ESSA National Advisory Board (NAB) Expands ESEA Parent Notice Collection

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.

Here’s what you need to know:

• The ESSA NAB took an initial list of 87 potential ESSA notices and expanded it to over 100 parent notices.
• Some notices required by NCLB have been retained, some discarded, and many new notices for ESSA have been developed.
• Some of the new notices that have been created for ESSA are in the areas of Title I students in Foster Care; Title I, Part C Migrant Education Programs; and Title I, Part D, programs for Neglected, Delinquent, and At-Risk students.

ESSA Parent Notices

Since 1994, TransACT has worked closely with customers to gather their input and improve our products. Whether it is feedback provided through our website or the formation of an advisory board, TransACT builds its products to meet customer needs. Nowhere is this more evident than in our ESSA transition efforts. 

Shortly after the ESSA was signed into law on December 10, 2015, Dr. David Holbrook, TransACT Communications’ Executive Director, Federal Programs began contacting State and district leaders to organize a team of education experts to help transition our Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) parent notices from the 2001 reauthorization, No Child Left Behind (NCLB), to the 2015 reauthorization, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). 

What’s New?

The changes to parent notification requirements due to the reauthorization of ESSA are numerous and diverse. There are places where the need for an entire notice category has been eliminated, places where a new categories of notices have arisen, and still others where the communication is much more nuanced.

• Two examples of notices no longer required are:
  • Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)
  • Supplemental Educational Services (SES)

• Some new notices are due to new requirements of ESSA:
  • Foster Care notices developed for the new Title I Foster Care requirements 

• Some notices have been built to make our existing NCLB/ ESSA Compliance Collection more comprehensive:
  • Title I, Part C Migrant Education Programs (MEP) notices
    • Parent Meetings
    • Eligibility for services
    • Discontinuation of eligibility
  • Title I, Part D Prevention and Intervention Programs for Children and Youth who are Neglected, Delinquent, or At-Risk (N&D) notice
    • Meeting to develop a plan to transition a student from a 24-hour case facility back to a public school setting

In addition to providing parent notices, current subscribers have access to exclusive guidance, advice and assistance regarding notifications and requirements. Not a current subscriber? Contact us for a demo today.

There are many other changes and additions under ESSA. If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact us at 425.977.2100, Option 3 or email at support@transact.com.