When the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed into law on December 10, 2015, it included changes to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. One of those changes required every School District to appoint a District Homeless Liaison.  

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) includes, under Title IV, Part E grants from the U.S. Department of Education (USED) directly to entities to establish Statewide Family Engagement Centers.

The gold standard of a successful educational environment is one in which parents and teachers work towards aligned goals, the students have the latest technology at their fingertips at school and home, and communication between parties is welcomed and encouraged.

As an education professional, we understand that you are committed to communicating effectively with your students and their families to support student success. Not only that, you’re aware of the legal obligations of presenting information in a language that all parents understand, including the parents of English learner (EL) students. After all, your goal is to build trust, share information, and show that you care about all students in your district  — regardless of which language they speak.

To help local education agencies (LEAs) (a.k.a school districts, Charter Schools, etc.) meet the ESSA requirement for regular meetings with the parents of English learners (ELs) (a.k.a. multilingual learners), TransACT’s ESSA ParentNotices Collection includes the notice EL-07 Meeting for Parents of English Learners: Invitation to Participate. LEAs can use this notification to organize these meetings. 

The National Association of English Learner Program Administrators’ (NAELPA) Advocating for Multilingual Learners Committee recently posted a brief white paper, The Importance of an Asset-Based Mindset and Using Asset-Based Terminology when Referencing the ESSA Subgroup – ELs. The white paper summarizes the results of the committee’s research on this topic.

In response to guidance released by the U.S. Department of Education (USED), TransACT has updated documents in its ESSA ParentNotices Collection in two content categories:

TransACT is adding three notifications to the ESSA ParentNotices Collection to help districts document the requirements found in ESSA, Section 8538, “Consultation with Indian Tribes and Tribal Organizations.”

TransACT ParentNotices staff users can now better serve parents and families who haven’t responded to a notice sent to them.  

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.