Avoiding the "Chilling Effect" While Enrolling Immigrant Students

By Alyssa Thornley | November 30, 2017

There is growing concern surrounding the impact that the Trump administration’s decision to rescind (cancel) DACA (the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program) will have on immigrants and their educational rights. In particular, the work that a school district does to collect information for school enrollment, or eligibility for Title III services, needs to be carefully conducted so as to not violate civil rights around the "chilling effect" (any practices that could intentionally or unintentionally dissuade immigrant families from enrolling their children as students). 

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"The Importance of Pronouncing My Name" - Take the My Name, My Identity Pledge

By Dr. David Holbrook | November 29, 2017

Pronouncing a person’s name incorrectly can give that person the impression that you don’t really care about him or her, or you feel like that person has ‘less’ value than others. A person’s name is an extension of who they are and is rooted in that person’s language, culture, and identity. Pronouncing a person’s name correctly affirms that person and may add to his or her self worth. Incorrectly pronouncing a person’s name almost always does the opposite.

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Schools, DACA, and Increased Anxiety Among Immigrants

By Alyssa Thornley | November 29, 2017

As part of our commitment to provide school district administrators with resources and guidance on federal program compliance and administration, we regularly publish blogs featuring guest writers. We are honored to feature Scott Nyary, the EL Coordinator, Lead ESL Teacher and Title III Coordinator for Lamar County School District located near Hattiesburg, Mississippi discussing his observations following the announcement that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program has been rescinded:

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Migrant Education Programs Under ESSA

By Jesse Markow | November 13, 2017

As part of our commitment to provide school district administrators with resources and guidance on federal program compliance and administration, we regularly publish blogs featuring guest writers. We are honored to feature David Nieto of the BUENO Center for Multicultural Education, writing about changes to migrant education programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as amended by ESSA. 

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Data Collection Made Easy: ActPoint KPI Simple Survey

By Phillip Smith | November 13, 2017

ActPoint KPI is a data intelligence tool that school district business and operations leaders around the country use to measure, compare and manage their performance on over 500 Key Performance Indicators related to Finance, Operations, Information Technology and Human Resources.

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Cost Reduction in Accounts Payable: Key Performance Indicators in School District Operations

By Phillip Smith | November 10, 2017

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are defined as "a quantifiable measure that is used to evaluate the success of an organization or of a particular activity (such as projects, programs, products and other initiatives) in which it engages." When applied effectively throughout an organization, KPI analysis provides valuable information about strengths and weaknesses in performance which can lead to cost savings and improved performance. 

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USED Rescinds More Guidance Documents

By Dr. David Holbrook | November 9, 2017

I recently wrote a blog about the U.S. Department of Education’s (USED) announcement that the offices at USED that handle special education issues had identified for rescission 72 special education regulations and guidance documents. I included information about the immediate outcry from special education advocates and political adversaries of Betsy DeVos, the U.S. Secretary of Education, and how that resulted in the list of documents that were rescinded being reposted to the USED website, this time with an explanation for why each document was selected for removal. Following on the heals of the rescission of the special education documents comes the announcement of the rescission of nearly 500 more documents from other USED offices, including the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) and the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE).

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USED Rescinds 72 Special Education Guidance Documents

By Dr. David Holbrook | November 8, 2017

In July 2017 I wrote a blog about the U.S. Department of Education (USED) requesting comments on regulatory reform. The reason for the USED action is Trump’s executive order requiring each federal agency to establish a Regulatory Reform Task Force to evaluate existing regulations and make recommendations regarding their repeal, replacement, or modification.

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ESSA RoadMaps: What You Need to Know for ESSA Compliance

By Alyssa Thornley | October 9, 2017

TransACT RoadMaps are a compliance and guidance component of TransACT Parent Notices subscriptions that existing subscribers can access at any time. RoadMaps use a series of yes/no questions to guide educators through the process of determining which parent notices are required to send out in a particular time period or situation. This helps educators to create a list of notices they need based on the unique characteristics of their school and/or school district. RoadMaps are a helpful, time-saving compliance tool for:

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USED Regulation Review Targets Student and Parent Rights under FERPA

By Dr. David Holbrook | October 6, 2017

In July 2017 I wrote a blog about the U.S. Department of Education (USED) requesting comments on regulatory reform. The reason for the USED action is Trump’s executive order requiring each federal agency to establish a Regulatory Reform Task Force to evaluate existing regulations and make recommendations regarding their repeal, replacement, or modification.

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