DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

Special Education Data Updates Webinar: Wednesday, April 15, 2026 

The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will host the next live Special Education Data Updates webinar on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm. This session will cover a variety of data topics that will include:    

• Reminders  

• Trending topics  
  • • Voucher Students in AzEDS
    • Discipline Data
    • Exit Data

• Top Three Integrity Errors 
• Out of scope Topics

• Q&A     

Please register by clicking this link. Registration is required to attend. If you have any questions, please email the ESS Data Management inbox.  

Section 618 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires public education agencies (PEAs) to report specific data each year, including discipline incidents for students receiving special education services, expulsions of students not receiving special education services, and students who exited special education during the reporting year. PEAs review, validate, and certify these data using the Special Education Data Dashboard (SEDD).

The ESS Data Management team is holding a webinar via Zoom to guide PEAs through end-of-year reporting in the SEDD application. The session will cover recent application updates, exit and discipline data requirements, and key deadlines to support accurate and timely reporting. A recording of the webinar will be made available for those unable to attend.

Date: Thursday, April 23, 2026  
Time: 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.  
Register for the online training

We hope to see you during the SEDD webinar!

If you have any questions or need further assistance, please contact the ESS Data Management inbox or call us at 602-542-3962.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT  

FY27 Statement of Assurances Open for Submission 

The FY27 Statement of Assurances application is open for submission. All public education agencies (PEAs) must submit the IDEA Statement of Assurances (SOA) through the Exceptional Student Services (ESS) Portal within ADEConnect. This is required before any FY27 activities in the ESS Portal are allowable. The portal will block any PEA that has not completed the SOA effective July 1, 2026, which is when FY27 begins. 

The application is now open for submission and closes on June 10, 2026. 

The SOA must be submitted by the Superintendent, Charter Holder, or Special Education Director of your PEA before FY27 IDEA funding applications are approved in the Grants Management Enterprise system. 

• Only a user with the ADEConnect role of “ESS Special Education : Signer” is able to complete the Statement of Assurances
• If the necessary individual does not have the “ESS Special Education : Signer” role associated with their ADEConnect account, an ADEConnect Administrator for your PEA must assign the role of “ESS Special Education : Signer” to the individual who will review, sign, and submit the Statement of Assurances. 

• PEAs that do not apply for IDEA funds are still required to submit the SOA.  

Please log in to ADEConnect, navigate to the Exceptional Student Services Portal, and select the Statement of Assurances link under Surveys & Assurances.

The survey code will auto-populate for your PEA. On each page, select the “Yes” checkbox to indicate your assurances for the corresponding requirements.

After completing the survey, the SOA may be printed for your records. To verify submission, you may re-access the SOA; a “Thank you for submitting” page will display if your submission is complete.

Please direct any questions to [email protected]. 
 

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

FY27 Statement of Assurances, required for all Public Education Agencies, opens April 1, 2026

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Exceptional Student Services (ESS), Arizona’s representative body for special education, is required to annually obtain assurances from Public Education Agencies (PEAs). These assurances confirm that each PEA is meeting all requirements established under state and federal statutes. This obligation is fulfilled through the annual Statement of Assurances (SOA) application.

Completion of the Statement of Assurances is required for all entities defined as PEAs, regardless of whether they receive federal funds. Non-Public Organizations (NPOs) are exempt from this requirement.

All PEAs must submit the FY27 Statement of Assurances (SOA) through the ESS Portal, accessible via ADEConnect.

The application will open on April 1, 2026, and will close on June 10, 2026.

The SOA must be submitted by the PEA’s Superintendent, Charter Holder, or Special Education Director before FY27 IDEA funding applications can be approved in the Grants Management Enterprise system.

Additional requirements:

• The PEA’s Entity Administrator must assign the ESS Special Education: Signer role in ADEConnect to the individual responsible for reviewing, signing, and submitting the SOA.
• PEAs that do not apply for IDEA funds are still required to submit the SOA.

Once the appropriate role has been assigned, please log in to ADEConnect, navigate to the Exceptional Student Services Portal, and select the Statement of Assurances link under Surveys & Assurances.

