For Education Service Center Administrators
What Is TSDS?
TSDS is Texas' new education data collection system. It includes two state-sponsored student information systems (SSISs), a data warehouse, a set of studentGPS™ Dashboards for local education agencies (LEAs—Texas school districts and charter schools), and a replacement for the PEIMS EDIT+ application.
The goal of TSDS is to improve and standardize TEA's data collection and data management process and equip educators with timely, actionable, and historical student data to drive classroom and student success.
What Does TSDS Mean for You?
See the high-level TSDS timeline--click to view a more detailed timeline.
ESCs have a number of roles to play in the new TSDS system:
(1) The Texas Computer Cooperative (TCC) will continue to provide its popular SIS, TxEIS™.
(2) ESCs will provide support for both SSISs.
(3) Regions 10 and 13 will provide training.
(4) The ESCs will be a major source of TSDS information and ongoing training for districts.
(5) ESCs will also engage with TSDS as users of the system: they will load their own PEIMS data and accept their LEAs' PEIMS collections.
Get the Most from TSDS
(1) Encourage your LEAs to load the full suite of dashboard data, not just PEIMS data.
(2) Encourage your LEAs to load weekly, at a minimum, in order to keep their dashboards relevant; see TEA's Recommended Dashboard Policy Guidelines for more information.
(3) Participate in all training and train-the-trainer opportunities offered by TEA. The state has an aggressive implementation timeline—help your LEAs by becoming a certified trainer and assisting them through the process.
ESC Importance
TEA will rely heavily on the regions' expertise and strong relationships with LEAs to make this ambitious initiative successful. TEA strongly values your work, and our state-sponsored SIS vendors will include ESCs as a key component of their support systems.
TSDS has the potential to streamline data collection processes, while putting an unprecedented amount of highly relevant, timely data in the hands of teachers and administrators.We believe that this data can lead to substantially improved outcomes for Texas students... but only if LEAs understand what is available to them and how to use it.
ESCs are a critical liaison to help LEAs adopt and make use of TSDS.
For More Information...
To learn more about the TSDS initiative: