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2014 Board of Education
Juliet Stipeche, President
Rhonda Skillern-Jones, First Vice President
Manuel Rodriguez, Jr., Second Vice President
Anna Eastman, Secretary
Wanda Adams, Assistant Secretary
Paula Harris
Michael Lunceford
Greg Meyers
Harvin C. Moore
Terry B. Grier, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools
Houston Independent School District
Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center
4400 West 18th Street
Houston, Texas 77092-8501
Web site: www.houstonisd.org
Employees of the District shall not discriminate on the basis of or engage in harassment motivated by age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, sex, handicap or disability, marital status,
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religion, veteran status, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression.
3 Table of Contents :
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
I. INFORMATION a. Base Definition b. Key Points
II. ACTION a. Timeline Calendar b. Data Gathering and Analysis i. PID/PET Reports ii. SIS Reports c. Campus Coordination iii. Data Quality Steps and Scenarios
III. DATA STANDARDS AND ACCOUNTABILITY a. Leavers i. Definition ii. Documentation and Timelines iii. Changing Leaver Codes iv. Signatures v. Withdrawal Documentation vi. Supplemental Documentation vii. Detailed Summary of Leaver Reasons and Documentation b. Movers i. Definition ii. Verification iii. Avoiding Underreported Students c. GED Certificate Recipients i. Out of State ii. In State d. Withdrawal due to Non-Attendance e. Home Schooling f. Unaccredited Private Schools g. Measures, Calculations and Formulae
IV. DROPOUT PREVENTION & RECOVERY a. Categories of Dropout Recoveries i. Students with Barriers ii. Disengaged Students
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iii. Students Missing in Action iv. Students Missing only Exit Level TAKS b. Dropout Prevention Committee Members c. Dropout Prevention Committee Meetings d. Dropout Prevention Committee Targets i. Adult Students ii. Truant Students iii. Previous Dropouts iv. Recent LEP/Immigrant Students v. Off-Track Students vi. Students with Failing Grades vii. Students with Social Barriers viii. Students with Medical Barriers ix. Students with Mental Health Barriers x. Students who are Pregnant/Parenting/Care Takers xi. Students with Behavioral Issues e. The Role of the Counselor f. The Role of the Nurse
V. RESOURCES
a. Summary of Leaver Codes
b. At-Risk Coding and Monitoring
c. Home School Letters from the Commissioner
d. Glossary
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Dropout, completion and graduation rates published by the Texas Education
Agency (TEA), are a key component of the state‟s Academic Excellence Indicator
System (AEIS) and the federal Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). This guide presents the state adopted standards of the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) for such identification and reporting through the Public Education Information Management
System (PEIMS), as well as the method of calculation, the measures for accountability purposes, required and recommended actions, and resources for the study of dropouts, dropout prevention, services for At-Risk students, counseling and guidance, dropout recovery and options for completion.
Underlying the shared effort of reducing the dropout rate are the campus efforts to address the individual needs of students at risk of dropping out of school. Houston
Independent School District has adopted a Professional Learning Community approach to the important committee work needed to effectively identify at-risk students and provide appropriate interventions in a timely manner. This PLC is known as the campus Dropout Recovery, Intervention and Prevention (DRIP) Committee.
The principal is ultimately responsible for having procedures in place at the campus level to work towards dropout prevention, recovery, completion and the accurate documentation and coding of all leavers. Campus decisions should be made based on data and reports gathered through a variety of sources. Campus coordination includes teamwork among counselors, teachers, advocates, data and attendance personnel, administration, community members, district resources, and most importantly students at risk of dropping out.
“…dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It’s not just quitting on yourself, it’s quitting on your country and this country needs and values the talents of every American. That is why we will provide the support necessary for you to complete college and meet a new global goal: by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.”
President Barack Obama
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BASE DEFINITION
Under National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) definition, a dropout is a student who is enrolled in public school in Grades 7-12, does not return to public school the following fall, is not expelled, and does not graduate, receive a GED certificate, continue high school outside the public school system, begin college, or die.
As required by the Texas State Legislature, The Texas Education Agency has adopted the standards of the National Center for Educational Statistics for determining
Completion Rates and for identification of Dropouts. The standards used are those which are reported through PEIMS for AEIS and AYP accountability purposes.
KEY POINTS
Data Standards
All Withdrawals are either Leavers or
Movers
Leaver – a leaver is a student who leaves Texas public education for an approved reason or is a dropout (code
98)
Mover – a student who moves to another Texas Public School
(including all state charters)
The Leaver Reason of 98 is a potential dropout.
Key Points
Movers are coded locally as 80 (other TX school), or
88 (other HISD school)
All 98‟s will be processed through the State PEIMS/PID Filter
System which will remove any student identified as having subsequently enrolled in another Texas public school, or having received a Texas GED Certificate dated by August 31, of the year of accountability
98‟s without subsequent enrollment in a Texas Public School or a timely Texas GED Certificate will be dropouts
Movers require Verification
Leavers require Documentation
Exclusions from the dropout and completion rate calculations:
Previous Dropouts
ADA Ineligible Students
Court-Ordered GEDs, not earned
Incarcerated Students in Adult
Facilities
Refugees and Asylees
Dropouts count to last year of attendance
Appeals allowed only for incorrect charges
New Leaver Codes will identify students court-ordered to receive a GED and students incarcerated as adults.
Other PEIMS coding will identify previous dropouts, ADA ineligible students and refugees/asylees.
No-Shows this year (2012-2013) will count on 2011-2012 AEIS
Reporting System
Data can no longer be corrected through appeals process. If we made a mistake we own it.
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These categories are not removed from the dropout category
School Start Window
(First day of school through last Friday of September)
Middle School Accountability:
Annual Dropout Rate for 7 th
and 8 th grade students
High School Campus of Accountability for DAEP referrals charged to referring campus (see exception below)
Middle School Campus of
Accountability for DAEP referrals moves to the zoned high school when student begins attending as a classified 9 th
grader.
Duplicate Records. If more than one district reports a student as a dropout, and the last district of attendance cannot be determined, the student will be counted as a dropout for both districts.
Students who SHOULD return to school in the fall, must do so by the end of the school start window (appearing on ADA by
Friday , September 26, 2014 ). Students who should be in school but are in no educational setting during the school start window will be counted as a dropout.
Middle School is responsible for 8 th
graders who do not show subsequent enrollment in ninth grade anywhere in the state.
Middle school‟s responsibility ends from the first day the student begins attending 9 th
grade.
Campuses are responsible for keeping track of their referrals to a DAEP and should not assume that student has continuing enrollment. Campuses have to work every student referred the whole time the student is assigned to the DAEP.
If an 8 th
grader is referred to a DAEP and the student is promoted to the ninth grade while still assigned to the DAEP and the student is a no show or stops attending the DAEP, the dropout is charged to the zoned high school, whether the high school has ever seen him or not.
*Seniors who completed all course requirements but did not graduate due to missing portions of TAKS must enroll during the school start window if they do not qualify under an approved Leaver Reason. Such students should enroll at the last campus of attendance, even if not in membership, and be served with TAKS preparation courses. Principals are encouraged to assist such students in seeking TAKS
Remediation at any cooperating school in HISD which may be closer to the student‟s current residence or place of employment.
Note: Migrant students who return after the school-start window are still not counted as dropouts. Students who first enrolled in the U.S. in grades 7-12 as unschooled refugees or asylees may not be counted as dropouts.
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TIMELINE CALENDAR
TIME TASK
Campus will determine Graduation Support Committee members (including
Student Caseworker assigned to campus and Graduation Coach) and meeting time.
District DRIP will determine members and meeting times.
Schedule regular meetings of Graduation Support Committee.
Notify members.
Document meetings (including agenda and sign-in roster).
Maintain documentation in binder, available for administrative review.
Develop a campus-wide attendance incentive and intervention plan and training module for faculty, staff, students and parents
Attend Leaver In-Service conducted by Federal & State Compliance or complete online training.
Run / Review Reports – from Chancery (previous year database).
H Leaver Roster This list will become the basis for your master leaver roster.
H Withdrawn Students Demographic Report.
H Active Student Demographic. Keep as reference for no-show student contact information.
H WD 88 (verify subsequent enrollment in HISD).
Run / Review Reports – from Edit+ (PID Subapp link).
PET5C001 – PET Potential Movers Showing Withdrawn.
PET5C002 – PET Potential Movers Not Showing Withdrawn.
PET6C001 – PET Potential Leavers Showing Withdrawn.
PET6C002 – PET Potential Continuing Students Not Showing Withdrawn.
Run / Review Report – from Edit+ TREx
TREx Transaction Status Report to determine if records have been requested by other Texas public schools.
Run / Review Report – available from Principal reports on HISD website portal.
Campus of Accountability to identify students who may be attending another campus such as a Harper, Community Services, DAEP or JJAEP.
Review students who have been referred to disciplinary placements.
List of students who were referred to DAEP or JJAEP last year.
Determine which students should be returning to DAEP/JJAEP.
Determine which students should be returning to your campus.
Review list of transfer students, focusing on non-renewals.
List of students who were transfer students last year, but were not renewed for this year.
Determine if students are now enrolled at another school. If not enrolled at another school, your campus is still accountable for the students (now dropouts).
(High Schools) Review Roster – from campus registrar.
List of non-graduating seniors from last year.
Determine which students need only State Assessment(s) for graduation.
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Determine which students need both State Assessment(s) and coursework.
Determine which students need only coursework.
Enroll students as ADA eligibility code “0” if provided State Assessment services/support only. Document services (sign-in rosters, etc).
Enroll as appropriate ADA eligibility code if enrolled in scheduled coursework: Full Day (ADA 1) or Half Day (ADA 2).
Enroll students as ADA elig ibility code “7” or “8” if participating in Optional
Flexible School Day Program (OFSDP). Document participation on HISD provided forms.
Refer non-graduated seniors to Graduation Coach for State Assessment prep and/or Credit Recovery
Identify students who were receiving PRS, Homebound or other
Community Services at the end of last school year for possible enrollment or continued services
Identify school and community resources and partners for student services
Identify school programs and pathways for student options such as CTE
Develop academic intervention program such as tutorials, etc.
Develop and train faculty and staff on Positive Behavior Intervention and
Supports, discipline management policies and procedures
Train and review student engagement expectations with faculty and instructional practices which increase engagement.
Develop a school or community based student mentoring program
Develop extra curricular activities options for students
Code noshow students as “No-Show” on Chancery enrollment panel by end of the day.
Refer to SIS Notice for the No-Show date.
Run / Review H No Show Roster from Chancery
Keep original no-show roster for reference. (Your no-show roster will change as student leaver codes are updated.)
Review most recent reports with cohort information o Identify all graduates and continuers (still enrolled) o Locate the leaver folder for all others o Report any discrepancies to the Senior Compliance Analyst from Federal & State Compliance
Attempt to locate and enroll any cohort leavers
Run Chancery Overage Student Report to identify overage students and review student history for interventions such as credit recovery, credit acceleration, attendance appeals, entry into the Minimum
Graduation Plan and others
Regularly run the H_Leaver Management Report to monitor the enrollment status of students who were in attendance last year. This is a dynamic report which will update as enrollment status changes for students.
