OSERS published updates to "A Transition Guide to Postsecondary Education and Employment for Students and Youth with Disabilities, August 2020" to advance the office's efforts in ensuring that all students and youth with disabilities are equipped with the skills and knowledge to achieve their post-school and career goals.

In this updated transition guide, OSERS added information about dual enrollment and the ABLE Act. OSERS also hopes this transition guide will help students and youth with disabilities and their families to better understand how the state education agencies (SEA), the local education agencies (LEA), and the vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies work together to facilitate improved outcomes for students and youth with disabilities.

• A Transition Guide to Postsecondary Education and Employment for Students and Youth with Disabilities (August 2020) 
• Letter from RSA Commissioner and OSEP Director on the importance of collaboration between special education and vocational rehabilitation related to secondary transition 

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT   

FY20 Annual Data Collection (ADC) – Final Submission 

 This is a friendly reminder that the FY20 ESS Annual Data Collection application is available and accessible to PEAs. Be aware, there are two separate due dates involved in this data collection reporting requirement. 

 Disciplinary incident data for students with disabilities is extracted from the ESS Discipline Data Collection (DDC) application located in the ESS portal available in ADEConnect. All discipline data reporting must be finalized by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, September 15, 2020 in the DDC application. 

 The Final Submission process for the FY20 ADC is planned to begin on September 16, 2020. ADC is due in its entirety by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, September 23, 2020. 

 To review ADC training videos, go to the ESS Data Management website and click on "Training Videos".  If you have any questions, direct them to [email protected]. 

Converging Ideas: Connections for Student Success!

Special Education Stakeholders, 

The ADE/ESS is pleased to present the opening of registration for Arizona’s 2020 IDEA Conference, Converging Ideas: Connections for Student Success! We are excited that the IDEA Virtual Conference is here and we are ready to open professional and personal development for this school year with rich and relevant learning opportunities. 

Throughout the 2020—2021 school year, the conference will feature 24 sessions targeted to professionals in the education community, and 18 sessions targeted to youth and families. The youth and family sessions will be held on Tuesdays from 7:00—8:00 p.m., and the professional sessions will take place on Thursdays from 2:45—4:00 p.m. IDEA Virtual Conference professional learning opportunities will be provided to participants FREE for the entire school year!!

The IDEA Virtual Conference Kick Off begins next week! The youth and family strand kick off is Tuesday, September 1 – and the professional strand kick off is Thursday, September 3.

Please note: The IDEA Virtual Conference will host learning opportunities in a regular schedule throughout the year as follows:

• Professional sessions will be held on the 1^st, 2^nd, and 4^th Thursday of every month from 2:45 p.m.—4:00 p.m.
• Youth and Family sessions will be held on the 1^st and 3^rd Tuesday of every month from 7:00 p.m.—8:00 p.m.

Information, session descriptions, dates, and registration information can all be found at /ideaconference. Session information will be made available approximately one month in advance on the website so that participants can reserve time in their busy schedules for important learning and connecting opportunities.

Please contact Aanya Rispoli for any questions related to the 2020 IDEA Virtual Conference. We appreciate all of the hard work being undertaken at the beginning of the school year and look forward to a productive year ahead. 

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

New AzEDS Portal Report: SPED74 - SPED Exit Report

The SPED74 – SPED Exit Report is a new report now available in the AzEDS Portal. This post-integrity report will populate students for your PEA who are ages 13 – 22 based on the Calculated Age for Exit. The SPED74 report is to aid in the determination of validating exit data for the ESS Annual Data Collection (ADC). This report will be available for FY21 data and forward only. 

This report lists student information: 

• District Student ID 
• State Student ID 
• Last Name 
• First Name 
• Grade 
• Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) 
• LRE Entry and Exit Dates 
• LRE Exit Reason 

Along with the following columns populated with “Y” or “N”: 

Main SPED School 

• SPED LRE is reported as Primary 

Last Known Exit 

• SPED LRE Exit Date is the highest exit date reported in AzEDS statewide.   
• If another LRE has begun without a reported end date, this will still populate as “Y” for last known exit. 

In SPED B.O.Y. (Beginning of Year) 

• This is defined as the first two weeks of the school year for PEAs. For Arizona Online Instruction schools (AOIs) and Dropout Recovery Programs (DRPs), this is defined as the first six weeks of the school year.  

ADC (Annual Data Collection) Exit Eligible 

• Main SPED School, Last Known Exit and In SPED B.O.Y. must be “Y” 
• Must be ADC valid SPED Exit Code: SPED01, SPED02, SPED03, SPED04, SPED07. SPED05 is valid only if it is the last known exit in the current reporting year.  

Calculated age for Exit 

• Age will populate if calculated age is within 13-22 years old. 
• If exit date is prior to October 1 of the Fiscal Year of the report, then age is calculated as of October 1 of the previous Fiscal Year. 
• If exit date is after October 1 of the Fiscal Year of the report, then age is calculated as of October 1 of the Fiscal Year of the report. 

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

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

New SPED Integrity Rule -40078

Effective Fiscal Year 2021, a new integrity rule will be implemented for SPED Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) Exit Code SPED05 (Moved, known to be continuing).

Integrity Rule -40078: Exit code SPED05 is invalid with continuing site enrollment.

