Early Childhood Data Collection Requirements

The �� (��) aims to support school systems (school districts or open-enrollment charter schools) in making optimal decisions regarding required implementation of early childhood instruments. Effective data collection and use transforms a child's educational journey in the early grades.

Now Open: Call for K–3 Literacy and Numeracy Instruments

�� announces the upcoming launch of an application process to identify commissioner-approved kindergarten reading readiness instruments and commissioner-approved foundational literacy and numeracy instruments for kindergarten through grade 3. Visit the Call for K–3 Literacy and Numeracy Instruments webpage for additional details.

The deadline for submission is April 06, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. CST.

Please select a grade below to view requirements.

Prekindergarten

Kindergarten

Grades 1 & 2

Changes for 2025-2026 school year

Discontinuation of Early Reading Indicator (ERI) Data Element Collection

Effective immediately, the Early Reading Indicator Data Element will no longer be collected through PEIMS. This change is a result of the repeal of the statutory requirement that was the basis for the data collection.

Additional Information Related to HB 2, Article V

House Bill (HB) 2, 89th Texas Legislature, established statewide requirements related to foundational literacy and numeracy instruments. For additional information regarding implementation guidance for House Bill 2 foundational literacy and numeracy assessment requirements for the 2026–27 and 2027–28 school years, review the HB 2 Implementation: Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Instruments and Extension of Current K–2 Reading Instruments correspondence published on January 29, 2026.

Note: The information below reflects current instrument administration requirements for the 2025–2026 school year. School systems should continue to follow the requirements outlined for the 2025–2026 school year.

Prekindergarten Requirements

Prekindergarten Progress Monitoring Instrument Administration Requirements

To support the delivery of high-quality, full-day prekindergarten for eligible 4-year-old students, school systems must collect student progress monitoring data in the following five required domains:

Health and wellness
Emergent literacy – language and communication
Emergent literacy – reading
Emergent literacy – writing
Mathematics

Data must be collected at the beginning-of-year (BOY), middle-of-year (MOY), and end-of-year (EOY) using an instrument from the Commissioner's List of Approved Prekindergarten Progress Monitoring Instruments ().

Administration and Parental Notification Guidance:

The instrument administration windows are determined locally. It is recommended that the BOY instruments be administered within the first 60 days of school so that the resulting data can be used for instructional purposes.
School systems should ensure they have systems in place to collect and report student progress monitoring data for students who may have missed the administration or enrolled after the designated window. This data is crucial for ensuring reports on prekindergarten student assessment results are accurate.
As part of the required family engagement plan, school systems are encouraged to provide families with progress monitoring updates that address all five required domains at least three times a year.
Progress monitoring for eligible 3-year-old students is not required and may be conducted at the school system’s discretion.

Data Submission Due Date:

Raw BOY and EOY data for all eligible 4-year-old prekindergarten students must be submitted to �� in the Prekindergarten Early Childhood Data System (ECDS) Collection. For additional information regarding ECDS timelines, visit the webpage.

Approved Prekindergarten Progress Monitoring Instruments:

Circle Progress Monitoring System by Children’s Learning Institute (CLI)
COR Advantage by HighScope Educational Research Foundation
CPALLS+STEM by Circle Progress Monitoring administered through TANGO Software 
Frog Street Assessment – Criterion Referenced Assessment by Frog Street
GOLD® by Teaching Strategies, LLC
LION for Prekindergarten by Liberty Source

Jump to Statutory References

Kindergarten Requirements

To support the measurement of foundational literacy skills in reading development and comprehension, school systems must administer a Commissioner-approved kindergarten reading instrument to all kindergarten students at the beginning of the school year ().

Administration and Parental Notification Guidance:

BOY reading instruments must be administered no later than the 60th day of the school year.*
School systems should have procedures in place to collect and report data for students captured in Fall Snapshot who miss the instrument administration or enroll after the window. This data is crucial for ensuring reports displaying kindergarten assessment results are accurate.
Families must be notified of BOY results in writing or electronically no later than the earlier of the 20th school day or the 30th calendar day after results are available.*

*These new requirements are established in House Bill 2, Article 5, Section 5.09, 89th Texas Legislature (amending TEC, §28.006).

