DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT 

FY24 Data Reporting Updates Document Now Available

ESS Data Management is pleased to announce the FY24 Data Reporting Updates document. It’s now available in the ESS Data Management Toolkit and located on the ESS Data Management website. This document outlines important changes for SPED data reporting for FY24, including AzEDS and ESS applications overseen by ESS Data Management. Most notably, the following changes are for AzEDS reporting in FY24:

• AzEDS Preschool Outcomes Reporting
• AZEDS Discipline Reporting
• AzEDS Ancillary Needs Reporting
• IsIDEAParent Reporting

Applicable SPED integrity rules and reports that validate SPED exit and LRE codes will be updated for these changes.

For any questions regarding the upcoming FY24 Data Reporting Updates, please feel free to contact [email protected]. 

Please refer to the AzEDS SPED Reporting page for current reporting guidance.

ADE/ESS is pleased to announce that registration for the 2023 Special Education New Director Symposium (SENDS) is now open! 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) training.

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

Registration for Teach Camp is closing soon, so be sure to register your new special education teachers for Teach Camp today! 

Teach Camp is a year-long support system that includes professional learning specifically designed for beginning special educators. The goal of Teach Camp is to increase retention of special educators by providing our newest special education teachers with the tools they need to survive and thrive during their first years in the classroom. 

Teach Camp is available to special education teachers who will begin their first, second, or third year of teaching special education in the fall of 2023. Recent graduates from traditional teacher preparation programs, alternative certified teachers, and veteran general education teachers transitioning to special education are all welcome. Please note, participants must be currently employed in a school district or charter as a special education teacher, and participants must have no more than two years of special education teaching experience in total (including previous positions) to be eligible to attend Teach Camp.  

Teach Camp will launch this summer! The cost is $250 per teacher and includes: 

• 3-day summer “camp” to be held June 26–28, 2023 in Phoenix* (breakfast and lunch provided) 
• One-day follow-up session in February 2024 in Phoenix* with national speaker Carol Kosnitsky (lunch provided)  
• A copy of The Survival Guide for New Special Education Teachers 
• A one-year membership to the Council for Exceptional Children 
• Additional valuable resources  

*Information regarding travel reimbursement for participants from eligible PEAs will be provided once registration is completed. 

Registration for Teach Camp is open until June 5, 2023, on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration must be approved by the special education director and completed by the PEA, not the special education teacher. On-site registration is not available.  

Begin the registration process for Teach Camp! 

Please email the ESS Recruitment and Retention Inbox with any questions about Teach Camp. For more information about Teach Camp, pleasevisit the ESS Teach Camp webpage. 

Both state and national trends point to an increase in the frequency and intensity of special education disputes. More than ever, all members of the IEP team would benefit from exploring additional tools and strategies for strengthening collaborative decision-making and building consensus. The ADE/ESS Dispute Resolution unit is pleased to offer a variety of professional learning opportunities, free of charge, to public education agencies (PEAs) seeking to establish or strengthen a facilitated IEP culture. Interested PEAs can submit a Facilitated IEP Training Request, and the ADE/ESS Alternative Dispute Resolution Specialist will reach out to offer flexible options to meet the needs of your PEA team. Secure your preferred date(s) soon, as summer and fall calendars tend to fill quickly!  

Please visit the Facilitated IEP website to learn more about state-coordinated FIEP meetings and to access the brand-new online request form!  To receive FIEP program updates and dispute resolution tips, join the FIEP listserv. Completing the FIEP Program Survey will help ADE/ESS to improve our process and identify areas of interest for advanced training topics.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT 

SPED Integrity Rule -40055

Integrity Rule -40055 will update on May 1 to validate SPED and Enrollment Exit Dates, and reasons are reported (not null) until the end of FY 2023.

SPED integrity rule -40055: If a student’s SPED Exit Reason does not match the student’s regular membership Year End or Withdrawal Membership status, then report the discrepancy as an error. This rule is triggered for all SPED data effective May 1 of the fiscal year to capture invalid exit combinations and unreported relevant data elements (see the SPED Exit Validation Matrix).

• If a student has all the following four values, this rule will trigger anytime during the reporting year:
  • Enrollment Withdrawal/Year-End exit value (Code/Reason)
  • Enrollment Withdrawal/Year-End exit date
  • SPED Exit Code (Reason)
  • SPED Exit Date
• If any of these elements are missing, this rule will be triggered on May 1 and forward.

Between July 1 and April 30, this rule would apply only in cases where all 4 of the values are present. Effective May 1, this rule would apply to all students even if one or more values are reported as “null” (not reported).