This integrity rule will validate the student is not enrolled at the same site the next in-session calendar day after a SPED05 exit is reported by the same District of Residence (DOR). This validates only the next in-session calendar day after the reported exit date. This rule will not apply to entities without calendars.

This rule has been added to the SPED Integrity Rules Reference document. A new integrity one-sheet tool has been published on the ESS Data Management website to aid troubleshooting this error: Integrity Tool -40078.

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

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT 

RESCHEDULED FY20 ESS Discipline Data Training Webinar

Due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control, ESS Data Management has rescheduled the Discipline Data Collection (DDC) training webinar from August 25 to September 2, 2020, from 10am - 11am. For previously registered attendees, no further action is required.

This training will expand on the overview training presented on February 25, 2020, available on the training videos webpage:

/specialeducation/data-management/dmtrainingvideos/.

Click here to register.

If you have any questions, please direct them to [email protected].

The ADE/ESS Secondary Transition Unit is excited to bring back Transition Tuesdays for Fall in the 2020-21 school year. There will be multiple opportunities to engage with the team while they host both transition-related topics as well as office hours. Registration will be required for all events, and a link will be disseminated 1 week before each event. We hope you can attend Transition Tuesdays!

For detailed information regarding Transition Tuesdays, please review this flyer.

Transition Tuesday Topics:

Tuesday, September 1, 2020 @ 2:30 p.m.

• Let’s Google It! Predictors of Post-School Success Series: Digital Resources for Self-Advocacy/Self-Determination

Tuesday, October 6, 2020 @ 2:30 p.m.

• ECAP without AZCIS

Tuesday, November 17, 2020 @ 2:30 p.m.

• Pump the Brakes: Merging Person-Centered Planning & the Transition Planning Process

Tuesday, November 17, 2020 @ 2:30 p.m.

• In the Know with PSO: Preparing for Post-School Outcomes Data Collection

Office Hours:

Third Tuesday of the month at 2:30 p.m.

• September 15, 2020
• October 20, 2020
• December 15, 2020

If you have any questions regarding Transition Tuesdays, please email the transition team.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT 

Integrity Error -10003 will be Deactivated

Integrity Error -10003: For Public SPED Institution districts, DOR must match the DOA 

Due to changes in reporting to Arizona State School for the Deaf and Blind (ASDB) sites in FY21, Integrity Error -10003 will be deactivated.  Any PEA currently failing this rule should disregard.   

Beginning FY21, regardless of how the student is placed at ASDB, whether through a voucher or  fee-for-service, the AzEDS reporting responsibility defaults to the district of residence (DOR). ASDB can no longer be reported as a valid DOR.  Please refer to the ASDB Student Reporting document for more information. 

Special Education Directors,

Please join us for the next episode of Thursday Afternoon LEarning Series, or TALES, on Thursday, August 20 from 2:30 p.m.—4:00 p.m., when STAR Autism Support presents, “Navigating a Socially-Distanced Classroom for Students with Significant Learning Needs.” Due to COVID-19 and related guidelines from state and local health officials, school staff are faced with the challenges of maintaining social distancing on campus for the 2021 school year. STAR trainer, Kara Magee-Arick, will discuss best practices and tips for navigating the new guidelines for students with significant learning needs, as well as creative, evidence-based practices for teaching students routines focused on social distancing, the importance of wearing a mask, and staying healthy through self-care routines. In addition to providing free visual supports and resources, Jennifer will also discuss ways to support families navigating new challenges at home. Participants will learn strategies and tools that can be used with students in pre-K through postsecondary classrooms.

During this TALES session, participants will also learn about the resources provided by STAR Autism Support supported by ESS available during this unprecedented period of remote learning. All Arizona educators may now receive FREE access to The STAR Online Learning System (SOLS) through STAR Autism Support for 2021 school year. This free access includes:

• Leveled curriculum designed for students with autism and other developmental disabilities
• Extensive scripted lesson plans across three strands and eight curricular areas (greeting/circle, academic lessons, language, functional academics, natural communication, engaging in diverse activities, functional routines, independent work)
• Theme-based and routine-centered curriculum for primary and secondary students

Please click here to register. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Participant registration is first-come, first-served and is not limited to special educators – feel free to forward.

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

Special Education Directors,

ADE/ESS is pleased to announce that the SY 2020-2021 Monitoring Manual is now posted to the Program Support and Monitoring website. ESS/Program Support & Monitoring (ESS/PSM) encourages all PEAs to review the manual for training purposes and to ensure compliance with the state general supervision system. The manual is a tool that can be used by all PEAs regardless of monitoring cycle year. Two highlights include training tools located in the appendix to assist with goals and specially designed instruction, and guide steps that include statutory direct citations for a quick reference when needed. We hope this assists in programming and documentation as you start off the new school year.

As a reminder, programmatic monitoring activities are required under the IDEA and take place throughout the school year unless waivers are granted or legislation is changed. ESS/PSM continues to be responsive to PEA needs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and will make every effort to work with PEAs to ensure monitoring activities are able to continue. ESS/PSM may need to modify a PEA’s monitoring activities, dependent on individual circumstances, to ensure activities are completed within the 2020-2021 school year. 

Please contact your PEA’s assigned program specialist with questions. Thank you.