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023. To ensure data quality, LEAs should make every effort to understand and clear any data validations errors prior to completing their Child Find data submission. 

Two common validation errors that LEAs experienced during the previous collection include: 

• LEAs must submit an ECI EFFECTIVE-DATE (E1632) for all children who received early childhood intervention (ECI) services and were referred to the LEA as potentially eligible for early childhood special education (ECSE). The ECI Effective Date is the date the child started receiving ECI services and not the date they started receiving special education services. This date is used to determine which children are included in SPPI-12. Children in ECI for 90 calendar days or more before their third birthday are included in the compliance calculation for SPPI-12. However, children in ECI fewer than 90 calendar days before their third birthday are included in the compliance calculation for SPPI-11. If the ECI EFFECTIVE DATE is not entered or entered incorrectly (e.g., special education start date is entered rather than the ECI start date), then the child may not be included in SPPI-12. 
• LEAs must submit a delay reason when noncompliance occurs for a child. A delay reason may be needed for either the EVALUATION-DELAY-REASON (E1718) and/or the ELIGIBILITY-DELAY-REASON (E1731), as defined by the DELAY-REASON-CODE (DC164). Delay reason codes 05 and 07 provide the only delay reason exceptions to the timeframe requirements. 

Child Find Resources and Support 

The agency provides the following resources to support LEAs with the Child Find collection: 

• ESC Child Find Champions – TSDS uses a train-the-trainer model, where TEA trains ESC Child Find Champions and ESC Child Find Champions provide support to LEAs: 
  • ESC TSDS Child Find Champions for Regions 1–10 
  • ESC TSDS Child Find Champions for Regions 11–20 
• TIMS Tickets – LEAs should submit a TSDS Incident Management System (TIMS) ticket available within the TSDS portal for technical, student data, and report related questions. 
• TSDS Knowledge Base Articles – Within TIMS, accessible through the TSDS portal, there exist three Knowledge Base articles about Child Find. 
  • Child Find: SPPI-11 Compliance Flow Chart (TSDSKB-620) 
  • Child Find: SPPI-12 Compliance Flow Chart (TSDSKB-621) 
  • Child Find: Child Find Frequently Asked Questions (TSDSKB-622) 
• TSDS Web-Enabled Data Standards (TWEDS) – The TWEDS site includes a listing of data elements, code tables, data valuation rules, and the data submission timeline for Child Find. 
• SPP Guidance – A collection of guidance documents are provided on the SPPI-11 and the SPPI-12 webpages under the “Resources” section, including flow charts and data element guidance. 
  • State Performance Plan Indicator 11 
  • State Performance Plan Indicator 12 
• TEA Special Education Technical Assistance 
  • TEA Child Find, Evaluation, and ARD Supports Network 
  • TEA Student-Centered Transitions Network (SCTN) 
• Early Childhood Transition Memorandum of Understanding 

Contact 

LEAs should submit a TIMS ticket within the TSDS portal for technical, measurement, policy, student data, and report related questions. TIMS tickets are then routed to the appropriate staff in either TSDS or the Division of Special Education Program, Policy, Engagement, and Reporting.