DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

FY 2023 Special Education Data Dashboard

The Special Education Data Dashboard (SEDD) opens today, May 18, 2023. This application aims to provide a one-stop shop for public education agencies (PEAs) to securely view their special education data and a redacted statewide view. By viewing relevant data in one place, PEAs can see how it all ties together and, ultimately, how it culminates into the indicators outlined in the State Performance Plan (SPP) / Annual Performance Report (APR).

Applicable roles for the SEDD application must be requested from your local ADEConnect Entity Administrator:

• SEDD LEA User includes edit permissions
• SEDD LEA Signer includes edit and signer permissions

To access the SEDD application, please login to ADEConnect, navigate to the Exceptional Student Services Portal, and select the Special Education Data Dashboard button under Data Collection & Reporting:

Currently, the only active component accessible to PEAs is the Student Exit Data for FY 2023. From the homepage of the SEDD application, you can select this component either through the ‘Data’ menu option or click ‘Go’ within the red box.

Exit data will be extracted from AzEDS daily and displayed after federal business rules have been applied (refer to the Exit technical assistance document under the ‘Help’ menu option, which will take you to the SEDD website that contains the applicable tools and resources). This data is REVIEW only. Any changes to this data must be made through your Student Information System and uploaded/synced to AzEDS. You will have until July 15, 2023, by 5:00 pm to finalize your Exit data.

For the remainder of FY 2023 data requirements, we will activate Preschool Transition Data and Students Without Disabilities (expulsion) components on June 30, 2023. Note that these two sections will require data entry to complete.

Two new components will be added on June 1, 2023: Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) and Personnel data, both based on October 1.

Please be aware that this application will be expanded further to include the following items in FY 2024 and 2025:

• SPP/APR Indicators
• PEA Determinations/Risk Analysis
• Discipline for Students with Disabilities
• Assessments
• Data Visualization

If you did not attend the Special Education Data Updates (SEDU) webinar in April or May (soon to be posted), consider reviewing the applicable https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QetmTW4dgIrecordings available on our website under Training Opportunities or on our YouTube Channel.

Please direct any questions to [email protected].

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT 

FY24 Data Reporting Updates Document Now Available

ESS Data Management is pleased to announce the FY24 Data Reporting Updates document. It’s now available in the ESS Data Management Toolkit and located on the ESS Data Management website. This document outlines important changes for SPED data reporting for FY24, including AzEDS and ESS applications overseen by ESS Data Management. Most notably, the following changes are for AzEDS reporting in FY24:

• AzEDS Preschool Outcomes Reporting
• AZEDS Discipline Reporting
• AzEDS Ancillary Needs Reporting
• IsIDEAParent Reporting

Applicable SPED integrity rules and reports that validate SPED exit and LRE codes will be updated for these changes.

For any questions regarding the upcoming FY24 Data Reporting Updates, please feel free to contact [email protected]. 

Please refer to the AzEDS SPED Reporting page for current reporting guidance.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT 

SPED Integrity Rule -40055

Integrity Rule -40055 will update on May 1 to validate SPED and Enrollment Exit Dates, and reasons are reported (not null) until the end of FY 2023.

SPED integrity rule -40055: If a student’s SPED Exit Reason does not match the student’s regular membership Year End or Withdrawal Membership status, then report the discrepancy as an error. This rule is triggered for all SPED data effective May 1 of the fiscal year to capture invalid exit combinations and unreported relevant data elements (see the SPED Exit Validation Matrix).

• If a student has all the following four values, this rule will trigger anytime during the reporting year:
  • Enrollment Withdrawal/Year-End exit value (Code/Reason)
  • Enrollment Withdrawal/Year-End exit date
  • SPED Exit Code (Reason)
  • SPED Exit Date
• If any of these elements are missing, this rule will be triggered on May 1 and forward.

Between July 1 and April 30, this rule would apply only in cases where all 4 of the values are present. Effective May 1, this rule would apply to all students even if one or more values are reported as “null” (not reported).

The intent of this rule is not only to ensure that the data is complete by the end of the fiscal reporting year with all four values but also to ensure that the exit dates/reasons align between SPED and ADM as appropriate.

If PEAs were not receiving this error previously and now receive this error after May 1, most likely, one of the four values has not been reported. To resolve integrity error -40055, replace the null values with the correct exit date(s) and/or exit reason(s) according to the SPED Exit Validation Matrix and resubmit to AzEDS. Please note that AzEDS will accept future dates.

Additionally, the SPED Integrity Error Tool for -40055 can be referenced to assist with troubleshooting.  

If you have any questions, please direct them to [email protected].

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT       

Exceptional Student Services (ESS) Discipline Data Collection (DDC) Application - New Action Taken Options

Effective May 3, 2023, new actions will be available in the Action Taken dropdown box and XML Schema. The following actions have been added:

• Reassignment to Alternate Education Program In-School
• Reassignment to Alternate Education Program Out-of-School
• Reassignment to Alternate Suspension Program Out-of-School
• Reassignment to Alternative Suspension Program In-School

Per Arizona State law, these actions must be taken in specific circumstances. If any student has been placed in an alternative education program per A.R.S. § 15-841(H) (I). These actions apply to school districts and charter school districts only. Please update the action taken for any student in this category.

As a reminder, all SPED discipline data must be completed by July 15, 2023.

