ESS/Program Support and Monitoring (PSM) is excited to announce that in-person regional training opportunities are taking place this school year. Trainings are free for participants. The content to be covered includes completing a mock student file review and learning about resources for crafting a compliant prior written notice. The dates, times, and locations are listed below. 

Please email Veronica Reza directly to register for one of these trainings. Additional training dates may be added based on responses from the field and internal capacity.  Any further questions can be directed to your PEA’s assigned PSM specialist.

ADE/ESS is pleased to release flowchart representations and reference documents for several evaluation processes: initial evaluation, reevaluation, and independent educational evaluation (IEE). These guidance materials have incorporated feedback from various special education stakeholder groups. ADE/ESS hopes these visual resources will aid all constituents in understanding these complex processes.  An upcoming ESS Professionals Check-In will provide a guided overview of these resources.

Please contact your PEA’s assigned Program Support and Monitoring specialist or email [email protected] for questions.

ESS/Program Support and Monitoring (PSM) is proud to announce the release of the SY 2024–2025 Programmatic Monitoring Manual. This manual is intended to assist public education agencies (PEAs) in participating in and preparing for programmatic monitoring activities. The format of the manual changed last school year for ease of printing and locating information. The forms associated with programmatic monitoring activities can be found on the PSM website under Differentiated Monitoring Activities and are no longer located within the manual. 

Please contact your PEA’s assigned specialist with questions.

Special Education Directors,

ESS/Program Support &  Monitoring is pleased to announce the release of the SY 2024–2025 Programmatic Monitoring Guide Steps. Attached is the release memo that indicates some of the recent updates.

The Guide Steps is a technical assistance document created to aid public education agencies (PEAs) in understanding the requirements specific to programmatic monitoring. Legal compliance may be more extensive as it relates to a state complaint or due process. Any examples should not be taken directly and added to a student’s IEP or evaluation because each student is unique and has his/her own set of circumstances that must be addressed through his/her individual evaluation and IEP.

We hope that these Guide Steps assist PEAs to review created student documents for compliance purposes and to assist in reviewing systemic, programmatic needs within the PEA. Questions can be directed to your PEA’s Program Support & Monitoring Specialist.

ADE/ESS has received numerous questions about Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA) evaluations. The purpose of this Hot Topic is to help to highlight the differences between evaluations specified in federal and state special education regulations and ESA evaluations outlined in state regulations.

For questions related to special education evaluations, please contact the PEA’s assigned Program Support and Monitoring (PSM) specialist. Please contact the ADE/ESA program for questions related to ESA evaluations.

Hot Topic Memo

Recently, ADE/ESS has received many inquiries regarding special education Early Childhood Transition for children referred from IDEA Part C, Arizona’s Early Intervention Program (AzEIP). The attached Hot Topic is intended to provide guidance to address these responsibilities.

For additional compliance-related questions, please contact the PEA’s assigned Program Support and Monitoring (PSM) specialist. If there are questions related to implementing effective preschool special education programs, please contact the PEA’s assigned Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) specialist.

Special Education Directors,

ESS/Program Support and Monitoring (PSM) is proud to announce the release of the SY 2022–2023 Programmatic Monitoring Manual. This manual is a critical document for public education agencies (PEAs) participating in monitoring activities and can also be used by all PEAs to self-assess programmatic strengths and needs. 

ESS hopes this document assists PEAs in the review of systemic, programmatic needs within their entities.

For questions about the SY 2022—2023 Programmatic Monitoring Manual or programmatic monitoring in general, please contact your PEA’s assigned PSM specialist.

Special Education Directors,

ESS/Program Support and Monitoring (PSM) is proud to announce the release of the SY 2022–2023 Programmatic Monitoring Guide Steps. Additionally, is the release memo indicating some of the recent updates. The guide steps are a technical assistance document created to aid PEAs in understanding the requirements specific to programmatic monitoring. Legal compliance, as it relates to a state complaint or due process, may be more extensive. Examples included are intended to provide additional clarification and understanding on how to apply a compliance lens to a student’s evaluation or IEP. These examples should not be taken directly and added to a unique student’s IEP or evaluation, because each student is unique and has his/her own set of circumstances that must be addressed through his/her individual evaluation and IEP.

ESS hopes these guide steps, and the examples, assist PEAs to review created student documents for compliance purposes and assist in the review of systemic, programmatic needs within the PEA.

For questions about the SY 2022—2023 Programmatic Monitoring Guide Steps or programmatic monitoring in general, please contact your PEA’s assigned PSM specialist.

Special Education Directors,

ADE/ESS is pleased to announce the availability of the school year 2021–2022 Programmatic Monitoring Manual on the Program Support and Monitoring (PSM) web page. The newly revised manual can be found on the PSM web page under “Resources.”  Please see this memo for more information.

For questions about the Programmatic Monitoring Manual or the ESS programmatic monitoring process, contact your public education agency’s ESS/PSM Program Specialist: Find Your Specialist.

Special Education Directors,

ADE/ESS is pleased to announce the release of the SY 2021—2022 Program Support and Monitoring Guide Steps. Please see the following memo for additional information. All PEAs are encouraged to review the revised Guide Steps to ensure current special education practices are aligned with the requirements. 

Feel free to contact your PEA’s PSM specialist if you have any specific questions.