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INTERNAL PD INFO: Registration Open for the Early Intervention and Early Childhood Summit

INTERNAL PD INFO: Registration Open for the Early Intervention and Early Childhood Summit

Thu, Feb 10, 2022

Summit Logo featuring continuous line drawing of children and lightbulb
Special Education Directors and Preschool Coordinators,

ADE/ESS is pleased to announce that registration is now open for the Early Intervention and Early Childhood Summit entitled, We Are All in This Together: A Universal Design for Learning. This year’s sessions will include presentations on Pyramid Model, behavior and social skills, first responders, universal design for learning (UDL), Early Head Start, sensory processing, pediatric feeding, among many more!

This year’s virtual summit will take place February 24–25, 2022 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily, and the registration fee is $50. Discount rates are available for pre-service educators and families. Win prizes! Visit with exhibitors!

For more information, please visit the summit website. Registration is now open, for questions contact [email protected].

INTERNAL PD INFO: 2022 IDEA Conference, Rise Up: Reimaging and Transforming Educational Practices in Person- Save the Date!

INTERNAL PD INFO: 2022 IDEA Conference, Rise Up: Reimaging and Transforming Educational Practices in Person- Save the Date!

Tue, Feb 8, 2022

Special Education Stakeholders,

ADE/ESS is excited to share that Arizona’s 2022 IDEA Conference will be held in person from September 7–9, 2022 at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Phoenix.

This year’s theme is Rise Up: Reimagining and Transforming Educational Practices. This cross-stakeholder event includes special education administrative staff, youth and young adults with disabilities, family members and caregivers, state agency staff, educators, service providers, and community members who share a commitment to student success.

The event 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 bookmark the IDEA Conference website for updates and registration information. Requests for proposals will also be disseminated shortly—please consider submitting presentations that represent your creative and research-based work.

ESS appreciates this opportunity to learn with each of you and looks forward to the year ahead. Please send questions to the IDEA Conference inbox.

2022 IDEA Conference, Rise Up: Reimagining and Transforming Educational Practices in Person- Save the Date!

2022 IDEA Conference, Rise Up: Reimagining and Transforming Educational Practices in Person- Save the Date!

ADE/ESS is excited to share that Arizona’s 2022 IDEA Conference will be held in person from September 7–9, 2022 at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Phoenix.

This year’s theme is Rise Up: Reimagining and Transforming Educational Practices. This cross-stakeholder event includes special education administrative staff, youth and young adults with disabilities, family members and caregivers, state agency staff, educators, service providers, and community members who share a commitment to student success.

The event 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 bookmark the IDEA Conference website for updates and registration information. Requests for proposals will also be disseminated shortly—please consider submitting presentations that represent your creative and research-based work.

ESS appreciates this opportunity to learn with each of you and looks forward to the year ahead. Please send questions to the IDEA Conference inbox.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT: Special Education Data Updates Webinar Registration

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT: Special Education Data Updates Webinar Registration

The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will be hosting our next Special Education Data Updates live webinar on Wednesday, February 16th from 2pm – 3pm. This session will cover a variety of data topics that will include:  

  • Reminders 
  • Trending topics 
  • Topics requested by you 
  • Q&A 

 Registration is required to attend: Register for Special Education Data Updates webinar.  

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

SPED DATA UPDATE: Teacher Attrition Survey is Now Open

SPED DATA UPDATE: Teacher Attrition Survey is Now Open

Special Education Directors,

ESS collects data each year through the Teacher Attrition Survey to make informed decisions about recruitment and retention efforts in Arizona. Participation in the survey is mandatory for all public education agencies in Arizona.

The survey is open and will close on May 4, 2022. Please see this memo for further details. Answers to frequently asked questions regarding the survey can be located online. For additional questions, please email the ESS Recruitment and Retention Inbox

Thank you for completing the Teacher Attrition Survey.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT: New ESS Discipline Data Collection XML Schema and application updates for FY22

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT: New ESS Discipline Data Collection XML Schema and application updates for FY22

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT   

New XML Schema released for ESS Discipline Data Collection and changes for FY22 incident entry

Due to upcoming changes to the FY22 ESS Discipline Data Collection (DDC) application, a new XML schema has been released for PEAs that wish to use the bulk upload option via an XML export from their Student Information System. Your student information system vendor will need to update your SIS to this new schema. ESS Data Management is distributing the NEW XML Schema to PEAs, and it is the PEA’s responsibility to deliver this new schema to their own Student Information System vendors. The XML schema can also be found on the Discipline Data webpage of the ESS Data Management website.

These are the changes you can expect to see when the ESS Discipline Data Collection application opens for entry in FY22.

Violations have been reduced to those relative to OSEP reporting, and the application will now allow multiple violations selected for one incident reported.

