Special Education Directors,

Are you looking for Occupational Therapists and/or Occupational Therapy Assistants?

In October 2021, ADE/ESS will be recruiting for OT personnel on behalf of all public education agencies (PEAs) at the Arizona Occupational Therapy Association’s annual fall conference. ESS will operate a booth in the exhibit hall to promote the advantages of working in a school setting and distribute flyers listing all current and anticipated OT vacancies in Arizona public schools. We will also run a banner ad on the conference website directing OTs to the Arizona Education Employment Board.

If your PEA would like ESS to promote OT opening(s) at ArizOTa, please post them on the ADE job board as soon as possible. The banner ad will be visible on the ArizOTA website well before the convention dates, so please post quickly!

Post your OT/COTA vacancies at the Arizona Education Employment Board.

If you have questions, please email the Recruitment and Retention Inbox.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

Update to ASDB Student Reporting

Due to the passage of HB2863 during the Spring 2021 legislative session, the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind (ASDB) is now considered a local education agency (LEA) for the provision of free and appropriate public education (FAPE), for the submission of data and other required reports, and for the provision of courses of study that lead to graduation with a regular high school diploma for all students enrolled in their campus locations. This status change began July 1, 2021 (fiscal year 2022).

This memorandum addresses specific areas of responsibility that will impact both ASDB and public education agencies (PEAs) that place eligible students at ASDB through the IEP and voucher process.

Updated ASDB Student Reporting guidance from ESS Data Management is available here.

If you have questions regarding the guidance, please e-mail [email protected]

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 and The Interpreter Mentorship, Education & Training (IMET) Program are excited to offer two different training opportunities for educational interpreters. Please review both of the linked flyers for information on each opportunity. Information on how to apply can be found in the flyers and in the body of this post.

EIPA MENTOR TRACK

Participants will attend weekly meetings, alternating between language coaching and interpreter mentoring. Meetings typically take place in the evenings using virtual platforms. Accepted participants must be available to meet during late afternoon or evening meeting session times offered. Every effort is made to set meeting times based on submitted availability. Participants can expect to commit approximately 8-10 hours per week on mentor sessions, assessments, assignments, and reflection reports. The EIPA Track has been specially designed for the work and exam for educational interpreters. This mentorship track costs are covered by the ADE and offered at no cost to the participant, with an opportunity to earn the EIPA exam fee with demonstrated commitment and participation.

LANGUAGE LAB

Participants will attend biweekly meetings in small groups with a language coach who is Deaf. Meetings typically take place in the evenings using virtual platforms. Accepted participants must be available to meet during late afternoon or evening meeting session times offered. Every effort is made to set meeting times based on submitted availability. Participants will meet for 12 sessions and can expect to commit approximately 5-6 hours per week on sessions and assignments. During the sessions participants will gain valuable exposure to language coaches who are Deaf, ASL, and Deaf culture. They will work on various language development activities and have an opportunity to explore their questions. The goal of the language labs is to improve expressive and receptive ASL proficiency. Costs are covered by the ADE and offered at no cost to the participant. Space is limited.

The deadline for both parts of the application process is Tuesday, August 3, 2021 11:59 pm. Space is limited so apply early!

ADE/ESS is excited to offer these opportunities to work with your teams to support Arizona students!  Please contact Jennifer Harvey [email protected] or Christy Hegebush [email protected] for questions or assistance.

Special Education Directors,

ADE/ESS and STAR Autism Support are collaborating to offer resources and professional learning opportunities to support PEA staff with free Virtual Learning Opportunities this Fall. 

STAR Online Learning System (SOLS) Workshop

STAR Online Learning System (SOLS) is designed to allow your PEA to provide access to all students through remote learning opportunities. Through teacher facing, evidence-based lesson plans and a scope and sequence that provides scaffolded learning opportunities, teachers can provide their students individualized learning opportunities. The focus of the instruction uses the evidence-based practices appropriate for students with autism to teach skills in critical areas. This comprehensive workshop provides participants with detailed examples and practice activities on how to implement the evidence-based practices identified in the National Standards Report (2009) remotely using SOLS.

