Special Education Directors,

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

September Math Office Hours

The ADE Math Team has scheduled office hours to allow educators to meet together to network, problem-solve, and develop solutions to allow all Arizona teachers and students to continue to feel supported and to be successful.

Grade-band meetings are provided for all math teachers, including special education teachers! These grade-band meetings will include opportunities for networking, problem solving, and sharing different implementation models. Office hours are one hour long with an additional 30 minutes at the end for a Q & A session.  Participants can earn one hour of professional development credit for each session attended.

Elementary Math Office Hours (Grades K–5)

Monday, September 20, 2021 from 3:30–4:30 p.m. with Q & A from 4:30–5:00 p.m.

Register in advance for the Grades K–5 meeting.

 Middle School Math Office Hours (Grades 5–8)

Tuesday, September 21, 2021 from 3:30–4:30 p.m. with Q & A from 4:30–5:00 p.m.

Register in advance for the Grades 5–8 meeting.

High School Math Office Hours (Grades 8–12)

Wednesday, September 22, 2021 from 3:30–4:30 p.m. with Q & A from 4:30–5:00 p.m.

Register in advance for the Grades 8–12 meeting.

Note: accommodations must be requested at least one week in advance of each webinar.

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

September 13 and 14, 8:00 a.m.– 4:00 p.m.

September 15, 8:00 a.m.–12:15 p.m.

ADE/ESS is excited to share updated information for our  3-day virtual event which will feature over 75 professional learning opportunities addressing legal issues, special education compliance, preschool and secondary transition, social/emotional learning, and new this year, a content strand for school-based OTs, PTs, and SLPs featuring Michelle Bradshaw, Chris Bugaj, Michelle Curcio, Lisa DeWitt, Irma Gomez, Jessica Hartrich, Amy Hill, Rebecca Lopez, Mike Marotta, Jeff Meeks, Fe Murray, Beth Poss, Linda Rudd, Judith Schoonover, Sarah Ward and Elisa Wern.

Topics presented by national and local experts in the related service providers’ strand will include working at the top of the license, OT/PT/SLP co-treatment, service delivery, executive function, ergonomics, using visual supports in therapy, working with translators, Medicaid school-based claiming, and effective collaboration with teachers. School-based therapists may attend sessions in the special education administration, secondary transition, or RSP strands all 3 days of the conference for one low registration fee. 

Register for the IDEA Conference.

Information about conference keynotes can be found on the conference webpage, which will continue to be updated throughout the summer.

Questions about the conference or registration can be sent to [email protected].

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT   

FY 2022 October 1 Data Collection

The Exceptional Student Services (ESS) Special Education (SPED) October 1 Data Collection (ODC) child count is a key process that is consequential for federal reporting, determining federal allocations and providing information for the state to make educational determinations over time. Public education agencies (PEAs) are required to verify the count of students receiving SPED services over October 1. Verification will be completed through the web-based ESS October 1 Data Collection application, available through the ESS Portal via ADEConnect.

The October 1 Data Collection consists of three phases:

• Phase I: Verification & Personnel
• Phase II: Reconciliation
• Phase III: Non-Reconciliation (if applicable)
   

For a complete ODC timeline, please review the ESS Data Management Important Dates document.

Phase I: Verification

The ESS ODC application will open on Wednesday, October 6, 2021. PEAs must login to the application to submit the October 1 verification and personnel counts. All technical assistance documents and FAQs will be available by accessing the “Help tab” on the home page of the ESS ODC application.

Please note that October 1 is the count date, not a due date or deadline.

October 1 falls on a Friday this year. If October 1 is a non-session day for your PEA (i.e., fall break), be mindful of the following information. To ensure an accurate count, include students who were enrolled on the last day school was in session before October 1 as long as they are known to have continued in special education on the first day school was in session following October 1 (whether it be in your school in your PEA or another PEA). The PEA that should count the student is the PEA the student was enrolled in prior to October 1.

Resources

ODC Manual – This manual includes documentation of the entire process of ODC, including frequently asked questions.

Please note the Important Dates document shows that Phase II of the October 1 Data Collection is due earlier this year than previous years. Ensure your SPED data in AzEDS is accurate and passing integrity regularly to ensure a smooth Phase II submission.

IDEA Conference (Conference Registration | Recording coming soon)

Special Education October 1 Processes, Report Out, and Upcoming Changes

This session will review the current processes of the child count requirement, report out on different perspectives in SPED placements and elaborate on significant upcoming changes moving forward.

To access ESS Data Management ODC training videos, please visit our ODC or YouTube webpages.

We highly encourage all PEAs to subscribe to ESS Data Management Alerts to receive ODC and other important SPED data reporting announcements.

Please join us at our monthly Special Education Data Updates (SEDU) webinars to discuss a variety of ESS data topics, updates, and live Q&A. Please visit the  Data Management website under Training Opportunities for more information.

For questions regarding ODC requirements or anything else, please email us at [email protected].

