Special Education Directors,

ADE/ESS is pleased to announce additional training opportunities for Arizona’s schools with The Neurosequential Model Network led by Dr. Bruce Perry. The trainings will assist schools in dealing with trauma and its effects on students. There are two training programs available to schools:

Neurosequential Model in Education

The Neurosequential Model in Education (NME) draws upon the neurodevelopmentally informed, biologically respectful perspective on human development and functioning to help educators understand student behavior and performance. The goals of NME are to educate faculty and students in basic concepts of neurosequential development and then teach them how to apply this knowledge to the teaching and learning process. NME is not a specific “intervention;” rather, it is a way to educate school staff about brain development and developmental trauma and then to further teach them how to apply that knowledge to their work with students in and outside the classroom, particularly those students with adverse childhood experiences. This training is for classroom teachers and is a trainer-of-trainers model, and participants will be equipped to bring strategies back to their schools. See the attached document that provides further details about the training expectations.

Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics

The Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) is a developmentally informed, biologically-respectful approach to working with at-risk children and is a way to organize a child’s history and current functioning. The goal of this approach is to structure the assessment of a child, the articulation of the primary problems, the identification of key strengths, and the application of interventions (educational, enrichment, and therapeutic) in a way that will help family, educators, therapists, and related professionals best meet the needs of the child. (This training is for Master’s level school social workers, school counselors, or school psychologists.) See the attached document that provides further details about the training expectations.

Please join the Neurosequential Model Network for an informational session on May 19, 2021 from 12:00–1:00 p.m. to learn more about the trainings and hear from other Arizona schools who have been learning and implementing the model for over a year. Admission into the training series will require attendance at the webinar (or viewing of the recorded webinar) and submission of an application provided at the conclusion of the webinar on May 19. The cost of the training is $150.

Please click here to register for the informational session. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Email Aanya Rispoli any questions you have about this professional learning opportunity.

Special Education Directors,

Please see the following stakeholder communication opportunity from the Arizona Response to Sexual Violence & Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities Collaborative:

The Arizona Response to Sexual Violence & Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities Collaborative recently released, Preventing Sexual Abuse in Arizona Schools: Suggested Protocols for Students with Intellectual, Developmental and Other Disabilities.

At nearly seven times the risk of sexual abuse as their peers, Arizona students with disabilities are vulnerable to exploitation. This new report focuses on helping Arizona schools design better ways to protect students with disabilities from sexual abuse.

Some of the suggested best practice recommendations include:

• Resources and strategies to support students who report abuse
• Required training for mandatory reporters
• Policies that promote supervision and digital communication guidelines for all school personnel
• Accessible and inclusive lessons on sexual health and relationships

One of the most critical recommendations towards prevention is also seen as the most controversial: offering accessible and inclusive lessons on sexual health and relationships. Research finds that young adults with mild to moderate cognitive disability are sexually active at similar rates to their peers without a disability, yet are less likely to learn about sexual health from trusted adults. Receiving ineffective or inaccessible sex education, or no sex education at all, has also been found to be a correlating factor in the sexual abuse of youth with disabilities. Recent research found other factors that contribute to abuse. “Some students with disabilities grow up with adults providing hands-on personal care and may not have an understanding of when they are touched inappropriately,” said Erica McFadden, Executive Director of the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council and one of the leaders of the Collaborative. “Some may not understand when they are a victim of sex trafficking. For that reason, our youth with disabilities should be receiving information on how to identify unsafe situations and what to do about it.”

"The inclusion of students with disabilities and their respective accessibility and accommodation needs in school abuse prevention policies is critical,” said Betty McEntire, chair of the Collaborative’s sexual abuse prevention in schools workgroup. “It not only ensures a safe learning environment, but also provides educators and school administrators the tools needed to respond in an inclusive manner.”

The Collaborative will be hosting a Zoom panel for educators Thursday, May 13 at 9:00—10:30 a.m. and for community members Tuesday, May 18 at 6:00—7:30 p.m. to discuss the research findings and policy recommendations and take questions and answers from the audience. For more information about the report, contact Erica McFadden at [email protected] or (602) 542-8977.

ADE/ESS is so excited to announce that the 2021 IDEA Conference is scheduled for September 13—15, 2021:

• September 13 and 14, 8:00 a.m.—4:00 p.m.
• September 15, 8:00 a.m. –12:00 p.m.

This year’s conference will be held via an on-line platform (but ESS is already hard at work planning for an in-person event for 2022). The event will feature over 75 professional learning opportunities addressing legal issues, special education compliance, preschool and secondary transition, social/emotional learning, and new this year, a content strand for related service providers.

Please bookmark the IDEA Conference page for updates and registration information, which will be coming soon. Requests for proposals will also be disseminated shortly – please consider submitting presentations that represent your creative and research-based work.

ESS appreciates this opportunity to learn with each of you and looks forward to the year ahead. Please send questions to the IDEA Conference Inbox.

