Texas Teens Cover - Senate

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY JANUARY 2001
Texas needs an accurate picture of the extent and nature of the problem. A
statutory definition of “dropout” would eliminate the problem of tweaking the
definition to obtain a lower dropout rate and ensure that when TEA reports a
dropout rate, it is clear which students are being counted.
During the last decade, the dropout rate in Texas has fallen. However, during
the same period TEA has changed its definition of a dropout, accounting for
some of the change. The current definition of dropouts used by TEA for
reporting dropout rates does not include students who have obtained a GED,
students who have completed their high school course requirements but failed to
pass the TAAS test necessary for graduation, and students who are expelled.
Students in these programs are not counted as dropouts. Critics, such as the
Intercultural Development Research Association, charge this leads to an
undercounting of dropouts and gives a false impression of the dropout rate in
Texas.
Currently, TEA reports an actual annual dropout rate and an actual longitudinal
dropout rate. An annual dropout rate provides a picture of how many students
drop out of school in a given year. However, this rate usually yields a low
number, often providing a false impression of the extent of the dropout problem.
A longitudinal dropout rate tells how many students dropped out over a number
of years, for example how many students dropped out of school between 7th and
12th grades. However, with this rate, TEA must make estimations to account for
students who changed schools. While the annual dropout rate for 1997-98 was
1.6 percent, the longitudinal dropout rate for the same year was 14.7 percent.
Policy Implication: TEA should implement a system for verifying data submitted by
school districts through the PEIMS Leaver Record System and school districts should be
held accountable for the information they submit. If the data used to generate the dropout
rate is not accurate and reliable, the dropout rate is meaningless.
In 1996, TEA began using the Public Education Information Management System
Leaver Record System (PEIMS) to track dropouts. PEIMS requires each school
district to account for every student in 7th through 12th grade who was enrolled
in the district the prior year. If a student is no longer enrolled, the school district
must give a reason for the student’s absence.
Policy Implication: Require schools to verify certain student information.
Even with PEIMS, data submitted by school districts is difficult to verify and
may be inaccurate. Additionally, the data is not audited. By TEA’s own analysis,
25 percent of the students reported as transferring to another district within the
state could not be found enrolled in another school district. Requiring a school to
verify certain information would provide more accurate tracking of students.
Verification could be something as simple as verifying that another school
district requested a student’s transcript.
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SENATE RESEARCH CENTER
Safe Passages: Texas Teens on the Road to Adulthood - xviii