El Paso Independent School District

1.W‌‌‌‍‌‍‌‌‍here is the district located? Giving a single street address is not an adequate answer. Indicate where the district is in relation to Houston and/or the state of Texas.

The El Paso Independent school district is located in El Paso, Texas, the USA, near Ciudad Juarez city, a Mexican city on the Rio Grande. It is presently the biggest district in the Texas Education Agency's Educational Service Centre Region and the largest district within El Paso County (District, 2022).

2.How many students attend the district? 

The El Paso Independent School District comprises of over 80 schools encompassing elementary, middle, special, former, dormant, and high schools. Additionally, the school district encompasses over 50,000 students. In contrast to the district's total enrolment of 50,705 students for the 2020–21 school period, EPISD reported 55,253 students were enrolled on the state for the 2019–20 academic year, a decrease of over 8.6 per cent. In contrast, EPISD had a decrease in enrolment of 3.6 per cent for the 2018–19 academic year (District, 2022). 

3.How many students attend public schools state-wide?

 As of the 2020–2021 academic year, there were 5,359,040 students enrolled in 9057 Texas schools. For the 2022–2023 school year, there will be 50,661 students enrolled in 87 public schools within the El Paso ISD School District (District, 2022).

4.What is the district’s demographic profile? Write a paragraph in which you compare and contrast the racial/ethnic makeup of the district’s student body with the racial/ethnic makeup of public school students statewide.

El Paso Independent School District students are 84.5 per cent Latino, 8.6 per cent White, 3.3 per cent Black, 1.3 per cent Asian, 0.2 per cent Alaska Native, and 0.4 per cent Pacific Islander (District, 2022). Additionally, between the 2019–20 and 2020–21 academic years, Asian and multiracial enrollment climbed while enrollment among African Americans, Hispanics, and Whites declined. While the proportions of African American, Asian, Hispanic, and multiracial learners enrolled state-wide grew, white students' enrolment fell by the most (District, 2022). Hispanic students made up the most significant portion of all admissions, with their enrolment rising by 14.6 per cent (District, 2022). The only group to see a drop in enrolment was white students, whose numbers dropped by 7.4% during the same period.

5.Some youngsters are at significant risk of dropping out of school or otherwise failing academically because of life circumstances. The following website discusses risk factors for dropping out or failing:  The Tribune database includes statistics showing the percentage of students with various risk factors for each district and for statewide. Write a paragraph in which you compare and contrast district students with students statewide in terms of academic risk factors. Based on the data, would you conclude that the district faces a relatively challenging risk environment compared with the risk environment statewide? Discuss. Remember: Risk of dropping out is not the same as actually dropping out. Do NOT include actual dropout rates in your analysis of this question. You will have a chance to discuss that below.

Even if school completion rates have increased over time, school dropout still affects both the educational system's effectiveness and young people's ability to pursue their educational objectives in both district and state-wide schools. Sixty-one per cent of learners were deemed in danger of school dropout as of the 2020–2021 academic year (District, 2022). These academic concerns are a result of push and pull dropout factors that put pressure on pupils. The student is forced out when unfavourable events occur in the classroom and have repercussions, such as dropout. Tests, attendance rules, punishment procedures, and even the results of unruly behaviour are among them (District, 2022). However, when internal issues prevent a student from finishing school, they may be expelled. These happen when things like monetary concerns, after-school jobs, family obligations, or even shifts in the family, like marriage or parenthood, keep students from attending class (District, 2022). Even sicknesses are included since they make kids value things outside school more and prevent them from finishing their education.

A.The website includes data showing student enrollment in different programs. What percentage of students is enrolled in the Gifted and Talented program? What percentage is in Career and Technical Education? (Note: The Career and Technical Education data are missing for some districts.) Students enrolled in the Gifted and Talented program are aiming to go to college. Meanwhile, students in Career and Technical education are‌‌‌‍‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‌‍ preparing to enter the workforce. Go to the school district’s website and look for information on each program. (Google the name of the school district along with Gifted and Talented program. Then, do the same for Career and Technical education.) Write a paragraph discussing the amount and quality of information you find online from the perspective of a parent considering enrolling your child in one of the programs in the district. Is the information easy to find? Is it clearly presented? Is there contact information for parents who have questions?