Maintain set of leaver folders, available for administrative review.
Determine which students are potential dropouts.
Initiate / Update Dropout and Intervention Form for each dropout and place form in student‟s leaver folder.
Coordinate dropout roster with campus Graduation Support Committee and Student Caseworker
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Communicate particular needs to the District Graduation Support
Committee which will address collective needs
Monitor the H No Show Roster. This roster will update as no-shows are added; and as no-show codes are changed to other appropriate leaver codes.
(Middle Schools) Start running the 8 th
to 9 th
Grade Movement Report to determine if 8 th
grade students were enrolled as 9 th
grade in another
HISD school. This is a dynamic report which will change as high schools post no-shows.
For no-show students who attended your school on the last day of last year,
Change Chancery “No-Show” leaver codes to “98” or other documented leaver reason. Follow SIS instructions for changing No-Show date. This step will enable students to be listed on your Chancery leaver rosters.
As students are redesignated from “No-Show” to a leaver code, your noshow roster should diminish to zero names.
For no-show students who attended a different school on the last day of last year,
Notify last HISD school attended so that they can take action that would allow the students to be listed on their leaver roster.
Keep “No-Show” date line unchanged according to SIS Notice. The resulting roster will serve as a reminder that these students actually belong to another HISD school.
Note: If a no-show student attended different school on last day of last year, his/her name will not appear on that school’s leaver rosters until the enrollment lines from the no-show school are deleted on the
Chancery enrollment panel. The Federal & State Compliance Senior
Analysts will assist in this step.
Attend Leaver In-Service conducted by Federal & State Compliance or complete online training.
Receive instructions regarding Edit+ Report, PRF0B032 Presumed
Underreported Students List. This report will list PEIMS‟ list of presumed dropouts.
Conduct 3 day follow-up of students who have withdrawn with leaver codes 88
(another HISD school) or 80 (another Texas public school) to determine if the students are attending their new schools.
Verify enrollment at new campus
If not attending new school, change leaver code to “98” (dropout status).
File with Truancy Court within the 10 day after Withdrawal for Non-
Attendance
Check TREx Transaction Status Report for new records requests.
Principals meet with campus Graduation Support Committee daily during school start window and weekly/bi-weekly thereafter.
Have a current list of dropouts available for recovery team discussion.
Verify sub-group data (ethnicity, economically disadvantaged status). If data is incorrect, change to appropriate status. If unable to change status, place documentation in leaver folder for possible appeal.
Continue recovery process (activities listed on Dropout Recovery Form) and document efforts on Dropout Recovery Form.

Second Week of September
Third and
Fourth Week of September
Last Friday of
September
Phone call to last known home, work and emergency number.
Return receipt letter to last known address.
Home visit.
Faculty e-mail.
Posters/Bulletins posted in school
TSDS/ PET search conducted each week until student‟s whereabouts is determined. Check for both name and state ID number. Use to eliminate duplicate student record.
Internet search. www.theultimates.com
www.peopleyahoo.com
www.hcad.org
www.vinelink.com
(incarceration)
Referral to HISD Student Caseworker.
Document meetings (including agenda and sign-in roster).
Be cognizant of turning away another Secondary School‟s potential Drop out.
Follow procedures from Office of School Support and Federal and State
Compliance for participation in Grads Within Reach
Search for all students remaining on the noshow list and previous year 98‟s.
Document and code all leavers. Create a Student Retention Plan for all recovered youth to be monitored by Graduation Support Committee.
School Start Window ends. Continue gathering information on leavers to update coding for Fall PEIMS.
UPDATE or create PGP for all required students
CODING: Continue investigating all remaining 98‟s for possible re-coding for
Fall PEIMS.
RECOVERY: Identify members of the current cohort who are not in school and re-engage students.
RECOVERY: Identify any students who have withdrawn this school year as
98‟s and re-engage students.
PREVENTION: Identify students who failed multiple courses on first cycle report card for interventions.
PREVENTION: Identify students with excessive absences (both excused and unexcused) for interventions.
PREVENTION: Identify students who are off track for four year graduation and engage in credit recovery or credit acceleration.
PREVENTION: Identify students in need of October retesting for required State
Assessments.
CODING: Continue investigating all remaining 98‟s for possible re-coding for
Fall PEIMS.
RECOVERY: Identify members of the current and next year Cohorts who are not in school and re-engage students.
RECOVERY: Identify any students who have withdrawn this school year as
98‟s and re-engage students.
PREVENTION: Identify students who failed multiple courses on second cycle report card for interventions.
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PREVENTION: Identify students with excessive absences (both excused and unexcused) for interventions.
PREVENTION: Identify students who are off track for four year graduation and engage in credit recovery or credit acceleration.
PREVENTION: Identify students by At-Risk Category who are off-track for four year graduation and review risk-category interventions: i.e. LEP, Parenting, course failure, TAKS/EOC remediation, etc.
PREVENTION: Identify students who failed Oct Exit Level TAKS or EOC retest for remediation and preparation for Spring testing
CODING: Continue investigating all remaining 98‟s for possible re-coding for
Fall PEIMS.
CODING: Review coding for Fall PEIMS, resolve TSDS errors, report TSDS duplicates, correct fatals, verify indicators including refugee/asylee status
RECOVERY: Identify members of the last and next cohort who are not in school and re-engage students.
RECOVERY: Identify any students who have withdrawn this school year as
98‟s and re-engage students.
PREVENTION: Identify students who failed multiple courses on third cycle report card for interventions.
PREVENTION: Identify students with excessive absences (both excused and unexcused) for interventions.
PREVENTION: Identify students who are off task for four year graduation and engage in credit recovery or credit acceleration.
PREVENTION: Identify students who have lost fall course credit due to absences and begin credit appeals/restoration process.
PREVENTION: Identify students who have failed fall courses for credit recovery. Make scheduling adjustments for Spring schedule.
PREVENTION: Complete credit check of all Seniors and Juniors to be reclassified in Spring. Arrange Spring credit recovery, acceleration and necessary schedule changes to assure graduation in June or August.
CODING: Make final corrections for PEIMS Fall Resubmission including resolution of Underreported Students.
CODING: Reclassify any Junior who will graduate in June or August, assure schedule supports graduation.
CODING: Code December Graduates
RECOVERY: Identify members of the last and next cohort who are not in school and re-engage students.
RECOVERY: Identify any students who have withdrawn this school year as
98‟s and re-engage students.
PREVENTION: Identify students with excessive absences (both excused and unexcused) for interventions. Conduct Credit Appeals for students who lost credit in Fall due to excessive absences.
PREVENTION: Identify students who are off track for four year graduation and engage in credit recovery or credit acceleration.
CODING: Review coding of all Fall withdrawals for possible follow up and verification.
RECOVERY: Identify members of the last and next cohort who are not in school and re-engage students.
RECOVERY: Identify any students who have withdrawn this school year as

98‟s and re-engage students.
PREVENTION: Identify students who failed multiple courses on fourth cycle report card for interventions.
PREVENTION: Identify students with excessive absences (both excused and unexcused) for interventions.
CODING: Assure current student PEIMS coding is correct before creation of next year planning calendar
RECOVERY: Identify members of the last and next cohort who are not in school and re-engage students.
RECOVERY: Identify any students who have withdrawn this school year as
98‟s and re-engage students.
PREVENTION: Identify and support students in re-testing for required State
Assessments
PREVENTION: Review PGPs for next-year course selection.
CODING: Review all Seniors for AAR accuracy and scheduling needs to assure June or August graduation
RECOVERY: Identify members of the last and next cohort who are not in school and re-engage students.
RECOVERY: Identify any students who have withdrawn this school year as
98‟s and re-engage students.
PREVENTION: Assure that all Fall credit appeals/restoration issues are resolved and identify students in need of Spring appeals.
PREVENTION: Identify students who failed multiple courses on fifth cycle report card for interventions.
PREVENTION: Identify students with excessive absences (both excused and unexcused) for interventions.
CODING: Update all contact information for students before end of school year.
CODING: Begin scheduling process for next-year
CODING: Begin identification and notification of students for summer school planning
RECOVERY: Identify members of the last and next cohort who are not in school and re-engage students.
RECOVERY: Identify any students who have withdrawn this school year as
98‟s and re-engage students.
PREVENTION: Identify students in need of Spring appeals and begin process.
PREVENTION: Identify students who failed multiple courses on sixth cycle report card for interventions.
PREVENTION: Identify students with excessive absences (both excused and unexcused) for interventions.
PREVENTION: Middle Schools – review Promotion Standards and begin
Cumulative Learning Profile for all students at risk of retention.
PREVENTION: Identify students in need of summer re-testing of State
Assessments – support with remediation/prep.
Collaborate with Middle Schools on 9 th
Grade Transition programs.
Summer CODING: Code all June graduates.
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Identify and enroll students in need of Summer School, TAKS and EOC
Tutorials
Continue recovery of all cohort students not showing as enrolled at end of school year to ensure enrollment at start of next school year.
Code summer graduates
Update students records after summer school, reclassify students accordingly
DATA GATHERING AND ANALYSIS
Data should be gathered at multiple times and for as long as necessary to assure accurate coding of leavers and early identification of possible dropouts. Unlike assessment accountability which is measured against the results of the most current testing Dropout accountability is measured according to the final results of the
PRIOR school year, including the results of leaver records for students who last attended TWO years prior.

Long Range View
Year 1 Last year of student‟s attendance at campus of accountability
PEIMS Fall Submission: Students enrolled at the Snapshot Date
PEIMS Summer Submission: Students who attended school any time during the school year
The Summer Submission sets the Campus of Accountability
Year 2 Year that a Leaver Record is submitted and filters are applied by the state to verify subsequent enrollment in other state
PEIMS Fall Submission: Students enrolled at the Snapshot Date
Leaver Record submitted for students who WERE last attended in Year 1 public schools for movers or receipt of GED Certificate in Texas
TEA Accountability analyzes PEIMS Data to create the
Accountability Subset and to filter students for subsequent enrollment in Texas public schools, recipients of a GED Certificate and to identify refugees/asylees, previous PEIMS dropouts and students last enrolled as ADA ineligible (not in membership)
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Year 3 Final accountability attributed to Campus of Accountability
NCES Standards applied to final leaver data to determine accountability reported through the Confidential TEA Annual
Dropout List
PID/PET/Chancery SIS REPORTS
The following reports should be run as needed for inquiry and verification. As other districts make updates, corrections, and deletions on the PID/PET, the reports change. It is necessary to check these reports periodically. There is a significant difference between reports which we generate internally which are based on
INTENT to enroll at time of withdrawal, and those which are built later that indicate
ACTUAL subsequent enrollment. This is one of the reasons that names appear on some lists and not on others. Many reports are specific in the range of last attendance which also affects inclusion of students.