Special Education Directors,

The opening of the ESS Special Education Program Approval System for the 2021–2022 school year will open on May 17, 2021. ESS plans to have all ED-P programs that wish to operate for fiscal year 2021 to 2022 reviewed and approved by the end of June. Failure to apply to the application may cause integrity failures for public education agencies (PEAs) toward the end of the upcoming school year, which may affect state payments.

Please see the following memo for more information.

For any questions on ED-P programs, please contact Victoria Naser at [email protected]. 

Special Education Directors,

Join the ESS Program Management team for a 60-minute webinar to highlight items Directors and Business Managers need to know to close out the 2021 fiscal year.

Topics will include:

• IDEA Consolidated-Entitlement Grant reimbursement requests
• Maintenance of Effort Compliance and Eligibility testing
• Preparing your PEA’s FY22 Budget
• American Rescue Plan Act funds
• Compensatory Education Claims
• 30-minute Q&A session

Register for the IDEA Fiscal Year Wrap-Up webinar, May 11 from 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

For information about the IDEA Consolidate-Entitlement grant other special education funding opportunities, e-mail the ESS Program Management Inbox.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

FY 2021 Special Education Year-End Data Checklist

This alert serves as a reminder to all PEAs that special education data should be reviewed for accuracy and edited if necessary, before the end of the fiscal year.

AzEDS is considered the system of record for the 2020-2021 school year and will close for current year data submissions at 5:00 PM on July 15, 2021. Data for all public education agencies (PEAs) must be complete and accurate in AzEDS for FY 2021. Data found to be inaccurate after the statewide data recalculation is subject to a data correction process (this may also meet the criteria of A.R.S. § 15-915) and must be corrected with the assistance of ADE School Finance personnel. ESS Data Management encourages our customers to strive for complete and accurate AzEDS data entry. Please see below for some helpful tips when submitting your data.

Reviewing AzEDS data:

Special education exit information must reside in AzEDS for all special education students: each student participating in your PEA's special education program must have both an exit date and exit reason in AzEDS, including students who stay in special education through the last scheduled day of school.

All students enrolled for membership must also have a year-end status or withdrawal code in AzEDS. Student records missing this information will fail AzEDS integrity processing. Students who are enrolled for membership through the last scheduled day of school must have a year-end status; students who withdraw before the last scheduled day of school must have a withdrawal code. Special education data coordinators may need to work with personnel at their PEA who submits membership information to AzEDS to ensure that the students' special education exit information and year-end or withdrawal status align.

Refer to the SPED Exit Validation Matrix to see which exit codes align with which withdrawal and year-end status codes.

Refer to the AzEDS SPED Codes document for a full description of all exit codes/reasons.

Review the SPED Participation Report (SPED72) for all schools in your PEA for Fiscal Year 2021 (July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021).

Ensure that every student who participated in special education at your school(s) is listed on the report and that the students' data are accurate.  

Ensure that every student who participated in special education at a Non-Public Organization (approved private day school, residential treatment center, head start or other) with your PEA as the District of Residence (DOR) is listed on the report, and that the students' data are accurate.

Review the Student Data Integrity Report (INTEG15) to identify any student records failing State SPED integrity and FED SPED integrity. If possible, ensure that you have enough time to upload corrections to AzEDS and verify whether the uploaded data corrected the errors.  Troubleshooting documents to aid in resolving integrity errors can be found on our webpage under SPED Integrity Error Tools.

ESS Data Management encourages public education agencies (PEAs) to begin reviewing AzEDS data as soon as possible.

ESS Annual Data requirements:

The ESS Annual Data Collection (ADC) application extracts student exit data from AzEDS. Refer to the Exit instructions within the ADC application to ensure that all students' exit data are complete and accurate in AzEDS and aligns appropriately with withdrawal or yearend status by 5:00 PM on July 15, 2021 to ensure the data will be complete and accurate on the exit reports in ESS Annual Data.

Disciplinary data for all special education students must be submitted to the ESS Discipline Data Collection (DDC) application by 5:00 PM on July 15, 2021 for inclusion on the discipline reports in the ESS Annual Data application.

If you have any questions, please direct them to ESS Data Management.

Special Education Administrators and Preschool Program Coordinators,

Please review this memo regarding the need to correct the use of “Not Observed Due to School Closure” for Child Outcomes reporting in Teaching Strategies Gold.

Feel free to email the Early Childhood Special Education Unit with any questions.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT     

ESS Annual Data Collection application is now open.

We are pleased to announce the ESS Annual Data Collection (ADC) application is open and available to all public education agencies (PEAs). PEAs are expected to complete this data collection requirement electronically, utilizing ADEConnect to access the online application via the ESS Portal for FY 2021. 

Timelines:

The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) requires Annual SPED Data Collection information in order for Arizona to receive Part B IDEA funding. Therefore, failure to promptly submit your PEA’s data may cause an interruption of your federal funds and may also impact your PEA Determination. 

• Open Date: Monday, April 26, 2021 
• Exit & Discipline Data Submission Due Date: Thursday, July 15, 2021 by 5:00 PM 
• Data Certification Begins: Wednesday, July 21, 2021 
• ADC Due Date: Wednesday, August 4, 2021 

Training:

Training modules are intended to help PEAs and school personnel who are involved with special education data collection and reporting. Training modules relevant to this data collection are posted on the Training Videos webpage.

