Understanding the difference between Movers, Leavers and Dropouts
School districts report data on the students they served, in grades 7-12, during the prior school year, even if the student was only enrolled for only one day! Leaver records are submitted for students who left the district before the end of the school year, did not return in the same year, or did not return in the fall within the school-start window. The school-start window extends from the first day of school through the last Friday in September. A student’s leaver record will be associated with the last campus that they were in attendance. Leaver records are not submitted for students who enroll in another Texas public school district, students who obtain GED certificates at Texas examination sites by August 31st, and students accounted for through other state reconciliation processes. The grade level of a school leaver refers to their last grade of enrollment with your district. Students who complete a grade, but do not return to school within the school-start window the following year, will be reported with their grade level during their last year of enrollment.
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When do I submit my student leaver records?
Student leaver records are included in the Fall PEIMS submission. The Fall PEIMS Submission is due in December each year, with a one-time optional Resubmission due in January. To submit an acute leaver record, the student must still be enrolled, or be served in another academic setting, by the close of the school start window, the last Friday in September, regardless of when you submit your PEIMS data.
How do I ensure that I have included all needed leaver records in my PEIMS submission?
- The best way to ensure that you have accurate leaver records included in your PEIMS submission is to understand and implement proper withdrawal procedures in your district and retain the needed documentation to support your coding. All leaver codes, which include dropout codes and non-dropout codes, used to withdraw a student must be supported by documentation. Documentation supporting the use of a leaver code must exist in the district at the time the student’s leaver data is submitted. This documentation must be retained for at least five years. TEA is very specific about what is considered acceptable documentation and it is important that you follow their guidelines. The TWEDS Technical Resources has two sections available that explain each available PEIMS leaver code, including an explanation of when to use this code, as well as an overview of the documentation requirements needed to support the coding. This document can be found at https://www.texasstudentdatasystem.org/TSDS/TEDS/TEDS_Latest_Release.
- Click on Texas Education Data Standards via TWEDS under the appropriate school year.
- Click on Data Submission-Technical Resources-PEIMS Leaver Data-Leaver Reason Codes and Documentation Requirements OR PEIMS Leaver Data- Documentation Requirements by Leaver Reason Code
What TSDS Reports should I use to verify my leaver data?
It is imperative that you take advantage of the reports available to you in TSDS to review your PEIMS data before you finalize your Fall PEIMS submission. Once you have promoted your PEIMS data you can access these reports in the “view reports” tab for your Fall PEIMS submission. These reports will be reflective of the data being reported by your district and will help you review your leaver coding.
- PDM1-124-004: School Leaver Roster
- PDM1-124-005: School Leaver Summary
- PDM1-124-006: Non-Dropout Non-Graduate Leaver Roster
- PDM1-124-002: Dropout Roster
- PDM1-321-001: Presumed Underreported Students List
The Presumed Underreported Students List is incredibly important and is a great tool to ensure you have all needed student leaver records included in your submission. You do not want to leave a student out by mistake, because they will then count as a dropout for your district! This report lists students who attended or were enrolled in grades 7-12 during the prior school year. It assists districts with identifying students for whom a School Leaver record may need to be submitted in the Fall submission, but for whatever reason was left out of your interchange files. A student listed on this report can be flagged as a summertime mover, a presumed returned student, a presumed leaver, a school year mover, a prior Texas graduate, or a Texas GED recipient. If at least one of these indicators is listed, the student is not presumed under-reported. If none of the indicators is listed, the student is presumed to be under-reported (as indicated by an asterisk to the left of the student ID). These students’ status needs to be investigate and when possible an accurate leaver record needs to be created and submitted for them.
What is the difference between a Leaver, Mover and Dropout?
Each district has local withdrawal codes that are mapped to the official PEIMS leaver codes in your Student Information System. The codes listed below are the PEIMS leaver codes and will not cover all of the withdrawal codes that your district may have, but ultimately, these are the only codes that the state sees. You do not want to accidentally code students as dropouts when they are not!
1.Leavers
- A leaver is a student who was enrolled at least one day in a Texas public school the prior year and does not return before the close of the school start window the following fall. These are students that TEA cannot determine the status of unless a leaver record is submitted in the Fall PEIMS submission. The following codes would be considered “leaver” codes and need proper documentation on file to support their coding. These students will not count as dropouts for your district.
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- 01- Student graduated from a campus in this district or charter
- 85- Student graduated outside Texas before entering a Texas Public School, entered a Texas Public School, and left again
- 86- Student completed the GED outside of Texas
- 90- Student graduated from another state under provisions of the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunities for Military Children.
- 60- Student is home schooled
- 66- Student was removed by Child Protective Services (CPS) and the district has not been informed of the student’s current status or enrollment
- 81- Student enrolled in a private school in Texas
- 82- Student enrolled in a public or private school outside of Texas
- 87- 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
- 78- Student was expelled under the provisions of TEC 37.007 and cannot return to school
- 83- Student was attending and was withdrawn from school by the district when the district discovered that the student was not entitled to enrollment in the district
- 03- Student died while enrolled in school or during the summer break after completing the prior school year
- 16- Student returned to family’s home country
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2. Movers
- A mover is a student who is no longer as student in your district and will be reported to PEIMS by another district or entity. A mover is a student who, through the TEA PEIMS/Enrollment Tracking submission, can be located at another Texas public school as enrolling within the school-start window or has obtained a GED certificate at a Texas examination site by August 31. Students who have been coded with a mover code but cannot be tracked through the TEA PEIMS/Enrollment Tracking submission as enrolled in another Texas public school during the school-start window or obtaining a GED by August 31 will be considered a dropout for your district.
- 80 – Student withdrawn from school and parent/guardian or qualified student indicated at time of withdrawal that the student would be enrolling in another public school in Texas
- 24- Student entered college and is working towards and Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree
3. Dropouts
- A dropout is a student who is not a leaver or a mover. Students who have been coded with a mover code but cannot be tracked through the TEA PEIMS/Enrollment Tracking submission as enrolled in another Texas public school during the school-start window or obtaining a GED by August 31 will be considered a dropout. Your district may have multiple withdraw codes that are being mapped to these dropout codes.
- 08- student (female or male) withdrew from/left school because of pregnancy (State and Federal Dropout)
- 20- Student withdrew from/left school because of a medical injury (Federal Dropout)
- 88- Student was ordered by a court to attend a GED program and has not earned a GED certificate (Federal Dropout)
- 89- Student is incarcerated in state jail or federal penitentiary as an adult or as a person certified to stand trial as an adult (Federal Dropout)
- 98- Other (reason unknown or not listed) (State and Federal Dropout)
Summary
Student Leaver records are incredibly important! Finding out where a student has gone after they have left your district can be very difficult and time consuming, but it is important that you do everything within your power to find them. Your Leaver data impacts your district’s State Accountability Ratings, Graduation and Dropout rates, Mobility rates and can trigger a TEA Leaver Audit.
Need some help?
If you have any questions about the proper coding of Leavers or the documentation needed to support a leaver code, please contact Laura Jandle at ljandle@charterschoolsuccess.com.
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