2-Day STAR Comprehensive Workshop

This comprehensive two-day workshop provides participants with detailed examples and practice activities on how to implement the evidence-based practices identified in the National Standards Report (2009). The STAR Program (Arick, Loos, Falco and Krug, 2015), a research-based curriculum is used to provide examples. Appropriate content connected to the common core curriculum is presented and detailed information on the three evidenced-based instructional methods of discrete trial training, pivotal response training and teaching through functional routines are shared.  If registered as a team, you will also be eligible to apply for free coaching hours.

2-Day Links Comprehensive Workshop

This two-day workshop provides participants with information on how to implement evidence-based practices for secondary students using the Links Curriculum (Arick, Hoffman and Magee-Arick, 2012). Participants will learn to use a process for assessing and teaching functional routines that has been documented in the research. Extensive information will be given on selecting and individualizing routines and teaching specific skills to support success during routines. If registered as a team, you will also be eligible to apply for free coaching hours.

Early Childhood Learning Workshop

This workshop will provide preschool staff, child­care staff and quality first coaches with a greater under­standing of working with children with autism spectrum disorders. Topics discussed will include learning characteris­tics, behavioral strategies and simple activities to encourage social and language skill development. This workshop will provide specific examples of evidence-based practices that can be implemented immediately in the childcare and pre­school setting.

Supporting Students in General Education Workshop

This workshop will provide general education teachers and staff an introduction to how students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) learn. Examples of simple classroom strategies and tools to help students with ASD be successful in general education classrooms will be provided. Learning outcomes include identifying the characteristics of students with ASD and how these characteristics impact learning, identifying evidence-based strategies to address the learning needs of students with ASD, and identifying a few simple tools to help your students with ASD learn.

Coaching and Training Site Workshop

This workshop is designed to train certified PEA staff to coach others in the evidence-based strategies and instructional content as used in the STAR Program. SAS provides a series of coach workshops for staff to learn to coach others along with on-site follow-up training at their school district sites. SAS has a fidelity of implementation checklist that is used to identify specific training needs for each coach. Once a trainee has completed all aspects of the training and is able to demonstrate the needed skills, they are eligible to receive a certificate as a STAR Coach that is provided by SAS.

Parent Training Session

The parent training class series provides information and training on topics of interest to parents. These classes discuss evidence-based instructional strategies and effective strategies for parents to use at home with their children. Skills addressed include communication, play and social, behavioral, and self-management. All classes in the series use lecture, demonstration, video, and discussion to present the information. The sessions are designed as a series, but it is not necessary to attend all sessions to benefit from these classes.

Paraprofessional Training Series

This workshop series provides paraprofessionals with key strategies and a demonstration of implementing lessons found in the Links Curriculum and STAR Pogrom for students. Participants will also learn how to use basic behavior principles to assess student’s challenging behaviors, identify appropriate interventions that match assessment results, and determine whether an intervention is working.

PEAs are also encouraged to contact STAR Autism Support if they would like additional individualized support during this time for their teachers, related service staff members, and paraprofessionals! Click here to learn more about these additional support opportunities.

We are excited to offer these opportunities to work with your teams to support our students!  Please contact Bekah Anderson [email protected] or Christy Hegebush [email protected] for questions or assistance.

Special Education Directors,

Due to the passage of HB 2863 during the Spring 2021 legislative session, the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind (ASDB) is now considered a local education agency (LEA) for the provision of free and appropriate public education (FAPE), for the submission of data and other required reports, and for the provision of courses of study that lead to graduation with a regular high school diploma for all students enrolled in their campus locations. This status change began July 1, 2021 (fiscal year 2022).

This memorandum addresses specific areas of responsibility that will impact both ASDB and public education agencies (PEAs) that place eligible students at ASDB through the IEP and voucher process.

For questions on data reporting, please contact ESS Data Management at [email protected]. For any items pertaining to the institutional voucher, please contact the ESS Vouchers Unit at [email protected].

Special Education Directors,

Please see the memorandum regarding a change in procedure to the Offer of Early Resolution in Response to a State Complaint effective July 1, 2021. This change is in response to recent technical assistance received by Exceptional Student Services/Dispute Resolution.

Please contact Dispute Resolution with any questions about this change. Thank you.

