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 and will close on May 4, 2022. Please see this memo for further details. Answers to frequently asked questions regarding the survey can be located online. For additional questions, please email the ESS Recruitment and Retention Inbox. 

Thank you for completing the Teacher Attrition Survey.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT   

New XML Schema released for ESS Discipline Data Collection and changes for FY22 incident entry

Due to upcoming changes to the FY22 ESS Discipline Data Collection (DDC) application, a new XML schema has been released for PEAs that wish to use the bulk upload option via an XML export from their Student Information System. Your student information system vendor will need to update your SIS to this new schema. ESS Data Management is distributing the NEW XML Schema to PEAs, and it is the PEA’s responsibility to deliver this new schema to their own Student Information System vendors. The XML schema can also be found on the Discipline Data webpage of the ESS Data Management website.

These are the changes you can expect to see when the ESS Discipline Data Collection application opens for entry in FY22.

Violations have been reduced to those relative to OSEP reporting, and the application will now allow multiple violations selected for one incident reported.

Certain actions will require a start and end date along with a numerical entry of equivalent in-session days removed (not hours removed per previous FY reporting).

Incidents with Expulsion actions will be expected to have an action end date of the end of the school year. Expulsions are defined as removals through the remainder of the school year; therefore, it is expected that the action end date be reported for these incidents as the last day of the school year.

A new Year End Data Certification page will be introduced and will take the place of No Data Certification. PEAs will be expected to enter a signature for all the data in the ESS DDC application, including the sites without incident.

The Year End Data Certification page can only be signed by a user with a NEW ADE CONNECT ROLE: ESS Discipline Data Collection: Signer. Read and Edit roles will be able to view this page in read-only mode.

It is expected your PEA assigns this role only to users authorized to sign off on your incident data for the year. Please contact your ADE Connect Entity Administrator to assign this role to your SPED Director or Superintendent (or equivalent position). It is the responsibility of the PEA to ensure this role is applied to the proper user. There will be no secondary authorization for this role from ADE.

The Year End Data Certification of Data page will display a list of schools your PEA is identified as the District of Residence for at least one student (General Education or SPED) attending that site (including tuition out sites). An incident count will show beside each site.

It is expected at the end of the year, the Signer will review the incidents entered in the application, counts of incidents on the certification page (including sites with zero incidents), enter their title, comments, and select the checkbox they have reviewed and certified the accuracy of the data. The signer will have the option to retract the signature should updates to the discipline data be required before the due date.

The ESS Discipline Data Collection application will open for FY22 incident entry on Monday, January 31, 2022.

Refer to this memo for additional details.

For any questions regarding these changes please feel free to contact [email protected].

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT 

Update to Integrity Rule for FY 2022: -40066

An update to an integrity rule for FY 2022 will be introduced into the integrity process on SPED data shortly. This rule is a continuation of our effort to further validate SPED reporting to ensure clean data for the state.   

A one-sheet integrity tool is available on our AzEDS SPED Reporting webpage for troubleshooting tips. It has been added to our SPED Integrity Rules Reference document and referenced on the FY 2022 ESS Data Reporting Updates document. 

Integrity Rule -40066

This rule will validate the submitted reference DescriptorID sent from your Student Information System matches the submitted SPED Least Restrictive Environment name. 

PEAs failing this rule will need to work with their Student Information System vendors to ensure the reference IDs (DescriptorID) sent matches the corresponding LRE (SPED Program) name.

Please contact [email protected] with any questions regarding this update.   

Special Education Directors,

The Arizona Department of Education encourages our public education agencies (PEAs) to register for the Arizona Educator Job Fair to recruit new employees to your school community.

• When: Saturday, February 26, 2022 from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• Where: Renaissance Phoenix Glendale Hotel and Conference Center, 9495 W. Coyotes Blvd, Glendale, AZ 85305
• Registration: Click here to reserve your booth
• Registration Deadline: Thursday, February 10, 2022

Once registered, we encourage you to promote the job fair in your community to encourage attendance from prospective employees. A flyer and social media graphics (graphics option one and graphics option two) are available to share at your convenience! 

ADE’s Educator Recruitment and Retention Specialist, Carrie Brown, is available to support registration and ensure successful participation in our job fair. You can email Carrie directly. 

We look forward to seeing you at the February 26 Arizona Educator Job Fair! 

Dear Special Education Directors,

All school districts and charter schools are required to annually administer the State Performance Plan Indicator 8 Parent Involvement Survey to parents of students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP). The survey will open January 18 via ADEConnect ESS Data Surveys. For more information, visit the survey web page.

If you don’t already have access to the survey application or need to add additional users who should have the right to use this information and administer the survey, contact your entity’s ADEConnect administrator and ask to be assigned the ESS Parent Survey: User Role. If additional assistance is needed to be assigned the User Role, use the Help Desk ticketing system via ADEConnect.

Reminder: SY ’21 Parent Involvement Survey results are posted in ADEConnect ESS Data Surveys. Question-by-question summaries and parent comments can be used to strengthen family engagement activities as a means of improving services and results for students with disabilities. 

Questions are always welcome!

Becky Raabe, Survey Coordinator

[email protected]

Special Education Directors,

As part of our ongoing recruitment efforts on behalf of Arizona’s public schools, ADE/ESS compiles and updates a list of education career fairs happening at educator preparation programs across the country.

If your school is planning to recruit for special education teachers from out of the state, we hope this list will make that task a bit easier for you. Review the Education Careers Fair Calendar to support your recruitment efforts this spring. The list is also available on the Arizona Education Employment Board website on the “Employer” page under the “Find a University Job Fair” icon.