The El Paso Independent School District offers a variety of programs that support the district's requirements, passions, and skills of gifted and talented children. The curriculum and teaching are diversified by altering the general academic program's content, intricacy, and tempo (District, 2022). With the help of instructors, parents, and the general public, the El Paso Independent School District seems to meet gifted and talented learners' academic, social, and emotional support (District, 2022). However, the precise enrolment statistics for the Gifted and Talented program are not clearly stated. It is simple to find out what the program provides. However, the information is hazy regarding admission rates and the like (District, 2022). Additionally, the EPISD Career and Technical Education (CTE) section are open to services that help students develop into leaders with practical knowledge that will pave the way for a successful route of life-long accomplishment in high-paying, highly skilled, and highly skilled in-demand jobs. Students are invited to investigate career options in the industry and business, social utilities, and STEM accreditation categories that interest them (District, 2022). Students then choose a professional path from here. All qualified candidates may enrol in CTE courses, regardless of their orientation, either ethnically, sexually or another factor. This information is therefore well represented on the EPSID site to help enrol parties.

B.How do you rate the academic performance of the district in light of the risk environment it faces? Write a paragraph in which you compare and contrast the academic performance of district students with students statewide. Use at least two of the measures given on the website, discussing why each measure is important. Do not use dropout rates and graduation rates as two separate measures. Do not use ACT and SAT scores as two separate measures. You can use them as one measure, but you must include another measure as well. The Texas Education Agency assigns letter grades to school districts. You may discuss that grade as part of your analysis, but don’t use it instead of one of the two performance measures. Do NOT discuss faculty data in answering this question.

Texas rates campuses and districts according to their performance concerning the state's assessment framework. Student success, academic progress, and narrowing achievement gaps—are used to determine the overall ratings. In terms of student success, the district average SAT score for students who graduate with reading comprehension, writing, and arithmetic scores are 966. In contrast, the average for students across the state is 1019 (District, 2022). Therefore, 2400 is the top score possible (District, 2022). Additionally, the typical ACT scoring system for graduating students is 20.2 for students across the state and 21.5 for students in the district (District, 2022). The top rating is 36 (District, 2022). The El Paso Independent School District is third in the state for districts with schools obtaining all eligible distinctions, and it contains the majority of high-performing schools in the state.

C.How do you rate the quality of the district’s faculty? Write a paragraph in which you compare the strength of district personnel with statewide averages using data found in the database. Be sure to identify the measures that you consider most appropriate for assessing faculty quality. Do NOT use student performance data to address this question.

85.3 per cent of the El Paso Independent School District teachers have three or more years of experience, and 100% are licensed. At 14:1, the student-to-teacher ratio is less than the state-wide average (District, 2022). The district's faculty are evaluated using a variety of metrics. A crucial indicator of whether a school has hired a varied ethnic mix of teachers is their ethnicity, with Hispanics and white people making up the majority (District, 2022). Additionally, the district school's average teaching experience is 13.4 years, compared to the state average of 11.2 years, which is pretty excellent. The most significant degree that instructors can hold is a PhD. Yet, the vast majority have bachelor's or master's degrees, illustrating the breadth of educational backgrounds in the district schools (District, 2022).

D.Assume that you are a parent considering purchasing a home in the district. Would you be comfortable having your children attend its schools? Write a paragraph giving your overall evaluation of the district based on the data found at the website‌‌‌‍‌‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‌‍.Given the data found in the El Paso Independent School district, it would be advisable to enrol the student given the school's prowess and well structure regarding faculty, curriculum presentation and academic prowess.  The El Paso Independent School District is dedicated to providing children with a quality education (District, 2022). As has been demonstrated, a vital component of the school system, parent and family participation is crucial to guaranteeing pupils' success (District, 2022). Designated schools will become more of a focus for kids, and parents and guardians will be more engaged in the educational process. There have been reports that one of the school district's goals is to create a community of lifelong learners (District, 2022). They promise to keep the lines of communication open between the home and the school and to provide parents plenty of chances to get involved at every turn.

References

District, E. (2022). El Paso Independent School District / Homepage. Episd.org. https://www.episd.org/.