The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has released correspondence regarding the Early Childhood Data System (ECDS). The ECDS is a feature in the Texas Student Data System (TSDS) that enables state reporting of early childhood education data.
All school districts and open-enrollment charter schools in Texas must report assessment data, aligned with the Texas Education Data Standards (TEDS), that is collected using instruments that are on the commissioner’s list of approved instruments for prekindergarten and kindergarten.
School systems can complete the ECDS kindergarten submission between November 10, 2025, and January 29, 2026. For prekindergarten data, school systems can complete the ECDS prekindergarten submission between May 7, 2026, and June 25, 2026.
Public Kindergarten Programs (Due January 29, 2026)
It is mandatory for all school systems that administer a kindergarten program to report their ECDS data in TSDS.
School systems must use an approved instrument from the commissioner’s list. More detailed information about the requirements can be found on the TEA Early Childhood Data Collection Requirements page and in the correspondence released on August 7, 2025.
Each school system will load the following data extracted from its SIS:
- Demographic information
- Special program information
- Course section information on students enrolled in kindergarten classes
Kindergarten ECDS data will be available for users to complete on November 10, 2025. 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 (Due June 25, 2026)
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:
- Demographic information
- Special program information
- Sources of funding for prekindergarten classes
- Course section data
- The PK school type (PKSchoolType Descriptor Table)
- 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)
Questions regarding high-quality prekindergarten components, kindergarten programs, or assessments should be sent through the Early Childhood Education Support Portal. The full correspondence from TEA can be found here.