Please share the following details about upcoming professional learning opportunities for general and special education teachers who teach mathematics.

Building Bridges: Developing Relationships and Establishing Rigor!

We know that, as special education and general education teachers, you typically work with students who have various strengths, and we are here to support you in making it all work!

Join us as we spend time on starting the year off right to foster a positive math community and to establish classroom norms for deep learning with a focus on strength-based teaching. Our content focus will be on making connections across grade bands.  You will leave with resources that will support building your classroom community as well as maximizing student learning with grade-level content that can be used the first day of school and beyond!

For grades K–2, please register for one of the following:

• Monday, July 12 from 9:00–11:00 a.m.
• Wednesday, July 14 from 12:00–2:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, July 20 from 12:00–2:00 p.m.
• Thursday, July 22 from 9:00–11:00 a.m.

For grades 3–5, please register for one of the following:

• Monday, July 12 from 12:00–2:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, July 14 from 9:00–11:00 a.m.
• Tuesday, July 20 from 9:00–11:00 a.m.
• Thursday, July 22 from 12:00–2:00 p.m.

For grades 6–8, please register for one of the following:

• Tuesday, July 13 from 9:00–11:00 a.m.
• Friday, July 16 from 12:00–2:00 p.m.
• Monday, July 19 from 12:00–2:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, July 21 from 9:00–11:00 a.m.

For High School Algebra and Geometry, please register for one of the following:

• Tuesday, July 13 from 12:00–2:00 p.m.
• Friday July 16 from 9:00–11:00 a.m.
• Monday July 19 from 9:00–11:00 a.m.
• Wednesday July 21 from 12:00–2:00 p.m.

Note: accommodations must be requested at least one week in advance of each webinar.

Please email Jenifer Fernandez or email Rob Hilliker with any questions.

Special Education Directors,

The ADE/ESS is pleased to announce the opening of registration for Arizona's 2021 IDEA Virtual Conference, Renewal: Resilience to Results, scheduled for September 13–15, 2021.

The conference registration fee for professionals is $100.00 and can be paid by credit card, check, or purchase order.

Information about conference keynotes can be found on the conference webpage, which will continue to be updated throughout the summer.

Questions about the conference or registration can be sent to [email protected].

Please share the following details about upcoming professional learning opportunities for general and special education teachers who teach algebra.

Algebra Tiles Part 1: Exploration of Algebraic Expressions

Wednesday, July 7 from 9:00 a.m.–10:30 a.m.

Register in advance for Algebra Tiles Part 1.

In this webinar, we will explore the properties of virtual algebra tiles and the use of these tiles in simplifying expressions and adding and subtracting algebraic expressions.

Algebra Tiles Part 2: Exploration of Substitution and Solving Equations

Wednesday, July 7 from 12:00 p.m.–1:30 p.m.

Register in advance for Algebra Tiles Part 2.

In this webinar, we will explore the use of virtual algebra tiles to visualize substitution and to solve equations.

Algebra Tiles Part 3: Exploration of Algebra Tiles in Multiplying Binomials and Dividing Quadratic Equations

Thursday, July 8 from 9:00 a.m.–10:30 a.m.

Register in advance for Algebra Tiles Part 3.

In this webinar, we will explore the use of virtual algebra tiles to multiply binomials and to divide quadratics.

Algebra Tiles Part 4: Exploration of Algebra Tiles in Factoring Quadratic Expressions and Completing the Square

Thursday, July 8 from 12:00 p.m.–1:30 p.m.

Register in advance for Algebra Tiles Part 4.

In this webinar, we will explore the use of virtual algebra tiles to factor quadratic expressions and to complete the square.

Attendance at all sessions is recommended but not required. These sessions will not be recorded. Participants can earn 1.5 hours of professional development credit per session attended.

A computer or tablet with the ability to access Google slides is not required but is strongly recommended to enable full participation in the session.

Algebra Tiles Open Practice Session

Friday, July 9 from 12:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m.

Register in advance for Algebra Tiles Open Practice Session.

Come to this session to refine your understanding of working with algebra tiles.

Attendance at a prior algebra tiles session is required to attend this session. Participants can earn two hours of professional development credit for this session.

Please email Jenifer Fernandez or email Rob Hilliker with any questions.