PRF8C002
PRF8C003
PRF8C004
School Leaver Roster
School Leaver Summary
Non-Dropout Non-Graduate Leaver Roster
PRF6C002
PRF7C031
Dropout Roster
Campus of Accountability Roster
Available in summer, this report lists students sent to PEIMS in Summer of
YEAR 1 with a Campus of Accountability coded on the 101 record.
PRFAC010 Survey of Possible School Leavers
Available in summer, this report lists all students who were enrolled during
YEAR 1 at some time, but not enrolled throughout cycle 6, either due to withdrawal or cessation of regular attendance.
PRF0B031: Interim List to Assist Districts in Leaver Record Submission :
This student leaver report assists districts with identifying students for whom a 203 record might need to be submitted in the Fall submission. A student listed in the report may be identified as a school year mover, a prior year graduate in the Texas public school system, and/or a recipient of a Texas GED by August 31 st
of the current year.
PRF0B032 Presumed Underreported Students List
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This student leaver report assists districts with identifying presumed underreported students in first submission and resubmission. A student listed in the report may be identified as a school year mover, a prior year graduate in the Texas public school system, a recipient of a Texas GED by August 31 st of the current year, a presumed summertime mover, a presumed returned student, or a presumed leaver. A student in the report without at least one of these indicators is presumed underreported on the date the report is run.
PRF0B033 Preliminary Presumed Underreported Students List
Available in Fall, this district-level report lists students who attended or were enrolled in grades 7-12 during the prior school year and assists in identifying preliminary presumed underreported students. Any student without at least one of the five indicator flags (Presumed Returned Student, Presumed Leaver,
School Year Mover, Prior Texas Graduate, Texas GED Recipient) is considered a preliminary presumed underreported student at the time the report is generated.
PRF5C04: Students Not Enrolled Within PEIMS School-Start Window
This report provides a listing of students with AS-OF status codes of D, E, F, or G, who have been enrolled at some time during the school year but are not enrolled on the PEIMS School-Start Window.
PET7D001: Fall Enrollment Status of Prior School Year PET Potential Leavers
[School year-based.] This report provides current school year information for students identified in PET6D001 as potential leavers during the prior school year. The report assists the districts in determining if a 203 record needs to be submitted for a student
PET6D002 PET Potential Continuing Students Not Showing Withdrawn
Available in Fall, this reports displays a list of students who are not showing withdrawn and are considered potential continuing students for the school year.
Cohort Report: A preliminary cohort report will be prepared by Research and
Accountability and distributed to high school campuses as they are updated.
Chancery SMS offers the following Reports:
H_New Leaver Roster:
Lists students by grade level and type of leaver reason
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H_No_Show_Roster:
This report lists all No Shows at the reporting school. It lists the campus that No
Showed those students and the date of the No Show.
H_Active Student Demographic Report
Run this report in the previous year historical database. This report lists ALL students who were active on the last day of school of this past school year. If any student on this list does not show up as enrolled at either your campus or another educational institution by the end of the „School Start Window‟, (last Friday of
September), he/she will be considered a DROPOUT.
H_Withdrawn Student Demographic Report
Run this report in the previous year historical database. This report lists ALL students, who withdrew from your campus during the previous school year along with their leaver code and demographic information. Any student on this list who is coded as a code 80, code 88, or code 98 will be a DROPOUT if he/she did not enroll at another educational institution subsequent to leaving your campus OR does not enroll by the en d of the „School Start Window‟ (last Friday of
September) this school year.
Identify and contact students coded 98
Identify and contact students coded 80, for whom you DO NOT have a records request or verification of enrollment
H_WD88 Report
Identify and contact any student who withdrew from your campus to attend another HISD school, but did not subsequently enroll there.
H_Accountable Campus Audit Report
This report lists ALL students, for whom you are accountable, who were enrolled at CEP during the previous school year. They may have finished the year at
CEP or they may have withdrawn from CEP.
H_8 th
_to_9 th
_Grade_Student_Movements:
This report list all 8 th
graders enrolled at the reporting school at the end of the previous school year. It shows where those students are enrolled for the current school year. If the student is not enrolled, it shows the withdrawal code used by the reporting school.
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H_Leave_Management_COA: List of students in DAEP attributed to campus
H_Leave_Management_Detail: Leaver Code-specific list of individual withdrawals
H_Leave_Management_Summary: Leaver Code-specific totals of withdrawals
CAMPUS COORDINATION
Accurate reporting of leavers results from a campus level coordination of administration, attendance personnel, registrars, data clerks, counselors, teachers, and contacts with the student or the student‟s family and acquaintances, as well as any other parties with knowledge of the student‟s status, location or intentions.
Campuses should have designated personnel who supervise and audit the withdrawal and leaver records for all students who withdraw or do not return. While campus coordination is a regional or campus determination, the importance and impact of the accountability ratings attached to completion and dropouts cannot be overstated. Complex situations will need team work and organization to resolve.
Since withdrawals occur throughout the school year, regular collaboration must be used for accurate coding, research and identification of dropouts and possible dropouts.
The ultimate campus responsibility for accurate Leaver Reason records rests with the principal who confirms PEIMS submissions. The appeals process is NOT a time to correct data, but a time to challenge incorrect charges. If CORRECT charges are assigned to INCORRECT data, the appeal will be denied. Data quality is paramount and must be monitored year long.
IMPORTANCE OF SCHOOL START WINDOW
The act of not showing up the first day of school does NOT make a student a dropout. A student has until the end of the school start window (last Friday of
September) to be enrolled within public education in Texas, or to classify for a
Leaver Reason. It is especially important at the start of the year to identify and investigate students who do not return immediately. If they can be enrolled before the end of the school start window, then the designation of “ Dropout ” can be avoided. Even if a student returns after the school start window and graduates that same year, he or she will be counted as a dropout due to not being enrolled during the window and not being classified under a non-dropout leaver reason. Students who return after the school start window should be questioned regarding their enrollment status DURING the school start window. If an approved leaver reason can be documented, the student‟s last leaver record (following his/her last withdrawal) may be changed to reflect enrollment in another educational setting and avoid the designation of dropout.
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IMPORTANCE OF CONTACT INFORMATION
Every effort should be made during the school year to collect as much contact information for students as possible. Multiple contact numbers and names of family members and other acquaintances who could be referenced if necessary. Returned mail should be investigated for a change of address. Reported closing of apartment complexes should be dealt with before the final closing to determine possible changes in address for multiple students.
DATA QUALITY STEPS AND SCENARIOS
1. No Shows must be posted to the file in a timely manner – preferably by the end of the first day of the school year. One file in 2009 showed a no-show corrected on the PET file on January 2, 2009, six months later. Failure to delete PET events weekly may cause a dropout leaver to be overlooked.
2. Check the spelling of the name and the social security number against the birth certificate and social security number. If a request for records is received, be sure to check the name and social security number against your records. If the name or PEIMS number is different, check the TEA Person Identification
Database (PID) to make sure that the same student is not listed twice. Contact
Federal & State Compliance for help in resolving a PID error.
3. Check the PID by entering the last name and birth date to see if there could be duplicates for a student. Check the PET Leaver Report for possible dropouts.
4. A student now counted as a dropout could have enrolled after the school start window of the first day of school through last Friday in September. If a returning
HISD student enrolls after the school start window, school personnel should check to verify the student‟s whereabouts during the school start window and adjust the leaver record to reflect where the student was. In some cases, students were enrolled out of state or in private schools, but no appropriate leaver record was entered.
5. Print the Survey of Possible School Leavers previous school year Summer
Collection, Resubmission, available by August, in PEIMS Edit+ to look for current year possible leavers.
6. Check requests for records of students transferred to other HISD schools. If no record is requested, verify that the student was not really a No Show.
7. Pay special attention to reliable and stable contact information for At-Risk
Students, migrant students, immigrant students, homeless students and other students with a history of mobility, truancy, or disaffection.
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8. Communicate frequently with parents, students, shelters and apartment complexes about the importance of informing the school of any possible changes in residence, attendance or enrollment.
9. Special consideration of students should be made at the time of referral to a
DAEP or before any known period of interrupted attendance. A very common category of dropout exists among such students. Prior to withdrawal from the referring campus, a plan should be developed for successful re-entry to the referring campus or transition to a different school or program. Regular communication with such students should be maintained throughout the referral.
DATA PITFALLS
POSSIBLE REASONS WHY ENROLLED STUDENTS APPEAR AS A DROPOUT
PID Error
Duplicate PID
Changed Identification Number
Changed Social Security Number to Alternate State Number or vise versa
Missing Required PID field information such as ethnicity, etc.
Name change, misspelled name from one campus to another
Attended DAEP or JJAEP and facility coded incorrect campus of accountability
Used wrong No Show date to code the leaver reason
PET Information not manually updated for entries and withdrawals
Deleted student from Chancery district file or campus file
Mid Year Graduates coded with an incorrect date
Seniors not enrolled in Chancery with 0 ADA eligibility
Campus may have used incorrect school year in Chancery to code the leaver
TEA Database
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LEAVERS
DEFINITION OF A LEAVER
Leavers are students who do not return to a Texas public secondary school. This includes students who graduate, receive a GED Certificate in or out of Texas, return to home country, enroll in school out of state, enter a private school, enter home schooling, enter college to pursue a degree, are court ordered to receive a GED, are expelled, are removed by Child Protective Services, and students who are incarcerated in state or federal facilities or who die.
DOCUMENTATION
Evaluation of documentation .
Merits of leaver documentation are assessed at the time the documentation is requested during a data inquiry investigation. Determination of the acceptability of documentation is made by the professional staff conducting the investigation. These guidelines describe the most common types of documentation the investigator would expect to find supporting use of each leaver reason code. Other documentation that represents good business practice and shows a good faith effort on the part of the district to properly report leaver status will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Completeness of Documentation
Withdrawal documentation shall be considered incomplete without a date, signature(s), and destination. Documentation will not be deemed insufficient when information is missing because the parent or parents refuse to provide information requested by the district. A district should document at the time of the conversation that the information was requested, and the parent refused to provide it. Appropriate documentation of a parent refusal to provide information includes the date, content of conversation, name of person with whom the conversation was conducted, and the signature of the school official verifying the conversation.
Timelines for Establishing Leaver Reasons and Obtaining Documentation
Students who leave during the school year. For students who leave during the school year, leaver reasons apply at the time of withdrawal, and documentation should be obtained at that time. For example, for students who are withdrawn by Child
Protective Services, LEAVER-REASON-CODE 66, documentation would be obtained when the student is removed. While schools were allowed to document intent to
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enroll for certain leavers prior to 2011-2012, mere intent is no longer acceptable for students who subsequently enroll in other educational settings. Campuses must verify that the student actually enrolled. Likewise, dropout status for movers (80‟s, 88‟s) is determined by actual subsequent enrollment verified through PEIMS. Beginning with students who last attend during 2011-2012 – it is no longer permissible to code students according to an INTENT to enroll out-of-state, in home school, private school, or in college. A follow up verification must be made which documents that the student DID subsequently enroll in an education system outside of Texas Public Education.