Approved Kindergarten Reading Instruments for 2025–2026:

Circle Kindergarten Progress Monitoring (formerly known as TX-KEA) by CLI
mCLASS Texas Edition by Amplify

Data Submission Due Date:

Raw BOY data for kindergarten students must be submitted to �� in the Kindergarten ECDS Collection. For additional information regarding ECDS timelines, visit the webpage.

Kindergarten MOY & EOY Requirements

As noted above, HB 2 requires districts to use an agency-approved BOY, MOY, and EOY instrument, once the agency adopts a list of instruments. To date, this has not been done. So, the above Kindergarten-readiness instrument is required, but no additional MOY or EOY requirements exist at this time. Additional correspondence will be provided in the future when MOY and EOY instruments are adopted.

Dyslexia Screening

The mandates that school systems administer universal dyslexia screening for all kindergarten students by the end of the year. The updated Dyslexia Handbook provides current screening criteria. The criteria for English and Spanish screening instruments are as follows:

Kindergarten - Screened by End of Year

Letter Sound Knowledge or Letter Naming Fluency
Phonological Awareness

Commissioner-approved reading instruments that meet the requirement of (Early Reading Diagnosis) include aligned dyslexia screening elements. These free tools meet the dyslexia screener requirements outlined in the Dyslexia Handbook; however, they are not required to be used by school systems to fulfill dyslexia screener requirements. School systems should ensure planned dyslexia screening instruments meet the revised criteria.

Please Note: Choosing one of the free tools available to all school systems will meet the dyslexia screening requirements.

Jump to Statutory References

Tool Selection Guide
PreK-2 Key Dates and Requirements (2025-2026)

Grade 1 Requirements

School systems should collect data regarding student reading proficiency using an approved instrument (either from the Commissioner's List or selected by a district-level committee) for all students in grades 1 and 2.

Approved Reading Instruments for Grade 1:

mCLASS Texas Edition by Amplify
TPRI/Tejas LEE (All vendor versions accepted, including CLI, Tango Software, and Amira Learning) Note: Only the CLI vendor version is offered at no cost.
Alternate instrument selected by a district-level committee

Administration and Parental Notification Guidance:

It is recommended that the BOY instruments be administered within the first 60 days of school so that the resulting data can be used for instructional purposes.
Families should be notified of BOY results within 60 days of administration.

Dyslexia Screening

and State Board of Education require that school systems administer universal dyslexia screening for grade 1 students by January 31. The updated Dyslexia Handbook provides current screening criteria. The criteria for English and Spanish screening instruments are as follows:

Grade 1 - Screened by January 31st

Word Reading Accuracy or Fluency
Phonological Awareness

Please Note: Choosing one of the free tools available to all districts will meet the dyslexia screening requirements.

Jump to Statutory References

Tool Selection Guide
PreK-2 Key Dates and Requirements (2025-2026)

Grade 2 Requirements

Approved Reading Instruments for Grade 2:

mCLASS Texas Edition by Amplify
TPRI/Tejas LEE (All vendor versions accepted, including CLI, Tango Software, and Amira Learning) Note: Only the CLI vendor version is offered at no cost.
Alternate instrument selected by a district-level committee

Administration and Parental Notification Guidance:

It is recommended that the BOY instruments be administered within the first 60 days of school so that the resulting data can be used for instructional purposes.
Families should be notified of BOY results within 60 days of administration.

Jump to Statutory References

Tool Selection Guide
PreK-2 Key Dates and Requirements (2025-2026)

Statutory References

Texas Education Code §29.153

(c-1) A prekindergarten class under this section for children who are least four years of age must comply with the program standards required for high quality prekindergarten programs under Subchapter E-1. (c)

Subchapter E-1 (c) A school district or an open-enrollment charter school shall:

(c) An assessment instrument administered to a prekindergarten program class must be selected from a list of appropriate prekindergarten assessment instruments identified by the commissioner.

