Are you in your first or second year as a special education director? If so, don’t miss this opportunity to register for the 2026–2027 Special Education New Director Symposium (SENDS)!

The purpose of this professional learning opportunity is to support new special education directors in effectively navigating federal and state special education requirements, accessing ADE/ESS resources, and building a strong professional network. The SENDS series addresses key areas of ADE/ESS oversight and support including compliance and legal requirements, funding, data management, dispute resolution, assessment, and professional learning opportunities.

Eligibility
New special education directors directly employed by Arizona public education agencies in their first or second year of being a special education director (including any previous positions) in the fall of 2026 are eligible to attend SENDS.

Registration
The $100 registration fee for SENDS includes:

• Registration for the in-person kick-off session on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, at ADE North,100 N. 15th Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85007 
• Follow-up webinars scheduled during the 2026–27 school year 
• A one-year membership to the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and CEC’s Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE) special interest division as well as the Arizona Council for Exceptional Children (AZCEC) and the Arizona Council of Administrators of Special Education (AZCASE)

Registration is open until Wednesday, September 9, 2026.

Travel Reimbursement
Funding is available to support travel costs for districts and charter organizations traveling 50 miles or more from the district, charter, or school work location of the special education director to ADE North, 100 N. 15th Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85007.  Reimbursements will be issued to the district or charter organization, not the special education director, through the Arizona Procurement Portal. Please note that APP registration is required.  Additional information regarding travel reimbursement for eligible PEAs will be provided upon completion of registration. 

Register for the Special Education New Director Symposium (SENDS)!

If you have questions about SENDS, please email the ESS Recruitment and Retention Inbox.

ADE/ESS is pleased to announce the launch of the state October 1 Special Education Count Dashboard (Federal - Child Count and Educational Environments), the first publicly available ESS dashboard for featuring federally reported IDEA Section 618 data. It provides interactive access to annual special education child count data, allowing users to explore information by disability category, age, demographics, and other characteristics.

The October 1 Special Education Count Dashboard represents an important milestone in the agency’s commitment to making special education data more accessible, meaningful, and user-friendly for educators, administrators, families, policymakers, researchers, and the public.

View the dashboard: Federal Child Count and Educational Environments Data | Department of Education

Please explore the dashboard and share this resource with colleagues and stakeholders who may benefit from access to these data. ESS looks forward to continuing to expand public access to special education data in the future.

The ADE/ESS, Academic Achievement & Inclusive Practices unit invites you and your educators to join our upcoming free professional learning webinar series focused on the High-Leverage Practices (HLPs).

The High-Leverage Practices are research-based instructional and collaborative practices that have the greatest impact on improving outcomes for students with disabilities while strengthening teaching and learning for all students. Whether you are a classroom teacher, instructional coach, administrator, or related service provider, this series offers practical strategies that can be immediately applied to support inclusive, high-quality instruction.

Featured Facilitator
We are excited to co-facilitate this series with Dr. Jocelyn Washburn, Co-Director, Director of Professional Development, and Assistant Research Professor for the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. Dr. Washburn is nationally recognized for her expertise in adolescent literacy, inclusive instructional practices, professional learning, and educator collaboration. Her work focuses on translating research into practical, evidence-based strategies that educators can implement across diverse learning environments.

What You’ll Gain

Participants will:
- Explore evidence-based High-Leverage Practices that improve outcomes for students with disabilities.
- Learn practical instructional strategies that can be implemented immediately in classrooms.
- Strengthen inclusive practices that benefit all learners.
- Engage in professional learning that supports sustainable instructional improvement.

How to Register: Registration information and the complete webinar schedule are included in the attached flyer. We encourage you to share this opportunity with educators across your district and invite your teams to participate.

Monthly from 9:00am-11:00am

August 11

September 15

October 27

November 10

January 12

February 9

March 9

Thank you for your continued partnership and commitment to ensuring every student has access to high-quality, inclusive instruction. We hope you will join us for this exciting learning opportunity!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the Academic Achievement and Inclusive Practices team.

Flyer may be found here.

Data Management Alert
FY26 Special Education Data Dashboard Open for Certification

The issue affecting the Special Education Data Dashboard (SEDD) has been resolved. The application is now available, and Public Education Agencies may resume and complete certification activities.

