As an education professional, you have no doubt heard about the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA — the reauthorization to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) that was signed into law in December of 2015.

This blog was updated on July 25th, 2023.

There is a lot to organize at the beginning of the school year, especially with the additional chaos of keeping up with updates regarding the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).  

Dr. David Holbrook, Executive Director of Federal Programs is presenting alongside Gary Cook from WIDA and Delia Pompa from the Migrant Policy Institute at WIDA 2016. The theme this year, Drawing on Life’s Experiences: Designing Bright Futures, brings together educators from a variety of backgrounds to give professional development on academic language development and academic achievement for children and youth who are culturally and linguistically diverse. This year’s conference will be held October 12-15, 2016 in Philadelphia, PA.

Join Dr. Holbrook, Gary Cook, Delia Pompa for an engaging question and answer time. The panel is set to meet on Thursday, October 13^th from 10:45am to 11:45am.

Additionally, TransACT is proud to be a sponsor of WIDA’s 2016 conference. Stop by and see us at booth #412!

Since 2002, the federal education law that focuses on providing all children with a fair, equal and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education has been a heated topic, both for education professionals and the lay-person alike. While NCLB’s original shelf life was seven years, it’s been on the books for twice that long — and it was so controversial that many are happy to see it go.

Immigration is changing education in the United States.  Public school districts are seeing increased enrollments of English Second Language (ESL) students, and the upward trend is expected to continue. As these trends have shifted, so too has the federal government’s role, with mandates that make school districts responsible for providing the best educational services possible to one and all.

In February, the House Education and the Workforce Committee took up the long overdue task of reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as amended by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001.

On January 7, 2015 the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice issued joint guidance related to serving English Learners (ELs). This guidance pulls together information related to requirements to serve ELs from many sources, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and related court cases, the Equal Education Opportunities Act, and Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

The New York State Education Department’s Office of Bilingual Education and Foreign Studies has published their “Blueprint for English Language Learners (ELLs) Success.” This document contains 8 key principles that were “developed as a statewide framework aimed to clarify expectations for administrators, policymakers, and practitioners to prepare ELLs for success”. These principles include some excellent foundational ideas to be implemented, including “All teachers are teachers of English Language Learners, and need to plan accordingly”; “All school boards and district/school leaders are responsible for ensuring that the academic, linguistic, social, and emotional needs of ELLs are addressed”; and “Districts and schools recognize that bilingualism and biliteracy are assets, and provide opportunities for all students to earn a Seal of Biliteracy upon obtaining a high school diploma.”

The Title I Monitor from March 2014 (Vol. 19, No.3), a publication of LRP, carried an article related to recent Title III monitoring findings. The LRP article looked at the five most recent Title III Monitoring reports posted on the USED’s site. Many of the issues cited in this article are the same issues that I saw over the two and a half years I contracted with the US Department of Education (USED) to help monitor state’s Title III programs (visiting five states). In particular, the supplement not supplant issues related teacher salaries and translation/interpretation, were some of the most common findings by Title III at USED.