Students who fail to return in the fall. For students who fail to return the following fall, leaver reasons apply on the first day of school or its approximation, the school-start window. Districts should use the LEAVER-REASON-CODE that most appropriately describes the student's whereabouts during the school-start window. Documentation can be obtained at any time up until the PEIMS Submission 1 resubmission date. For example, to use LEAVER-REASON-CODE 60 student withdrew from/left school for home schooling, a district would establish that a student was being home schooled at some point during the school-start window. The district could obtain the documentation after the school start window, as long as the “as-of” date is documented and valid during the school start window.
CHANGING LEAVER-REASON-CODES
Once a district meets the documentation standard that supports the leaver reason code used, the district is not required to obtain additional information on the student. Local policy will determine if an existing leaver reason code is updated for a student when additional information is received. The policy should be clearly stated in the district's published guidelines on leaver procedures. For example, if a district assigned LEAVER-
REASON-CODE 60 student withdrew from/left school for home schooling for a student and later received a request for transcript information from a private school for the same student, the district may change the LEAVER-REASON-CODE to 81 enroll in a Texas private school but is not obligated to do so provided that there is valid documentation supporting the original leaver code.
Withdrawn students who have leaver reasons of 80 (other Texas public school) and 88
(other Houston ISD school) may appear on the list of underreported students if the state fails to detect their subsequent enrollment in another public school at the time of the report.
The leaver folder for all students on the Preliminary Presumed Underreported Students
List should be reviewed to determine if any changes should be made to the leaver reason.
Sample Scenario 1: Student withdraws with intent to enroll in Dallas ISD. The student then enrolls in Oklahoma. The state is looking for the student in Texas - and cannot find him/her. The leaver reason should be updated to match the leaver documentation.
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Sample Scenario 2: Student withdraws with intent to enroll in a neighboring HISD school. The student enrolls in private school. The state is looking for the student in
Texas public schools and cannot find him/her. The leaver reason should be updated to match the leaver documentation.
Signatures on Documentation
Documentation must be signed and dated by an authorized representative of the district. Each campus should have a clear written policy stating who can act as an authorized representative for purposes of signing withdrawal forms and other leaver reason documentation. Coding should always be assigned by an administrator.
Withdrawal Documentation
Withdrawal documentation should also be signed for the student by a:
• parent, or
• guardian, or
• responsible adult as recorded in school records, such as a foster parent or a probation officer, or
• qualified student. A qualified student is one who:
is married, or
is 18 years or older, or
has established a residence separate and apart from the student's parent, guardian, or other person having lawful control of the student.
An original signature is not required on withdrawal forms received in the district by fax.
Withdrawal forms received by e-mail do not need to be signed by the parent/guardian or qualified student. Written documentation of oral statements made by the parent/guardian or qualified student (in person or by telephone) is acceptable documentation in some situations if it is signed and dated by the district representative.
SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS
 Transcript requests: Acceptable documentation of enrollment in another school is a records request from the school in which the student is enrolled. Telephone requests must be documented in writing, including the date of the call, the name of the school requesting the records, the name of the person making the request, and the name of the person who received the call. Telephone requests should appear on a standardized, district-approved form. The original of the form should be included in the student's permanent file.
 A signed letter from the receiving school verifying enrollment is also acceptable documentation. The letter must state the name and location of the school or program in which the student is enrolled and the date of enrollment. Other acceptable documentation is written documentation of an oral statement by a representative of the receiving school providing the name and location of the
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school and verifying that the student is enrolled, signed and dated by an authorized representative of the district.
 Written statements from parents/qualified students: Acceptable documentation can consist of a written signed statement from a parent/guardian or qualified student.
 A statement by an adult neighbor or other adult (other than the parent/guardian or qualified student) is allowed only to document a student returning to home country.

Verification by the superintendent or authorized representative that the child has been enrolled in a private school in Texas or a private or public school outside of
Texas leading to the completion of a high school diploma, has returned to his or her home country, is being home schooled, or has enrolled in college in a program leading to an Associate's or Bachelor's degree. Acceptable documentation of this type of verification (i.e., first-hand knowledge) includes, for example, appropriately documented in-person or telephone conversations between the superintendent or authorized representative and the parent, guardian or qualified student.
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DETAILED SUMMARY OF LEAVER REASONS & REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION
Graduated or received an out-of-state GED
01* Student graduated from a campus in this district or charter
Definition and use: Use for students who meet all high school graduation requirements (which includes passing the exit-level TAAS or TAKS) at any time during the prior school year, including the summer (through August 31) following the close of the prior year.
85*
86*
90
To graduate, a student must satisfy the requirements under 19 TAC
Chapter 74, Subchapter B. Special education students must satisfy requirements under 19 TAC §89.1070. Students who complete all graduation requirements in one school year but do not pass the exit-level assessments until a later year, are reported as graduates in the school year in which the exit-level assessments are passed and the diploma is issued.
Documentation requirement: Transcript showing sufficient credits, successful completion of the exit-level assessments (including testing dates), graduation seal, school official signature, and date of completion.
Student graduated outside Texas before entering a Texas public school, entered a Texas public school, and left again
Definition and use: This code may be used for students who graduated in another state or country before entering Texas public schools. This code may also be used for students who graduated from Texhoma High School,
Texhoma, Oklahoma.
Documentation requirement: Transcript showing sufficient credits, date, and school official signature, and a diploma with a graduation seal.
Student completed the GED outside Texas
Definition and use: This code may be used for students who earned GED certificates outside Texas, including students living in Texas and earning
GED certificates online from a testing company in another state, before enrolling or after leaving Texas public schools.
Documentation requirement: Acceptable documentation is a copy of the
GED certificate or some other written document provided by the testing company showing completion of the GED. Written documentation from the testing company must include the date of GED completion, location, address, and contact information of the company.
Graduated from another state under provisions of the Interstate
Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children
Definition and use: Per TEC §162.002, student lives in the household of an active-duty military serviceperson, transferred into Texas public schools at
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the beginning of or during his or her senior year, did not meet requirements to graduate from Texas public schools, did meet requirements to graduate from a school in the sending state, and, under provisions of the Interstate
Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children, graduated from a school or district in the sending state.
Documentation requirement: Transcript showing sufficient credits, date, and school official signature, or a diploma with a graduation seal
Moved to other educational setting
24* Student withdrew from/left school to enter college and is working towards an Associate's or Bachelor's degree
Definition and use: This code is for students who leave secondary school to enter college early. It should be used for students who are enrolled full-time
(at least 9 credit hours per semester). This code is also for students who leave school to enter a dual-credit program established by the Texas
Legislature at the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science at the
University of North Texas, the Texas Academy of Leadership in the
Humanities at Lamar University, the Texas Academy of Mathematics and
Science at the University of Texas at Brownsville, and the Texas Academy of
International Studies at Texas A&M International University.
Documentation
Documentation of enrollment in a college or university must indicate that the student is enrolled full-time in an academic program. Per federal requirement, it is not permissible for a district to document that, at the time of withdrawal, the student intended to enter a post-secondary educational setting. Beginning with students leaving in the 2011-12 school year, a district must document that the student has actually entered a post-secondary educational setting. One of the following types of documentation is required to verify enrollment:
Transcript request . Acceptable documentation of enrollment in college is a records request from the college in which the student is enrolled.
Telephone requests must be documented in writing, including the date of the call, the name of the college requesting the records, the name of the person making the request, and the name of the person who received the call.
Telephone requests should appear on a standardized, district-approved form.
The original of the form should be included in the student's permanent file.
Documentation of the method of records dissemination also must be included in the student‟s permanent file (e.g., copy of fax activity log, certified mail receipt, encrypted email receipt confirmation, or postage/mail log with complete address information for requesting school).
Verification by an authorized representative of the college. A signed letter from the college verifying enrollment is also acceptable documentation.
The letter must state the name and location of the college in which the student is enrolled and the date of enrollment. Other acceptable documentation is written documentation of an oral statement by a representative of the college providing the name and location of the college and verifying that the student is enrolled, signed and dated by an authorized
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60*
66* representative of the district.
Verification by the parent/guardian or qualified student. Acceptable documentation includes a letter, signed and dated from the parent, guardian, or qualified student stating that the student has enrolled in college in a program leading to an associate‟s or bachelor‟s degree.
Student withdrew from/left school for home schooling
Definition and use: Student is being home schooled . This code may be used only for a student whose parent/guardian confirms that the student is pursuing, under direct supervision of the parent/guardian, a curriculum designed to meet basic education goals. The district is not required to obtain evidence that the program being provided meets educational standards.
Documentation
A district must document that the parent/guardian is home schooling the student. Per federal requirement, it is not permissible for a district to document that, at the time of withdrawal, the student intended to be home schooled. Beginning with students leaving in the 2011-12 school year, the following documentation is required to verify enrollment:
Verification by the parent/guardian. A letter, signed and dated, from the parent/guardian stating that the student is being home schooled is acceptable documentation. Letters from parents/guardians must indicate the actual date home schooling began.
NOTE: The LEGAL definition of home schooling contains the understanding that it is a PARENTAL decision. While a qualified (adult) student may withdraw him/herself to Home School, the documentation still requires that the PARENT provide confirmation that the home schooling has begun.
Student was removed by Child Protective Services (CPS) and the district has not been informed of the student's current status or enrollment
Definition and use: This code applies only to Child Protective Services.
Private agencies that provide asylum for students do not have the legal authority to remove students from school.
Documentation requirement: Acceptable documentation includes due process documentation supporting the withdrawal; a written statement, signed and dated by the CPS officer, including the CPS officer's name and contact information; or written documentation of an oral statement by a CPS representative that the child was removed, including the CPS representative's name, the date of the conversation, and the signature of the school official.
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81*
82*
Student withdrew from/left school to enroll in a private school in Texas
Student withdrew from/left school to enroll in a public or private school outside Texas
Definition and use: Student is enrolled in a private school in Texas (code
81), the Texas Job Corps Diploma Program (code 81), or a public or private school outside Texas (code 82). Documentation of actual enrollment is required. This code is also used when a student moves from the district without withdrawing but the district receives a records request.
If the student enrolls in another school in the district or another public school district in Texas, a leaver record is not submitted.
If the district did not assign code 81 or code 82 when the student stopped attending, the district can change the original code assigned to the student when the records request or communication from the parent/guardian or qualified student is received. If the original withdrawal date for the student is later than the date the student enrolled in the other school, the withdrawal date must be changed and all attendance accounting records affected by this change must be updated.
Documentation requirement: Per federal requirement, it is not permissible for a district to document that, at the time of withdrawal, the student intended to enter another educational setting. Beginning with students leaving in the
2011-12 school year, a district must document that the student has actually enrolled in a private school in Texas, the Texas Job Corps Diploma Program, or a private or public school outside Texas. One of the following types of documentation is required to verify enrollment:
Transcript request . Acceptable documentation of enrollment in another school is a records request from the school in which the student is enrolled.
Telephone requests are acceptable, but they must be documented in writing, including the date of the call, the name of the school requesting the records, the name of the person making the request, and the name of the person who received the call. Telephone requests should appear on a standardized, district-approved form. The original of the form should be included in the student's permanent file. Documentation of the method of records dissemination also must be included in the student‟s permanent file (e.g., copy of fax activity log, certified mail receipt, encrypted email receipt confirmation, or postage/mail log with complete address information for requesting school).
