Special Education Directors,

Please see the announcement below for an exciting professional learning opportunity.

Announcing the Arizona Professional Learning Series

An Opportunity for Public Education Agencies

The ADE/ESS Arizona Professional Learning Series (AZPLS) provides district and school teams with a systemic method for achieving systems change in aligning state, district, and school site efforts to impact literacy achievement for all students and to close the literacy achievement gap for students with specific learning disabilities. 

The AZPLS provides districts and schools with:

• Six inclusive professional learning modules for K-8 general education teachers, special education teachers, school site leadership, and coaches.
• Six accompanying, interactive professional learning modules for parents and students.
• Leadership coaching from a national presenter to build site capacity in facilitating module professional learning, coach with a focus, collect and analyze data through an inquiry cycle, and sustain implementation.
• Collaborative team structure inspiring shared leadership and decision making from all stakeholders.
• A coaching framework designed for job-embedded professional learning focused on collaborative teams and teacher instructional planning/delivery.
• Web-based data tools and reporting to support targeted needs throughout implementation.

Required AZPLS team members include the district special education director, curriculum director, a school site administrator, two or three general education teachers from different grade levels/content areas, one special education teacher who works closely with general education teachers, and one school site coach.

To indicate your interest in learning more about the series, please sign up at this link by March 15, 2022.

If you have any questions, please email Stacy Riccio.

ADE/ESS is pleased to request proposals for Arizona’s 2022 IDEA Conference, Rise Up: Reimagining and Transforming Educational Practices.

This year’s conference will be held in person at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Phoenix and 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 social/emotional learning.

Please see the Call for Proposals page for information on how to submit. Session proposals are due March 31, 2022.

ESS appreciates this opportunity to learn with each of you. Please consider submitting presentations that represent your creative and research-based work. Questions can be sent to the IDEA Conference inbox.

Special Education Stakeholders,

ADE/ESS is pleased to request proposals for Arizona’s 2022 IDEA Conference, Rise Up: Reimagining and Transforming Educational Practices.

This year’s conference will be held in person at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Phoenix and 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 social/emotional learning.

Please see the attached Call for Papers for information on how to submit. Session proposals are due March 31, 2022.

ESS appreciates this opportunity to learn with each of you. Please consider submitting presentations that represent your creative and research-based work. Questions can be sent to the IDEA Conference inbox.

Special Education Directors,

The ADE/ESS Assistive Technology (AT) team is excited to offer a free virtual professional learning opportunity by nationally known presenter Tony Vincent.  Registration information is available below:

Digital Learning Construction: Tools with Tony Vincent

March 22, 23, and 24, 2022 from 3:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.

Pixels to Paper (Tuesday, March 22, 2022, from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m.)

In this session, you will be able to see the variety of printable creations you can make in Google Slides or PowerPoint. These creations are not ordinary printouts! Learn to make your own tear-off sheets, table toppers, multipage posters, door hangers, brochures, dice, scratch cards, and foldable mini-books. These printable items can serve as visual scaffolds, handy reminders, or learning artifacts for students.

Register to attend March 22

Live Transcription will be available for all webinars. If you require additional accommodations to participate in this webinar, please register no later than 71 hours in advance of this meeting.

Google Forms Awesomeness (Wednesday, March 23, 2022 from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m.)

Google Forms is awesome, but you already knew that. It’s great how responses feed directly into a spreadsheet for easy access and analysis. You can create assessments, surveys, checkout forms, and quizzes for students. You can also poll colleagues, collect information from parents, and keep logs. If you dig into the settings, you can do even more!

Register to attend March 23

Live Transcription will be available for all webinars. If you require additional accommodations to participate in this webinar, please register no later than 71 hours in advance of this meeting.

Electrify Any Lesson 2.0 (Thursday, March 24, 2022 3:30 to 4:45 p.m.)

Tony's most popular presentation is updated with all new ways to make learning irresistible. Experience Tony's new favorite low-prep lesson hooks, conversation starters, and tools to make any lesson extra special.

Register to attend March 24

Live Transcription will be available for all webinars. If you require additional accommodations to participate in this webinar, please register no later than 71 hours in advance of this meeting.

About Tony Vincent

Tony Vincent has been a pioneer in digital learning. Tony left regular teaching in 2006 to work with teachers worldwide. After years of self-employment as an education and technology presenter, Tony went back to the classroom to teach fifth grade in Council Bluffs, Iowa for the 2018-2019 school year. While he’s proud to have led workshops and presentations in almost all 50 states, empowering his students to be creative thinkers is his favorite professional accomplishment. Tony is a prolific sharer, approachable, and he consistently selects practical tools and strategies that can be implemented right away. To see what Tony shares online, click on over to the Learning in Hand website, where you can explore his website and find his social media links. And, if you spend a little time with Tony, you’re likely to hear about his charming nine-year-old twins.

Questions regarding this professional learning opportunity can be sent to [email protected].

Special Education Directors, please see the following information:

Research Opportunity: Elementary Self- and Career-Awareness Study

Future Quest Island-Explorations (FQI-E) is a free online game-based curriculum that promotes college and career awareness, SEL, and self-concept for 3rd to 5th graders. FQI-E is universally designed and accessible to students with disabilities; it uses the evidence-based possible selves framework to help all students understand themselves, set goals, and plan expansive futures.

Program developers are currently enrolling schools in a study to test the effectiveness of FQI-E and get recommendations for program improvements. Participating educators receive early access to the game, coaching on using it in the classroom, and a gift card.

Study participation involves helping distribute and collect parent consent forms (electronic and/or paper), administering 20 minute electronic student pre- and post-surveys, implementing the curriculum (6-10 hours, self-paced), and potentially participating in a focus group. 

