DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

When October 1 Falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or Other Non-Session Day

October 1st falls on a Sunday this school year, and ESS Data Management would like to provide reminders of how to report students and if they should be included in the October 1 count.

Scenarios where a student IS counted for October 1 due to no gap in SPED services:

• Student withdraws on September 29th from School District A and enrolls in School District B on October 2nd
  • District A reports the student
• Student withdraws on September 29th from School District A and enrolls in School District B on October 9th. School District B has fall break from October 2nd – October 6th
  • District A Reports the student
• Student withdraws on September 22nd from School District A and enrolls in School District B on October 2nd. School District A has fall break from September 25th – September 29th
  • District A Reports the student
• Student withdraws on September 22nd from School District A and enrolls in School District B on October 9th. School District A has fall break from September 25th – September 29th and School District B has fall break from October 2nd – October 6th
  • District A reports the student

Scenarios where a student IS NOT counted for October 1 due to a gap in SPED services:

• Student withdraws on September 29th from School District A and enrolls in School District B on October 3rd. October 2nd is an in-session day for District B
  • Student is not reported due to gap in SPED services (October 2nd)
• Student withdraws on September 22nd from School District A and enrolls in School District B on October 9th.  School District A has fall break from September 25th – September 29th. School District B also has fall break from September 25th – September 29th
  • Student is not reported due to a gap in SPED Services (October 2nd – October 6th).
• Student withdraws September 29th from School District A and moves out of state
  • Student is not reported due to moving and not knowing if continuing in SPED

Please remember that the PEA the student attends on the last in-session day before October 1st is counted by that PEA if SPED services are known to be continuing. The PEA that enrolls and provides services after October 1st does not count the student.

ESS Data Management determines in-session and out-of-session calendar days based on calendars submitted and approved in AzEDS.

Please feel free to contact ESS Data Management:

• If you are unable to determine if the student continued in SPED after withdrawing from your district
• If you are uncertain about another school or charter district-approved calendar days
• If you’d like confirmation on whether to count a SPED student for October 1st
• Any other questions about October 1st

As a reminder, the link from our October 1 data collection virtual training is available on the October 1 Data Collection website.

Please email ESS Data Management with any questions. 

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

FY24 Need Concurrency Matrix Update

Previously, we only allowed preschool needs eligible for state funding per A.R.S. § 15-771(A) to be reported in AzEDS. These needs are as follows:

• Hearing Impairment (HI)
• Visual Impairment (VI)
• Developmental Delay (DD)
• Preschool Severe Delay (PSD)
• Speech/Language Impairment (SLI)

Effective FY24, changes have been made to allow concurrent reporting of these needs with other allowable needs for preschool students. Refer to the updated Need Concurrency Matrix. However, the statutory funding requirements remain unchanged.

Questions or concerns can be directed to ESS Data Management.

Please join ADE/ESS for the next Special Education Professionals Check-In on Thursday, September 21, 2023, from 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m. 

Select the link to join this Microsoft Teams event: Join Special Professionals Check-In on September 21, 2023

This month’s Check-In will address two topics:

The ESS Secondary Transition team will provide an update regarding Arizona's Post School Outcomes (PSO) Survey, which is due Saturday, September 30, 2023. The PSO Survey is utilized annually by PEAs to collect federally mandated information on the postsecondary experiences of eligible former students. 

Preschool Outcomes data is being reported by schools throughout the state through the AZEDS data system. Guidance that is available, a quick overview of the process, and several use case scenarios will be presented along with an invitation to participate in a statewide training on next steps in supporting children's progress toward meeting age expectations.

SY 2023–2024 Check-In Schedule: 2023–2024 Special Education Professionals Check-Ins occur monthly, on the third Thursday of every month, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.

If you have questions or suggestions for content for Check-Ins, feel free to send them to the ESS Inbox. 

Please share the following math professional learning opportunities with general and special education teachers who teach mathematics. 

 Virtual Professional Learning Opportunities:
The following virtual sessions are offered via Zoom and are free to attend. Click the session link to view the session description and to pre-register. 

