Early Childhood Data System (ECDS) Submission Requirements for Public Prekindergarten and Kindergarten Programs

The Early Childhood Data System (ECDS) is a feature in the Texas Student Data System (TSDS) that enables state reporting of early childhood education data. 

All school systems in Texas must report assessment data, aligned with the Texas Education Data Standards (TEDS), that are collected using instruments that are on the commissioner’s list of approved instruments for prekindergarten (19 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) §102.1003(i)(2)) and kindergarten (Texas Education Code (TEC), §28.006(d)(3)). 

Detailed information about the instruments approved by the commissioner can be found on the TEA Data Tool Selection Guidance page.

School systems can input data into the ECDS application for the kindergarten submission between Sept. 16, 2024, and Jan. 30, 2025. It is recommended that school systems start submitting available kindergarten data on Sept. 16 to allow time to resolve any potential data issues.

For prekindergarten data, school systems can start promoting and validating SIS and assessment data in the ECDS application beginning Sept. 16, 2024, and ending on June 26, 2025. School systems are encouraged to start submitting prekindergarten beginning of year (BOY) data on Sept. 16. 

Data elements to be reported in the 2024–25 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

Public Kindergarten Programs (Sept. 16, 2024, through Jan. 30, 2025)

Reporting kindergarten program data into ECDS is mandatory for all school systems. 

School systems must use an approved instrument from the commissioner’s list (TEC, §28.006(c-2)), which currently includes the following:

• Texas Kindergarten Entry Assessment (TX-KEA) by CLI Engage
• mCLASS Texas Edition by Amplify Education

More detailed information about the requirements can be found on the TEA Early Childhood Data Collection Requirements page and in the correspondence released on July 25, 2024.

Each school system will load the following data extracted from their SIS:

• Demographic information
• Special program information
• Course section information on students enrolled in kindergarten classes

Each school system will also load raw scores from its selected reading instrument vendor to enable state reporting of kindergarten readiness.

• For TX-KEA, kindergarten readiness will be determined if a student meets each benchmark for the vocabulary, letter names and spelling measures. 
• For mCLASS, kindergarten readiness will be based on meeting the specified benchmark for the composite academic subject score. 
• The readiness ranges and subjects used for determination are aligned to the 2024–25 ECDS Assessment Specifications published in TEDS. CLI Engage (TX-KEA) and Amplify (mCLASS Texas) will provide the BOY data directly to TEA. The vendors will establish the frequency of submissions and communicate the delivery schedule directly to school systems.

Kindergarten ECDS data will be available for promotion on Sept. 16, 2024. Before the final ECDS kindergarten submission, school systems must validate their student, staff, course section and assessment data by verifying data and counts on reports and resolving any fatal business validations.

Public Prekindergarten Programs (Sept. 16, 2024, through June 26, 2025)

The reporting of public prekindergarten program data into ECDS is mandatory for school systems that administer a prekindergarten program to 3-year-old and/or 4-year-old students. The collection includes the following data:

1. Demographic information
2. Special program information
3. Sources of funding for prekindergarten classes
4. Course section data needed to determine:
   1. students enrolled in school system prekindergarten classes, including the number of children who are eligible for free prekindergarten under TEC, §29.153
   2. the number of half-day and full-day prekindergarten classes offered by the school system and campus (calculated by TEA)
   3. class size (instructional staff-to-student ratio will be calculated by TEA)
5. The PK school type (PKSchoolType Descriptor Table)
6. The childcare operation number of the childcare facilities with which a school system has a prekindergarten partnership (defined as students enrolled in both the childcare and the school system)
   1. For PKSchoolType Descriptors 11 In-District Charter Partnership and 12- Public Prekindergarten Head Start (Non-school system grantee), the school system will be required to submit a Child Care Operation Number for the partnering entity. If the partner is a licensed child care provider through Child Care Regulation (CCR), the school system will enter the child care operation number assigned by CCR. If the partnering provider is NOT licensed, eight zeros, “00000000”, must be entered.

