(a) Data submissions. The Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) consists of all data submitted by school districts, charter schools, campuses, and other educational organizations and entities to the Texas Education Agency (TEA).
(b) Standards. Data standards, established by the commissioner of education under Texas Education Code (TEC), §48.008, shall be used by school districts and charter schools to submit information required for the legislature and the TEA to perform their legally authorized functions. Data standards shall be published annually in official TEA publications. These publications shall be widely disseminated and include:
  (1) descriptions of the data collections and submission requirements;
  (2) descriptions of data elements and the codes used to report them, which include the number of reported incidents of bullying, including cyberbullying, that have occurred at each campus; the number of reported incidents of cyberbullying at each campus; and pregnancy as a reason a student withdraws from or otherwise no longer attends public school;
  (3) detailed responsibilities of school districts, education service centers, and the TEA in connection with the data submission processes, including each deadline for submission and resubmission; and
  (4) descriptions of the data submission requirements, including submission record layout specifications and data edit specifications.
(c) External review process. The commissioner shall establish a policy advisory group that provides oversight of data collections and reporting standards policies. The policy advisory group membership shall be composed of representatives of school districts, charter schools, education service centers, state government, and educational associations. Subcommittees consisting of technical experts and representatives from user groups may be established by the commissioner to provide timely and impartial reviews of requested changes or additions to TEA data collections and reporting standards. The procedure for adding, deleting, or modifying data elements described in paragraphs (1)-(5) of this subsection provides consistency in updates to the data and reporting standards. The commissioner may approve changes to the data and reporting standards outside this process if necessary to expedite implementation of data collections and reporting.
  (1) Prepare proposal. A written proposal is prepared to add, delete, or modify data elements. The proposal provides justification for the data collection, determination of data availability, and definitions of critical attributes and required analyses of requested data elements.
  (2) Conduct research. Survey a sampling of districts to update and refine cost estimates, assess district burden, and determine any benefits from a pilot of the data collection.
  (3) Solicit feedback. The subcommittee(s) established by the commissioner and other appropriate TEA committees review proposals and make formal, written recommendations to the policy advisory group. The policy advisory group reviews proposals and committee recommendations and makes recommendations to the commissioner for approval, modification, or rejection of the proposed changes.
  (4) Collect data. Data standards and software made available to districts online are updated annually, implementing changes to data submissions requirements.
  (5) Reevaluate data requirements. All data elements are reviewed by the commissioner-appointed subcommittee(s) and policy advisory group on a three-year cycle as part of an ongoing sunset process. The sunset process is designed to ensure that data standards meet the requirements specified in TEC, §48.008(c)(1)-(3) and (d).
(d) Internal review process. The commissioner shall establish and determine the membership of a TEA committee that provides oversight of the TEA data collections and reporting policies. The commissioner shall also establish a TEA subcommittee that reviews data collections and reporting standards according to the requirements specified in TEC, §48.008(c)(1)-(3) and (d). The subcommittee is also responsible for maintaining data collections at the TEA. The procedure for adding, deleting, or modifying data elements described in subsection (c)(1)-(5) of this section provides consistency in updates to data and reporting standards. The commissioner may approve changes to data and reporting standards outside this process if necessary to expedite implementation.

Source Note: The provisions of this §61.1025 adopted to be effective May 30, 2001, 26 TexReg 3744; amended to be effective July 14, 2005, 30 TexReg 3995; amended to be effective November 10, 2020, 45 TexReg 7997; amended to be effective July 26, 2022, 47 TexReg 4319