Webinar: Increases in Parent and Family Engagement Requirements

By Dr. David Holbrook | September 3, 2019

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.  

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Webinar - Funding Your TransACT Parent Notice Collection

By Dr. David Holbrook | June 12, 2019

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:  

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Share Translated Parent Notices Easily with Your Colleagues (New Feature Alert)

By Dr. David Holbrook | March 31, 2019

If you have ever been asked by a colleague to help him or her sign up for a TransACT Parent Notices account, you will appreciate this new feature. 

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New FERPA Frequently Asked Questions Document Released

By Dr. David Holbrook | March 7, 2019

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.

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National ESEA Conference - Top Sessions for Educators of English Learners

By Dr. David Holbrook | January 23, 2019

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.

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2018 Student Privacy Guidance

By Dr. David Holbrook | November 26, 2018

The U.S. Department of Education’s Privacy Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) issued guidance related to student privacy associated with administering college admissions exams. The guidance addresses concerns that arise due to some State Education Agencies (SEAs) and Local Education Agencies (LEAs or school districts) that have begun paying for and registering students for college admissions exams (ACT and SAT) rather than students or their parents registering themselves directly. This trend is due to the use of these tests to meet the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) assessment requirements.

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New ESSA RoadMap Now Available

By Dr. David Holbrook | October 30, 2018

The School Support and Improvement ESSA RoadMap is now available.

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Parent Communications and Translations: Machine vs. Human Translation – What’s the Difference?

By Dr. David Holbrook | September 6, 2018

Proactive schools and school districts are finding and using all means available to communicate with parents, including English learner (EL) students and parents with limited English proficiency (LEP). In an article from District Administration titled “Tech: A language translator allows districts to reach out to ELLs”, a number of creative and innovative solutions are discussed. This includes the use of machine translation (computer-assisted translation) tools, such as Google Translate.

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Parent Notices product update: changes to the Summary, Checklist & Timelines parent notice tracking tool

By Dr. David Holbrook | August 22, 2018

"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.

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Parent and Stakeholder Notifications Summary, Checklist & Timelines

By Dr. David Holbrook | June 4, 2018

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"

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