TEA Information on Dropout Prevention

Under Texas Education Code (TEC) §29.918, a school district or open-enrollment charter school with a high dropout rate, as determined by the commissioner, must submit a plan each year describing how the district or charter school will use the compensatory education allotment for developing and implementing research-based strategies for dropout prevention.

The TEA recently issued a letter to provide local education agencies (LEAs) with 2023-2024 intervention information for dropout prevention plan (DPP) monitoring. LEAs are referred to the Division of School Improvement if they have a rate above their respective accountability group averages. LEAs held to standard accountability are considered to have a “relatively high” dropout rate if their four-year longitudinal dropout rate is above 4.4% or their Grade 7-12 annual dropout rate is above 1.4%. A four-year longitudinal dropout rate above 34.2% or Grade 7-12 annual dropout rate above 16.1% is considered “relatively high” for LEAs held to alternative education accountability (AEA) standards.

The top 20% percent of LEAs identified as having a “relatively high” dropout rate are required to submit a DPP via the Intervention, Stage, and Activity Manager (ISAM) application in TEAL.

LEAs held to standard accountability are required to submit a dropout prevention plan if they had a longitudinal or Grade 7-12 annual dropout rate greater than or equal to 11.1%.

LEAs held to alternative education accountability (AEA) standards with a longitudinal or Grade 7-12 annual dropout rate greater than or equal to 80.0% are also required to submit a dropout prevention plan.

An LEA can determine if it has been identified for DPP monitoring in ISAM beginning the week of November 13, 2023. LEAs that were identified for DPP monitoring interventions in the current year and in SY 2022- 2023, are required to submit a needs assessment in addition to the DPP. The due date for completion and submission of required intervention documents is December 1, 2023.

Intervention tools, including the DPP Guidance for conducting intervention activities, are posted to the Division of School Improvement web page and will be available in ISAM the week of November 6, 2023. We encourage LEAs to work closely with their regional education service centers (ESCs) as they complete their intervention requirements.

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