District Type, 2019-20

Overview

TEA District Types

TEA classifies Texas public school districts into community types using factors such as enrollment, growth in enrollment, economic status, and proximity to urban areas. These community types, or "district types," group districts into eight categories ranging from major urban to rural. Charter school districts make up a ninth category. TEA uses district type classifications in reporting and monitoring systems. For more information on the 2019-20 district type category descriptions, see the glossary.

NCES District Types

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) classifies districts using factors such as population size and proximity to urbanized areas. The NCES places districts into 12 categories, also known as locale classifications or locale codes. The NCES locale framework is composed of four basic types (City, Suburban, Town, and Rural). Each type comprises three subtypes. The subtypes are differentiated by size (in the case of City and Suburban assignments) and proximity (in the case of Town and Rural assignments). Within the NCES system, charter school districts are assigned one of the twelve categories; there is not a separate category for charter school districts. For more information on the 2019-20 NCES district type category descriptions, see the glossary.

Data Download

2019-20 District Type Data

The Excel (.xlsx) file below includes Texas public school districts categorized by TEA and NCES district types. The file includes three worksheets that can be accessed using the tabs at the bottom of the workbook. In addition to the dataset, the workbook also provides an overview of the data as well as a data dictionary that defines the variable names in the dataset. To download the file, please click the following link:

Texas public school districts categorized by TEA and NCES district types

This page last updated July 2021