The intent of this rule is not only to ensure that the data is complete by the end of the fiscal reporting year with all four values but also to ensure that the exit dates/reasons align between SPED and ADM as appropriate.

If PEAs were not receiving this error previously and now receive this error after May 1, most likely, one of the four values has not been reported. To resolve integrity error -40055, replace the null values with the correct exit date(s) and/or exit reason(s) according to the SPED Exit Validation Matrix and resubmit to AzEDS. Please note that AzEDS will accept future dates.

Additionally, the SPED Integrity Error Tool for -40055 can be referenced to assist with troubleshooting.  

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

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT       

Exceptional Student Services (ESS) Discipline Data Collection (DDC) Application - New Action Taken Options

Effective May 3, 2023, new actions will be available in the Action Taken dropdown box and XML Schema. The following actions have been added:

• Reassignment to Alternate Education Program In-School
• Reassignment to Alternate Education Program Out-of-School
• Reassignment to Alternate Suspension Program Out-of-School
• Reassignment to Alternative Suspension Program In-School

Per Arizona State law, these actions must be taken in specific circumstances. If any student has been placed in an alternative education program per A.R.S. § 15-841(H) (I). These actions apply to school districts and charter school districts only. Please update the action taken for any student in this category.

As a reminder, all SPED discipline data must be completed by July 15, 2023.

Per A.R.S. § 15-841:

H. A school district or charter school shall expel from school for at least one year a pupil who is determined to have threatened an educational institution, except that the school district or charter school may modify this expulsion requirement for a pupil on a case-by-case basis if the pupil participates in mediation, community service, restitution or other programs in which the pupil takes responsibility for the results of the threat. This subsection shall be construed consistently with the requirements of the individuals with disabilities education act (20 United States Code sections 1400 through 1420). A school district may reassign a pupil who is subject to expulsion pursuant to this subsection to an alternative education program pursuant to subsection E of this section if the pupil participates in mediation, community service, restitution or other programs in which the pupil takes responsibility for the threat.  A school district or charter school may require the pupil's parent or guardian to participate in mediation, community service, restitution or other programs in which the parent or guardian takes responsibility with the pupil for the threat. For the purposes of this subsection, "threatened an educational institution" means to interfere with or disrupt an educational institution as defined in section 13-2911 by doing any of the following:

1. For the purpose of causing, or in reckless disregard of causing, interference with or disruption of an educational institution, threatening to cause physical injury to any employee of an educational institution or any person attending an educational institution.

2. For the purpose of causing, or in reckless disregard of causing, interference with or disruption of an educational institution, threatening to cause damage to any educational institution, the property of any educational institution, the property of any employee of an educational institution or the property of any person attending an educational institution.

3. Going on or remaining on the property of any educational institution for the purpose of interfering with or disrupting the lawful use of the property or in any manner as to deny or interfere with the lawful use of the property by others.

4. Refusing to obey a lawful order to leave the property of an educational institution.

I. Each school district shall establish an alternative to suspension program in consultation with local law enforcement officials or school resource officers. The school district governing board shall adopt policies to determine the requirements for participation in the alternative to suspension program. Pupils who would otherwise be subject to suspension pursuant to this article and who meet the school district's requirements for participation in the alternative to suspension program shall be transferred to a location on school premises that is isolated from other pupils or transferred to a location that is not on school premises. The alternative to suspension program shall be discipline intensive and require academic work, and may require community service, groundskeeping and litter control, parent supervision, and evaluation or other appropriate activities. The community service, groundskeeping and litter control, and other appropriate activities may be performed on school grounds or at any other designated area.

If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to get in touch with us at [email protected].

Recently, ADE/ESS has received many inquiries regarding special education Early Childhood Transition for children referred from IDEA Part C, Arizona’s Early Intervention Program (AzEIP). The attached Hot Topic is intended to provide guidance to address these responsibilities.

For additional compliance-related questions, please contact the PEA’s assigned Program Support and Monitoring (PSM) specialist. If there are questions related to implementing effective preschool special education programs, please contact the PEA’s assigned Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) specialist.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT        

Special Education Data Updates Webinar Wednesday, May 17th  

The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will host the next Special Education Data Updates live webinar on Wednesday, May 17th, from 2pm – 3pm. This session will cover a variety of data topics that will include (subject to change):    

• Reminders  
• Trending topics  
• Top 3 Integrity Errors  
• Q&A 

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

Please see the attached Memorandum regarding a change in procedure to the Offer of Early Resolution in Response to a State Complaint. This change is occurring following an administrative review of the state complaint process and considers guidance from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, as well as technical assistance received by national technical assistance groups regarding Dispute Resolution activities.

Please contact ADE/ESS Dispute Resolution with any questions about this change in procedure.