Special Education Directors,

The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) will hold its annual convention in Louisville, Kentucky, on March 1–4. Thousands of special educators and related service providers will attend this event. It also will draw large numbers of students enrolled in special education teacher preparation programs.

ADE/ESS will have a booth in the exhibit hall to recruit special education personnel to work in Arizona’s public schools. We plan to highlight all special education positions that are posted on the Arizona Education Employment Board (AEBB). The AEEB job board is a free, online, special education job board provided by ESS. To be included in this recruitment effort, please post your vacancies as soon as possible.

Prior to posting your position(s), you may wish to review our “Develop Effective Job Postings" guidance document.

For additional information, please email the ESS Recruitment and Retention Inbox.

Greetings,

Writing better goals and effectively monitoring student progress towards those goals are foundational skills for Related Service Providers. Positive student outcomes can only be achieved when school-based therapists are able to do both consistently. Good data on good goals leads to effective interventions and allows therapists to write better progress reports in less time. And we know that “time spent on paperwork” is a leading cause of therapist burnout. For all of these reasons, we are very excited about the next presentation in our series of Related Service Provider Seminars: Creating Goals that Are Easy to Monitor and a Stress-Free Companion Monitoring Tool with Carlo Vialu, PT, MBA, and Peggy Morris, OTD, OTR/L, BCP. This workshop is designed for Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, and Speech-Language Pathologists and will convey ASHA, APTA, and AOTA CEUs. Please share with your staff.

Creating Goals That Are Easy to Monitor and A Stress-Free Companion Monitoring Tool

Presented by the Arizona Department of Education/Exceptional Student Services/Special Projects

Hosted by Littleton Elementary School District

Date: Friday, April 28, 2023

Time: 8:00 a.m.−3:30 p.m.

Fee: $120 (lunch on your own)

Where: Littleton Elementary School District

Address: 1600 S. 107th Ave, Avondale, AZ 85323Carlo Vialu, PT, MBA

About Carlo Vialu

Carlo served as Director of Physical Therapy for the NYC Department of Education, where he oversaw a program with over 700 PTs working in more than 1,500 schools. He is project manager of research on normative data for five mobility tests for school-aged children and co-founder of SeekFreaks.

About Peggy Morris

Peggy is an OT with 30+ years of pediatric experience in early intervention, private practice, and out-patient therapy, but most of her experience and passion is in school-based practice. She coordinates the post-professional MS and OTD programs and school-based certificate program at Tufts University. She is Board Certified in Pediatrics through the AOTA and a regular SeekFreaks contributor.

Workshop Description:

Are you ready for an easy way to write goals and monitor progress? Peggy and Carlo will walk you through setting goals that are easy to monitor and creating a monitoring tool that can help you decide whether your student is on track, if it is time to change the intervention, or if it is time to work on more challenging goals.

Stress-free monitoring begins with a well-written goal. While making a goal SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-Bound) is a great start, how many times have we written a SMART goal that contained too many conditions to be easy to measure? So, in the morning, you will learn the three common problems with SMART goals and the four strategies to make your SMART goal easy to monitor. You will practice utilizing Apply EBP’s simple worksheet for goal-creation with the guidance of your instructors. You will then go through the three steps for the creation of an accompanying data-collection system. You will gain four tips for making this system user-friendly for different members of the team and helpful in making informed decisions. You will learn and practice how to use this data-collection system in making objective decisions about whether your student is on track or if it is time to change the intervention or goal.

Finally, you will learn two additional strategies to further elevate your goals: the Goal Attainment Scale (GAS) for more complex cases and the five steps for creating collaborative interprofessional goals.

Bring sample goals that you need to improve and case vignettes that you find challenging. There will be multiple opportunities to practice goal creation, monitoring, and decision-making as well as interactive Q&A discussions with the instructors. Leave the day with concrete strategies and the confidence to create goals and monitor them meaningfully!

Because this training has been rescheduled from an earlier date, please register using this link only:

Register for “Creating Goals that are Easy to Monitor and A Stress-Free Companion Monitoring Tool”

If you have questions regarding this training, please email Margaret Egan or email Mitch Galbraith

Special Education Directors,

The ADE/ESS Professional Learning and Sustainability unit is pleased to announce two “grow your own” opportunities for educators in Arizona public schools.

• The General Education Teacher to Special Education Teacher (GETSET) program provides tuition reimbursement to certified general education teachers who want to pursue a career change to become certified in an area of special education. 
   

