By David Holbrook, Keja Whiteman, with contributions from Jenn Runs Close To Lodge 

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 a co-written article between TransACT Executive Director of Federal Programs and State Relationships, Dr. Holbrook, and his colleague Keja Nokomis Whiteman of KW Consultants LLC, with contributions from middle school educator Jenn Runs Close To Lodge. 

TransACT ParentNotices is parent engagement software that is used by school districts and state departments of education to support compliant and equitable parent engagement. Subscribers of ParentNotices have access to over 200 different expertly written and translated notices that have been legally reviewed where applicable for compliance with federal education laws. ParentNotices supports administrators in a compliant parent engagement plan and can serve as evidence of implementation in the event of a state monitoring visit.  

The Tennessee Rules of the State Board of Education, Chapter 0520-01-19 English as a Second Language Programs outlines significant state-level requirements related to English Learner students (ELs).

Every year, in order to inform the U.S. Congress of the presidential administration’s priorities, the White House releases a proposed budget for the next fiscal year (FY). The U.S. Congress is the legislative body that creates the federal law that designates the amount of funding available for the federal government and can confirm or ignore the White House’s proposed budget.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, disruption to routines is occurring as schools blend remote and in-classroom learning. Schools can't always efficiently conduct learning assessments online; students are often less engaged with online learning and teachers are caught between two worlds, switching teaching methods for those in the classroom and online.

TransACT ParentNotices supports compliance with federal Parent and Family Engagement Requirements under ESEA (ESSA), Section 504, and IDEA with expertly written and pre-translated mobile-friendly notifications that are written by federal programs experts. A subscription to ParentNotices includes unlimited, district-wide access to our federally compliant notifications and parent engagement guidance. 

The U.S. Department of Education (USED) has sent out a letter to Chief State School Officers (state education leaders) with information related to the 2020-2021 school year concerning the following issues:

On February 2, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order requiring government agencies to conduct an immediate review of changes made to the Public Charge rules made by the previous administration.

Educators experienced profound changes, especially related to proper support of English Learners, as schools moved to distance learning. Many educators were left unsure of what was expected of them in terms of conducting English Language Proficiency (ELP) assessments and meeting compliance requirements. 

TransACT’s Parent Notices team looks forward to the National ESEA Conference every year. It gives us the opportunity to meet with and learn more about our current customers as well as stay up to date on the topics that are at the forefront for educators working in ESEA (ESSA) programs across the country. We’ve poured over the schedule and wanted to provide you with some presentations that we think would be worth checking out at the virtual National Association of ESEA State Program Administrator's Conference, February 8-11, 2021.