The U.S. Department of Education (USED) announced the release of the document, "Understanding the Every Student Succeeds: A Parent Guide to the Nation's Landmark Education Law" on October 4, 2018. The announcement describes this guide as "a parent and guardian-friendly guide to the important flexibilities in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)." When TransACT drafted its ESSA notices, they were written using the guidelines of the Plain Writing Act of 2010. According to the USED announcement, this parent guide was also written following those guidelines.

This blog has been modified from its original version, which appeared in the Ellevation blog. 

"Parent Notifications Summary, Checklist & Timelines" is a resource to help educators identify the important parent notification distribution, timelines, and responsibilities. This document is provided to TransACT ParentNotices customers with an active subscription to the ESEA (ESSA) ParentNotices Collection. In August of 2018, this resource was updated with a new title and guidance.

Back in February I wrote about the U.S. Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos’, proposed reorganization of the U.S. Department of Education (USED) that would eliminate the USED’s Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA). Since then, a group of 18 EL advocacy organizations and members of the U.S. Congress have written letters in opposition to the elimination of OELA.

Charter schools continue to be a hotly debated topic in the world of education, with educators and administrators tending to be either strongly for, or strongly against, the charter school movement. No matter if you are pro-charter school or anti-charter school, there are many facts and figures that seem to support both sides of this movement.

School choice is a hot topic in the education world, especially lately. With the change in presidential administration, there have been many promises regarding how charters schools may be a mechanism for education reform. This conversation really began back in the late 1980s, when Albert Shanker rocked the educational world with his speech on school choice, and a subsequent New York Times article that became widely circulated.

Charter schools are known throughout the U.S. for endeavoring to provide students with resources to better channel their energies into their studies by experimenting with new or modified methodologies. Depending on the charter network you visit, you might see strategies focused on increased parental involvement, modified school days, smaller class sizes, and/or a greater level of attention for those who need more assistance, such as special education students and English Language Learners (ELLs).

There are several points throughout the school year where parent communication is required by law, but it can be difficult to keep track of the dates or specific circumstances which warrant required or recommended parent communication.

States, school districts and charter networks who subscribe to TransACT ParentNotices' ESSA  have a helpful resource to help them keep track of these timelines and requirements: "ACCT-A3 - ESEA Stakeholder Notifications Summary, Checklist & Timelines"

The February 28th National Council for State Title III Directors (NCSTIIID) 2018 Annual Meeting, held in Albuquerque, NM, included a panel discussion titled “Building Strong Partnerships between Families, Schools, and Communities.” One item that was included in the NCSTIIID meeting program packet and discussed by the panel was the National PTA’s National Standards for Family-School Partnerships. This is an excellent resource for schools and districts looking for a model to implement ESSA’s Parent and Family Engagement requirements and includes a means to measure the success of that implementation.

In January 2018 I wrote a blog about a federal judge in California blocking the Trump administration's efforts to end DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program). On February 13, 2018 a second federal judge issued a temporary block to the end of DACA. According to the current timeline, the DACA program is set to end on March 5, 2018. The ruling by these two judges has temporarily block the end of DACA and opened the door for current DACA recipients to apply to renew their DACA status until the legal challenges to rescinding DACA are settled. Renewals were suspended on October 5, 2017 following the September 5, 2017 rescission of DACA. This will very likely allow DACA recipients to continue to apply for renewal past the March 5, 2018 looming deadline.