In addition to the data elements above, the following data related to high-quality prekindergarten is also required to be submitted into ECDS for those public prekindergarten programs serving eligible 4-year-old students (19 TAC §102.1003(i)):

1. BOY and EOY student progress monitoring data (see 19 TAC §102.1003(c) and (i)(2))
2. PK Teacher Requirements (see 19 TAC §102.1003(d) and (e)):
   1. Update: Beginning in the 2024–25 school year, two additional codes have been added to the PKTeacherRequirement Descriptor Table, Descriptor 98 for teachers in a school system-provided prekindergarten classroom and Descriptor 99 for teachers in a prekindergarten classroom provided by a contracted entity.
      1. Descriptor 98: PK Teacher in a school system-provided prekindergarten classroom with no additional HQPK qualification
      2. Descriptor 99: Employed PK Teacher in a prekindergarten classroom provided by a contracted entity with no additional HQPK Qualification
   2. School systems should keep documentation on file regarding the reason(s) a teacher does not meet the additional teacher qualification.
3. URL (link) to the prekindergarten family engagement plan (indicates the internet website address that connects directly to the school system’s high-quality prekindergarten family engagement plan document)
4. Program evaluation type
5. High-quality prekindergarten program indicator (student level)
6. Curriculum used in the program: The requirement for curriculum to align with the current Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines still applies to the curriculum reported as “Other.” School systems should keep documentation on file to confirm alignment with the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines when reporting Descriptor 99.

Additional Information regarding Progress Monitoring for 3-Year-Olds vs 4-Year-Olds

Student progress monitoring is an 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 their students' needs. However, in terms of required progress monitoring that enable state reporting for prekindergarten programs, there are differences between requirements for 3-year-old students and 4-year-old students.

If a 3-year-old student is served in a stand-alone prekindergarten classroom (PK3), specific progress monitoring is not required for students served.  

In mixed classrooms with both 3 and 4-year-olds, school systems should use developmentally appropriate progress monitoring for 3-year-old students. The school system may adjust monitoring for 3-year-olds or exclude 3-year-old students if it is deemed developmentally inappropriate. 

Progress monitoring is required in all prekindergarten classrooms serving eligible four-year-old students (PK4). Monitoring may not be adjusted for 4-year-old students.

If a district conducts student progress monitoring with its eligible 3-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(c)(6)).

Private Prekindergarten Programs

For the 2024–25 school year, TEA has made the decision to not collect private prekindergarten data for the optional TSDS ECDS data submission. TEA will continue to evaluate the need and ability of private prekindergarten organizations to report this data in the future through TSDS.

Extensions for ECDS Data Submission

In ongoing efforts to improve the ECDS submission process, TEA is refining the process for ECDS data submission extensions. TEA will review each school systems’ progress before considering extension requests submitted through TSDS. Please note that extension requests will not be granted for submissions started within two weeks of the submission due date. School systems with a history of consistently requesting extensions may not receive further extensions. This process aims to support timely, high-quality data submission for public prekindergarten and kindergarten programs. 

Early Childhood Education Division Support

School systems can seek training and support from their regional education service centers (ESCs) or assessment vendors. The ESC ECDS data champions, trained in TSDS and data loading, can provide technical assistance throughout the process.

The TEA Early Childhood Education Division will hold information sessions on the following dates to better support ECDS submission needs:

ECDS General Submission Guidance: 
Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. CT. Registration Link. 
Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. CT. Registration Link.

Kindergarten ECDS Submission Guidance with Instrument Vendor Breakout Sessions:
Thursday, Jan. 09, 2025, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. CT. Registration Link. 
Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. CT. Registration Link.  

Prekindergarten ECDS Submission Guidance with Instrument Vendor Breakout Sessions:
Wednesday, Apr. 30, 2025, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. CT. Registration Link. 
Monday, May 05, 2025, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. CT. Registration Link. 

Technical Assistance

For more information about ECDS or assessments, visit the Early Learning Assessments webpage. The 2024–25 ECDS Assessment Specifications can be found on the ECDS Assessment Specifications page. 

Questions regarding high-quality prekindergarten components, kindergarten programs, or assessments should be sent through the Early Childhood Education Support Portal. 

Technical questions regarding ECDS submission should be submitted via the TSDS Incident Management System (TIMS) using a TEAL log in.