TransACT Blog

The reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) made some significant changes to how schools are identified as "in improvement."

The reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) shifted the responsibility for some requirements of federal mandates to be determined in ESSA States plans.  

This year, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) took full-effect, including the addition of monitoring visits by the federal government. It is imperative, not only to satisfy the legal requirements of ESSA, but also to fulfill the spirit behind the legislation: improving student outcomes for all learners.  

Your district can accomplish this by keeping the following items in mind:  

On May 29th at 9 am PT / 12 pm ET, Dr. David Holbrook, Executive Director, Federal Compliance of TransACT Communications, will be hosting a webinar examining the benefits of coordinating between ESSA Title I / Title III and McKinney-Vento programs when serving ELs who may be experiencing homelessness.

The Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) at the U.S. Department of Education (USED) has announced the release of the first two chapters of a new resource, the "English Learner Family Tool Kit". The English Learner (EL) Family Tool Kit will eventually contain six chapters or topics when complete. Release dates for additional chapters are not provided but will likely be announced by USED.

The U.S. Department of Education (USED) has released a new Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document that pulls together information regarding the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and how that law relates to school safety. The FERPA FAQ guidance came not long after they released their 2018 Student Privacy Guidance.

The National Council of State Title III Directors (soon re-branding to the National Association of English Learner Program Administrators) held a council meeting and professional development conference in Coronado Springs, Florida on March 6, 2019. NCSTIIID's professional development purposes include ensuring that members are knowledgeable of effective administration of national and state programs for the education of EL students and ensuring that members are knowledgeable of the laws governing the administration of language development programs.

English Learners are an integral population and a large focus of the National ESEA Conference (formerly the National Title I Conference), as they were before the conference was re-branded. While the comprehensive approach boasts content that serves more populations and Title Programs, there are still many presentations that focus on ELs. This includes my presentation, ESSA Title I EL Requirements for All Title I Funded Districts, Wednesday, Jan. 30th at 11:30am.

There are increasingly more resources for administrators who make students experiencing homelessness a priority demographic for their schools and districts. At the National ESEA Conference in January, there were presentations with this focus as well.

The U.S. Department of Education (USED) posted new guidance related to the ESSA requirements for English Learners (ELs) on its website yesterday (January 10, 2019). This guidance is essential as it provides clarity and puts explicitly into writing answers to some of the remaining questions surrounding the implementation of ESSA for educators.