If you have questions, please email Kim Rice or email Julie Lenza, ESS Recruitment and Retention Specialists.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

MEMBERSHIP AND ACCOUNTABILITY RULES ADDED TO OCTOBER 1 PROCESSING

Please be aware the Exceptional Student Services October 1 processing will be updated today to include integrity rules for Membership and Accountability. This will result in any SPED student receiving services over October 1 failing Membership or Accountability rules to be excluded from your October 1 count. Many existing SPED integrity rules rely on Membership and Accountability rules to ensure clean data.

If there are any students receiving services over October 1 missing from your SPED07 report you should review your INTEG15 report and resolve all State SPED, FED SPED, Membership, and Accountability errors. These rules are indicated as SPED, FED SPED, and ADM on the INTEG15 report.

Troubleshooting questions for Membership and Accountability rules should be referred to School Finance. Please open a ticket using the help link at the top right of your ADE Connect homepage to request assistance with a Membership or Accountability rule.

The SPED73 report in the AzEDS Portal has been updated to reflect the SPED07 report and will provide feedback on all students served over October 1 with a Y or N indicator for October 1 FED SPED status. Students indicated with an N will provide feedback as to why the student is not included in the October 1 count. 

Phase II of the ESS October 1 Data Collection will end on January 18, 2022. Please ensure all students are passing SPED, Membership, and Accountability rules through the deadline to ensure reconciliation.

For any questions this update, please contact us at [email protected].

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

ODC Phase II Deadline Extended – January 18, 2022

The October 1 Data Collection (ODC) application Phase II due date has been extended from December 15, 2021 to the NEW due date of January 18, 2022 by 5pm.

The ODC application is located within the Exceptional Student Services Portal in ADEConnect. Please ensure any user needing access to this report has the ADEConnect role of: ESS October 1 Data Collection: LEA User or LEA Signer.

The SPED07 report is located under the ‘Reports’ tab within the ESS ODC application. This report displays a list of students ages 3-21 identified in AzEDS as receiving special education services over the October 1 child count date as of the most recent integrity run.

It is expected that each PEA will ensure their count on the SPED07 report matches the verification count submitted in Phase I to reconcile their SPED October 1 Count for FY22. SPED integrity errors will prevent students from appearing on your SPED07 report.

To assist in the reconciliation process, please review the steps outlined in the October 1 Data Collection Manual – Phase II. The manual, training videos, and case study video are available on the ESS Data Management October 1 Data Collection Page. 

Since the closing of the ODC Phase I: Personnel & Verification Count on November 17, 2021, the verification count submitted by your PEA has been locked. If the submitted verification count was incorrect your PEA will be unable to reconcile, please continue to monitor your SPED07 report to ensure the data is correct for students served over October 1. If applicable, your PEA will be contacted to complete Phase III: Non-Reconciliation opening on April 13, 2022.

If you have any questions, please direct them to [email protected].

The FY22 ARP-IDEA Consolidated-Entitlement Grant is now available in the Grants Management Enterprise (GME) system. The ARP-IDEA Consolidated Grant must be submitted as a new funding application. The code assigned to ARP IDEA Basic and ARP IDEA Preschool should fall within the codes of the federal project for IDEA Funds.

The IDEA Consolidated-Entitlement funding application allocations will be updated soon and require a budget revision to bring the remaining balance to $0.00 for the IDEA Preschool and IDEA Basic grants.

The ESS Program Management team held a webinar on October 12, 2021, to discuss the impact of additional IDEA funds and the opportunity for some public education agencies (PEAs) to reduce the Maintenance of Effort compliance thresholds for fiscal year 2021–2022. Under 34 C.F.R § 300.205, an eligible PEA may take up to 50% of the increase in IDEA Basic funds from FY21 to FY22 and reduce its state and local (M & O) spending on SPED200 programs if the PEA tracks how it plans to use the freed-up funds to carry out activities under the ESEA. The slide deck and Zoom recording of the webinar are available on the ESS Program Management website.

ESS Program Management has published an updated allocations workbook that includes a tab for your public education agency to review the eligibility to take this MOE reduction. PEAs that did not receive Meets Requirements for the FFY19 PEA Determinations or were flagged for Significant Disproportionality in FFY19 are not eligible to take this reduction. PEAs that wish to take a MOE Reduction of any amount under 34 C.F.R § 300.205 must e-mail the ESS Program Management inbox by December 17, 2021.

Please contact ESS Program Management if you have any questions.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

SPED07 Report Now Available

The SPED07 report is now available within the October 1 Data Collection (ODC) application for Phase II: Reconciliation. 

The SPED07 report displays a list of students ages 3-21 identified in AzEDS as receiving special education services over the October 1 child count date as of the most recent integrity run.  

It is expected that each PEA will ensure their verification count submitted in Phase I matches the count on the SPED07 report to reconcile their SPED October 1 Count for FY22.

To assist in the reconciliation process, please review the steps outlined in the October 1 Data Collection Manual – Phase II. The manual, training videos, and case study video are available on the ESS Data Management October 1 Data Collection Page. 

The Phase II Reconciliation process is due Wednesday, December 15, 2021 by 5:00pm. 

To better align with federal reporting requirements, the age groupings have been updated on the SPED07 report. Students aged 3-5 and attending preschool will appear under the ‘Ages 3-5 (Preschool Only)’ section and students age 5 and above who are in Kindergarten or UE will appear under the ‘Ages 6-21 (Age 5 KG Included)’ section.  

For any questions related to the SPED07 report, please contact us at [email protected].