Per A.R.S. § 15-841:

H. A school district or charter school shall expel from school for at least one year a pupil who is determined to have threatened an educational institution, except that the school district or charter school may modify this expulsion requirement for a pupil on a case-by-case basis if the pupil participates in mediation, community service, restitution or other programs in which the pupil takes responsibility for the results of the threat. This subsection shall be construed consistently with the requirements of the individuals with disabilities education act (20 United States Code sections 1400 through 1420). A school district may reassign a pupil who is subject to expulsion pursuant to this subsection to an alternative education program pursuant to subsection E of this section if the pupil participates in mediation, community service, restitution or other programs in which the pupil takes responsibility for the threat.  A school district or charter school may require the pupil's parent or guardian to participate in mediation, community service, restitution or other programs in which the parent or guardian takes responsibility with the pupil for the threat. For the purposes of this subsection, "threatened an educational institution" means to interfere with or disrupt an educational institution as defined in section 13-2911 by doing any of the following:

1. For the purpose of causing, or in reckless disregard of causing, interference with or disruption of an educational institution, threatening to cause physical injury to any employee of an educational institution or any person attending an educational institution.

2. For the purpose of causing, or in reckless disregard of causing, interference with or disruption of an educational institution, threatening to cause damage to any educational institution, the property of any educational institution, the property of any employee of an educational institution or the property of any person attending an educational institution.

3. Going on or remaining on the property of any educational institution for the purpose of interfering with or disrupting the lawful use of the property or in any manner as to deny or interfere with the lawful use of the property by others.

4. Refusing to obey a lawful order to leave the property of an educational institution.

I. Each school district shall establish an alternative to suspension program in consultation with local law enforcement officials or school resource officers. The school district governing board shall adopt policies to determine the requirements for participation in the alternative to suspension program. Pupils who would otherwise be subject to suspension pursuant to this article and who meet the school district's requirements for participation in the alternative to suspension program shall be transferred to a location on school premises that is isolated from other pupils or transferred to a location that is not on school premises. The alternative to suspension program shall be discipline intensive and require academic work, and may require community service, groundskeeping and litter control, parent supervision, and evaluation or other appropriate activities. The community service, groundskeeping and litter control, and other appropriate activities may be performed on school grounds or at any other designated area.

If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to get in touch with us at [email protected].

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT        

Special Education Data Updates Webinar Wednesday, May 17th  

The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will host the next Special Education Data Updates live webinar on Wednesday, May 17th, from 2pm – 3pm. This session will cover a variety of data topics that will include (subject to change):    

• Reminders  
• Trending topics  
• Top 3 Integrity Errors  
• Q&A 

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

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT       

Special Education Data Updates Webinar Wednesday, April 19th 

The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will host the next Special Education Data Updates live webinar on Wednesday, April 19th, from 2pm – 3pm. This session will cover a variety of data topics that will include (subject to change):   

• Reminders 

• Trending topics 

• Top 3 Integrity Errors 

• 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].    

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT 

FY24 Statement of Assurances Open for Submission

The FY24 Statement of Assurances application is open for submission. All PEAs must submit the IDEA Statement of Assurances (SOA) through the ESS Portal of ADEConnect. This is required before any FY24 activities in the Exceptional Student Services portal are allowable. The portal will block any PEA that has not completed the SOA after the deadline.

The application is now open for submission and closes on June 15, 2023.

The SOA must be submitted by the Superintendent, Charter Holder, or Special Education Director of your organization before FY24 IDEA funding applications are approved in the Grants Management Enterprise system.

• The PEA must assign the role of ESS Special Education: Signer in ADEConnect to the individual that 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 direct any questions to [email protected].

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT 

FY23 Statement of Assurances required by all PEAs opens on 4/3/23

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), the representative body for Special Education for Arizona, Exceptional Student Services, is required to obtain assurances from Public Education Agencies (PEAs) to attest that they are meeting the requirements under state and federal statute for special education in the state of Arizona.

It is a requirement for all entities defined as PEAs regardless if they get federal funds or not.

All PEAs must submit the IDEA Statement of Assurances (SOA) through the ESS Portal of ADEConnect.

The application will open on 4/3/23 and close for submissions on 6/15/23.

The SOA must be submitted by the Superintendent, Charter Holder, or Special Education Director of your organization before FY24 IDEA funding applications are approved in the Grants Management Enterprise system.

• The PEA must assign the role of ESS Special Education: Signer in ADEConnect to the individual that will review, sign, and submit the Statement of Assurances.
• PEAs that do not apply for IDEA funds are still required to submit the SOA.

Once the role is assigned, please log in to ADEConnect, navigate to the Exceptional Student Services Portal, and select the Statement of Assurances button under Surveys/Assurances.

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

Upon completion, the SOA can be printed for your records. If your PEA wants to ensure the SOA was submitted, reaccessing the SOA will display the “Thank you for submitting” page.

Please direct any questions to [email protected].

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT 

Special Education Data Updates Webinar Wednesday, March 15th   

The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will host the next Special Education Data Updates live webinar on Wednesday, March 15th, from 2pm – 3pm. This session will cover a variety of data topics that will include (subject to change):   

• Reminders 
• Trending topics 
• Top 3 Integrity Errors 
• 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].    

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT       

Special Education Data Updates Webinar Wednesday, February 15th 

   The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will host the next Special Education Data Updates live webinar on Wednesday, February 15th, from 2pm – 3pm. This session will cover a variety of data topics that will include (subject to change):   

• Reminders 
• Trending topics 
• Top 3 Integrity Errors 
• 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].