What You Need to Know about Compliance to Prep for the Beginning of the School Year

Download the transcript to this episode here.

This year I want to switch it up and start asking you a weekly reflection question. After hearing the question, take a moment to think and jot down your answer. I know some of you are listening to this on the go or possibly reading this in passing. I would still like you to take five minutes and reflect. This can have a huge impact on your teaching. 

Here is our weekly reflection question: When you see the word compliance what emotions do you feel?

Compliance can feel like a scary word and there are a lot of us who shy away from it. When it is time to complete compliance you might feel overwhelmed and unprepared. This can lead to missed deadlines, you being out of compliance, and having to deal with the consequences of being out of compliance. 

I am going to let you in on a secret. Compliance has always been my least favorite thing about teaching ESL. I love planning and creating lessons and compliance is just tedious paperwork. That was until I realized that compliance is more than paperwork. It is about advocating for your students and ensuring everyone else is adhering to what the students are entitled to by federal law. 

Once I changed my perspective, I realized that preparing for compliance was equally as important as preparing for my lessons. I was just stuck on how I can do this for the upcoming school year. 

I decided to familiarize with any upcoming changes in compliance for the upcoming year. For example, there was a change in the exit criteria for Language Learners. This helped me determine how I can plan my scheduling for the upcoming school year. The planning also relieves some of the overwhelm that I have at the beginning of the school year. Another example of this is how I create a beginning of the year compliance checklist. This kept me on track and gave me a clear idea of what I need to be prepared. 

First take some time to familiarize yourself with the beginning of the year compliance procedures and routines. Those compliance pieces are what you are going to have to tackle at the beginning of the school year. 

Then create your beginning of the year compliance checklist. Think about what you have to do for scheduling, testing, and any paperwork you need to complete. If you are a new teacher unsure what to do, reach out to your school district ESL Advisers.  

Remember to reach out to your state’s ESL office if you have questions about compliance if your local office cannot answer.

I want to encourage you to take some time before the school year ends or before the school year starts to create an action plan for your compliance. 

You can also download “The Ultimate ESL Teacher Guide” to get you prepared for the upcoming school year.