ESSA Parents Right to Know

Section 1112(e)(1)(A-B)

Qualifications: At the beginning of each school year, a Local Educational Agency (LEA) that receives Title I funds must notify parents of each student attending any Title I school that the parent may request, and the agency will provide the parents upon request (and in a timely manner), information regarding the professional qualifications of the student’s classroom teachers, including at a minimum the following:

  • Whether the teacher has met State qualifications for grade levels and subject areas in which the teacher provides instruction;
  • Whether the teacher is teaching under emergency or other professional status that the State has waived;
  • Whether the teacher is teaching in the field of discipline of the certification of the teacher; and
  • Whether the child is provided services by paraprofessionals and if so their qualifications.

Additional Information: A school that receives Title I funds must provide to each individual parent:

  • Information on the level of achievement and academic growth the child, if applicable and available, has made on each of the State academic assessments required under this part; and
  • Timely notice that the parent’s child has been assigned or taught for 4 or more consecutive weeks by a teacher who does not meet the applicable State certification or licensure requirements at the grade level and subject area in which the teacher has been assigned.

Section 1112(e)(2)(A-B)

Testing Transparency: At the beginning of each year, a Local Educational Agency (LEA) that receives Title I funds shall notify parents of each student attending any school receiving funds may request (and in a timely manner), information regarding any State or local educational agency policy regarding student participation in any assessments mandated by section 1111(b)(2) and by the State or local educational agency, which shall include a policy, procedure, or parental right to opt the child out of such assessment, where applicable.

Additional Information: Each LEA that receives funds under this part shall make widely available through public means (including by posting in a clear and easily accessible manner on the LEA’s website and, where practicable, of each school served) for each grade served by the LEA, information on each assessment required by the State, and where the information is available and feasible to report, and assessments required districtwide by the LEA including:

  • The subject matter assessed
  • The purpose for which the assessment is designed and used
  • The source of the requirement for the assessment; and
  •  Where such information is available—
    •  The amount of time students will spend taking the assessment, and the schedule for the assessment; and
    • The time and format for disseminating results.

Format: The notice and information provided to parents under this section shall be in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, provided in a language that the parent can understand.