 Take a DIP into Slow Reveal Graphs (Elementary Grades K–5) 
Tuesday, September 12, from 4:00–5:00 p.m. 

Take a DIP into Slow Reveal Graphs (Secondary Grades 6–12) 
Wednesday, September 13, from 4:00–5:00 p.m. 

 Adapting Tasks for Deeper Learning (Secondary Grades 6–12) 
Thursday, September 21, from 4:00–5:00 p.m. 

Adapting Tasks for Deeper Learning (Elementary Grades K–5) 
Thursday, September 28, from 4:00–5:00 p.m. 

Math and Literacy Intertwined: Sounds Delicious! (Grades K–12)
Wednesday, October 25, from 3:30–5:00 p.m.

Note: Accommodations must be requested at least one week in advance of the webinar. Sessions will not be recorded. It is strongly recommended that you use a computer to access the webinar to enable full participation in the session. 

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

Please visit the ESS Math webpage to view more upcoming events and helpful resources. 

Please join ADE/ESS for the next Special Education Professionals Check-In on Thursday, August 17, 2023, from 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m. 

Select the link to join this Microsoft Teams event: Join Special Professionals Check-In on August 17,2023

This month’s Special Education Director Check-In topic will address an upcoming flexibility regarding preschool disability data reporting. It will briefly discuss deployment dates, timelines, and implementation for this current school year. The main presentation will be an ESS Fiscal Update for federal grants. Please extend this invitation to your Business Managers, as ESS will present updates for the Fiscal Year 2024 IDEA funding applications, review available High-Cost Child funding opportunities for Fiscal Year 2024, and provide an overview of the upcoming GM Completion Report season. The ARP-IDEA funding cycle ends on September 30, and ESS Program Management wants to ensure that PEAs maximize their funding opportunities in the grant. Finally, we will cover where to find Maintenance of Effort Compliance standards to ensure that PEAs accurately report state-level expenditures on the 2023 Annual Financial Reports.

SY 2023–2024 Check-In Schedule: 2023–2024 Special Education Professionals Check-Ins occur monthly, on the third Thursday of every month, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.

If you have questions or suggestions for content for Check-Ins, feel free to send them to the ESS Inbox. 

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

Updates to Reporting Developmental Delay

To be eligible for Developmental Delay (DD), students must be younger than ten (10) years of age. Effective fiscal year 2024, students reported with the DD need will fail integrity, receiving error -40072, two months before their tenth birthday. This new rule will aid in ensuring that Public Education Agencies (PEAs) meet evaluation timelines and update the DD need appropriately. If DD is not updated by the student’s tenth birthday, integrity will fail with the updated error -40041. 

IDEA regulations allow states to determine eligibility for special education to children aged three through nine who are experiencing developmental delays in one or more of the following areas: physical development; cognitive development; communication development; social or emotional development; or adaptive development [34 C.F.R. 300.8(b)]. Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.) state that “Developmental delay” means performance by a child who is at least three years of age but under ten years of age on a norm-referenced test that measures at least one and one-half, but not more than three, standard deviations below the mean for children of the same chronological age in two or more of the following areas: cognitive development; physical development; communication development; social or emotional development; [or] adaptive development” [A.R.S. 15-761(3)].

The following integrity rules ensure PEAs are aware of a DD student’s upcoming birthday:

• -40072 - Student Need of DD must be re-evaluated and have an exit date before the student’s 10th birthday.

• -40041 - Invalid age for need code DD.

Please email ESS Data Management with any questions.

Registration for the 2023 Special Education New Director Symposium (SENDS) is closing soon, so please be sure to register if you are beginning your first or second year as a special education director.

The purpose of this professional learning opportunity is to prepare new special education directors for the practical operation of a special education system. Topics covered in SENDS include compliance and legal requirements, fiscal issues, assessment, general supervision, and ADE supports and resources.

SENDS will be held virtually from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on September 15, October 20, November 3, and December 8. New special education directors serving Arizona public education agencies in their first or second year of being a special education director (including any previous positions) are eligible to attend. Each new director will also receive a one-year membership to the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and CEC’s Council for Administrators of Special Education (CASE) special interest division. The cost of participation in SENDS is $50.

