Please see the following updates for Emotional Disabilities-Public (ED-P) programs in FY 25.

• ED-P Criteria document has been updated to align with the ED-P Statement of Assurance. The following changes were made:
  • New Items
    • No more than a four-year age span per classroom unless approved by ESS due to extraneous circumstances.
    • A 6:1 student-to-staff member ratio is maintained.
    • Facility requirements:
      • The facility allows for mobility and is accessible for all students and staff. Building features are safe, secure, and in good condition.
      • Entrances/exits are clearly marked for the program.
      • Overall, furniture is safe for use.
  • Removed Items
    • Curriculum are aligned to/with the Arizona Academic Standards.
    • IEPs have measurable annual goals.
    • Progress reports are sent to the Home School District on a quarterly basis.
    • Special education services provided (Specially Designed Instruction or SDI).
    • Responsible individual(s) identified for dispensing medication to students and the procedures involved.
  • Revised Items
    • From “Program is housed in a designated classroom, area, or building on school campus; is on a separate site within the local education agency; and/or the programmatic structure supports the physical separation of students within the local education agency.” to “Program is housed in a separate building, separate school, or separate classroom that inconspicuously and physically restricts access to/from the traditional school site.”
    • From “Detailed description of Exit Criteria Must be individualized [From Restrictive to LRE]” to “Describe the exit criteria process and transition plan to promote individual student’s return to a least restrictive environment.”
• Beginning FY25, ESS will require PEAs to submit quarterly renewals for ED-P programs. More information will be shared regarding this new process near the beginning of the school year.
• We are enhancing the application. PEAs will be informed of the FY25 application opening date soon and will receive an instruction manual detailing the application modifications and process to submit quarterly renewals.

Please review the revised documents attached (Document I) (Document II). They can also be found on the Emotional Disabilities-Private/Public Program web page. If you have any questions, please email the ESS Private Day and ED-P inbox.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

FY25 Statement of Assurances, required for all Public Education Agencies,

opens April 3, 2024

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the representative body for Special Education for Arizona, Exceptional Student Services (ESS), is required to annually obtain assurances from Public Education Agencies (PEAs) attesting that they are meeting the requirements under state and federal statutes. This requirement is completed via the Statement of Assurances application.

Completing the annual Statement of Assurances is a requirement for all entities defined as a PEA, regardless of whether they get federal funds. Non-Public Organizations (NPOs) are exempt from this requirement.

All PEAs must submit the FY25 Statement of Assurances (SOA) through the ESS Portal, accessed via ADEConnect.

The application will open on April 3, 2024, and close for submissions on June 12, 2024.

The SOA must be submitted by your Superintendent, Charter Holder, or Special Education Director before FY25 IDEA funding applications are approved in the Grants Management Enterprise system.

• The PEAs entity administrator must assign the role of ESS Special Education: Signer in ADEConnect to the individual who will review, sign, and submit the SOA.
• 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 link under Surveys & Assurances:

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

Please direct any questions to the ESS Data Management inbox.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

Special Education Data Updates Webinar: Wednesday, April 17, 2024

The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will host the next live Special Education Data Updates webinar on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm. This session will cover a variety of data topics that will include (subject to change):   

• Reminders 

• Trending topics 

• 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 

Special Education Data Updates Webinar: Wednesday, March 20, 2024

The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will host the next live Special Education Data Updates webinar on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm. This session will cover a variety of data topics that will include (subject to change):   

• Reminders 

• Trending topics 

• Top Three Integrity Errors 

• Q&A    

Registration is required to attend. Please register by clicking this link. 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 on March 4, 2024.

The training will be hosted via a live webinar on Thursday, March 14, 2024, from 2:00–3:00 p.m. 

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

Pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 618, Public Education Agencies (PEAs) must report discipline information. The Arizona Department of Education requires that PEAs submit student discipline information to Arizona Education Data Standards (AzEDS). Specifically, PEAs must submit discipline data that resulted in the removal of the student with a disability from their regular educational environment into AzEDS through their Student Information System (SIS).

Please review the attached memo for more information and let us know if you have any questions.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

ESS Portal Update

This notice is to inform Public Education Agencies (PEAs) about an upcoming update to the Exceptional Student Services (ESS) Portal. Currently, each application in the portal has a red or green indicator next to the application name, indicating whether the application is open or closed. We will be removing these indicators, which will change the look of the portal home screen.

Moving forward, each application within the ESS Portal will provide relevant information within the application to indicate its status.

We believe that this change will improve the overall functionality of the ESS Portal.

Please email the ESS Data Management inbox with any questions regarding the ESS Portal.

For the Arizona Department of Education to comply with state and federal reporting guidelines, school districts and charters must accurately report student enrollment and attendance at the physical school site where the student is being educated. A.R.S. § 15-1042 (B) requires school districts and charter schools to “submit electronic data on a school-by-school basis, including student-level data, to the department of education in order for the school district, career technical education district, or charter school to receive monies for the cost of educating students pursuant to this title.”

Please review the attached document for more information.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT       

Special Education Data Updates Webinar: Wednesday, February 21, 2024

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

• Reminders 

• Trending topics 

• Top Three Integrity Errors 

• Q&A    

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

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

Preschool Outcomes Reporting—New Report Available

Effective for the fiscal year 2024, Preschool Outcomes are now reported to Arizona Education Data Standards (AzEDS). The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) requires State Education Agencies to calculate the percentage of preschool children aged 3 through 5 with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) who demonstrate improved outcomes with Social Relationships, Use of Knowledge and Skills, and Taking Action to Meet Needs.

To assist Public Education Agencies (PEAs) with reporting, the SPED12 – Preschool Outcomes History report is now available in the AzEDS portal in the SPED section. This report provides a history of preschool outcomes reported by a previous PEA. This report will allow the current PEA to gain an understanding of the student’s outcome history. Your PEA will be able to see the current outcome information and any prior outcome information for a preschool student with a disability. Any outcomes reported after the student has left your PEA (example: future outcomes) will not populate in the report. 

To access this report, a user must have the ‘AzEDS Data Coordinator – SPED Reports’ role assigned in ADEConnect. Please contact your PEA’s entity administrator to provide the role.

Email the ESS Data Management inbox with any questions regarding Preschool Outcomes reporting.