Classifications are used to compare and support schools

Education Service Center Regions

The Texas Legislature created 20 regional service centers in 1967 to provide school-related services to districts near each other. Known as Education Service Centers (ESCs), they are not regulatory agencies — but they receive state and federal funding to offer consulting and other support services to the districts in their region. Each ESC is governed by a seven-member board elected by members of the local district board of trustees in each region. Learn more about ESCs.

NCES and TEA classification systems

Both the state and federal governments use classification systems to track and compare schools that are similar in student population size, geographic environments and in other characteristics, such as the percentage of students who are economically disadvantaged or rate of enrollment growth at the school.

The National Center for Education Statistics categorizes campuses based on both population size and proximity to urban areas. NCES classifies campuses into twelve categories, composed of four basic types: city, suburban, town, and rural. They are further differentiated by size (for city and suburban schools) and proximity (for town and rural schools). See the full glossary.

The Texas Education Agency places schools into nine categories: major urban, major suburban, other central city, other central city suburban, independent town, non-metropolitan: fast growing, non-metropolitan: stable, rural, and charter schools. See the full glossary.

The Texas Tribune uses TEA's classification system to group districts into peer groups to more accurately compare performance and outcomes among districts operating in similar environments. These districts may not be close to each other geographically.