In partnership with the Arizona Department of Health Services, Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs Program, ADE/ESS is excited to be able to offer scholarships for Arizona youth and their families. Scholarships are available so that youth and young adults with disabilities and/or their family member/personal assistant can attend Arizona’s 2024 IDEA Conference: Expect, Engage, Achieve.

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the representative body for Special Education for Arizona, Exceptional Student Services (ESS), is required to annually obtain assurances from Public Education Agencies (PEAs) attesting that they are meeting the requirements under state and federal statutes. This requirement is completed via the Statement of Assurances application.

The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will host the next live Special Education Data Updates webinar on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm.

The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) will soon apply for federal funding under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for the period of July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025. This application document serves as the basis for the operation and administration of activities to carry out the requirements of Part B of the IDEA. As part of the public participation process set forth in the IDEA Part B regulations at 34 CFR § 300.165 and in Section 427 of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) (20 U.S.C. 1228a), the State must publish its Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2023 IDEA Part B Application and allow public comment.

The Arizona Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ArSHA) will hold its annual convention in Tucson on Friday, April 12, and Saturday, April 13. There will be hundreds of speech-language pathologists (SLPs), speech-language technicians (SLTs), and speech-language pathology assistants (SLPAs) attending this event.

The ADE/ESS is pleased to announce that registration for Teach Camp is now open! 

Looking for self-paced professional learning on current special education topics of interest?Register today for Summer 2024 NAU SELECT courses!

Please join ADE/ESS for the next Special Education Professionals Check-In on Thursday, March 21, 2024, from 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.

ADE/ESS is requesting proposals that represent your creative and research-based work. The conference will feature over 75 professional learning opportunities, including IDEA legal issues, instructional practices, national trends and hot topics, special education compliance, preschool and secondary transition, and content for related service providers. Make your mark at the 2024 IDEA conference; submit your proposal now!

The ADE/ESS Recruitment and Retention team is staffing a recruitment booth at the Council for Exceptional Children's (CEC) annual convention this week as part of our recruiting efforts on behalf of all Arizona PEAs. Each year, CEC draws thousands of preservice special education students, teachers, and related service providers.