The Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) pulls together a wide range of information on the performance of students in each school and district in Texas every year. This information is put into the annual AEIS reports, which are available each year in the fall. The performance indicators are:

• Results of Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS*); by grade, by subject, and by all grades tested;
• Participation in the statewide assessment programs (TAKS/TAKS(Accommodated)/TAKS-M/TAKS-Alt);
• Exit-level TAKS Cumulative Passing Rates;
• Progress of Prior Year TAKS Failers;
• Results of Student Success Initiative;
• Attendance Rates;
• Annual Dropout Rates (grades 7-8, grades 7-12, and grades 9-12);
• Completion Rates (4-year longitudinal);
• College Readiness Indicators;
  • Completion of Advanced / Dual Enrollment Courses;
  • Completion of the Recommended High School Program or Distinguished Achievement Program;
  • Participation and Performance on Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) Examinations;
  • College-Ready Graduates;
  • Texas Success Initiative (TSI) – Higher Education Readiness Component; and
  • Participation and Performance on the College Admissions Tests (SAT and ACT).

Performance on each of these indicators is shown disaggregated by ethnicity, sex, special education, low income status, limited English proficient status (since 2002-03), and beginning in 2003-04, at risk status (district only). The reports also provide extensive information on school and district staff, finances, programs and student demographics.

The accountability rating is visible as well on every AEIS report—however, please note: the AEIS report is not the “accountability report.”  For complete accountability information, please see the accountability data sheets available at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/account/. The AEIS reports also include, when applicable, the list of Gold Performance Acknowledgements (GPAs) earned in the current year as well as a note describing Performance-Based Monitoring (PBM) Special Education Monitoring Results Status if pertinent to the specific district or campus.

* The TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) replaced the TAAS (Texas Assessment of Academic Skills) in the 2002-03 school year as the state-administered assessment. AEIS reports prior to 2002-03 show performance on the TAAS test. 

The origins of the AEIS go back to 1984, when the Texas Legislature for the first time sought to emphasize student achievement as the basis for accountability. That year, House Bill 72 called for a system of accountability based primarily on student performance. Prior to that, accountability focused mostly on process; that is, districts were checked to see if their schools had been following rules, regulations, and sound educational practices.

Since the first year of the AEIS (1990-91), it has developed and evolved through legislation, recommendations of advisory committees and the commissioner of education, State Board of Education actions, and final development by Texas Education Agency (TEA) researchers and analysts.

The level of detail on the AEIS is possible thanks to the extensive amount of school data collected in Texas. Through its Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS), the TEA annually collects a broad range of information on over 1,200 districts (including charters), more than 8,000 schools, 300,000 educators, and over 4.5 million students. Additionally, testing contractors provide the agency with scores on standardized tests which are administered statewide (e.g. TAKS, TAKS(Accommodated), TAKS-M, TAKS-Alt, SAT, ACT, AP, and IB). Other state agencies provide information such as tax rates and property values.

PEIMS is a state-wide data management system for public education information in the State of Texas. One of the basic goals of PEIMS, as adopted by the State Board of Education in 1986, is to improve education practices of local school districts. PEIMS is a major improvement over previous information sources gathered from aggregated data available on paper reports.

School districts submit their data in a standardized electronic format. The data collection is defined in an annual publication, the PEIMS Data Standards. Technical support for gathering the data from district databases is supplied by one of the twenty educational service centers (ESCs) or by private vendors. A software system of standard edits is used to enhance the quality of district data submissions. Currently, the major categories of data collected are: organization data; budgeted financial data; actual financial data; staff data; student demographic and program participation data; student attendance and course completion data; retention and "school leaver" information (graduates, dropouts, etc.)

Since the first AEIS reports for the 1990-91 school year, other reports have been developed that use the AEIS data. The Accountability Rating System for Texas Public Schools and School Districts uses a subset of the performance measures computed for AEIS to assign a rating to each public school and district. Schools and districts have been rated since 1994 using this system. Additionally, School Report Cards, (available on the web through the AEIS site, by year starting with 1997-98) are sent out to parents by their children's schools. These show a subset of the performance, staff, and financial measures in the AEIS reports. The annual Snapshot publications, which date back to 1987-88, provide extensive district-level information which is calculated for AEIS. Pocket Edition provides a state-level overview of public school education in a compact brochure. These brochures date back to the 1990-91 school year.

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