On behalf of the Arizona Department of Education, Exceptional Student Services, and other partnering agencies, you are invited to submit your nominations for this year's Secondary Transition Services Awards, which will be presented at Arizona's 2023 IDEA Conference. 

ADE/ESS is requesting proposals that represent your creative and research-based work. Session proposals are due Wednesday, March 22, 2023.

Department of Education Launches "Empower Hotline"

Special Education Stakeholders,

Arizona’s 2023 IDEA Conference: Creating Connections and Strengthening Systems, will be held in person from August 21–23, 2023 at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Phoenix.

ADE/ESS is requesting proposals that represent your creative and research-based work. The conference will feature numerous professional learning opportunities, including IDEA legal issues, instructional practices, national trends and hot topics, special education compliance, preschool and secondary transition, and content for related service providers.

March's data capture for the April 21st payment is 3/15/23 at 5pm. 

PHOENIX – State schools chief Tom Horne has sent the State Board of Education four proposals for changes to the handbook regarding the administration of the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA) program. This is with an eye toward improving service for parents and students and to comply with updates to state law.

Special Education Directors,

It has been two years since ADE conducted the 2021 Instructional Accommodations Survey, a biennial inquiry that has informed ADE of accommodation trends since 2015. The information collected from the survey assists in planning presentations and training for the field. We invite you and other personnel, including both general and special educators, related service providers, as well as support staff, who provide instruction for students with disabilities to take a few minutes to respond to this year’s survey.

Special Education Directors,

The Arizona Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ArSHA) will be holding its annual convention in Phoenix on March 31–April 1. There will be hundreds of Speech-Language Pathologists, Speech-Language Technicians, and Speech-Language Pathology Assistants attending this event. 

The Arizona Department of Education sponsors the public school strand at the convention to support high-quality, relevant professional learning for school-based speech personnel. This year’s sponsored topics include remediation of speech sound disorders and developmental language disorders, assistive technology (AT), augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), and supporting students who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing.

As a result of the unforeseen weather conditions in most of Northern Arizona, we would like to issue additional guidance on updating your AzEDS Instructional Calendars.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT 

Special Education Data Updates Webinar Wednesday, March 15th   

The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will host the next Special Education Data Updates live webinar on Wednesday, March 15th, from 2pm – 3pm. This session will cover a variety of data topics that will include (subject to change):   

• Reminders 
• Trending topics 
• Top 3 Integrity Errors 
• Q&A