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].

Special Education Directors,

The ADE/ESS Assistive Technology (AT) team is excited to announce our first in-person professional learning opportunities of the 2021–2022 AT Builders National Presenter Series with Judith Schoonover for special educators and related service providers.

“Want to ‘Make’ a Difference? Promote ParticipATion with Easily Found Materials!” with Judith Schoonover.  

Date: April 7, 2022, from 8:45a.m.–3:45p.m. (Seats are limited; rsvp now!)

Fee: $35 (includes a light breakfast, a box lunch, and all materials)

Where: Sunnyside Unified School District #12 (Palo Verde Portable)

Address: 2238 East Ginter Road, Tucson, AZ 85706

Description:

Never underestimate the power of using what is available or easily acquired as a first step to supporting young learners or those with exceptional needs. A common misconception is that all assistive technology is complicated and expensive. Finding new uses for familiar tools is a means to increase “buy-in” by all involved. Whether working virtually or face-to-face, simple adaptations with easily found materials can make a difference and empower users, caregivers, and educators to come up with their own interventions. This make-and-take workshop will provide participants with the opportunity to create PVC tools from items found in hardware stores (PVC pipe, joints, and cutters) and to assemble them in minutes, as well as to make simple manipulatives to support physical access and learning. A variety of free and low-cost materials for learning and play environments will be shared. Discussion and exchange of ideas will be encouraged throughout the session. Participants will leave with tangible tools to use the next day and with a digital file of additional resources and directions to continue their “making” a difference journey.

Objectives:

1. Participants will name three or more familiar tools used in unique ways to increase participation.
2. Participants will discuss three or more DIY tools that can be fabricated from easily found materials.
3. Participants will list three or more features that can be represented more than one way from light tech to high tech.

About

Judith Schoonover, MEd, OTR/L, ATP, FAOTA is an occupational therapist and former elementary school teacher. She is certified as an assistive technology professional (ATP) by Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America RESNA and was a founding member of the Loudoun County Public Schools Assistive Technology Team. Judith has provided direct services in schools for more than 44 years and is a nationally and internationally recognized speaker presenting on the topics of school-based occupational therapy, transition, literacy, and assistive technology. She has authored numerous articles, and chapters in Early Childhood: Occupational Therapy Services for Children Birth to Five, Occupational Therapy for Children (6th–8th eds.), Best Practices in School Occupational Therapy, Assistive Technologies, and Occupational Therapy and Transitions: A Cross-System Perspective. She participated in National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) workgroups addressing response to intervention (RTI), transition, and virtual schools. Currently, Judith represents American Occupational Therapy Association AOTA on the National Joint Committee (NJC) for the Communication Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities; she is a Strand Advisor for The Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) Conference and serves on the editorial board of the Assistive Technology Outcomes and Benefits (ATOB) Journal.

RSVP for April 7, 2022

Questions regarding this professional learning opportunity can be sent to the AT Inbox.

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.   

Special Education Directors,

Please see the announcement below for an exciting professional learning opportunity.

Announcing the Arizona Professional Learning Series

An Opportunity for Public Education Agencies

The ADE/ESS Arizona Professional Learning Series (AZPLS) provides district and school teams with a systemic method for achieving systems change in aligning state, district, and school site efforts to impact literacy achievement for all students and to close the literacy achievement gap for students with specific learning disabilities. 

The AZPLS provides districts and schools with:

• Six inclusive professional learning modules for K-8 general education teachers, special education teachers, school site leadership, and coaches.
• Six accompanying, interactive professional learning modules for parents and students.
• Leadership coaching from a national presenter to build site capacity in facilitating module professional learning, coach with a focus, collect and analyze data through an inquiry cycle, and sustain implementation.
• Collaborative team structure inspiring shared leadership and decision making from all stakeholders.
• A coaching framework designed for job-embedded professional learning focused on collaborative teams and teacher instructional planning/delivery.
• Web-based data tools and reporting to support targeted needs throughout implementation.

Required AZPLS team members include the district special education director, curriculum director, a school site administrator, two or three general education teachers from different grade levels/content areas, one special education teacher who works closely with general education teachers, and one school site coach.

To indicate your interest in learning more about the series, please sign up at this link by March 15, 2022.

If you have any questions, please email Stacy Riccio.

Special Education Stakeholders,

ADE/ESS is pleased to request proposals for Arizona’s 2022 IDEA Conference, Rise Up: Reimagining and Transforming Educational Practices.

This year’s conference will be held in person at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Phoenix and will feature over 75 professional learning opportunities, including IDEA legal issues, instructional practices, national trends and hot topics, special education compliance, preschool and secondary transition, and social/emotional learning.

Please see the attached Call for Papers for information on how to submit. Session proposals are due March 31, 2022.

ESS appreciates this opportunity to learn with each of you. Please consider submitting presentations that represent your creative and research-based work. Questions can be sent to the IDEA Conference inbox.

Special Education Directors,

The ADE/ESS Assistive Technology (AT) team is excited to offer a free virtual professional learning opportunity by nationally known presenter Tony Vincent.  Registration information is available below:

Digital Learning Construction: Tools with Tony Vincent

March 22, 23, and 24, 2022 from 3:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.

Pixels to Paper (Tuesday, March 22, 2022, from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m.)

In this session, you will be able to see the variety of printable creations you can make in Google Slides or PowerPoint. These creations are not ordinary printouts! Learn to make your own tear-off sheets, table toppers, multipage posters, door hangers, brochures, dice, scratch cards, and foldable mini-books. These printable items can serve as visual scaffolds, handy reminders, or learning artifacts for students.

Register to attend March 22

Live Transcription will be available for all webinars. If you require additional accommodations to participate in this webinar, please register no later than 71 hours in advance of this meeting.