For questions pertaining to the ESS Annual Data Collection, please contact ESS Data Management at [email protected].

Special Education Directors,

Please see below for the IDEA Conference offerings in May:

May 4, 2021 from 4:00–5:00 p.m.

Imagining a Great Life for Your Son or Daughter: The Role of Employment

Presented by Sean Roy and Chris Tiffany

It may be difficult for families of youth with significant disabilities to imagine employment as part of their future. However, we know that employment is possible for all people, regardless of level of disability. The secret is for families to see employment as a possibility and to find the right supports to help each youth to be successful. This session will describe why paid employment in the community is so important to a person leading a “great life.” Common concerns will be addressed, and suggested actions will be provided so that families can embark on a clear path toward finding a meaningful job for their child.

May 6, 2021 from 2:45–4:00 p.m.

Facilitating Student Work Experiences: Tools, Strategies, and Collaborating Part 1: Practical Strategies for Discovering Strengths and Engaging Families

Presented by Sean Roy and Chris Tiffany

Research suggests that meaningful work experiences in high school are a significant predictor of employment success for adults with disabilities. Providing individualized work experiences to students requires effective collaborations and the engagement of families and employers. Engagement of families and employers is consistently reported to be the biggest challenge in the transition process. This webinar series will offer real-world strategies reinforced by activities and shared tools that will help attendees to improve the quality of student work experiences and increase family and employer involvement. Improving work experiences for students with disabilities requires interagency teams to embrace the possibility of competitive employment for all and for those teams to have practical tools and strategies that fit into current schedules and workloads. This session will provide foundational information on Employment First and on supporting students to reach their employment goals. An understanding of the employment process will be established, and the Positive Personal Profile (PPP) will be introduced as the driver of the process. Aspects of effective family engagement will be outlined, as will the use of the structured family interview to build partnerships and gather information.

May 13, 2021 from 2:45–4:00 p.m.

Facilitating Student Work Experiences: Tools, Strategies, and Collaborating Part 2: Engaging Employers and Setting Interagency Roles

Presented by Sean Roy and Dale Verstegen

Research suggests that meaningful work experiences in high school are a significant predictor of employment success for adults with disabilities. Providing individualized work experiences to students requires effective collaborations and the engagement of families and employers. Engagement of families and employers is consistently reported to be the biggest challenge in the transition process. This webinar series will offer real-world strategies reinforced by activities and shared tools that will help attendees to improve the quality of student work experiences and increase family and employer involvement. The one piece of facilitating work experiences that makes educators and employment professionals uncomfortable is speaking with employers. All too often, students are placed into work experiences based on existing relationships with businesses or by using a “place and pray” approach. This session will illustrate a new model of engaging employers that is based on existing employer networks and learning about their labor needs and goals (rather than jumping directly to asking for something). In addition, the importance of clarifying interagency roles within a Job Development Plan will be discussed.

May 18, 2021 from 4:00–5:00 p.m.

Assistive Technology Services at Arizona Colleges and State Universities

Presented by Michael Buckley

Entering college or a university is a big step for a student. Navigating available assistive technology (AT) services can make that step harder. In the first part of this session, you will learn about the general availability of assistive technology in higher education. During the second part, specific details of AT services in county colleges and state universities will be presented. The intent of this presentation is to give you practical information that you can use as you prepare for and start the next stage of your education.

May 27, 2021 from 2:45–4:00 p.m.

Finding Success Through Resilience

Presented by Derek Clark

Derek Clark’s inspiring program provides insight and specific tools that will assist professionals in connecting with vulnerable and grieving youth. Professionals will gain understanding and knowledge about childhood responses to traumatic experiences as well as how to ask questions that build trust and shape futures. Every professional working with challenging youth has a purpose: to build a relationship of trust, to help them to reclaim their dignity and self-worth, and to know that their past mistakes do not have to infect their future. Derek will give participants insight into his personal childhood journey of 13 years in the foster care system and the key reasons why he did not turn out to be an addict, incarcerated, or dead. He will take you down his road of hate, anger, mistrust in adults, violent tendencies, rejection, lack of love, child abuse, and the memories that haunted his life. He believes that by changing the way you look at youth you can significantly impact their lives.

You can register by selecting sessions listed above or please visit the IDEA Conference web page

• The Professional sessions will take place on Thursday afternoons from 2:45–4:00 p.m.
• Youth and Family sessions will take place on Tuesday afternoons from 4:00–5:00 p.m.
• Participants must register 48 hours in advance to guarantee needed accommodations.

If you have questions, please email the conference inbox.

Distance Learning adjustments to the FY 2021 Base Support Level have been recalculated and will appear on page 4 of the APOR55 and CHAR55 reports. The updated adjustment amounts are based on Distance Learning Reports submitted by Friday, April 16th and updated Average Daily Membership for all districts and charters.

A complete list of the adjustment calculations and amounts is below:

FY 2021 Distance Learning Base Support Level Adjustments as of 5-1-2021

To revise your 2021 budget, please see the posted Hot Topic for instructions.