Special Education Directors,

ESS collects data each year through the Teacher Attrition Survey to make informed decisions about recruitment and retention efforts in Arizona. Participation in the survey is mandatory for all public education agencies in Arizona.

The survey is open now and will close on January 31, 2023. Please see this memo for further details. Answers to frequently asked questions regarding the survey can be located online. If you have additional questions, please email the ESS Recruitment and Retention Inbox. 

Thank you for completing the Teacher Attrition Survey.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT 

SPED Need Autism concurrently reported with Emotional Disability

Beginning FY23, an update to integrity rule -40000 took effect to allow SPED Need combination A (Autism) with ED or EDP (Emotional Disability). ESS determined this change to be in error and ESS will roll back the change to not allow this reporting combination. ESS reverted this change to maintain alignment with 34 CFR 300.8(c)(1)(ii) and A.R.S. § 15-761(1).

ESS has updated the Concurrent Need Eligibility Matrix for this correction and AzEDS will appropriately fail affected students within this fiscal year.

For questions regarding SPED Data Reporting, please contact ESS Data Management .

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

-40071 Update to allow SPED10 exit code for students within 90 days of their third birthday with Board Approval

An update to integrity rule -40071 (SPED Exit code 10 may only be used for student 3-5yrs old, enrolled in PS, KG or UE grade, and exited from enrollment on same date) will take effect in AzEDS shortly.

This update will allow SPED Exit Code 10 (Withdrawn by Parent and no Longer enrolled) to be used for students within 90 days of their third birthday (the governing board of a school district or the appropriate approving body of a charter school may admit otherwise eligible children who are within ninety days of their third birthday, if it is determined to be in the best interest of the individual child per ARS § 15-771(G))

The FY23 Data Reporting Updates document has been updated in the ESS Data Management Toolkit available on the ESS Data Management website.

Additional documentation updated to reflect this change is also available on the AzEDS SPED Reporting webpage:

• SPED Integrity Rules Reference
• Integrity Tool -40071

For questions regarding SPED Data Reporting, please contact ESS Data Management Inbox.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT 

ED-P reporting in Residential Treatment Centers

An update to allowable SPED Needs reported for Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) ES will take effect in AzEDS shortly. This update will allow the combination of SPED Need ED-P to be reported with LRE ES (Public or Private Residential Facility for greater than 50% of the school day placed by another state agency (not an IEP team decision)).

Please see this official ADE memo for more information about this update.

Integrity rules -40004 and -40029 have been updated to allow this combination.

Additional documentation updated to reflect this change is also available on the AzEDS SPED Reporting webpage:

• Concurrent Need and Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) Code Eligibility Matrix
• SPED Integrity Rules Reference
  • Integrity Tool -40004
  • Integrity Tool -40029

For questions regarding SPED Data Reporting, please contact ESS Data Management Inbox.

For questions regarding RTC placements and voucher applications, please contact ESS Vouchers Inbox.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT 

Special Education Data Updates Webinar Wednesday, October 19th   

The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will be hosting the next Special Education Data Updates live webinar on Wednesday, October 19th from 2pm – 3pm. This session will cover a variety of data topics that will include (subject to change):   

• Reminders 
  • FY21 October 1 PEA Student Count document available
  • October 1 Data Collection (ODC) open date and due date 
• Trending topics 
  • Data Collection Expectations
  • Review of Phase I of ODC
  • How to calculate Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
  • Parentally Placed Students
• Topics Not in Scope 
• Top 3 Integrity Errors 
• Q&A    

 Registration is required to attend: Register for Special Education Data Updates webinar.   

 For questions, please contact ESS Data Management via email at [email protected].   

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

FY 2023 October 1 Data Collection Application is now OPEN

The October 1 Data Collection (ODC) application is now open, and Phase I is underway. This phase includes the submission of your Public Education Agency (PEA) Special Education (SPED) student count and personnel Full-Time Equivalency (FTE) data. 

The ODC child count is a crucial process consequential for federal reporting, determining federal allocations, and providing information for the state to make educational determinations over time.

All PEAs are required to verify the aggregate count of students receiving SPED services over October 1, including zero counts. This is an internal count using your student information systems and student rosters; AzEDS reports should not be used to gather Phase I Verification Count.

This data is due Wednesday, November 16, 2022. More information and training is available on the ESS October 1 Data Collection website.

Please refer to the Important Dates document on the ODC timeline for a complete outline of deadline requirements for this data collection.

Please contact [email protected] with any questions.

Special Education Directors,

Project EASEL, in partnership with ADE/ESS, would like to invite you to tune into the Exploring Strategies for Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) fall and spring professional learning series. We plan to share various information and strategies to support your understanding and implementation of assertiveness, self-efficacy, and self-regulation. 

Details for the upcoming SEL session:

Teaching Middle School Students to Persist Through Challenging Tasks Using Self-Efficacy

October 11, 2022, 3:00–4:00 p.m.

