|
Disclaimer: The information
below describes only the notification requirements as detailed in the federal
and/or state regulation. A district's own policies may define the requirements
more specifically (e.g., mandate a particular notification method) and may
also require additional notifications for other policies/procedures.
NCLB
ANNUAL NOTIFICATIONS
Notifications required specifically by the No Child
Left Behind Act.
8
Child's Performance
Under NCLB, Title I schools must notify parents in a timely manner of their
child’s level of achievement on state assessments. The notice can be in any
uniform, understandable format and, to the extent practicable, provided in a
language that the parents can understand.
[back
to top]
8
School Report Card
No Child Left Behind requires each public school principal receiving federal
funding under Title I to make available, within thirty (30) calendar days of the
commissioner’s release, copies of the Overview of School Performance and
Analysis of Student Subgroup Performance and the School Accountability Report
for the school and the district to the parents students. The reports
also must be made widely available through public means, such as posting on
the Internet, distribution through the media, and distribution through public
agencies. To the extent practicable, the district shall provide the reports
and additional information in a language that the parents can understand.
The superintendent must also, within 30 days
of its release, present the NYS Report Card to the Board of Education at a
public meeting.
The district must also make its NYS Report
Card available by appending it to copies of the proposed budget made publicly
available as required by law, making it available for distribution at the
annual meeting, transmitting it to local newspapers of general circulation and
making it available to parents.
[back
to top]
8
Release of Student Information
to Military Recruiters
Under No Child Left Behind [Section 9528], school districts must give military
recruiters the same access to secondary school students as is provided to
institutions of higher learning and prospective employers and must provide
students’ names, addresses and telephone listings to recruiters, when
requested, unless a parent has opted out. District must notify parents that
the school routinely discloses students’ names, addresses and telephone
listings to military recruiters upon request, subject to a parent's request
not to disclose such information without written consent. The notification
must include how to opt out of the public, nonconsensual disclosure of
directory information and the method and timeline within which to do so.
According to SED/USDOE, “a single notice
provided through a mailing, student handbook, or other method that is
reasonably calculated to inform parents is sufficient to satisfy the parental
notification requirements of both FERPA [see below]
and NCLB Section 9528.”
NOTE: A parent’s request to opt out
of the release of directory information counts as a request to withhold the
info from recruiters.
[back
to top]
8
Student Privacy
NCLB also amended parts of the pre-existing Protection of Pupil Rights
Amendment [PPRA]. Districts must notify parents and students:
- That parents have the right to inspect
student surveys concerning one or more of the 8 the protected areas of
student info. Access must be granted within a reasonable amount of time
after the request and before administration of the survey.
- That parents can opt out their child out
of the administration of any such survey, activities that involve the
collection/disclosure of a student’s personal information for marketing
purposes, and any non-emergency, invasive physical exam or screening
except for hearing, vision and scoliosis screenings or as permitted or
required by state law.
- Of the specific or approximate dates
during the school year when survey activities are scheduled.
Parents must be notified “directly, such as
through US mail or e-mail,” at least annually (at the beginning of the
school year) and “after any substantive change in privacy policies.” For
surveys and activities scheduled after the school year starts, parents must be
provided reasonable notification of the planned activities and surveys.
Note: Schools must get prior written
parental consent [as opposed to the notification of opt-out option] before
students are REQUIRED [as opposed to voluntary administration] to submit to
surveys that are funded (in whole or part) by DOE funds and that contains
questions about one or more of the 8 protected areas.
[back
to top]
8
Staff Qualifications
Per NCLB, schools receiving Title I funds must notify parents/guardians at the
beginning of each school year of their right to request and receive the
following info about the professional qualifications of their children’s
classroom teachers:
-
whether the teacher has State
certification for the classes being taught;
-
the teacher's bachelor's degree major and
any other certifications or degrees by field or discipline; and
-
whether the child is provided services by
instructional aides or similar paraprofessionals and, if so, their
qualifications.
Notices must tell parents how they can obtain
the information to which they are entitled.
Notices may be in any format, including
newsletters that go to every parent, and must be clear and in languages
parents can understand.
[back
to top]
Special Circumstance
Notifications Under NCLB
These are not annual requirements, nor
would they necessarily be notifications to all parents. They only apply under
the circumstances specified.
8
Child Taught by
Teacher Who Is Not Highly Qualified
Schools must give timely notice to parents when their child has been
assigned, or has been taught for four or more consecutive weeks by, a teacher
who is not highly qualified. The notice can be in any uniform, understandable
format and, to the extent practicable, provided in a language that the parents
can understand.
[back
to top]
8
Notification of Parental
Involvement Policies
Parents of Title I students ONLY must receive a copy of school and district
parental involvement policies annually. Timing and method are not specified,
but it must be done every year.
[back
to top]
8
Notification of Homeless
Students Policy
Parents of homeless students and unaccompanied youths must be
notified of the following rights:
-
the availability
(and contact information) for the local liaison for homeless children and
youth
-
Immediate enrollment & school
participation, even if medical records & proof of residency are not
available.
-
Availability of educational opportunities
for homeless students/unaccompanied youth (preschool to age 21)
-
Enrollment & transportation rights
-
Written explanation of why a homeless
child is placed other than in a school of origin (i.e., the school
attended when permanently housed or last enrolled) or school requested by
the parent, and right to appeal
-
Meaningful opportunities for parents to
participate in the education of their children.
This notification must occur upon enrollment and at least twice annually.
Districts must also disseminate notice of
these rights to schools; family, domestic abuse and runaway shelters, soup
kitchens; and wherever services to homeless children & families are
offered.
[back
to top]
8
Notification of Student
Placement in a Language Instruction Program (ESL or Bilingual)
Schools using Title III funds to provide services to limited English proficient (LEP) students must notify the parents of LEP-designated students, in English and the language they understand, that their child has been identified as limited English proficient and of their child's placement in an instructional bilingual or free-standing English as a second language program. The schools must also provide information about the services to be provided and their children's level of learning. The notification must also include parents’ options:
-
to withdraw their child from participation in an instructional bilingual education program, provided that the parents first meet with the school principal and the supervisor of bilingual education to discuss the nature, purposes, educational values of the program. As a minimum, students withdrawn from the bilingual program must participate in a free-standing English as a second language program.
-
In a school building where the number of eligible students does not require the offering of a bilingual education program, parents have the option of transferring their child to a school within the district provided such program is available at such other school. A parent who chooses not to exercise the transfer option shall be informed that his or her child shall participate in a free-standing English as a second language program.
This notification must occur annually within 30 days of start of school year or within two weeks after a student’s placement in such a program.
[back
to top]
8
Notification to Parents of
Schools Identified As in Need of Improvement
Schools in need of improvement must promptly inform parents of all children enrolled in the school of the following:
-
An explanation of what the identification means
-
How academic achievement levels at this school compare to those at other schools in the district and in the State
-
Reasons for the identification
-
What the school and district are doing to address the achievement problems that led to the identification (charter schools, not the local school district, are responsible for providing this information for charter schools) and how the State Education Department is helping the school
-
Who can answer your questions about schools in need of improvement
-
How they as parents can become involved in addressing the academic issues that led to the identification
-
Parents’ option to transfer their child to another public school in your school district that is not identified (public school choice), including (at a minimum) information on the performance of the schools to which a student may transfer. This notification must occur not later than the first day of the school year following identification.
Schools identified as in need of improvement that fail to make AYP (i.e., YEAR 2 SINI) and schools identified for corrective action or for restructuring must also notify parents of their option to obtain
supplemental educational services for their child, if eligible. This annual notice must include, at a minimum:
-
The identity of approved providers of those services available within the LEA, including providers of technology-based or distance-learning supplemental educational services, and providers that make services reasonably available in neighboring districts
-
A brief description of the services, qualifications, and demonstrated effectiveness of the providers
Notification must be in an understandable and uniform format in a language parents understand and must be done “directly” (e.g., through mail or e-mail) AND “through broader means of dissemination such as the Internet, the media and public agencies serving students & families.” All communications must respect the privacy of the students & families.
[back
to top]
8
Notification to
Parents of Schools Identified for Corrective Action
In addition to the notification requirements outlined above for SINI et
al., districts in which a school is identified for corrective action must also publish and disseminate information regarding any corrective action the district takes to the public and to the parents of each student enrolled in the school subject to corrective action.
Notification must be in an understandable and uniform format in a language parents understand and must be done “directly” (e.g., through mail or e-mail) AND “through broader means of dissemination such as the Internet, the media and public agencies serving students & families.” All communications must respect the privacy of the students & families.
[back
to top]
8
Notification to
Parents of Schools Identified for Restructuring
In addition to the notification requirements outlined above for SINI et
al., schools identified for restructuring must also:
-
Provide both parents and teachers with prompt notice of the decision;
-
Provide both groups with the opportunity to comment before taking any restructuring action; and
-
Invite both teachers and parents to participate in the development of the school’s restructuring plan.
No indication is given of notification method.
[back
to top]
8
Notification
for Unsafe School Transfer Choice
A student attending a persistently dangerous public elementary school or secondary school, as determined by the State in consultation with a representative sample of local educational agencies, or who becomes a victim of a violent criminal offense, as determined by State law, while in or on the grounds of a public elementary school or secondary school.
When a student becomes the victim of a violent criminal offense while in or on the grounds of the public school he or she attends, the school district must notify the student's parents within 24 hours (of the district’s determination that the student has been a victim) of their right to transfer their child to a safe public school within the district and of the procedures to do so. However, school districts are not obligated to notify parents if there are no other safe public schools within the district at the same grade level.
Parents of students attending a school identified as “persistently dangerous” must be notified of the same right to transfer their child to a safe public school within the district and of the procedures to do so. However, school districts are not obligated to notify parents if there are no other safe public schools within the district at the same grade level.
<back |
Instructional
Services