DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT      

Special Education Data Updates Webinar Wednesday, May 18th  

   The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will be hosting the next Special Education Data Updates live webinar on Wednesday, May 18th from 2pm – 3pm. This session will cover a variety of data topics that will include (subject to change):      

• Reminders
  • ODC Phase III Due Soon
  • Statement of Assurances
  • DDC Year-End Data Certification
  • Parentally Placed Private School Students (PPPSS)
  • IDEA Conference – Data Session
• Trending topics
  • Year-End Checklist / Best Practices
  • SEDD (5/18) – Exit and Preschool Transition
    • FY23 - What’s Coming up Next Year
• 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

SPED Integrity Rule -40055

Integrity Rule -40055 will update on May 1st to validate SPED and Enrollment Exit Dates and reasons are reported (not null) until the end of FY 2022.

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 1st of the fiscal year to capture invalid exit combinations and relevant data elements not reported (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, then this rule will be triggered on May 1st 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 1st, this rule would apply to all students even if one or more of the values is 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 4 values, but also intended 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 1st, most likely one of the 4 values have 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

FY23 Discipline Data Collection Update

To learn about updates to the ESS Discipline Data Collection (DDC) application for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2023, please review this memo which outlines upcoming changes. 

It is important to note that while reporting discipline data into AzEDS has been made available for FY23, this is a pilot year. All discipline data submissions for SPED students resulting in a removal will be required to be submitted into the ESS Discipline Data Collection application for FY23.

For any questions regarding these changes, feel free to contact us at [email protected].

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT 

Special Education Data Updates Webinar Wednesday, April 20th  

The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will be hosting the next Special Education Data Updates live webinar on Wednesday, April 20th from 2pm – 3pm. This session will cover a variety of data topics that will include (subject to change):      

• Reminders
  • October 1 Data Collection Phase III: Non-Reconciliation
  • FY23 Statement of Assurances
• Trending topics
  • Special Education Data Dashboard (SEDD)
  • Home-Based vs Homeschooled vs Homebound Guidance Document
  • Discipline Data Collection Training webinar recording
• Top 3 Integrity Errors
  • -40080                   
  • -40069                   
  • -40062                   
  • -40055 - Upcoming 5/1 activation
• 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

FY23 Statement of Assurances required by all PEAs opens on 4/13/22

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 that are defined as public education agencies (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 4/13/22 and close for submissions on 6/17/22.

The SOA must be submitted by the Superintendent, Charter Holder, or Special Education Director of your organization before FY23 IDEA funding applications are approved in the Grants Management Enterprise (GME) 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 login to ADEConnect, navigate to the Exceptional Student Services Portal and select the PEA Statement of Assurances button under Surveys/Assurances:

The survey code will auto-populate for you PEA. Please proceed and 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, accessing the SOA again will display the “Thank you for submitting” page.

Please direct any questions to [email protected].

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT 

 FY22 ESS Discipline Data Training Webinar  

 ESS Data Management is hosting a training webinar for the ESS Discipline Data Collection (DDC) application on April 6, 2022, from 10:00am – 11:00am.

Topics include:

• Purpose of Discipline Data Collection
• What is new in FY2022
• Where to find Help for DDC
• XML Schema Update
• Live Demonstration
• Future of Discipline Data Collection
• Questions and Answers

Please join us to learn about the new updates, and how to report your discipline data accurately and in a timely matter. If you’re unable to join us, we will post a recording of the webinar on our website.

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

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

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

NEW Home-based vs. Homeschooled vs. Homebound Guidance Document

A new guidance document identifying the key differences between reporting Home-based vs. Homeschooled vs. Homebound students is now available on our AzEDS SPED Reporting page, under Tools and Resources.

Please review this new guidance to ensure accurate reporting for these scenarios.

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

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

Update to Integrity Rule for FY 2022: -40031

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. An updated error message has been added to our SPED Integrity Rules Reference document and the change is referenced on the FY 2022 ESS Data Reporting Updates document. 

PLEASE NOTE: This alert is not an indication your entity is failing this rule. Please check your INTEG15 report in the AzEDS Portal to determine if your entity is failing any SPED Integrity Rules. 

Integrity Rule -40031

This rule validates SPED Needs reported for students attending Private Day Schools or Residential Treatment Centers are approved to service those needs according to the applications submitted by those entities.

This rule will now fail if an approved need ends the approval within the fiscal year.  Students reported with needs beyond the approved end dates will fail the rule. This now aligns accurately with the approval date range within any given fiscal year of the private facility as required in the Arizona Administrative Code.

The approved list available on the Private Special Education Schools webpage will be updated to reflect the approved dates should any site lose their approval to service that need within the fiscal year. 

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

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]. 

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].