Advocacy Campaign: Transparency in Student Learning

Goal: Build an education system that helps teachers and families work together so every child belongs, learns, and thrives. Issue summary: “Transparency in Student Learning: Notification Is Not Transparency”

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The California Family Engagement Network (CA-FEN) has identified a deep-seated, systemic failure in how California schools communicate student academic progress to families. Despite existing notification mechanisms — letters sent home, parent portals, and report cards — parents are routinely unaware that their children are not performing at grade level.

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This is not a failure of parental engagement. It is a failure of systemic design. Schools operate without a meaningful obligation to proactively, clearly, and accessibly inform parents when a child is falling behind. The burden of discovery is placed entirely on families, disproportionately disadvantaging those with less educational capital, less English proficiency, and less time.

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True family engagement requires honest, timely information. CA-FEN calls on California schools to move from a culture of notification to a culture of informed partnership for every family, every school.

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Join the coalition – for parents, parent groups, and nonprofits