Register for the Special Education New Director Symposium (SENDS).

For questions about SENDS, please email the ESS Recruitment and Retention Inbox.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT  

Preschool Outcomes Reporting

Effective fiscal year 2024, Preschool Outcomes will now be reported to Arizona Education Data Standards (AzEDS). The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) requires State Education Agencies to calculate the percentage of preschool children aged 3 through 5 with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) who demonstrate improved outcomes with Social Relationships, Use of Knowledge and Skills, and Taking Action to Meet Needs.

Preschool Outcomes Reporting Guidance is available on the Data Management website.

Integrity rules have been introduced to ensure that Preschool Outcomes are correctly reported. Integrity error troubleshooting guides have been created to assist Public Education Agencies with troubleshooting if needed. The integrity rules and links are as follows:

• NEW - 40087 - When entering a Preschool Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), the three Outcome Assessments must be reported: Social-Emotional, Knowledge-Skills, and Behaviors. Please refer to the ESS Preschool Outcomes Reporting Guidance document.
• NEW - 40088 - When exiting a Preschool Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), the three Outcome Assessments must be reported: Social-Emotional, Knowledge-Skills, and Behaviors. Please refer to the ESS Preschool Outcomes Reporting Guidance document.
• NEW - 40089 – When Exit Preschool Outcome is reported, the Progress Made must indicate Yes or No.

Please email ESS Data Management with any questions regarding Preschool Outcomes reporting.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT 

Ancillary Needs Reporting

Effective fiscal year 2024, Ancillary Needs can be reported to Arizona Education Data Standards (AzEDS). Students who require ancillary services but do not require special education (SPED) instruction as outlined in A.R.S. § 15-769 (D) and students on an Individualized Education Program (IEP) with ancillary needs can be reported.  

Ancillary needs reporting guidance is available on the Data Management website: Ancillary Needs Reporting in AzEDS. 

Integrity rules have been introduced to ensure that Ancillary Needs are correctly reported. Integrity One Sheet Tools have been created to assist Public Education Agencies (PEAs) with troubleshooting if needed. New integrity rules related to Ancillary Needs are as follows: 

• NEW -40090 – Any SPED needs marked as Ancillary must be a Group B need (A, HI, MOID, SID, MD, MDSSI, OI, PSD, EDP, or VI) 
• NEW -40091 – Any SPED need marked as Ancillary can only be reported with an LRE of L, C, D, PD, or PE 
• NEW -40092 – Any SPED need within a Least Restrictive Environment L (Ancillary services provided for Students not on an IEP) must be marked as Ancillary 
• NEW -40093 – Ancillary SPED Needs reported within a Least Restriction Environment L are not to be included by an IEP that indicates that a Federal Primary Need Indicator (FPNI). All needs within LRE L code must not be primary.  

Updated integrity rules related to Ancillary Needs are as follows: 

• -40004 - Concurrent Need and Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) Code Eligibility matrix updated to disallow LRE L reporting for Preschool or Ungraded Elementary grades.
• -40020 - Concurrent PEA and Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) Code Eligibility matrix updating to allow LRE L reported by Public Districts or Public Charters only. 
• -40029 - Concurrent Need and Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) Code Eligibility matrix updated to allow only Group B Needs to be reported within LRE L. 
• -40050 - Student participating in special education must have one Federal Primary Need Indicator (FPNI) – Update rule to allow an exception for LRE L. No needs within LRE L can be Primary.  
• -40051 - If a student is reported with more than one Federal Primary Need Indicator (FPNI), then report the discrepancy as an error. (Rule does not apply for Ancillary Needs) 

 Please email ESS Data Management with any questions regarding Ancillary Services. 

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

Special Education Data Updates Webinar Wednesday, August 16 

The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will host the next Special Education Data Updates live webinar on Wednesday, August 16, from 2:00– 3:00 pm.

This session will cover a variety of data topics that will include (subject to change):   

• Reminders 
• SPED Report Focus
• Trending topics 
• 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 email the ESS Data Management inbox.