Certain actions will require a start and end date along with a numerical entry of equivalent in-session days removed (not hours removed per previous FY reporting).

Incidents with Expulsion actions will be expected to have an action end date of the end of the school year. Expulsions are defined as removals through the remainder of the school year; therefore, it is expected that the action end date be reported for these incidents as the last day of the school year.

A new Year End Data Certification page will be introduced and will take the place of No Data Certification. PEAs will be expected to enter a signature for all the data in the ESS DDC application, including the sites without incident.

The Year End Data Certification page can only be signed by a user with a NEW ADE CONNECT ROLE: ESS Discipline Data Collection: Signer. Read and Edit roles will be able to view this page in read-only mode.

It is expected your PEA assigns this role only to users authorized to sign off on your incident data for the year. Please contact your ADE Connect Entity Administrator to assign this role to your SPED Director or Superintendent (or equivalent position). It is the responsibility of the PEA to ensure this role is applied to the proper user. There will be no secondary authorization for this role from ADE.

The Year End Data Certification of Data page will display a list of schools your PEA is identified as the District of Residence for at least one student (General Education or SPED) attending that site (including tuition out sites). An incident count will show beside each site.

It is expected at the end of the year, the Signer will review the incidents entered in the application, counts of incidents on the certification page (including sites with zero incidents), enter their title, comments, and select the checkbox they have reviewed and certified the accuracy of the data. The signer will have the option to retract the signature should updates to the discipline data be required before the due date.

The ESS Discipline Data Collection application will open for FY22 incident entry on Monday, January 31, 2022.

Refer to this memo for additional details.

For any questions regarding these changes please feel free to contact [email protected].

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT: Update to Integrity Rule for FY22 -40066

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT: Update to Integrity Rule for FY22 -40066

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT 

Update to Integrity Rule for FY 2022: -40066

An update to an integrity rule for FY 2022 will be introduced into the integrity process on SPED data shortly. This rule is a continuation of our effort to further validate SPED reporting to ensure clean data for the state.   

A one-sheet integrity tool is available on our AzEDS SPED Reporting webpage for troubleshooting tips. It has been added to our SPED Integrity Rules Reference document and referenced on the FY 2022 ESS Data Reporting Updates document. 

Integrity Rule -40066

This rule will validate the submitted reference DescriptorID sent from your Student Information System matches the submitted SPED Least Restrictive Environment name. 

PEAs failing this rule will need to work with their Student Information System vendors to ensure the reference IDs (DescriptorID) sent matches the corresponding LRE (SPED Program) name.

Please contact [email protected] with any questions regarding this update.   

RECRUITMENT & RETENTION INFO: Reserve Your Spot at the Arizona Educator Job Fair!

RECRUITMENT & RETENTION INFO: Reserve Your Spot at the Arizona Educator Job Fair!

Special Education Directors,

The Arizona Department of Education encourages our public education agencies (PEAs) to register for the Arizona Educator Job Fair to recruit new employees to your school community.

  • When: Saturday, February 26, 2022 from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
  • Where: Renaissance Phoenix Glendale Hotel and Conference Center, 9495 W. Coyotes Blvd, Glendale, AZ 85305
  • Registration: Click here to reserve your booth
  • Registration Deadline: Thursday, February 10, 2022

Once registered, we encourage you to promote the job fair in your community to encourage attendance from prospective employees. A flyer and social media graphics (graphics option one and graphics option two) are available to share at your convenience! 

ADE’s Educator Recruitment and Retention Specialist, Carrie Brown, is available to support registration and ensure successful participation in our job fair. You can email Carrie directly

We look forward to seeing you at the February 26 Arizona Educator Job Fair! 

SPED DATA INFO: Indicator 8 Parent Involvement Survey Opens January 18

SPED DATA INFO: Indicator 8 Parent Involvement Survey Opens January 18

Dear Special Education Directors,

All school districts and charter schools are required to annually administer the State Performance Plan Indicator 8 Parent Involvement Survey to parents of students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP). The survey will open January 18 via ADEConnect ESS Data Surveys. For more information, visit the survey web page.

If you don’t already have access to the survey application or need to add additional users who should have the right to use this information and administer the survey, contact your entity’s ADEConnect administrator and ask to be assigned the ESS Parent Survey: User Role. If additional assistance is needed to be assigned the User Role, use the Help Desk ticketing system via ADEConnect.

Reminder: SY ’21 Parent Involvement Survey results are posted in ADEConnect ESS Data Surveys. Question-by-question summaries and parent comments can be used to strengthen family engagement activities as a means of improving services and results for students with disabilities. 

Questions are always welcome!

Becky Raabe, Survey Coordinator

[email protected]