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT   

New AzEDS Portal Report: SPED50 – SPED Concurrency Report

The ESS Data Management team is pleased to announce that a new report is now available in the AzEDS Portal, SPED50 – SPED Concurrency Report. This report will help PEAs find concurrent SPED data in AzEDS along with the concurrent PEA, Site, and dates reported to aid in determining the accurate reporting for the student. This report will only show Primary SPED LRE data reported by your PEA that overlaps with Primary SPED LRE data reported by another PEA (Concurrency).

The report will display the following:

• State Student ID
• Student Last Name
• Student First Name
• School Site of your PEA
• LRE Entry Date of your PEA
• LRE Exit Date of your PEA
• Concurrent School Site of the overlapping PEA
• Concurrent LRE Entry Date of the overlapping PEA
• Concurrent LRE Exit Date of the overlapping PEA
• Concurrent PEA
   

If any exit dates are blank in this report, AzEDS translates this as the LRE continuing to the end of the Fiscal Year.

If the concurrent PEA does not show this information on their SPED50 report, this would indicate their LRE data is Orphan Data (SPED data missing Enrollment) and they should review their SPED99 – Orphan Data report.

For any questions about this report, please contact ESS Data Management at [email protected].

Special Education Directors,

The ADE/ESS Secondary Transition Team is excited to announce a virtual professional learning opportunity on Wednesday, September 29, 2021 from 2:30–3:30 p.m. for school administrators, school counselors, Career and Technical Education (CTE) staff, and special education staff. Please share with any other stakeholder who is interested in this topic.

CTE Recruitment for Inclusion of Students with Disabilities: Innovative Strategies from a Panel of Your Peers

How do you increase the inclusion of students with disabilities in Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs? Join ADE CTE and Exceptional Student Services staff as they host a conversation with Arizona school districts about their innovative ideas and best practices for CTE recruitment. ADE will also share a resource with recruitment strategies collected from educators, counselors, and administrators statewide during the last year. Prepare to build your recruitment toolbox with fresh ideas used throughout Arizona.

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

Please email Amanda Nolasco, ADE School Counselor Specialist, with any questions regarding this professional learning opportunity.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

New LRE Decision Tree Documents now available

A new series of LRE decision tree documents have been made available on the ESS Data Management website. These documents will provide a roadmap and assist in determining the correct LRE code for students with disabilities. Each LRE decision tree has been separated into 5 categories:

• Preschool No Early Childhood Program
• Preschool with Early Childhood Program
• Public School
• RTC
• Secure Care
   

These LRE decision tree documents can be found on the ESS Data Management website in the AzEDS reporting section under Tools and Resources.

Please contact [email protected] with any questions regarding these new tools.  

Special Education Directors,

ADE/ESS is updating our contact lists of designated Lead Speech-Language Pathologists, Lead Occupational Therapists, Lead Physical Therapists, Lead Assistive Technology Specialists, and Lead School Psychologists. We intend to use the contact lists to:

• Keep related service providers informed of relevant PD
• Facilitate opportunities for developing discipline-specific professional learning networks or communities of practice
• Develop a pool of expert, experienced, school-based practitioners we may call upon for such things as surveying the need for particular topics in PD and providing content expertise to inform or review guidelines and policies developed by ADE/ESS
   

Thank you for filling out this brief survey, even if your district or charter does not currently have any designated Lead Related Services positions.

If you have questions, please email the ESS Recruitment and Retention Inbox.

Special Education Directors,

The ADE/ESS Secondary Transition (ST) Team is excited to launch a variety of webinar sessions for the upcoming 2021-22 fall semester.

• Transition Tuesdays
• Transition 101 Series
• Getting Centered on Out-of-the-Box Thinking: Person-Centered Planning for Transition-Aged Students
   

Please view the attached marketing flyers that provide detailed information about each webinar series. Registration will be required for all events, and the registration links are available for all sessions on both the corresponding marketing flyers and the ADE Secondary Transition webpage. If requesting accommodations, please register no later than 3 business days before the scheduled webinar.

Feel free to join any session that will make a positive impact on your secondary transition professional practices.

On behalf of the ESS Secondary Transition Team, we want to say welcome back to a new and exciting school year. We look forward to seeing you virtually this fall semester.

If you have any questions regarding any one of the webinars, please email the ST Team.

Special Education Directors,

Are you looking for Occupational Therapists and/or Occupational Therapy Assistants?

In October 2021, ADE/ESS will be recruiting for OT personnel on behalf of all public education agencies (PEAs) at the Arizona Occupational Therapy Association’s annual fall conference. ESS will operate a booth in the exhibit hall to promote the advantages of working in a school setting and distribute flyers listing all current and anticipated OT vacancies in Arizona public schools. We will also run a banner ad on the conference website directing OTs to the Arizona Education Employment Board.

If your PEA would like ESS to promote OT opening(s) at ArizOTa, please post them on the ADE job board as soon as possible. The banner ad will be visible on the ArizOTA website well before the convention dates, so please post quickly!

Post your OT/COTA vacancies at the Arizona Education Employment Board.

If you have questions, please email the Recruitment and Retention Inbox.