The survey code will auto-populate for your PEA. On each page, select the “Yes” checkbox to indicate your assurances for the corresponding requirements.

After completing the survey, the SOA may be printed for your records. To verify submission, you may re-access the SOA; a “Thank you for submitting” page will display if your submission is complete.

Please direct any questions to the ESS Data Management inbox. 

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

Special Education Data Updates Webinar: Wednesday, March 18, 2026 

Based on the feedback we received from PEAs, the Question-and-Answer session held in November 2025 was a great success, and many of you shared how helpful it was to have the opportunity to ask your most pressing questions. In response, our Data Management team has decided to hold these sessions twice a year—each March and October.

These Q&A sessions provide PEA special education staff with dedicated time to ask general and troubleshooting questions related to data reporting. Please remember that no personally identifiable information (PII) should be shared during the session.

Registration is required, please see the Zoom registration link.

For your convenience, attached is a condensed version of the PowerPoint presentation for reference.

The ESS Data Management team is pleased to announce the release of a new reference tool designed to support your work in resolving SPED-related integrity errors generated from student data submitted to AzEDS.

We have created a document titled “Troubleshooting SPED-Related Integrity Rules,” which provides step-by-step guidance to help you identify, understand, and resolve common SPED integrity rule failures more efficiently. This resource is now available on our AzEDS SPED Reporting webpage, listed under the Tools section with the link title “SPED-Related Integrity Rules.”

This updated guidance replaces all previous integrity troubleshooting materials, including earlier one‑sheet tools that were previously used for clearing SPED-related integrity failures.

We encourage all users who work with AzEDS and SPED data submissions and integrity processing to review this tool and incorporate it into their troubleshooting workflow.

If you have any questions or need further assistance, please contact the ESS Data Management inbox.

Thank you,
ESS Data Management

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT    

Special Education Data Updates Webinar: Wednesday, February 18, 2026 

The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will host the next live Special Education Data Updates webinar on Wednesday, February 18, 2026, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm. This session will cover a variety of data topics that will include:    

• Reminders  

• Trending topics  
  • • Parent Involvement Survey
    • Preschool Outcomes

• Top Three Integrity Errors 
• Out of scope Topics

• Q&A     

Please register by clicking this link. Registration is required to attend. If you have any questions, please email the ESS Data Management inbox.  

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT    

Special Education Data Updates Webinar: Wednesday, January 21, 2026 

The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will host the next live Special Education Data Updates webinar on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm. This session will cover a variety of data topics that will include:    

• Reminders  

• Trending topics  
  • • October 1 Child Count Non-Reconciliation
    • Preschool Funding
    • Special Education Data Dashboard
    • Updated Integrity Tool Preview

• Top Three Integrity Errors 

• Q&A     

Please register by clicking this link. Registration is required to attend. If you have any questions, please email the ESS Data Management inbox.  

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

ESS October 1 Data Collection—Phase III: Non-Reconciliation Webinar

The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team is happy to announce an upcoming October 1 Data Collection—Phase III: Non-Reconciliation training. Phase III is only for the PEAs that could not match the number of SPED students submitted in Phase I with the number of SPED students in AzEDS during Phase II.

PEAs will receive an email if they qualify for Phase III when the application opens on January 7th.

The training will be hosted via a live webinar on

Tuesday, January 13th, 2025, from 10:00a.m. – 11:30a.m.

Registration is required to attend. Register for the October 1 Data Collection—Phase: III Non-Reconciliation webinar.

If you have any questions, please email the ESS Data Management inbox.

Thank you,

Data Management
 Exceptional Student Services
 Arizona Department of Education

Office: (602) 542-3962

Data Management web page
 “We are a service organization committed to raising academic outcomes and empowering parents.”

We are pleased to announce that both the SPED73 and SPED07 reports have been updated and finalized to reflect integrity processing (State SPED, FED SPED, ADM, and Accountability) and data submitted through the Phase II deadline of December 10, 2025.

The SPED07 report will be considered the final data for federal reporting purposes and non-reconciliation activities, if applicable to your PEA.

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we worked to ensure that the SPED07 report is accurate, valid, and final. 

For questions, please email the ESS Data Management inbox.