• The Special Education Teacher Tuition Assistance (SETTA) program provides tuition reimbursement to paraprofessionals and educational interpreters that leads to special education teaching certification.

Certifications that satisfy the application requirements:

1. Early Childhood Special Education, Birth–Grade 3/Age 8
2. Mild/Moderate Disabilities, K–12
3. Moderate/Severe Disabilities, K–12
4. Visually Impaired Special Education, Birth–Grade 12
5. Hearing Impaired Special Education, Birth–Grade 12

Application materials:

• SETTA Application
• GETSET Applicaton

PEAs have an opportunity to submit an application for one candidate per program. Applications earning the highest scores in the evaluation process will be approved until the funding that is set aside for the program is depleted. Applications must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday, February 24, 2023.

Please note:

• Applicant must have been employed by the PEA for two full school years as of June 30, 2023.
• Applicant must agree to two full years of teaching in a special education capacity at the PEA once special education certification is achieved.
• Educational interpreters are eligible to apply for the SETTA program.
• GETSET and SETTA are tuition reimbursement programs. Potential expenses are pre-approved, and reimbursement is provided after each semester is completed and program requirements are met.

For additional information, please email the ESS Recruitment and Retention Inbox.

Special Education Directors,

Please share the following math professional learning opportunities with general and special education teachers who teach mathematics.

Virtual Professional Learning Opportunities:

The following virtual sessions are being offered via Zoom and are free to attend. Click the session link to view the session description and to pre-register.

Count Me In! Exploring Adding and Subtracting Integers - Thursday, January 12, from 3:30–5:00 p.m.

Formative Assessment in Mathematics with Desmos (Grades 9–12) - Thursday, January 19, from 3:30–5:00 p.m.

Count Me In! Exploring Multiplying and Dividing Integers - Monday, January 30, from 3:30–5:00 p.m.

Take a D.I.P. into Esti-Mysteries (Grades K–6) - Wednesday, February 1, from 4:00–5:00 p.m.

Take a D.I.P. into Graphing Stories (Grades 6–12) - Thursday, February 2, from 4:00–5:00 p.m.

Empower Students to Use Universal Tools Through Instructional Routines - Wednesday, February 8, 3:30–5:00 p.m.

Introduction to Fluency with Whole Numbers (Grades K–6) - Choose one of the following dates:

Monday, March 27, from 3:30–5:00 p.m. - Register in advance for Introduction to Fluency with Whole Numbers (Grades K–6) on March 27

Wednesday, May 3, from 3:30–5:00 p.m. - Register in advance for Introduction to Fluency with Whole Numbers (Grades K–6) on May 3

Count Me In! Algebra Tiles Part 1: Exploration of Algebraic Expressions - Thursday, March 30, from 3:30–5:00 p.m.

Take a D.I.P. into Open Middle (Elementary Grades K–5) - Wednesday, April 12, from 4:00–5:00 p.m.

Take a D.I.P into Open Middle (Secondary Grades 6–12) - Thursday, April 13, from 4:00–5:00 p.m.

Literacy and Math Intertwined: Using Poetry to Engage All Learners - Monday, April 17, from 3:30–5:00 p.m.

Count Me In! Algebra Tiles Part 2: Exploration of Substitution and Solving Equations - Monday, April 24, from 3:30–5:00 p.m.

Count Me In! Algebra Tiles Part 3: Multiplying Binomials and Dividing Quadratic Equations - Tuesday, May 2, from 3:30–5:00 p.m.

Count Me In! Algebra Tiles Part 4: Factoring Quadratic Expressions - Wednesday, May 10, from 3:30.–5:00 p.m.

Note: Accommodations must be requested at least one week in advance of each webinar. These sessions will not be recorded. A computer or tablet is not required but is strongly recommended to enable full participation in each session.

Share the Spring 2023 ADE/ESS Math Professional Learning Offerings flyer.

Please email Jenifer Fernandez or email Rob Hilliker with any questions.

Special Education Directors,

The Arizona Education Job Fair & Career Expo will take place on February 4, 2023, from 8:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. at the Renaissance Phoenix Glendale Hotel & Conference Center.

The Job Fair and Career Expo is an excellent opportunity for you to recruit new employees to your school community.

Register for the Job Fair and Career Expo!

The registration deadline is December 5, 2022.

