ARIZONA PROMISING PRACTICES

 www.azpromisingpractices.com

Whether you are an administrator looking for information about positive behavior supports, a teacher searching for tips on differentiated instruction, or a parent in need of a transition planning process, you will find the newly redesigned Promising Practices Website to be a comprehensive source for information. This online guide provides easy access to over 1,400 excellent resources for parents and professionals serving students with disabilities in Arizona.

The newly redesigned Promising Practices Website features:

• An increase from 315 to over 1,400 resources
• Categorized entries for easy access under the following titles:
• Administrators
• Paraprofessionals
• Parents
• Related Service Providers
• Special Education Directors
• Teachers
• Resources that can be accessed to assist students at-risk and students with disabilities in both general and special education settings
• Information that is consistent with Arizona guidelines

The Promising Practices Website will continue to evolve and provide additional resources and strategies to assist parents and Arizona school personnel in improving results for students with disabilities.  Because the Promising Practices Website will be continuously updated, make sure to check back often for new resources!

Please note the update taken from School Finance -  May 29, 2013. The original post for this topic can be found here.

On October 5, 2010, President Obama signed legislation requiring the federal government to replace the term “mental retardation” with “intellectual disability” in many areas of government. This measure, known as Rosa’s Law, strips the terms “mental retardation” and “mentally retarded” from federal health, education, and labor policy. “Intellectual disability” or “individual with an intellectual disability” are being inserted in place of these outdated terms. The rights of individuals with disabilities remain the same.

ADE is in the conversion process required by this legislation. References to “mental retardation” are being changed to “intellectual disability” and the acronym “MR” is being replaced with the acronym “ID.” The current acronyms for the disability categories of MIMR, MOMR, and SMR are being changed to MIID, MOID, and SID within SAIS. Additionally, references to a “mentally retarded individual” are being changed to an “individual with an intellectual disability” in resource documents, memos, and other supporting documentation throughout ADE.

ADE’s conversion from “MR” to “ID” in SAIS will be introduced in July 2013. However, not all ADE data collection application and resource material conversions will occur immediately after June 30, 2013. The conversion process for other online applications and resource materials is expected to be finalized no later than December 2013.

SAIS business rules were created identifying the areas within SAIS to be modified to accommodate this change. The rules can be found here within the “Business Rules” section of the webpage under fiscal year “2014.”

On behalf of the Arizona Graduation Workgroup, ADE/ESS is pleased to present two guidance documents related to graduation for students with disabilities: Graduation and Students with Disabilities: A Guide for Public Education Agencies and Graduation and Students with Disabilities: A Guide for Parents. These documents are attached to this email, but are also available on a newly developed ADE/ESS graduation website: http://www.azed.gov/special-education/graduation.

In order to better understand the perspectives of students, families, schools, and agencies involved in graduation planning, the Arizona Department of Education, Exceptional Student Services (ADE/ESS), solicited volunteers from the field to compose a graduation workgroup. This workgroup includes representatives from all relevant stakeholder groups, and its purpose is a continuing one—to discuss and develop guidance to assist public education agencies (PEAs) and individualized education program (IEP) teams in making informed decisions about graduation for students with disabilities.

These documents are intended to clarify Arizona’s graduation requirements, their interplay with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and how graduation requirements impact students with disabilities. They represent the first communication from the graduation workgroup and are not intended to be “one size fits all” guides for all graduation issues nor will they address all questions related to graduation. ADE/ESS, through the advisement of the graduation workgroup, ADE/Legal Department, and other ADE program areas, will continue to generate helpful documents, resources, and web links and to disseminate them to the field on a regular basis. Additional related topics will be addressed in future communications and presentations related to this guidance will be provided at the Directors Institute (August 2013) and Arizona’s Thirteenth Annual Transition Conference (September/October 2013).