As a reminder, certification of data within SEDD can only be completed by authorized ADEConnect users with the “ESS Special Education Data Dashboard: PEA Signer” role associated with their account.

Thank you for your patience during this interruption. Please do not hesitate to contact the ESS Data Management team with any questions.

ESS/PSM is excited to offer free, in-person regional training opportunities throughout the school year. Participants may register for the training topic(s) that best meet their needs.

There are two training topics being offered this year. To provide flexible attendance options, each topic will be offered multiple times throughout the year. Please note that all sessions for the same topic contain identical content. To maximize training availability and accommodate as many participants as possible, we encourage participants to register for only one session per topic. Additional information about topics, dates, times, and locations are included below.

Guide Steps

This training focuses on using the Guide Steps technical assistance document to review a mock student file for compliance with IDEA and state requirements. Participants will practice navigating the Guide Steps, identifying compliance requirements, and reviewing supporting documentation. The training will also highlight Prior Written Notices (PWNs) as a common area of statewide noncompliance and provide an opportunity to discuss frequent documentation issues and applicable requirements.

Prior Written Notice (PWN)

This training provides an in-depth review of Prior Written Notice (PWN) requirements and ADE resources. Participants will examine common PWN compliance issues identified through monitoring activities, explore factors that contribute to noncompliance, and engage in interactive exercises using real-world scenarios to strengthen their understanding of PWN requirements and best practices.

To register, please email Veronica Reza [email protected] directly with your preferred date and time. If you have any further questions, please contact your PEA-assigned PSM specialist.

Data Management Alert

Special Education Data Dashboard (SEDD) Application Temporarily Unavailable

The Special Education Data Dashboard (SEDD) application is currently unavailable due to a technical issue. Our ESS IT team is actively working to restore access as soon as possible.

The SEDD application is used to certify Exit, Discipline, and Students without Disabilities data. A follow-up alert will be sent once the application has been restored and is available for all users.

Please note that the certification deadline remains August 5, 2026.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

The ADE/ESS Assistive Technology (AT) team is pleased to announce the kickoff for our 2026–27 National Presenter Series with a two-part virtual session: “Why Our Communication Goals Need a Glow-Up” and “Let’s Fix Some Communication Goals—Together” with Lauren Enders Gonzales, MA, CCC-SLP. These presentations are intended for SLPs, special education teachers, and related service providers who work with students who use Augmentative/Alternative Communication (AAC). 

Date/Time:     Session One: Tuesday, September 15, 2026: 3:30–5:00 p.m. 
Session Two:  Thursday, September 17, 2026: 3:30–5:00 p.m.  
Fee:                 Free (Virtual via Zoom, links provided upon registration) 

Lauren Enders Gonzales, MA, CCC-SLP is a licensed speech-language pathologist and educator with nearly 30 years of experience supporting AAC and Assistive Technology in Eastern Pennsylvania schools. Through Engaging AAC Solutions, LLC, Lauren now works with schools, organizations, service providers, and families nationally—helping them rethink how they support communication so every person's right to be heard is honored. Known for her practical, engaging, and often irreverent style, Lauren is passionate about reducing the overwhelm felt by people who support communicators—and building the kind of genuine connections that change outcomes. 

"Why Our Communication Goals Need a Glow-Up”:  

 Most of us were trained to write IEP goals the same way—loaded with percent accuracy, compliance measures, and deficit-based language. It made sense at the time. But... what if the way we’ve been writing goals is actually getting in the way of the communication growth we’re working so hard to support?  

In this session, we’ll take an honest (and kind!) look at the goal-writing habits we’ve inherited, why they fall short for any communication learner, and why they fail even harder for students who use AAC. We’ll explore what it means to write goals that are measurable and meaningful, without relying on compliance or accuracy counts that don’t reflect how real communication works.  Participants will leave with a clear framework, a practical goal-evaluation checklist, and a lot to think about before Session 2—where we do the work of relearning and practicing—together. 

“Let’s Fix Some Communication Goals—Together”: 

We'll kick off with a quick recap of Session 1—because brains need a warm-up—then dive straight into real goals. The kind that have actually shown up in IEPs. Goals that look fine on paper but quietly undermine communication growth. We're going to fix them.  