Email the Educator Recruitment and Retention fair inbox for more information.

Looking for self-paced professional learning on current special education topics of interest?

Special Education Learning Experiences for Competency in Teaching (SELECT) is a federally funded program sponsored by ADE/ESS and offered through the Institute for Human Development at Northern Arizona University. SELECT courses are recommended for special and general education teachers, administrators, related service personnel, paraeducators, and other interested individuals.

Certified school personnel can take SELECT classes for renewal hours.

• SELECT classes can be taken for university credit for those teachers or administrators who are required by their school districts to have official transcripts and for those who may need to transfer hours out of state (tuition and associated fees apply).
• The classes can also be taken for professional growth contact hours for free.

Register at the NAU SELECT webpage. Courses are offered in 5-week and 8-week sessions. Registration closes when classes are full or two (2) weeks before the start of class.

For more information, please email the ESS Recruitment and Retention Inbox.

Special Education Directors,

Are you looking for Speech-Language Pathologists or Speech-Language Pathology Assistants?

From November 17–19, 2022, ADE/ESS will staff a recruitment booth on behalf of all public education agencies in Arizona at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s (AHSA) annual national convention. Over 20,000 SLPs and graduate students attend ASHA’s convention each year.

If your PEA would like ESS to promote your speech opening(s) at ASHA, please post them on the ADE job board as soon as possible. Our recruiting materials will direct candidates to information about becoming licensed and certified to practice in Arizona and to the Arizona Education Employment Board.

Post your vacancies today!

For more information, please email the ESS Recruitment and Retention Inbox.

Special Education Directors,

ESS collects data each year through the Teacher Attrition Survey to make informed decisions about recruitment and retention efforts in Arizona. Participation in the survey is mandatory for all public education agencies in Arizona.

The survey is open now and will close on January 31, 2023. Please see this memo for further details. Answers to frequently asked questions regarding the survey can be located online. If you have additional questions, please email the ESS Recruitment and Retention Inbox. 

Thank you for completing the Teacher Attrition Survey.

Special Education Directors,

Project EASEL, in partnership with ADE/ESS, would like to invite you to tune into the Exploring Strategies for Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) fall and spring professional learning series. We plan to share various information and strategies to support your understanding and implementation of assertiveness, self-efficacy, and self-regulation. 

Details for the upcoming SEL session:

Teaching Middle School Students to Persist Through Challenging Tasks Using Self-Efficacy

October 11, 2022, 3:00–4:00 p.m.

Description: Do your students lack confidence in their abilities, think that they will always do as well or as poorly as they have done in the past, give up easily when they encounter obstacles, or feel that they cannot learn the course content or succeed in school, sports, or arts? Self-efficacy instruction can help. Self-efficacy helps students to persist through challenging tasks and builds their confidence in overcoming difficulties academically, emotionally, and in their extracurricular endeavors. During this one-hour webinar, you will learn instructional activities to develop and support self-efficacy. These include how to help students reframe negative self-talk, strategies to help students manage their physiological feedback caused by emotional reactions, and how to view mistakes as opportunities to learn.

Registration is required for all Project EASEL SEL sessions. Please register in advance for Teaching Middle School Students to Persist Through Challenging Tasks Using Self-Efficacy.  

Please view the flyer for upcoming Project EASEL SEL sessions with updated details. If you have any questions, please email Pattie Noonan.

Special Education Directors,

ADE/ESS is acutely aware of the shortage of qualified special education teachers and related service providers across Arizona. ESS has multiple activities and programs to support PEAs to confront this shortage every school year. The ESS Recruitment and Retention team has created Developing a Grow Your Own Program: A Guide for Special Education Administrators as a reference as you consider developing and implementing a Grow Your Own program as part of your own recruitment and retention efforts.

A Grow Your Own program is an opportunity for school districts and charter schools to assist their community members and currently employed staff who are interested in entering the special education teacher, leader, or related service provider professions. Through tuition reimbursement, the school district or charter organization supports the candidate with a continuum of education that will also help to meet workforce needs.

Public Education Agencies (PEAs) can develop their own tuition reimbursement program using Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funding sources to support individuals interested in special education certification in early childhood special education, mild/moderate disabilities, moderate/severe disabilities, hearing impaired, or visually impaired, as well as school psychologist and speech-language pathologist certifications. Other special education positions may also qualify.

For more information, please email the ESS Recruitment and Retention Inbox.