Verification by the superintendent or authorized campus or district administrator of the receiving district. A signed letter from the receiving school verifying enrollment is acceptable documentation. The letter must state the name and location of the school in which the student is enrolled and the date of enrollment. Other acceptable documentation is written documentation of an oral statement by a representative of the receiving school providing the name and location of and contact information for the school and verifying that the student is enrolled, signed and dated by an authorized campus or district administrator of the district.
Verification by the parent/guardian or qualified student. Acceptable documentation includes a letter, signed and dated, from the
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87*
83* parent/guardian or qualified student stating that the student has enrolled in a private school in Texas or a private or public school outside of Texas leading to the completion of a high school diploma.
Student withdrew from/left school to enroll in the Texas Tech University
ISD High School Diploma Program or the University of Texas at Austin
High School Diploma Program
Definition and use: Student was withdrawn from school and parent/guardian or qualified student indicated at time of withdrawal that the student has enrolled in the State Board of Education-authorized Texas Tech
University ISD High School Diploma Program or the University of Texas at
Austin High School Diploma Program.
Documentation requirement: The district must receive either a) a records or transcript request from the high school diploma program or b) a letter from the high school diploma program stating that the student is enrolled.
Withdrawn by school district
78* Student was expelled under the provisions of TEC §37.007 and cannot return to school
Definition and use: This code may only be used when:
the student was expelled under the provisions of TEC §37.007, and
the term of expulsion has not expired or the student‟s failure to attend school is due to court action.
This code may only be used for a student who was expelled for an offense included in TEC §37.007. This code is not intended for use by districts which assign students to a Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program
(JJAEP).
Documentation requirement: Due process documentation supporting the expulsion.
**NOTE: This leaver code should not be used in HISD as districts in Harris
County are required to have a JJAEP. See Leaver Code 89 for adult students who are expelled and subsequently incarcerated in state or federal facilities.
Student was withdrawn from school by the district when the district discovered that the student was not a resident at the time of enrollment, had falsified enrollment information, or had not provided proof of identification or immunization records.
Definition and use: This code is used for situations in which the district should not have enrolled the student. This code is for situations in which the district discovers when verifying enrollment information that the student was not a resident of the district at the time of enrollment. It is not for a student who was a resident of the district and who stops attending because he/she has moved. This code is also for rare situations in which enrollment
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information was falsified, or proof of identification or immunization records were not provided.
Subject to the exceptions in TEC §38.001(c), a student is required to be fully immunized against disease as required by the Texas Department of
State Health Services (TEC §38.001(a)). A student may be provisionally admitted if the student has begun the required immunizations and continues to receive the necessary immunizations as rapidly as medically feasible
(TEC §38.001(e)). Except as provided by TEC §38.001(c), a student who is not fully immunized and has not begun the required immunizations may not attend school. For further information about enrollment procedures, please see the Student Attendance Accounting Handbook.
For further information about immunization requirements, immunization exemptions, and immunization documentation, please contact the Texas Department of State
Health Services.
Documentation requirement: Due process documentation supporting the withdrawal.
Other reasons
03* Student died while enrolled in school or during the summer break after completing the prior school year
16*
Definition and use: Self-explanatory.
Documentation requirement: Acceptable documentation includes a copy of the death certificate or obituary, a program from the funeral or memorial service, a written statement from the parent or guardian, and written documentation of an oral statement by a parent or guardian stating that the student has died.
Student withdrew from/left school to return to family's home country
Definition and use: Use for students who are leaving the United States to return to their home country. A student may be leaving with or without family members to live with his or her family, immediate or extended, in the home country. The citizenship of the student is not relevant in assigning this code.
This code can also be used for foreign exchange students.
Documentation requirement:
Acceptable documentation is a copy of the Transfer Document for Binational
Migrant Student completed at the time the student withdraws from school, signed and dated by an authorized campus or district administrator.
Acceptable documentation is also a copy of the withdrawal form signed and dated by the parent/guardian or qualified student and a campus or district administrator. The withdrawal form should indicate that the student is leaving school because the student is returning to the home country and should specify the destination. An original signature is not required on withdrawal forms received in the district by fax. Withdrawal forms received by e-mail do not need to be signed by the parent/guardian or qualified student. A signed letter from the parent/guardian or qualified student stating that the student is
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88
89
98 leaving school because the student is returning to the home country is also acceptable documentation. Acceptable documentation for foreign exchange students includes a written, signed, and dated statement from the student's host family or the foreign student advisor verifying the student's return to his or her home country. Other acceptable documentation is written documentation of an oral statement by an adult neighbor or other adult with knowledge of the family's whereabouts, signed and dated by an authorized campus or district administrator.
Student was ordered by a court to attend a GED program and has not earned a GED certificate
Definition and use: This code is for students who are court-ordered to attend a GED program and have not earned a GED certificate.
Documentation requirement: Acceptable documentation is a copy of the court order stating that the student has been ordered to attend a high school equivalency or GED program. Documentation must include the name of the student, the date of the order, the name of the judge making the order, and the county in which the judge presides. The order should state that, under
Article 45,054, Code of Criminal Procedure, the court is ordering the student to attend a high school equivalency or GED program or to take a high school equivalency or GED exam.
CAUTION : Do not confuse Leaver Code 88 (L88) with Mover Code 88
(Enrolled in other Houston ISD School)
Student is incarcerated in a state jail or federal penitentiary as an adult or as a person certified to stand trial as an adult
Definition and use: Student is incarcerated in a state jail or federal penitentiary as an adult or as a person certified to stand trial as an adult.
Documentation requirement: Acceptable documentation is one of the following: 1) Oral notification from a law enforcement agency, the office of the prosecuting attorney, or the jail or penitentiary, to an authorized representative of the district, that the student is incarcerated. The written statement of the oral notification shall be signed and dated by the authorized representative. 2) Written notification from a law enforcement agency, the office of the prosecuting attorney, or the jail or penitentiary, that the student is incarcerated.
***NOTE: Contact Federal & State Compliance in cases of adult or certifiedadult conviction without sentencing into a state or federal facility.
Other (reason unknown or not listed above)
Definition and use: This code is used for students who are withdrawn by the school district after a period of time because they have quit attending school and their reason for leaving is not known. It is also used for students who withdrew from/left school for reasons not listed above.
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MOVERS
Definition
Movers are students who withdraw or do not return and have indicated an intention to enroll at another Texas public secondary school. HISD uses two local Mover Codes:
80 : to indicate intent to enroll in a non-HISD public school in Texas, including TEA
Charter Schools, and
88 : to indicate intent to enroll in another HISD school, including HISD Charter
Schools.
CAUTION: Do not confuse the local mover code 88 with the PEIMS Leaver Code
L88, which is to be used to code student ordered by a court to receive a
GED.
The state passes all students from last year‟s PEIMS record through a filter to search for actual subsequent enrollment at another Texas public secondary school or a leaver record. Students with leaver records other than 98 are removed from the cohort and annual accountability list. Students with a leaver record of 98, and students with the local mover code of 80 or 88 are checked for subsequent enrollment, and for GED
Certification. Regardless of verification, documentation, records request and intent to enroll, if the state does not determine actual subsequent enrollment for a student withdrawn under codes 80, 88 or 98, the student will appear as a dropout, and possibly as an underreported student.
Verification
At the time of withdrawal or during the fall investigation of students who did not return, as much information as possible should be gathered concerning the destination of movers as well as information for multiple contacts so that data can continued to be gathered if necessary.
Students who are identified with Mover Codes should be checked against the PID/PET to verify subsequent enrollment in a public secondary school in Texas by the end of the school start window. Records should be kept from any TREx (Texas Record Exchange
System) requests and any other requests which assist in identifying the district and campus of subsequent enrollment. Follow up verifications should be made on the
PID/PET to assure actual enrollment. If no such verification can be made, schools should continue to investigate the enrollment status of the students for possible changes to the Leaver Reason (e.g. student decided to enroll in private or home school). TEA will determine all unaccounted movers to be dropouts for accountability purposes.
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Suspected cases in which a student under Mover Codes 80 and 88 is in Texas and not otherwise lawfully enrolled, may be recommended for a referral for truancy charges under the Compulsory Attendance law in the new district of residence.
Note: A TREx request should be followed by a PID/PET verification. It is possible that a student for whom a TREx request was received then no-showed to or failed to attend the school which sent the request.
Underreported student typically result from students who are withdrawn as MOVERS
(codes 80 and 88) but who do not subsequently enroll in another Texas public school including other HISD schools or charters.
Sample Scenario 1: Student withdraws with the intent to enroll in Dallas ISD
(Code 80). The student then moved to Oklahoma and enrolls there. If the school does not update the leaver code to Code 82, then the state will look for the student within
Texas public schools. The student will be identified as underreported.
Sample Scenario 2: Student withdraws with the intent to enroll in another HISD school (Code 88). The student then enrolls in a private school. If the school does not update the leaver code to Code 81, then the state will look for the student within Texas public schools. The student will be identified as underreported.
Sample Scenario 3: A PID duplicate goes undetected. The state is looking for a the student under one PID identity and does not find the student. The student may be identified as underreported
GED CERTIFICATE RECIPIENTS
Out of State
Students who receive a GED Certificate from out of state are assigned a Leaver
Reason of 86.
This code may be used for students who earned GED certificates outside Texas, including students living in Texas and earning GED certificates online from a testing company in another state, before enrolling or after leaving Texas public schools. The out-of-state GED Certificate should be issued on or before the end of the school start window (September 24, 2010). Students with leaver Reason 86 are removed from the cohort accountability as are other bonafide leavers.
Documentation Requirement: Acceptable documentation is a copy of the GED certificate or some other written document provided by the testing company showing
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completion of the GED. Written documentation from the testing company must include the date of GED completion, location, address, or contact information of the company.
The American Council On Education website has links to other states‟ GED resource pages, many of which include contacts or search tools to request documentation of a
GED Certificate: http://www.acenet.edu/Content/NavigationMenu/ged/test/admin.htm
In State
Students who complete a GED Certificate issued by the Texas Education Agency must be coded as a 98. The state will pass all 98‟s through a filter to identify GED certificate recipients. Recipients must have a GED Certificate dated on or before August 31, of the current school year to not be determined a dropout.
Students who withdraw or do not return and who indicate intention to complete a GED
Certificate from TEA, should have their status followed for possible change of Leaver
Reason if the student happens to qualify under a different code (e.g. return to home country, enrolled in private school, etc.) Guidance should be offered for students in the successful completion of a certificate by the deadline date. Students who complete the TEA GED Certificate after the deadline date and do not enroll in a Texas public secondary school within the school start window, or qualify to be coded under a different Leaver Reason, will be counted as a drop out.
To verify the date of TEA issued GED Certificate, campus personnel should visit the
TEA GED Certificate Search page at: https://bass.tea.state.tx.us/Tea.GEDi.Web/Forms/CertificateSearch.aspx
Students with only a GED do NOT count for Completion Rate I. GED Recipients are NOT removed from the cohort and count equally as a dropout for schools under regular AEIS accountability. Schools under AEA include GED Recipients in their Completion Rate II.