Google Forms Awesomeness (Wednesday, March 23, 2022 from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m.)

Google Forms is awesome, but you already knew that. It’s great how responses feed directly into a spreadsheet for easy access and analysis. You can create assessments, surveys, checkout forms, and quizzes for students. You can also poll colleagues, collect information from parents, and keep logs. If you dig into the settings, you can do even more!

Register to attend March 23

Live Transcription will be available for all webinars. If you require additional accommodations to participate in this webinar, please register no later than 71 hours in advance of this meeting.

Electrify Any Lesson 2.0 (Thursday, March 24, 2022 3:30 to 4:45 p.m.)

Tony's most popular presentation is updated with all new ways to make learning irresistible. Experience Tony's new favorite low-prep lesson hooks, conversation starters, and tools to make any lesson extra special.

Register to attend March 24

Live Transcription will be available for all webinars. If you require additional accommodations to participate in this webinar, please register no later than 71 hours in advance of this meeting.

About Tony Vincent

Tony Vincent has been a pioneer in digital learning. Tony left regular teaching in 2006 to work with teachers worldwide. After years of self-employment as an education and technology presenter, Tony went back to the classroom to teach fifth grade in Council Bluffs, Iowa for the 2018-2019 school year. While he’s proud to have led workshops and presentations in almost all 50 states, empowering his students to be creative thinkers is his favorite professional accomplishment. Tony is a prolific sharer, approachable, and he consistently selects practical tools and strategies that can be implemented right away. To see what Tony shares online, click on over to the Learning in Hand website, where you can explore his website and find his social media links. And, if you spend a little time with Tony, you’re likely to hear about his charming nine-year-old twins.

Questions regarding this professional learning opportunity can be sent to [email protected].

Special Education Directors, please see the following information:

Research Opportunity: Elementary Self- and Career-Awareness Study

Future Quest Island-Explorations (FQI-E) is a free online game-based curriculum that promotes college and career awareness, SEL, and self-concept for 3rd to 5th graders. FQI-E is universally designed and accessible to students with disabilities; it uses the evidence-based possible selves framework to help all students understand themselves, set goals, and plan expansive futures.

Program developers are currently enrolling schools in a study to test the effectiveness of FQI-E and get recommendations for program improvements. Participating educators receive early access to the game, coaching on using it in the classroom, and a gift card.

Study participation involves helping distribute and collect parent consent forms (electronic and/or paper), administering 20 minute electronic student pre- and post-surveys, implementing the curriculum (6-10 hours, self-paced), and potentially participating in a focus group. 

Interested? Fill out this form to learn more. The study and the Future Quest Island - Explorations program are funded through a grant from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).

Special Education Directors,

ADE ESS and Assessment are excited to announce a new professional learning opportunity for educators.

Empower Students to Use Universal Tools in the 2022 State Assessments Platform (Grades 3–8)

Wednesday, March 2, 2022, 4:00–5:30 p.m.

Digital tools are not just for assessment; they can help students to achieve success in the classroom and beyond. This school year, your learners will take Arizona’s Academic Standards Assessment (AASA) for the first time on the TestNav platform. AASA assesses the Arizona Standards adopted by the Arizona State Board of Education in 2016. At the Arizona Department of Education, we want to help you to empower your students to use the universal assessment tools that are embedded in the AASA platform so that they can readily showcase their knowledge and understanding.

Join us to learn more about the universal tools and accommodations that are available for the AASA for grades 3–8. You will also engage with instructional resources that you can use every day to provide rich learning for students as they familiarize themselves with digital tools that help them express their understanding. During the session, there will be guided, hands-on time with these universal tools and instructional resources.

Register in advance for this session. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Note: accommodations (e.g., ASL interpreting services) for participants in this webinar must be requested at least one week in advance of the webinar.

Please email Rob Hilliker with any questions.

Special Education Directors,

The following is a free professional learning opportunity available to you and your staff.

The Power of Strengths-Based IEPs with Carol Kosnitsky

Thursday, March 3, 2022, 3:30–4:30 p.m.

The dilemma: how do you write an appropriate IEP that provides both insights into the student’s disability and needs as well as the student’s strengths, interests, preferences, and personal accomplishments? It’s hard to look at many IEP requirements and not to think that the focus is on deficits. We can remain true to IEP requirements and incorporate all we have learned about the power of language, high expectations, growth mindsets, and Universal Design for Learning.  Rarely do these big ideas make their way into students’ IEPs, but you can change that! This session will explore some of the self-defeating and student-limiting practices common in IEP writing and provide alternative strengths-based models that can change our conversations, our expectations, and our IEPs.

Carol Kosnitsky is the nationally recognized and popular author of IEP Goals That Make a Difference: An Administrator’s Guide to Improving the Process (2018, LRP Publications). This book is used widely by teachers as well as administrators. As a distinguished special education consultant with more than 35 years in the field, Carol provides consultation and professional development services across the country, traveling from her home base in New England.

Her work focuses on improving outcomes for students with disabilities through increased access to the general education curriculum.

She is particularly sought after for her expertise regarding the development of relevant and measurable IEPs, the aligning of IEPs with the Common Core, and the collaboration between general and special education to improve education for all students. Ms. Kosnitsky was a special education director for 20 years in New Hampshire, served as President of the New Hampshire Association for Special Education Administrators, and developed the New Hampshire Academy for Special Education Directors.

Register in advance for this event.

If you are a special education teacher or related service provider, the presenter requests that you bring a current IEP with you to the training. Please be ready to examine your own IEP in relation to the content of the session and remember that all student information needs to remain confidential. This session is for training purposes and does not replace the technical assistance provided by the ADE.

Questions regarding this professional learning opportunity can be sent to the ESS Recruitment and Retention Inbox.