Enrollment in Texas Public Schools: 2008-2009 Page: 1
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Enrollment in Texas
Enrollment is typically defined as the number of students registered in a school at a designated time
in the school year. In this report, enrollment refers to the number of students enrolled in early education
through Grade 12 in the Texas public school system as of the last Friday in October. This designated day
is called the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) "snapshot date." Enrollment
counts are available for all campuses, school districts, charter schools, counties, education service center
regions, and the state.
Enrollment data in Texas include student demographic information, such as ethnicity, gender, and
economically disadvantaged status, and information on student participation in special programs. Data
on student characteristics and program participation are essential for monitoring educational progress and
planning educational programs at all levels of the education system.
Financial planners and civic leaders use enrollment data to monitor the educational needs of a com-
munity. For example, a growing community will consider current enrollment data when making decisions
to add teachers or adjust school programs in the short term. For long-term planning purposes, districts use
enrollment trend data to predict and respond to changing needs in areas such as school facilities.
Texas public school enrollment data are used at the regional and state levels for education policy
planning, administration, and research. Because enrollment trends reflect changes in society as a whole,
the Texas Education Agency (TEA), state legislature, and research organizations use enrollment data to
prepare for the future educational needs of Texas. Enrollment data allow the computation of many vital
statistics about the Texas public education system, such as student/teacher ratios and the percentages of
students passing the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test.
Since 1994, accountability ratings for Texas public schools and districts have been based on legisla-
tively mandated indicators that draw from enrollment data collected by the TEA. Texas law provides that
"Performance on the indicators adopted ... must be based on information that is disaggregated by race,
ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status ...." (Texas Education Code [TEC] 39.051, 2007). As a re-
sult, performance is reported by total student population and by student group categories, such as ethnic-
ity and economically disadvantaged status.
Data on annual school report cards, which are provided to students' families, also must be reported
by student group (TEC 39.052, 2007). In addition, the Comprehensive Annual Report on Texas Public
Schools must provide to the legislature "a summary compilation of overall student performance on aca-
demic skills assessment instruments ... disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic sta-
tus" (TEC 39.182, 2007).
Enrollment data also are required by federal education legislation. For example, the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) (2002) obliges states to submit data for all students by the follow-ing categories: "economically disadvantaged students; students from major racial and ethnic groups; stu-
dents with disabilities; and students with limited English proficiency" (pp. 1446-1447). Likewise, ESEA
requires state report cards to be submitted annually with "information, in the aggregate, on student
achievement ... disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, disability status, migrant status, English profi-
ciency, and status as economically disadvantaged" (p. 1457).
In 2008-09, a broad range of information was collected through PEIMS on more than 1,200 school
districts and open-enrollment charters; more than 8,500 schools; more than 325,000 teachers; and more
than 4.7 million students. Texas public school students are served in markedly diverse school settings.
Districts that year ranged in size from less than one square mile to nearly five thousand square miles.
Fewer than 20 students attended school in the Divide Independent School District in 2008-09. In contrast,Enrollment in Texas Public Schools, 2008-09
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Texas Education Agency. Division of Accountability Research. Enrollment in Texas Public Schools: 2008-2009, report, November 2009; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1594018/m1/13/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.