Of the 275,142 students in the 1992-93 first grade class, 237,070 or 86 percent were still enrolled in Texas public schools in 1996-97. The remaining 14 percent, or 38,072 students, had withdrawn from the Texas public school system and not returned by 1996-97. Of the 50,352 LEP students from the 1992-93 first grade class, 44,073 or 88 percent were still enrolled in Texas public schools in 1996-97; half (50%) of those remaining were receiving special language services in 1996-97.

The percentage of students identified as being at risk of school failure or dropping out had increased from 29 percent in 1992-93 to 36 percent in 1996-97 for the 1992-93 first grade class as a whole. However, that number decreased from 94 percent to 67 percent for LEP students. If having limited English proficiency was the only reason a student was identified as being at risk, the at-risk designation would have been dropped when the student was no longer considered to have limited English proficiency.

The percentage of students identified as gifted and talented increased for both the first grade class as a whole (from 4% to 11%) and for the LEP students in that class (from 2% to 6%). Growth in students identified as gifted and talented is due primarily to increased identification of students in the later elementary grades. However, programs for gifted and talented students also expanded during that period from representing 7 percent of students statewide in 1992-93 to 8 percent in 1996-97.

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