WITHDRAWAL DUE TO NON-ATTENDANCE (Leaver Code 98)
Special Education
AAH 3.4.1
Similar to the decision to file truancy charges against students receiving Special
Education services, the determination to withdraw a Special Education student for nonattendance should take into consideration if the non-attendance is related to the student‟s disability as determined by the ARD/IEP committee and if such a withdrawal will prohibit the full implementation of the student‟s IEP. This type of withdrawal is a change in educational setting and constitutes a campus decision to cease providing a
Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). Although an accumulated five unexcused
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absences may not necessarily meet the definitions of truancy (3 unexcused absences in
4 weeks; or 10 in 6 months), a referral should be made to the ARD/IEP committee before administrative action is taken.
18 years of age and over
Board Policy FEA (Legal) AAH 3.4.1
A person who voluntarily enrolls in school or voluntarily attends school after the person‟s eighteenth birthday shall attend school each school day for the entire period the program of instruction is offered. The District may revoke for the remainder of the school year the enrollment of a person who has more than five unexcused absences in a semester. A person whose enrollment is revoked for exceeding this limit may be considered an unauthorized person on school grounds for the purposes of Education
Code 37.107 regarding trespassing.
Students withdrawn under such conditions are coded with Leaver Reason 98.
Such withdrawals may not be coded as an 83.
They may be denied re-enrollment during the same school year.
Students withdrawn under such conditions are coded with Leaver Reason 98.
Such withdrawals may not be coded as an 83.
They may be denied re-enrollment during the same school year.
Students under the age of 18
Students withdrawn under this policy may not be denied re-enrollment as long as they meet the regular eligibility requirements.
The District may initiate withdrawal of a student under the age of 18 for nonattendance under the following conditions:
1. The student has been absent ten consecutive school days; and
2. Repeated efforts by the attendance officer and/or principal to locate the student have been unsuccessful.
Students withdrawn under such conditions are coded with Leaver Reason 98.
Such withdrawals may not be coded as an 83.
They remain eligible for re-enrollment. Truancy charges should be filed against the student and parents. Parents of a student reported as a run-away should be encouraged to file a report with the appropriate law enforcement agency. Charges must still be filed against the student for failure to attend school and the charge of parent contributing to non-attendance may still be filed on the parent.
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HOME SCHOOLING (Leaver Code 60)
The Houston Independent School District does not regulate, index, monitor, approve, register, or accredit the programs available to parents who choose to home school.
When the District becomes aware that a student is being or will be home schooled, the
Superintendent or designee may request in writing a letter of notification from the parents of their intention to home school using a curriculum designed to meet basic education goals of reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics, and a study of good citizenship. If the parents refuse to submit a letter of notification or if the District has evidence that the school-age child is not being home schooled within legal requirements, the District may investigate further and, if warranted, shall pursue legal action to enforce the compulsory attendance law.
Board Policy FEA (Local)
Note: Leaver documentation for students withdrawing to home school during and after the 2011-2012 school year require confirmation from the parent/guardian that a student
HAS BEGUN to be home schooled. Intent is no longer sufficient.
The choice to home school is the exclusive decision of the parent or legal guardian. Houston ISD does not encourage, suggest nor facilitate home schooling.
See the Resources Section for two letters issued from the Commissioner of Education.
Withdrawal to Private School (Leaver Code 81)
Students withdrawing to a tuition based “home schooling” program may be coded with
Leaver Code 81 instead of 60. Such programs included both credited and unaccredited educational enterprises which offer diplomas upon completion of a program. Houston ISD does not encourage, suggest nor facilitate enrollment in private programs. It is the exclusive decision of the parent or qualified student to enroll in a private school program.
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MEASURES, CALCULATIONS & FORMULAE
 Annual Dropout Rates :
Under the NCES definition, the denominator of the dropout equation is the number of students enrolled at a single point in time in the fall of the school year, or "snapshot" enrollment. Under the TEA definition, the denominator is the cumulative number of students in attendance at any time during the school year.
The annual dropout rate is calculated by dividing the number of students who drop out during a single school year by the total number of students enrolled the same year: number of students who dropped out during the school year number of student enrolled during the school year
 Longitudinal Graduation and Longitudinal Dropout Rates:
Calculating longitudinal rates requires tracking a cohort of students from the time they enter Grade 9 until the fall following their anticipated graduation date. The graduation rate is the number of students who graduate divided by the total number of students in the cohort who had final statuses. The longitudinal dropout rate is the number of students who drop out divided by the total number of students in the class.
Students who enter the Texas public school system over the years are added to the original class as it progresses through the grade levels; students who leave the system are subtracted from the class. For the purposes of calculating a longitudinal graduation rate, all students remain in the original cohort regardless of when they graduate. For example, a student who entered Grade 9 in 2010-2011and was expected to graduate in
2013-2014 but who graduated in 2012-2013 is counted in the completion rate for the class of 2014. Likewise, students who are retained in grade or who skip grades remain members of the cohorts they first joined.
Attendance data from the Public Education Information Management System
(PEIMS) are used to build each cohort of students for the completion rate. Each cohort is identified by the starting grade and anticipated year of graduation. For example, members of the class of 2014 cohort were identified as students who attended Grade 9 for the first time in the 2010-2011 school year. Cohort members were then tracked through the fall semester following their anticipated graduation date of spring 2014. This made it possible to identify those who continued in school after their class graduated.
Members who left the Texas public school system during the time period covered were removed from the cohort. Students who entered the system on grade level were added to the cohort.
Any student for whom one of the designated outcomes could be determined was counted in the class. This included students who began Grade 9 together, as well as students who later entered Texas public schools on grade level and were added to the
37

cohort. A student whose final status could not be determined was removed from the status counts. In most cases, these were students who left the Texas public school system to enter another educational setting. In a small number of cases, students were excluded because of missing records or data errors resulting from misreported student identification information.
The completion rate focuses on selected long-term student outcomes over a period of years. Each member of the cohort is assigned a final status by the year after anticipated graduation. Neither dropping out nor leaving necessarily determines the final status of a student. The status of a student who drops out or leaves will change if he or she returns and graduates, or continues in school. Dropping out becomes the status of record only if it is the final status recorded for a student.
Graduates. A student is classified as a graduate in the year in which he or she is reported in PEIMS as a graduate.
Continuing enrollment. A student is classified as continuing if he or she is reported as enrolled in the Texas public school system during the School Start Window of the fall after his or her anticipated graduation.
Dropouts. A student is classified as a dropout if dropout is the final status recorded for the student.
 High School Graduation Rates
Campuses and districts that are subject to standard accountability procedures are rated on the percentage of students who graduate or continue in high school, called
Completion I: Graduates
Graduates + continuers + GED recipients + dropouts
Campuses and districts subject to alternative accountability procedures, which apply to campuses dedicated to serving students at risk of dropping out of school, are rated on the percentage of students who graduate, continue in high school, or receive GED certificates, called Completion II.
Completion II:
Graduates + continuers + GED recipients
Graduates + continuers + GED recipients + dropouts
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EXCLUSIONS
Through an appeals process, certain exclusions from cohort accountability for the
Federal (NCLB) Graduation rate are permitted. Special Education students for whose
IEP requires more than four years of high school may be excluded from the cohort for
Federal Graduation accountability under certain documented circumstances. Recently arrived LEP-Immigrant students who are classified as 12 th
graders upon entry into U.S.
Schools may also be exempt from the Federal Graduation accountability cohort under certain documented circumstances.
Students whose initial enrollment in a school in the United States in grades 7 through 12 was as unschooled refugees or asylees shall be excluded in computing dropout and completion rates.
Previously reported PEIMS dropouts shall be excluded from subsequent annual dropout calculations but will remain in cohort calculations.
Other students who are removed from the cohort calculation for State accountability include students who do not return to school due to incarceration following a conviction, and students who were ordered by a court to earn a GED but did not earn it by August
31 of the year of accountability.
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o
Dropout Recovery is the act of re-engaging a student in school after the student has ceased attending. o
Dropout Prevention is the act of identifying students at-risk of dropping out and applying effective safeguards, monitoring and interventions to assure continued attendance in school until graduation.
During Graduation Support Meetings, as much information as possible should be gathered about students who are suspected of having dropped out. Students who have dropped out can be identified through a variety of reports on PID, PET and Chancery listed in this manual. The HISD Dashboard tool (in development) is a dynamic tool for identifying and monitoring the status of cohort members. The tool should be maintained regularly and used to target cohort members whose last known status was that of
Dropout.
Three Categories of Dropout Recoveries
Campuses should be prepared to approach the three major categories of dropout recovery by identifying the staff and resources which will be needed for each category and by clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the staff involved including monitoring of the student after recovery.
I. Students with Barriers
Often students who have chosen to not return to school are dealing with serious barriers affecting their ability to attend school. Such barriers may include family economics, pregnancy, child-care, substance abuse, transportation, health/medical issues, psycho-social issues, and safety/security issues. Some students may be encouraged by parents or other family members to leave school for the purpose of supporting the family in some way.
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Interventions:
Social services or referrals should be made for students with barriers so that the issues can be remedied, allowing the student to return to school.
II. Disengaged Students
Disengaged students include those who are over-age and whose peer group
(cohort) has already graduated, students who have been separated from regular schooling due to incarceration, truancy, expulsion or victimization.
Students who have career interests other than those offered by the school often become disengaged through boredom or perceived lack of relevance.
Other disengaged students include those who have experienced a profound lack of success in school or have had traumatic experiences at school with staff or peers, students who have become involved in certain subcultural groups such as gangs, cults, and youth cultures which may depreciate academic success such as “thug”, “goth”, and “stoner”.
Interventions:
Counseling, family involvement, mentorship, and scheduling options should be explored to identify appropriate interventions for disengaged students which may include transferring to different campuses.
III. Students Missing in Action
Most ultimate dropouts in HISD are students who are unable to be located.
Interventions:
I.
After telephone calls and home visits have failed to locate the student, and perhaps his/her family, the following search measures should be taken:
Check other School Records
Inspect Cumulative Folder for other contact information
Review siblings‟ records for contact information
Gather student or parent Drivers License or Identification Number
II. Check with Community
Ask neighbors about missing students and their families
Ask the apartment leasing office or Housing Authority (public housing) about any forwarding information for the family
Check with former employers
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III.
IV.
Check with Peers
Check with classmates
Try to contract known friends or former coworkers
Social Networking Media* (Facebook, ,etc)
Check with Government Resources
Research HCAD / Voters Registration Database
Check Jail records
Check with County and Municipal Court/Probation Records
Check with Police Department including reports for runaways
Check with consulates on foreign students
Check with CPS
If the student cannot be located, or after campus efforts have been exhausted, a referral should be made to the Student Caseworker who will further investigate the case.
Effective cohort management will result in a list of students who have dropped out of the cohort during each of the cohort‟s years of existence. A continuous effort should be made locate or communicate with all missing members of the cohort.