Interested? Fill out this form to learn more. The study and the Future Quest Island - Explorations program are funded through a grant from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).

Special Education Directors,

ADE ESS and Assessment are excited to announce a new professional learning opportunity for educators.

Empower Students to Use Universal Tools in the 2022 State Assessments Platform (Grades 3–8)

Wednesday, March 2, 2022, 4:00–5:30 p.m.

Digital tools are not just for assessment; they can help students to achieve success in the classroom and beyond. This school year, your learners will take Arizona’s Academic Standards Assessment (AASA) for the first time on the TestNav platform. AASA assesses the Arizona Standards adopted by the Arizona State Board of Education in 2016. At the Arizona Department of Education, we want to help you to empower your students to use the universal assessment tools that are embedded in the AASA platform so that they can readily showcase their knowledge and understanding.

Join us to learn more about the universal tools and accommodations that are available for the AASA for grades 3–8. You will also engage with instructional resources that you can use every day to provide rich learning for students as they familiarize themselves with digital tools that help them express their understanding. During the session, there will be guided, hands-on time with these universal tools and instructional resources.

Register in advance for this session. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Note: accommodations (e.g., ASL interpreting services) for participants in this webinar must be requested at least one week in advance of the webinar.

Please email Rob Hilliker with any questions.

Special Education Directors,

The ADE/ESS Professional Learning and Sustainability unit is pleased to announce two “grow your own” opportunities for educators in Arizona public schools.

• The General Education Teacher to Special Education Teacher (GETSET) program provides tuition reimbursement to certified general education teachers who want to pursue a career change to become certified in an area of special education. 

• The Special Education Teacher Tuition Assistance (SETTA) program provides tuition reimbursement to paraprofessionals and educational interpreters that leads to special education teaching certification.

Certifications that satisfy the application requirements:

1. Mild/Moderate Disabilities, K–12
2. Moderate/Severe Disabilities, K–12
3. Early Childhood Special Education, Birth–Grade 3/Age 8
4. Hearing Impaired Special Education, Birth–Grade 12
5. Visually Impaired Special Education, Birth–Grade 12

 Application materials are below. PEAs have an opportunity to submit an application for one candidate per program. Applications earning the highest scores in the evaluation process will be approved until the funding that is set aside for the program is depleted. Applications must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. on April 15, 2022.

• General Education Teacher to Special Education Teacher (GETSET) Application
• Special Education Teacher Tuition Assistance (SETTA) Application

Please note:

• Applicant must have been employed by the PEA for two full school years as of June 30, 2022.
• Applicant agrees to two full years of teaching in a special education capacity at the PEA once special education certification is achieved.
• Educational interpreters are eligible to apply for the SETTA program.
• GETSET and SETTA are tuition reimbursement programs. Potential expenses are pre-approved, and reimbursement is provided after each semester is completed and program requirements are met.

For additional information, please email the Recruitment and Retention Inbox.

Special Education Directors,

The following is a free professional learning opportunity available to you and your staff.

The Power of Strengths-Based IEPs with Carol Kosnitsky

Thursday, March 3, 2022, 3:30–4:30 p.m.

The dilemma: how do you write an appropriate IEP that provides both insights into the student’s disability and needs as well as the student’s strengths, interests, preferences, and personal accomplishments? It’s hard to look at many IEP requirements and not to think that the focus is on deficits. We can remain true to IEP requirements and incorporate all we have learned about the power of language, high expectations, growth mindsets, and Universal Design for Learning.  Rarely do these big ideas make their way into students’ IEPs, but you can change that! This session will explore some of the self-defeating and student-limiting practices common in IEP writing and provide alternative strengths-based models that can change our conversations, our expectations, and our IEPs.

Carol Kosnitsky is the nationally recognized and popular author of IEP Goals That Make a Difference: An Administrator’s Guide to Improving the Process (2018, LRP Publications). This book is used widely by teachers as well as administrators. As a distinguished special education consultant with more than 35 years in the field, Carol provides consultation and professional development services across the country, traveling from her home base in New England.

Her work focuses on improving outcomes for students with disabilities through increased access to the general education curriculum.

She is particularly sought after for her expertise regarding the development of relevant and measurable IEPs, the aligning of IEPs with the Common Core, and the collaboration between general and special education to improve education for all students. Ms. Kosnitsky was a special education director for 20 years in New Hampshire, served as President of the New Hampshire Association for Special Education Administrators, and developed the New Hampshire Academy for Special Education Directors.

Register in advance for this event.

If you are a special education teacher or related service provider, the presenter requests that you bring a current IEP with you to the training. Please be ready to examine your own IEP in relation to the content of the session and remember that all student information needs to remain confidential. This session is for training purposes and does not replace the technical assistance provided by the ADE.

Questions regarding this professional learning opportunity can be sent to the ESS Recruitment and Retention Inbox.

Special Education Directors,

ADE/ESS, in partnership with the Neurosequential Model Network led by Dr. Bruce Perry, is pleased to announce two exciting training opportunities for Arizona’s schools: the Neurosequential Model in Education and the Neurosequential Model in Therapeutics training programs. This train-the-trainer, capacity-building process provides educators and therapists with a comprehensive introduction to key concepts related to the developmental impact of trauma on the brain as well as examples and practical application of these concepts in educational settings.

Please join us for a free informational session on March 3, 2022, from 12:00–1:00 p.m. to learn more about these professional learning opportunities. This session will review key information including training content and requirements. Admission into the training series will require attendance at the webinar (or viewing of the recorded webinar) and an application process. The cost of the training program is $250 per participant. These documents provide further information about each training program:

• Neurosequential Model in Therapeutics
• Neurosequential Model in Education

Please register for the informational session. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

If you have questions, please email Lauren Blocher.