Texas Education Code §29.1532

(c) A school district that offers prekindergarten classes shall include the following information in the district's Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) report: (6) if the district elects to administer an assessment instrument under Section to students enrolled in district and campus prekindergarten program classes, a description and the results of each type of assessment instrument;

Texas Education Code §29.169

(a) A school district shall: (c) An assessment instrument administered to a prekindergarten program class must be selected from a list of appropriate prekindergarten assessment instruments identified by the commissioner.

Texas Administrative Code: Title 19, Part 2, Chapter 102, Subchapter AA, Rule §102.1003

(c) A school district or an open-enrollment charter school shall measure: (1) at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year, the progress of each student in meeting the recommended end of prekindergarten year outcomes identified in the 2015 Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines using a progress monitoring tool included on the commissioner's list of approved prekindergarten instruments that measures: (A) social and emotional development, which may be referred to as health and wellness in a progress monitoring tool; (B) emergent literacy language and communication; (C) emergent literacy reading; (D) emergent literacy writing; and (E) mathematics;

Texas Administrative Code §102.1003 Section: (h)(2)(D)(i)

(h) A school district or an open-enrollment charter school shall develop, implement, and make available on the district, charter, or campus website by November 1 of each school year, a family engagement plan to assist the district in achieving and maintaining high levels of family involvement and positive family attitudes toward education. An effective family engagement plan creates a foundation for the collaboration of mutual partners, embraces the individuality and uniqueness of families, and promotes a culture of learning that is child centered, age appropriate, and family driven.
(2) The family engagement plan shall:
(D) equip families with tools to enhance and extend learning using strategies such as:
(i) providing families with updates at least three times a year that specify student progress in health and wellness, language and communication, emergent literacy reading, emergent literacy writing, and mathematics;

Texas Education Code §28.006

(b) The commissioner shall adopt a list of reading instruments that a school district may use to diagnose student reading development and comprehension. For use in diagnosing the reading development and comprehension of kindergarten students, the commissioner shall adopt a multidimensional assessment tool that includes a reading instrument and tests at least three developmental skills, including literacy. A multidimensional assessment tool administered as provided by this subsection is considered to be a reading instrument for purposes of this section... Each reading instrument adopted by the commissioner ... must be based on scientific research concerning reading skills development and reading comprehension. A list of reading instruments adopted under this subsection must provide for diagnosing the reading development and comprehension of students participating in a program under Subchapter B, Chapter 29.

(b-1) The commissioner may approve an alternative reading instrument for use in diagnosing the reading development and comprehension of kindergarten students that complies with the requirements under Subsection (b).

(c-2) Each school district shall administer at the kindergarten level a reading instrument adopted by the commissioner under Subsection (b) or approved by the commissioner under Subsection (b-1). The district shall administer the reading instrument in accordance with the commissioner's recommendations under Subsection (a)(1).

(d) The superintendent of each school district shall: (2) not later than the 60th calendar day after the date on which a reading instrument was administered report, in writing, to a student's parent or guardian the student's results on the instrument;

Texas Education Code §38.003

SCREENING AND TREATMENT FOR DYSLEXIA AND RELATED DISORDERS. (a) Students enrolling in public schools in this state shall be screened or tested, as appropriate, for dyslexia and related disorders at appropriate times in accordance with a program approved by the State Board of Education. The program must include screening at the end of the school year of each student in kindergarten and each student in the first grade.

Texas Education Code §28.006

(b) The commissioner shall adopt a list of reading instruments that a school district may use to diagnose student reading development and comprehension... A district-level committee established under Subchapter F, Chapter 11, may adopt a list of reading instruments for use in the district in a grade level other than kindergarten in addition to the reading instruments on the commissioner's list. Each reading instrument adopted by the commissioner or a district-level committee must be based on scientific research concerning reading skills development and reading comprehension. A list of reading instruments adopted under this subsection must provide for diagnosing the reading development and comprehension of students participating in a program under Subchapter B, Chapter 29.

(c) Each school district shall administer, at the first and second grade levels, a reading instrument on the list adopted by the commissioner or by the district-level committee. The district shall administer the reading instrument in accordance with the commissioner's recommendations under Subsection (a)(1).

��������