The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) went into effect at the beginning of the 2017-18 school year, forcing districts across the country to evaluate, re-write, and re-translate the parent and family notifications that are required under the law. During a webinar training about the required changes (recorded July 24, 2017), the question was raised, “Which letters do charter schools use to schedule a Parent and Family Engagement Policy development meeting, the ‘school’ level letter or the ‘district’ level letter?”

Read More

Private sector entities rarely share what best practices they have employed to attain a competitive advantage. This is exactly the opposite of my experience in K12. Superintendents, administrators, educators want to share best practices so others can gain those advantages.  

Read More

TransACT Parent Notices is an online subscription for educators and administrators to manage their federal parent communication requirements. We offer expertly written, legally reviewed parent notifications in multiple languages, guidance on important requirements, and access to expertise to support understanding federal requirements under the Every Student Succeeds Act, Section 504, and IDEA. 

Occasionally, we receive questions about whether our Parent Notices and software as a service (SAAS) platform comply with the Section 508 Standards of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. §  794(d)). This can be a point of confusion because Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act specifically applies to school districts serving students with disabilities, but Section 508 of the Rehabilitations Act applies only to Federal Agencies (not to States or school districts).

The Section 508 standards for accessibility for individuals with disabilities apply to Federal Agencies, in the development, procurement, maintenance, or use of electronic and information technology. The Section 508 standards do not apply to States and school districts because these agencies are not Federal Agencies. TransACT products are purchased by States and school districts. The Section 508 standards do not apply to TransACT because Federal Agencies do not engage in the procurement of TransACT products.

For more information on a subscription to compliant parent notifications in multiple languages for ESSA, Section 504 and IDEA for your district, request a demonstration here.

Read More

There is a financial burden related to creating parent notice communications in-house, especially since there are several components to a successful, ESEA- compliant communications plan, including:

Read More

In just one month the 2017-18 school year will end, and districts will begin to grapple with implementing changes required by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). As the end of the budget year approaches, now is the time to leverage remaining unallocated funds to address ESSA requirements in order to stay in compliance for the upcoming 2018-19 school year.
Read More

The National Council of State Title III Directors (NCSTIIID) hosted national meetings in Los Angeles, CA, jointly with the Council of the Great City Schools Bilingual Directors on May 16th and 17th. While many topics were discussed, one of the top concerns brought up by Title III Directors relates to the potentially significant reduction in the number of ELs that will be included in accountability determinations for making progress toward English proficiency under ESSA (the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act 2015). 

Read More

At the 2017 COO conference for the Council of Great City Schools, operations leaders from across the country were asked to surface their biggest operations challenges and share innovative solutions they had found. Among the myriad of issues operations leaders face, districts reported 2 common challenges:

Read More

The “Anti-Lunch Shaming Act of 2017” was recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The purpose of the bill is to prohibit school practices that single out students with unpaid meal debts. To become law, the bill would have to pass both the House and the Senate and be signed by the President.

Read More

Updated on May 25, 2023.

On July 1st, 2017, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) replaced No Child Left Behind (NCLB) as a rule of the land, at least in education. ESSA is the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which was first signed into law in 1965. The law reaffirms the commitment to equal opportunity for all U.S. students

Read More

Shortly before the Trump administration took office, the U.S. Department of Education (USED) issued a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) (January 13, 2017) to State Education Agencies (SEAs) regarding the timeline for and provision of interventions in schools identified for improvement. The DCL covered Title I school improvement interventions for the 2017-2018 school year (SY) for both Focus and Priority schools under ESEA Flexibility and schools identified for Improvement, Corrective Action, or Restructuring under NCLB. In addition, it provided a timeline for when schools should be identified for ESSA school improvement as either Comprehensive Support and Improvement schools or Targeted Support and Improvement schools.

Read More