The U.S. Department of Education (USED) indicated that they will not enforce most of the requirements related to highly qualified staff in a recently released guidance document. While verification and notifications of highly qualified staff will not be enforced, verification of some staff members is still required in certain cases. 

An important theme in the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is the inclusion of parents and community members in the development of state standards and accountability. As the government and states shift focus towards inclusivity and local control, September and October included important landmarks in education for Native American groups in the U.S.

The National Council of State Title III Directors (NCSTIIID) is hosting its fall webinar on October 18, 2016. The focus of the webinar will be English learner (EL) issues connected with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and specifically the recently released non-regulatory guidance on English learners and Title III from the U.S. Department of Education (USED). 

As an education professional, you have no doubt heard about the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA — the reauthorization to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) that was signed into law in December of 2015.

The 2016-2017 school year is a time when we are transitioning from one version of a major federal education law to another. In December last year, President Obama signed into law the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The ESSA reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which was last reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act in 2001. The transition between ESSA and NCLB during the 2016-2017 school year includes some changes to TransACT Communications’ parent notice collections. 

This blog was updated on July 25th, 2023.

There is a lot to organize at the beginning of the school year, especially with the additional chaos of keeping up with updates regarding the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).  

The TransACT ESSA National Advisory Board (NAB) was formed in March this year. The purpose of the ESSA NAB is to identify the parent notices that are required, necessary, and allowable to implement the mandates of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and to help craft and review the content of these notices. The first meeting of the ESSA NAB was in March and today we have nearly 50 State and District education leaders participating in this work to ensure that our parent notices are comprehensive, up-to-date, legally compliant, and aligned to ESSA requirements.

The 2016-2017 school year will be one of transition due to the reauthorization of the ESEA by the ESSA. One transition includes the No Child Left Behind (NCLB), Title I Section 1119, Highly Qualified Teachers requirements: the US Department of Education (USED) is not requiring that districts comply with these requirements during the 2016-2017 SY.

Dr. David Holbrook, Executive Director of Federal Programs is presenting alongside Gary Cook from WIDA and Delia Pompa from the Migrant Policy Institute at WIDA 2016. The theme this year, Drawing on Life’s Experiences: Designing Bright Futures, brings together educators from a variety of backgrounds to give professional development on academic language development and academic achievement for children and youth who are culturally and linguistically diverse. This year’s conference will be held October 12-15, 2016 in Philadelphia, PA.

Join Dr. Holbrook, Gary Cook, Delia Pompa for an engaging question and answer time. The panel is set to meet on Thursday, October 13^th from 10:45am to 11:45am.

Additionally, TransACT is proud to be a sponsor of WIDA’s 2016 conference. Stop by and see us at booth #412!

Since 2002, the federal education law that focuses on providing all children with a fair, equal and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education has been a heated topic, both for education professionals and the lay-person alike. While NCLB’s original shelf life was seven years, it’s been on the books for twice that long — and it was so controversial that many are happy to see it go.