In small breakout groups, participants will choose the goal type they most want to work on and collaborate with colleagues to revise and rewrite using the strengths-based, participation-focused framework from Session 1. Bring your own tricky, "I-don't-know-how-to-measure-this" goals. This is a judgment-free zone. To add some excitement...there may be prizes involved!  Participants will leave with revised goals they can actually use and a community of SLPs on their way to figuring this out—together. 

Register for Session One: “Why Our Communication Goals Need a Glow-Up”  

Register for Session Two: “Let’s Fix Some Communication Goals- Together” 

If you have questions, please email the Assistive Technology Team at [email protected].

The ADE/ESS is requesting your assistance in completing a brief survey to help us identify lead related service providers within your public education agency, including speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, school psychologists, and assistive technology specialists. 

This information is essential to our ongoing work to: 

·         Distribute timely and relevant professional learning opportunities

·         Facilitate the development of discipline-specific professional learning networks and communities of practice

·         Build a statewide pool of experienced practitioners who can support future initiatives, including identifying professional learning needs and providing content expertise for guidelines and policies

Your participation will help ensure that we are connecting with the right experts across the state and strengthening support for related services personnel and the students they serve. 

Survey link: Identification of Lead Related Service Providers in Arizona Districts 
Completion time: Approximately 5–10 minutes 
Deadline: Please complete this survey prior to August 7, 2026 

We greatly appreciate your time and continued partnership in supporting related service providers across Arizona. If you have any questions, please email the ESS Recruitment and Retention Inbox. 

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

Beginning of the Year ESS Data Management Training

The Exceptional Student Services (ESS) Data Management team is pleased to announce Beginning of the Year ESS Data Management training for the 2026–2027 reporting year. This training will be offered virtually and recorded for those who cannot attend.

During this training, our team will provide updates on the annual IDEA 618 requirements, review reporting to AzEDS, give an overview of ESS data applications and surveys, and share where to find resources available to you.

Please register using this link:

Virtual Training via Zoom: Thursday, August 4, 2026, 9:00-11:00 a.m.

Please email ESS Data Management with any questions. 

We look forward to seeing you!

Thank you,

Data Management
Exceptional Student Services
Arizona Department of Education
Office: (602) 542-3962
ESS Data Management | Arizona Department of Education (azed.gov)
Data Management Alerts Signup | AzEDS Alerts Signup
“We are a service organization committed to raising academic outcomes and empowering parents.”
AH

Registration for Arizona's 2026 IDEA Conference: Stronger Systems, Better Outcomes—for Every Student is currently open and will remain open until July 27, 2026, or until conference capacity is reached. Once capacity is reached, interested attendees will be placed on a waitlist.

With strong interest already underway, we encourage you to submit your seat request as soon as possible.

Why Attend?

This year's conference features an outstanding lineup of nationally recognized speakers, including:

• Jeremy Poincenot, World Champion Blind Golfer and motivational keynote speaker
• Brandon Wright, nationally recognized IDEA and special education law expert
• Malcolm Mitchell, Super Bowl Champion and literacy advocate
• Winston Clements, accessibility consultant and advocate

Check out our full line up of keynote and premier speakers.

Attendees will have access to professional learning opportunities on:

• IDEA legal updates and compliance
• Inclusive practices and Universal Design for Learning
• AI and assistive technology
• Early childhood special education
• Secondary transition and employment
• Behavior supports
• Family engagement and leadership development

The conference will also feature:

• Specialized session tracks for educators, families, youth, and leaders
• Student and Young Adult Art Exhibit
• Secondary Transition Services Awards
• Networking opportunities, receptions, and special evening events

Conference Details

📅 August 18–20, 2026
📅 Preconference: August 17, 2026
📍 Grand Hyatt Scottsdale Resort
💲 $425 Professional Registration

Registration Process

1. Submit a seat request for review by the IDEA Conference Committee.
2. Upon approval, complete payment through APLD.
3. Complete any required supplemental registration information.

Don't wait—space is limited, and once capacity is reached, registrations will move to a waitlist.

For registration information, lodging details, and FAQs, please visit the IDEA Conference website.

We look forward to learning with you this August!