Non-graduated seniors who are only missing a section or sections of Exit Level in order to graduate may be enrolled and served with TAKS remediation. Such students who enroll during the School Start Window will count as continuers for the Completion and/or Dropout rate.
Such students may be enrolled full time (4+ hours of instruction) or half time (2+ hours of instruction) in support courses (see Appendix for list of recommended courses) or into TAKS preparation/remediation/study labs.
Alternatively, such a student may be enrolled as Zero Eligibility (Not In Membership) in which case the student will not be included for funding, but may be counted as enrolled.
To report such a student through PEIMS, the student needs to:
Appear on campus at least once during the school-start window, meet with appropriate school personnel such as a counselor, and fill out an enrollment card and submit enrollment information appropriate for any returning (or enrolling) student.
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The school must provide some type of instructional assistance which may be through such arrangements as after-school classes, Saturday classes, independent tutoring, or materials for home instruction including electronic
(virtual) courses.
The Graduation Support committee is the single most important entity in dropout prevention. The importance of this Professional Learning Community which assumes the role of monitoring the successful engagement and progress of the campus‟ at-risk population cannot be understated.
Required Members o Principal o Attendance Clerk and/or Leaver Clerk o Counselor or other campus student support personnel
Recommended Members o Other Administrator o Nurse o Program Coordinators: Special Education, LPAC, Magnet, CTE o HISD Police Office o Contracted agency workers: CIS, Juvenile Case Manager, ASAP o Student Caseworker o Lead Teachers, Advocates, SIF or other personnel o Registrar o Graduation Coach o Student Information Representative o Other staff members involved with programs which serve at-risk students.
Note: Due to the discussion and review of FERPA protected student records, a campus
DRIP should not include persons who do not have permission to view confidential student records such as parents, community members and students.
Such persons may serve on an advisory committee such as the SDMC and
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contribute in that way or other ways or may participate in a DRIP when confidential student information is not present.
The goal of the committee is the early identification of barriers and behaviors which may interrupt schooling, and the application of appropriate interventions to remove or lessen the barriers or behaviors.
Committee meetings should be held daily during the school start window to monitor the identification and communication with no-show students and dropouts.
Committee meeting should be held every week or every two weeks.
Meetings should have targeted agenda items such as: o Follow up of previously discussed students. o Overage students, 5 th
year seniors, Truants, LEP students, Special Ed, etc. o Targets should be narrow enough so that a feasible amount of students will be reviewed.
Critical information should be gathered BEFORE the meeting: o Attendance data, grades, counselor referrals, discipline data . . .
As areas for intervention are identified, the committee should work as or with an
Intervention Assistance Team, or with an RtI model to engage the student early.
Either before or after the meeting, the students discussed at the meeting should be informed of the committee‟s review. This should be done for input and for the sense of importance and caring.
Minutes should be kept and retained for each meeting. Issues and needed support should be shared with the District DRIP.
Committees should discuss with campus leadership the instructional engagement of at-risk students. Such information can be gathered from trained
PDAS assessors who may visit classrooms and Graduation Labs to determine the level of engagement (Domains I-III) of at-risk students, then share general comments and recommendations on methods to improve student engagement.
The committee should review campus procedures and climate and make recommendations to the school leadership regarding areas such as:
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o Effective methods of notifying parents of absences o Level of accessibility of at-risk students and their parents to needed personnel and services (counseling, special programs, information…) o Method of faculty/staff referral of students for dropout prevention
Schools have available to them the H_Specific Grades Report -
Secondary report on Chancery through which filters can be set to create lists of students with certain grades.
In order to minimize course failures, loss of credit, the need for credit recovery, and dropouts, campuses should have an early and assertive intervention plan to address course failures. Remember the role of differentiation in instructional interventions. A tutorial session without differentiation is just extended time.
Adult Students: Typically 65% of HISD dropouts are 18 years of age or older.
Overage Students: Being overage is the most reliable DEMOGRAPHIC indicator of a pending dropout. o Best Practice Interventions :
 Acceleration programs (opportunities to earn 9+ credits per year)
 Credit recovery

Alternative and flexible scheduling
 Child care
 CTE
Truant Students: Truancy is the most reliable PERFORMANCE indicator of a pending dropout. See the HISD Guide to Attendance Policies and Procedures
Attendance Improvement and Truancy Reduction for best practice interventions.
Previous Dropouts: This includes students who have missed entire school years or significant portions of years. o Best Practice Interventions:
 Regular academic review (progress reports and report cards)
 Frequent review of Personal Graduation Plan (PGP)
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
Case management for students with barriers
Recent LEP/Immigrant Students: These subgroups represent the highest at-risk categories which commonly fall within the Hispanic ethnicity subgroup and the
Economically Disadvantaged subgroup. Individual and collective needs should be addressed by the committee including and evaluation of programs and services.
The LPAC may assist in a needs assessment. o Best Practice Interventions:
 SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) Model

Referral to Migrant Services, Refugee Services, etc.
 Support groups: recent immigrants, refugees etc.
 Double blocked ELA courses

ESL Reading
Off-Track Students:
Students who get “off track” for graduation are at extreme risk of being retained at grade level, being referred to a DAEP, and dropping out.
Students get off-track through credit loss due to failure or excessive absences, as well as interrupted schooling. Students not earning a minimum of three credits per semester are considered “off track”. o Best Practice Interventions:

Credit recovery
 Instructional interventions
 Credit acceleration (9+ credit opportunities per year)
 Truancy interventions
Failing grades: o Best Practice Interventions:
 Tutorials
 Instructional interventions

Program or schedule adjustments
 District Minimum or State Minimum Diploma Program
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Social Barriers: This includes anti-social behaviors, and students disengaged by family or community issues. o Best Practice Interventions:
 Counseling

Psychological Services
 Referrals: Student Caseworker, CIS, Social Worker, etc.
 Engagement in school clubs/organizations
Medical Barriers: This includes pregnant students and students with disabilities or conditions which make traditional schooling difficult o Best Practice Interventions:
 Referral to campus nurse or Health & Medical Services

Child care
 Support groups for pregnant/parenting students
 Virtual School
Mental Health Barriers: This includes students receiving professional treatment or those who possibly may require such treatment as well as students suffering from depression and stressors. o Best Practice Interventions:
 Counseling

Referral to Psychological Services or Community in Schools (CIS) if available on campus
 Support groups for recovering substance abuse, death in family, etc.
Pregnant, Parenting, and Care Takers: This includes students who take care of other family members to the extent that it interferes with or prohibits traditional schooling. o Best Practice Intervention:
 HISD has a child care initiative which provides child care funding for students who meet Workforce Solutions eligibility requirements.
Students who are eligible can select a licensed child care center near their home or school. Six schools have child care centers on site.
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Most of these child care centers depend on child care funding from
Workforce and require that the teen parents complete the application/eligibility process. In some cases teen parents are assessed monthly parent fees and this causes some families to not use the service when they are unable to pay the fees. Students and families should contact the school site prior to enrollment, since space may be limited. The child care application review and eligibility usually takes 2-3 weeks. Please contact our office or the Life Skills
Coordinator or child care provider on the campus for assistance. Child care applications are sent to Health and Medical Services by school staff, students and child care vendors before they are submitted to
Workforce for eligibility determination.
Behavioral Issues: Including DAEP referrals, students with frequent discipline referrals and students identified as Emotionally Disturbed, such students form the highest category of dropouts among students with Special Needs. o Best Practice Interventions:
 Counseling

Review of Behavioral Intervention Plan / IEP
 Referral to Psychological Services or Community in Schools (CIS) if available on campus
See RESOURCE section for a more comprehensive listing of at-risk factors and a template for tracking the status of at-risk students, interventions, and results..
School Counselors should be contributing members of the campus Dropout Recovery,
Intervention and Prevention Committee.
Recovery : Counselors can assist in the removal of barriers which contributed to the dropout event from which the student was recovered. These barriers may exist in the individual domain, the family domain, or the school domain. Effective counseling is key in a successful recovery.
Intervention : Counselors are professionally trained and certified in interventions, including social, emotional, familial and academic needs such as career guidance and instructional support.
Prevention : Counselors are key persons in the identification and intervention of students in at-risk situations such as:
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Low credit accrual / off track for graduation
Caring for other family members
Necessary work
Physical/Emotional/Sexual Abuse
Close friends or siblings who have dropped out
Low occupation goals
Low self-esteem and confidence
Low academic performance
Discomfort or dislike of school
Social difficulties at school
Substance abuse
Personal or family health crisis
Death in family
Family instability/conflict
Low parental supervision
Graduation Coaches must be contributing members of the campus Graduation Support
Team.
Recovery : Graduation Coaches can assist in the removal of academic barriers which contributed to the dropout event from which the student was recovered. These barriers may exist in the individual domain or the school domain. Effective academic counseling and behavioral/social support referrals are critical in a successful recovery.
Intervention : Graduation Coaches are professionally trained in supporting students with the development of academic plans and overcoming barriers to fulfill said plans.
These plans allow students to identify required courses for graduation and to learn of academic interventions available such as career guidance, instructional support, and accelerated options for credit recovery.
Prevention : Graduation Coaches can serve as key personnel in the identification and intervention of students in at-risk situations such as:
Low credit accrual / off track for graduation
Excessive absences
Caring for other family members
Physical/Emotional/Sexual Abuse
Working to support their family
Low self-esteem and confidence
Low academic performance
Discomfort or dislike of school
Social difficulties at school
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Substance abuse
Personal or family health crisis
Death in family
Family instability/conflict
Teen parenting
School Nurses should be contributing members of the campus Dropout Recovery,
Intervention and Prevention Committee.
Recovery : Nurses can assist in addressing health related barriers which contributed to the dropout event from which the student was recovered. Students who are struggling with individual or family health issues may need the assistance of a nurse and appropriate referrals to other health care professionals to effectively remove or mitigate barriers to school. Recovery transitions back to school due to health and medical reasons must include the participation of the school nurse, especially in the case of students returning from childbirth. Postpartum students frequently experience problems with child care, sick infants, transportation difficulties, the need to attend medical appointments for both the mother and the infant, WIC appointments, and other medical and social service needs.
Intervention : Nurses are professionally trained, licensed, and certified in interventions, including immunizations, health appraisals, vision/hearing diagnostics, pregnancy related services, referrals for other serious health issues (asthma, allergies, dental, STD's, chronic conditions, substance abuse, etc.).
Prevention : Nurses are key persons in the identification, intervention and prevention of students in at-risk situations such as:
Episodic illness (flu, tonsillitis)
Chronic illness
Chronic allergies (contact, environmental and food)
Serious dental conditions
Anemia
Pregnant
Parenting
Caring for other family members
Physical/Emotional/Sexual Abuse
Substance abuse
Personal or family health crisis
Death in family
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86
87
88
89
90
24
60
66
78
Code
01
03
16
81
82
83
V.
SAMPLES
Included in this manual are some sample processes and forms used in the district to facilitate campus coordination and tracking of documentation, verification and other research into leavers and potential dropouts.