Description: Do your students lack confidence in their abilities, think that they will always do as well or as poorly as they have done in the past, give up easily when they encounter obstacles, or feel that they cannot learn the course content or succeed in school, sports, or arts? Self-efficacy instruction can help. Self-efficacy helps students to persist through challenging tasks and builds their confidence in overcoming difficulties academically, emotionally, and in their extracurricular endeavors. During this one-hour webinar, you will learn instructional activities to develop and support self-efficacy. These include how to help students reframe negative self-talk, strategies to help students manage their physiological feedback caused by emotional reactions, and how to view mistakes as opportunities to learn.

Registration is required for all Project EASEL SEL sessions. Please register in advance for Teaching Middle School Students to Persist Through Challenging Tasks Using Self-Efficacy.  

Please view the flyer for upcoming Project EASEL SEL sessions with updated details. If you have any questions, please email Pattie Noonan.

Special Education Directors,

ADE/ESS is acutely aware of the shortage of qualified special education teachers and related service providers across Arizona. ESS has multiple activities and programs to support PEAs to confront this shortage every school year. The ESS Recruitment and Retention team has created Developing a Grow Your Own Program: A Guide for Special Education Administrators as a reference as you consider developing and implementing a Grow Your Own program as part of your own recruitment and retention efforts.

A Grow Your Own program is an opportunity for school districts and charter schools to assist their community members and currently employed staff who are interested in entering the special education teacher, leader, or related service provider professions. Through tuition reimbursement, the school district or charter organization supports the candidate with a continuum of education that will also help to meet workforce needs.

Public Education Agencies (PEAs) can develop their own tuition reimbursement program using Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funding sources to support individuals interested in special education certification in early childhood special education, mild/moderate disabilities, moderate/severe disabilities, hearing impaired, or visually impaired, as well as school psychologist and speech-language pathologist certifications. Other special education positions may also qualify.

For more information, please email the ESS Recruitment and Retention Inbox.

Special Education Directors,

The ADE/ESS Assistive Technology (AT) team is excited to announce the 2022–2023 National Presenter Series with Kelli Suding, MEd. This workshop is designed for special educators and related service providers.

“Assistive Technology Integration for All Students”

Date: Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Time: 8:30 a.m.−3:30 p.m.

Fee: $17 (Lunch only)

Where: Laveen Elementary School District

Address: 5001 W Dobbins Road, Laveen, AZ 85339

About Kelli Suding, MEd

Kelli has a background in general and special education classrooms. She holds a master’s degree in Learning and Technology and is certified in both general and special education instruction. Kelli has national, state, and local presentation and training experience. She has a strong understanding and experience in connecting theory to practice. Her instructional experience has been with students requiring mild, moderate, and intense intervention. Kelli’s specializations include universal design for learning, autism, accessible educational materials, assistive technology, Google Chrome accessibility and integration, and specific learning disabilities.

Workshop Description:

“Assistive Technology Integration for All Students”

Creating our classroom instruction with learner variability in the forefront will allow us to be mindful in meeting the needs of all of our students. Oftentimes, the use of assistive technology is the appropriate accommodation to meet those needs. Statements such as “That’s cheating. They need to do that by themselves,” are often comments aligned with the use of appropriate accommodations of accessible educational materials (AEM) and assistive technology (AT) for students with specific disabilities. But how can we promote a culture of universal design for learning (UDL) and at the same time step outside of our “No, it’s not cheating,” echo chamber to have meaningful conversations with educators who may see AT accommodations as a crutch?

This workshop will explore ways to debunk the mindset of “it’s cheating” through personal stories, understanding learning disabilities, short simulations, discussion of the different skill sets of reading, the “what” of AEM, and most importantly, the “why.” Attendees will learn about and have access to free/low-cost simple AT tools for Mac, PC, iOS, and Chrome extensions to turn classroom worksheets and documents into accessible formats, instruction for independent student access, and other assistive technology options.

If you have questions regarding this training, please email our AT inbox.

Register for Assistive Technology Integration for All Students.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

Exceptional Student Services (ESS) Discipline Data Collection (DDC) Application Opening September 14

The ESS DDC application will open for fiscal year (FY) 2023 incident entry on September 14, 2022.

There are no significant changes to the DDC application this school year. ESS requires all Public Education Agencies (PEAs) to manually enter or bulk upload discipline data incidents into the DDC application. The XML Schema for PEAs choosing the bulk upload option is unchanged.

Training on entering and/or uploading incidents into the DDC application is available on the Discipline Data Collection page. This page has a DDC Manual with step-by-step instructions for entering or uploading data. A webinar recording is also available that includes a demonstration of entering and uploading discipline incidents.

FY 2023 discipline data is due July 15, 2023, aligning with the close of AzEDS data reporting for the fiscal year. PEAs submitting discipline data into AzEDS will not be consumed for FY 2023 as AzEDS is not the system of record for FY 2023.

Beginning FY 2024, all PEAs will enter discipline data through their student information system and sync to AzEDS. ESS will release more details regarding FY 2024 incident data requirements soon.

ESS still requires that PEAs that volunteered to pilot the submission of discipline incident data into AzEDS data this school year also enter or upload the discipline incident data in the DDC application. ESS will send more information regarding the pilot program soon to those specific PEAs.

If you have questions or need assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected].