TEA names data files by using the spring date (year) of the academic year. So academic year 2013-2014 is TEA File Name 2014. Although school enrollment data is collected in the fall of the academic year, the date on the file is still the spring date of the academic year.
Other TEA Information:
- School-Start Window is the period of time between the first day of school and the last Friday in September.
- There are basically two PEIMS data submissions by the school districts to TEA, in October and June.
- Summer Dropouts are attributed to the school year just completed and based on the last campus the student attended the previous school year.
- For some students who did not pass the test in the first sitting, there are additional files within the same school year which show test scores for repeat tests of the same accountability measure.
- Be careful considering what tests you need when looking at repeat testers, as sometimes the files for those testers have been packaged in the next year of testing (e.g., an October sitting for a 2012 STAAR repeat will be filed under 2013 tests).
- While tests historically span for a certain amount of time (see testing timeline), data persists on high school students for several years after a new assessment has begun. For example, high school students who start as 9th graders who began taking the TAAS were “grandfathered” in to TAAS and did not have to switch to TAKS even though all other lower grades began the TAKS.