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Translation
Graduated From A Campus In This District Or Charter
Died
Return To Home Country
College, Pursue Associate‟s Or Bachelor‟s Degree
Home Schooling
Removed-Child Protective Services
Expelled For Offense Under TEC §37.007, Cannot Return
Enroll In TX Private School
Enroll In School Outside Texas
Not A Resident At Time Of Enrollment, Falsified Enrollment, No Proof Of
Identification, Or No Immunization Record
Graduated Outside Texas Before Entering A Texas Public School-Entered A
Texas Public School -Left Again
GED Outside Texas
Enroll In University High School Diploma Program
Court-ordered to a GED program, has not earned a GED
Incarcerated in state jail or federal penitentiary as an adult
Graduated from another state under provisions of the Interstate Compact on
Educational Opportunity for Military Children
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98 Other
AT-RISK-INDICATOR-CODE indicates whether a student is currently identified as atrisk of dropping out of school using state-defined criteria only (TEC §29.081,
Compensatory and Accelerated Instruction). Please note that a student with a disability may be considered to be at-risk of dropping out of school if the student meets one or more of the statutory criteria for being in an at-risk situation that is not considered to be part of the student‟s disability. A student with a disability is not automatically coded as being in an at-risk situation. Districts should use the student's individualized education program (IEP) and other appropriate information to make the determination.
A student at-risk of dropping out of school includes each student who is under 21 years of age and who:
1. is in prekindergarten, kindergarten or grade 1, 2, or 3 and did not perform satisfactorily on a readiness test or assessment instrument administered during the current school year;
2. is in grade 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12 and did not maintain an average equivalent to 70 on a scale of 100 in two or more subjects in the foundation curriculum during a semester in the preceding or current school year or is not maintaining such an average in two or more subjects in the foundation curriculum in the current semester;
3. was not advanced from one grade level to the next for one or more school years;
4. did not perform satisfactorily on an assessment instrument administered to the student under TEC Subchapter B, Chapter 39, and who has not in the previous or current school year subsequently performed on that instrument or another appropriate instrument at a level equal to at least 110 percent of the level of satisfactory performance on that instrument;
5. is pregnant or is a parent;
6. has been placed in an alternative education program in accordance with TEC
§37.006 during the preceding or current school year;
7. has been expelled in accordance with TEC §37.007 during the preceding or current school year;
8. is currently on parole, probation, deferred prosecution, or other conditional release;
9. was previously reported through the Public Education Information Management
System (PEIMS) to have dropped out of school;
10. is a student of limited English proficiency, as defined by TEC §29.052;
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11. is in the custody or care of the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services or has, during the current school year, been referred to the department by a school official, officer of the juvenile court, or law enforcement official;
12. is homeless, as de fined NCLB, Title X, Part C, Section 725(2), the term “homeless children and youths”, and its subsequent amendments; or
13. resided in the preceding school year or resides in the current school year in a residential placement facility in the district, including a detention facility, substance abuse treatment facility, emergency shelter, psychiatric hospital, halfway house, or foster group home.
Students names can be filtered through Chancery in the following search:
Student Search
Advanced Search
Detail
Select a Field
Category > At Risk Coding
Reason
Enter a Value = 01-13
Once the student names have been identified, use the following template to manage the at-risk group.
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November 1, 2007
TO THE INDIVIDUAL ADDRESSED:
This letter provides information about parental instruction or “home schooling” in lieu of public school attendance. It is available to you as a courtesy. The Texas Education Agency does not regulate, index, monitor, approve, register, or accredit the programs available to parents who choose to home school.
For most of this century, Texas has exempted children enrolled in a private or parochial school from compulsory school attendance. In the case of Leeper et al. v. Arlington ISD et al., the Supreme Court of
Texas affirmed a decision by District Judge Charles J. Murray holding that a school age child residing in
Texas who is pursuing, under direct supervision of his/her parents, a curriculum designed to meet basic education goals is attending a private school within the meaning of Section 25.086(a)(1) of the Texas
Education Code and is therefore exempt from compulsory school attendance. This case has a statewide application because school districts in the state and certain state officials were parties to the suit.
The State of Texas does not award a diploma to students that are home schooled. In the event a homeschooled student wishes to enter a public school, most districts have policies and procedures in place to assess the mastery level of courses that students in home schools have taken. The results of the assessment may be used for grade placement and/or award of credit.
There may be several sources of information, materials, and books about parental/home education available in your community. Parents can obtain information from many different sources, some of which are found in your local libraries and on the Internet. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) does not recommend, approve, support, or endorse any person, educational program, group, or organization. As another alternative, interested parents may also wish to contact the Texas Private School Accreditation
Commission, P.O. Box 12073, Longview, Texas 75607, www.tepsac.com
for information about accredited private schools.
Persons interested in acquiring the state-mandated curriculum may purchase the document from the TEA
Publications office. The document is all-inclusive; individual grades and/or courses are not available separately. To inquire about ordering the State Board of Education Rules for Curriculum, you may contact TEA Publications at (512) 463-9744, www.tea.state.tx.us/publications/ . The cost of the document changes periodically but is approximately $50.00 per copy. The publications office maintains publications only and does not respond to questions related to home schooling. THIS DOCUMENT IS
NOT REQUIRED OF PERSONS CONDUCTING HOME SCHOOLING.
A Textbook Current Adoption Bulletin located at www.tea.state.tx.us/textbooks/materials/bulletin/ may be purchased (approximately $10.00 per copy) from TEA Publications; however, state-adopted textbooks can be purchased directly from the publishers. Please understand that a local school district is not required to provide textbooks nor to facilitate purchases. Textbooks purchased with public funds are to be used only by students enrolled in a public school.
If further information or assistance is necessary, please contact home school support groups, regional/state organizations on home schooling, or call 806.744.4441.
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March 23, 2010
TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED:
Re: Home Schools
The issues surrounding students schooled at home continue to be of significant interest to parents and school districts. Because of the number of inquiries the Texas Education
Agency receives regarding this matter, I am providing some general information with respect to the Agency's position on home schooled students.
The decision rendered in Leeper et al. vs. Arlington ISD et al. clearly establishes that students who are home schooled are exempt from the compulsory attendance requirement to the same extent as students enrolled in private schools. Students should be disenrolled by school officials when they receive written notice either by signing withdrawal forms or a letter of withdrawal. It is not necessary for the parents to make a personal appearance with school officials or present curriculum for review. School districts which become aware of a student who is potentially being home schooled may request in writing a letter of assurance from the parents of the student regarding their intention to home-school the student. This letter may require assurances that the homeschool curriculum is designed to meet basic education goals including reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics, and a study of good citizenship. Please note that a letter of this type is not required each year.
Additionally, it has been brought to my attention that there may be some confusion with respect to the awarding of transfer credit from students who have been home schooled.
Students transferring from home schools should be afforded the same treatment as students transferring from unaccredited private schools. Awarding of credit for courses taken may be determined by reviewing the curriculum and/or work of the student, or by using appropriate assessments.
When appropriate assessments are used for determination of placement, the passing standard for those students who have been home schooled should be no higher than the standard required of students transferring from unaccredited private schools. As the
Texas Education Agency has stated in the past, school districts may assess students by administering valid and reliable assessment instruments. The determination of whether or not to use such an instrument is a local matter. Districts may place students according to a review of the curriculum, course of study, and work of the student coming from a home school environment. Section 28.021 of the Texas Education Code (TEC) requires advancement or credit to be awarded on the basis of "academic achievement or demonstrated proficiency of the subject matter."
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If assessments are utilized for determining placement, the agency would suggest the following guidelines for assessing students:
1) Elementary students should be assessed by means of a nationally recognized normreferenced test or by a previously released TAAS or TAKS exam of appropriate grade level.
2) Secondary students may be assessed using the credit-by-examination methods for individual subject area or by a previously released TAAS or TAKS exam of appropriate grade level.
3) A secondary student assessed using the credit-by-examination method should be given adequate time to prepare for the test, particularly if multiple examinations are required. The standard of 70% for students to receive credit for courses they have already taken should be used rather than that the 90% standard for earning credit for courses not previously taken.
4) The Texas legislature amended TEC 29.916 that requires school districts to allow home school students the opportunity to participate in PSAT/NQMST and Advanced Placement (AP) testing that each district provides enrolled students. The statute also requires the district to notify the public via its website or local newspaper: of the dates of PSAT/NQMST and AP tests; that home school students are eligible to take the test; and the procedures for registering for such tests. This public notice must be posted or published at the same time and with the same frequency as the notice of the tests given to students attending the school district.
Finally, there has been some concern that school districts may be contacting Child
Protective Services regarding children who are being home-schooled. While school officials are required to contact that agency in instances of abuse or neglect of a child, the determination of whether compulsory attendance has been violated should be made by the school district or local judicial authorities.
It is my hope that these policy statements will help to alleviate any confusion with respect to the issues surrounding notification, placement and the awarding of credit to previously home-schooled students. Thank you for your attention to these matters.
Sincerely,
Robert Scott
Commissioner of Education
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DEFINITIONS
Annual Dropout Rates The percentage of students who drop out of school during one school year calculated at end of year.
Attrition Rate The percentage change in enrollment between Grade 9 and Grade 12 across years.
Class
Cohort
Completion Rate
Dropout
Event Dropout Rate
The sum of students from the original cohort who have a final status of
“graduated”, “continued”, “received GED” or “dropped out”.
The group of students who begin 7 th
grade or 9 th
grade together
The percentage of students from a class of beginning 7 th
or 9 th
graders who graduate, receive a GED certificate, or are still enrolled in the fall after the class graduates.
A dropout is a student who was enrolled in 2006-07 in a Texas public school in grades 7 – 12, but did not return to a Texas public school the following fall within the school-start window, was not expelled, did not graduate, receive a GED, continue high school outside the Texas public school system, or begin college, or die.
The percentage of students who drop out of school during one school year calculated on a single day of the year, usually October 1.
GED Certificate date
Leaver
Longitudinal Dropout
Rates
Minimum size criteria/requirements
NCES deadline for dating of GED certificate for accountability
A leaver may be any one of the following: a student who graduates, receives a General Educational Development (GED) certificate, continues high school outside the Texas public school system, or begins college, is expelled, dies, or drops out.
The percentage of students from a class of beginning 7 th
or 9 th
graders who drop out before completing high school.
The results are evaluated if there are at least 5 dropouts withing the student froup and:
There are 30-49 students with the student group and the student group compromises at least 10% of ALL students; or
Movers
No Show
School-Start Window
Student groups
There are at least 50 students with the student group.
A mover is a student who moves from one public school district to another, within Texas. A leaver record is not required for a mover.
A student who is expected to return or enter for the first time in the fall, but does not attend on the first day of school.
The school-start window is between the first day of school and the last
Friday in September.
African American, Hispanic, White, Economically Disadvantaged
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HOUSTON INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
4400 WEST 18
TH
STREET
HOUSTON, TEXAS 77092
DEPARTMENT OF DROPOUT PREVENTION
FEDERAL AND STATE COMPLIANCE
STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES
August 2014