DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

Special Education Data Updates Webinar: Wednesday, January 17

The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will host the next live webinar on Special Education Data Updates on Wednesday, January 17, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. 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. Register for Special Education Data Updates webinar. If you have any questions, please email the ESS Data Management inbox.

Data Management Alert

New Integrity Rule: -40095

Effective October 31, 2023, a new integrity error has been implemented for SPED data validations in AzEDS. This new integrity error is part of an ongoing effort to ensure clean data during the fiscal year and to avoid corrections of data after the close of the fiscal year.

-40095 Duplicate Least Restrictive Environment records are reported.

This rule ensures that duplicate Least Restrictive Environments (LREs) are not reported. Duplicate LREs can cause issues with some ADE systems and reporting. The error notifies a PEA that their SIS has duplicated the LRE and to work with their SIS vendor to remove one of the duplicates.

The SPED Integrity Error Tool for this rule is linked below:

SPED Integrity Error Tool -40095

One sheet SPED Integrity Error Tools for all SPED integrity rules can be found on the ESS Data Management website.

If you have any questions, please email the ESS Data Management inbox.

Please see the following important information from our ADE/Assessment partners:

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT       

Special Education Data Updates Webinar Wednesday, November 15 

The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will host the next Special Education Data Updates live webinar on Wednesday, November 15, from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. 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. If you have any questions, please email the ESS Data Management inbox.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

SPED Data Reporting in AzEDS Training

The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team is happy to announce an upcoming training for Special Education (SPED) Data Reporting in AzEDS. This training will review the essential information for public education agencies to successfully report SPED data in AzEDS.

The training will be hosted via a live webinar on Thursday, November 30, 2023, from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m.

Registration is required to attend: Register for SPED Data Reporting in AzEDS webinar.

If you have any questions, please email the ESS Data Management inbox.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT 

Special Education Data Updates Webinar Wednesday, October 18th 

 The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will host the next Special Education Data Updates live webinar on Wednesday, October 18th, from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. 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. If you have any questions, please email the ESS Data Management inbox.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

When October 1 Falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or Other Non-Session Day

October 1st falls on a Sunday this school year, and ESS Data Management would like to provide reminders of how to report students and if they should be included in the October 1 count.

Scenarios where a student IS counted for October 1 due to no gap in SPED services:

• Student withdraws on September 29th from School District A and enrolls in School District B on October 2nd
  • District A reports the student
• Student withdraws on September 29th from School District A and enrolls in School District B on October 9th. School District B has fall break from October 2nd – October 6th
  • District A Reports the student
• Student withdraws on September 22nd from School District A and enrolls in School District B on October 2nd. School District A has fall break from September 25th – September 29th
  • District A Reports the student
• Student withdraws on September 22nd from School District A and enrolls in School District B on October 9th. School District A has fall break from September 25th – September 29th and School District B has fall break from October 2nd – October 6th
  • District A reports the student

Scenarios where a student IS NOT counted for October 1 due to a gap in SPED services:

• Student withdraws on September 29th from School District A and enrolls in School District B on October 3rd. October 2nd is an in-session day for District B
  • Student is not reported due to gap in SPED services (October 2nd)
• Student withdraws on September 22nd from School District A and enrolls in School District B on October 9th.  School District A has fall break from September 25th – September 29th. School District B also has fall break from September 25th – September 29th
  • Student is not reported due to a gap in SPED Services (October 2nd – October 6th).
• Student withdraws September 29th from School District A and moves out of state
  • Student is not reported due to moving and not knowing if continuing in SPED

Please remember that the PEA the student attends on the last in-session day before October 1st is counted by that PEA if SPED services are known to be continuing. The PEA that enrolls and provides services after October 1st does not count the student.

ESS Data Management determines in-session and out-of-session calendar days based on calendars submitted and approved in AzEDS.

Please feel free to contact ESS Data Management:

• If you are unable to determine if the student continued in SPED after withdrawing from your district
• If you are uncertain about another school or charter district-approved calendar days
• If you’d like confirmation on whether to count a SPED student for October 1st
• Any other questions about October 1st

As a reminder, the link from our October 1 data collection virtual training is available on the October 1 Data Collection website.

Please email ESS Data Management with any questions. 

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

FY24 Need Concurrency Matrix Update

Previously, we only allowed preschool needs eligible for state funding per A.R.S. § 15-771(A) to be reported in AzEDS. These needs are as follows:

• Hearing Impairment (HI)
• Visual Impairment (VI)
• Developmental Delay (DD)
• Preschool Severe Delay (PSD)
• Speech/Language Impairment (SLI)

Effective FY24, changes have been made to allow concurrent reporting of these needs with other allowable needs for preschool students. Refer to the updated Need Concurrency Matrix. However, the statutory funding requirements remain unchanged.

Questions or concerns can be directed to ESS Data Management.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

Updates to Reporting Developmental Delay

To be eligible for Developmental Delay (DD), students must be younger than ten (10) years of age. Effective fiscal year 2024, students reported with the DD need will fail integrity, receiving error -40072, two months before their tenth birthday. This new rule will aid in ensuring that Public Education Agencies (PEAs) meet evaluation timelines and update the DD need appropriately. If DD is not updated by the student’s tenth birthday, integrity will fail with the updated error -40041. 

IDEA regulations allow states to determine eligibility for special education to children aged three through nine who are experiencing developmental delays in one or more of the following areas: physical development; cognitive development; communication development; social or emotional development; or adaptive development [34 C.F.R. 300.8(b)]. Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.) state that “Developmental delay” means performance by a child who is at least three years of age but under ten years of age on a norm-referenced test that measures at least one and one-half, but not more than three, standard deviations below the mean for children of the same chronological age in two or more of the following areas: cognitive development; physical development; communication development; social or emotional development; [or] adaptive development” [A.R.S. 15-761(3)].

The following integrity rules ensure PEAs are aware of a DD student’s upcoming birthday:

• -40072 - Student Need of DD must be re-evaluated and have an exit date before the student’s 10th birthday.

• -40041 - Invalid age for need code DD.

Please email ESS Data Management with any questions.

Registration for the 2023 Special Education New Director Symposium (SENDS) is closing soon, so please be sure to register if you are beginning your first or second year as a special education director.

The purpose of this professional learning opportunity is to prepare new special education directors for the practical operation of a special education system. Topics covered in SENDS include compliance and legal requirements, fiscal issues, assessment, general supervision, and ADE supports and resources.

SENDS will be held virtually from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on September 15, October 20, November 3, and December 8. New special education directors serving Arizona public education agencies in their first or second year of being a special education director (including any previous positions) are eligible to attend. Each new director will also receive a one-year membership to the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and CEC’s Council for Administrators of Special Education (CASE) special interest division. The cost of participation in SENDS is $50.

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

For questions about SENDS, please email the ESS Recruitment and Retention Inbox.