Special Education Directors,

ESS/Program Support and Monitoring (PSM) is proud to announce the release of the SY 2022–2023 Programmatic Monitoring Manual. This manual is a critical document for public education agencies (PEAs) participating in monitoring activities and can also be used by all PEAs to self-assess programmatic strengths and needs. 

ESS hopes this document assists PEAs in the review of systemic, programmatic needs within their entities.

For questions about the SY 2022—2023 Programmatic Monitoring Manual or programmatic monitoring in general, please contact your PEA’s assigned PSM specialist.

Special Education Directors,

Please see the following professional development opportunity jointly offered by ADE/ESS teams:

The Heart, Art, Craft, and Sciences of Reading/Writing for the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities

The Exceptional Student Services Professional Learning and Sustainability, Special Populations, and Assistive Technology teams are partnering to offer a professional learning opportunity focused on a literacy strengths-based teaching and learning approach for students with low-incidence disabilities in grades K–12.

This day-and-a-half, in-person training will focus on the sciences of reading and writing, adapted to meet the complex needs of all students at Tier 1. The Assistive Technology team will also share tips, tricks, and tools on using technology to enhance reading and writing for all students. Educators will walk away with skills and strategies that can be implemented the next day. This literacy training is for all educators! Participants can earn 10.75 professional development credits for attending the training.

September 23, 2022

• 8:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m. (lunch provided)

September 24, 2022

• 8:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.

Materials

Participants will receive the book, Fundamentals of Literacy Instruction and Assessment, Second Edition.

Cost

The fee for the class is $40 (includes textbook and Friday lunch).

Location

Arizona Department of Education

100 N. 15th Avenue, Suite #300

Phoenix, AZ 85007

Please email Sandra Figueroa or email Christy Hegebush with any questions.  

Register today!

The FY 2023 K-3 Reading budget and FY 2022 K-3 Reading AFR zip files have been posted to the LEA Budget Resources page of the School Finance website.

The direct link to the files are District | Charter  Updated Package: 8/3/2022 3:00PM

The completed files must be uploaded via the Common Logon by October 1, 2022. 

Thank you!

Special Education Directors,

Please see the following information regarding an external professional development opportunity made available by the Arizona Deafblind Project:

Do you or someone you know work with a student with combined vision and hearing loss?

We are pleased to announce registration is now open for the Arizona Deafblind Project's Intervener Training Program. This training addresses the need for high-quality, evidence-based practices for anyone who serves children and youth with combined vision and hearing loss. 

Our flyer describes this training in more depth and includes a syllabus for this year’s Cohort. If you would like more information on the Open Hands, Open Access (OHOA) learning modules we utilize, check out this Introductory Video.

Thank you in advance for considering this training for yourself, your colleagues, and/or those you supervise. Please consider forwarding this information to others who may be interested. Here is the link for ONLINE REGISTRATION, which closes on August 26th. Our work begins together in September.  

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out to any one of the Arizona Deafblind Project Staff. 

Megan Mogan, Deafblind Specialist 

Amy Trollop, Deafblind Specialist

Pat Jung, Deafblind Specialist

Lisa Yencarelli, Project Director

The data capture date for the September payment is Monday, August 15th, at 5:00 p.m. September payment will be based off current-year ADM for school districts and charters.  The calculation of current-year ADM is dependent on a certified calendar for all non-AOI/DRP-only schools.

It is imperative to ensure your calendars have been submitted, certified, and passing integrity by 5pm on August 14, 2022. 

Instructions for certifying a calendar can be found here.

To view all data capture dates for FY23, please click here.

To view our posted guidance "Defining the Instructional Calendar", please click here.

To view the Calendar Integrity Reference Guide, please click here.

To view the slides from the calendar webinar on 7/27/21, please click here.

Reminders regarding calendars:

• Calendars must be submitted, certified, and passing Integrity by 8/14/2022 to avoid Integrity failures which will affect the September payment.
• Calendars can be freely submitted and edited until 8/31, however, each time they are edited they will need to be re-certified.
• After 8/31, a HelpDesk ticket will need to be submitted to request access to edit a submitted calendar (which will require the calendar to be re-certified).

Special Education Directors,

Please see information about a external professional development opportunity:

Are you interested in improving individualized education programs (IEPs)? Are you looking for resources and strategies to help prepare educators to promote progress for students with disabilities? Join the PROGRESS Center for a free two-day virtual learning event, Prepping for PROGRESS! Adding New Tools to Your Backpack (Toolbox) for the Start of School on August 3-4, 2022. The event will focus on sharing information, resources, and lessons learned to support the development and implementation of high-quality educational programming for students with disabilities. ​Learn more about the event and register for sessions on the PROGRESS website!  

Every new school year, the School Finance Analyst Team observes an increase in duplicate State Student IDs reported. Creation of duplicate student IDs can lead to incorrect funding and be time consuming for districts, charters and the School Finance Analyst Team to resolve. Please read the information below to avoid creating duplicate student IDs this year.

A State Student ID (SSID) is a unique identifier used to report student data to AzEDS. An SSID is also known as an EdFI ID, SAIS Number or AzEDS ID.  To prevent creating a duplicate SSID, please ensure you are researching the student’s ID history.  

If a new student is enrolling in your charter or district, review the student’s records thoroughly to determine if an SSID has been previously assigned. If a student has previously been educated in an Arizona public school they will have an SSID assigned.

Per A.R.S § 15-828 an acceptable document to enroll a student includes:

1. A certified copy of the pupil's birth certificate.

2. Other reliable proof of the pupil's identity and age, including the pupil's baptismal certificate, an application for a social security number or original school registration records and an affidavit explaining the inability to provide a copy of the birth certificate.

3. A letter from the authorized representative of an agency having custody of the pupil pursuant to title 8, chapter 2 certifying that the pupil has been placed in the custody of the agency as prescribed by law.

If your Student Information System (SIS) searches SSIDs but multiple possible SSIDs are returned, utilize the AzEDS Identity Tool to validate you are choosing the correct SSID. Do not select an SSID in your SIS without further research. If multiple SSIDs populate, please report the IDs via Help Desk so the duplicate SSIDs can be retired.

If you are still uncertain about which SSID to select, review the student’s records if applicable. The Official Notice of Pupil Withdrawal Form will have the SSID listed on the form from the previous school.

If no results are returned for assigning an SSID from your SIS, please ensure you have exhausted all possible resources before assigning a new SSID. 

• Review students records

  • Verify the name was reported correctly

  • Check for misspellings, multiple last names, name order, hyphenation, etc.

• Utilize the AzEDS Identity Tool

• Contact the student’s previous school for additional information. Contact your SIS for additional support

• Create a HelpDesk ticket to request assistance on choosing the correct SSID

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT 

SEDD Certification begins tomorrow July 20th

Certification of final FY22 Special Education Data begins tomorrow July 20th, and is due by August 3rd. 

Requirements for certification in the Special Education Data Dashboard (SEDD) application include:

• Review of SPED Exit students who qualify for SPED exit as outlined in the SPED Exit Flow Chart.
  • Review of SPED Exiters was due 7/15, aligning with the close of FY22 AzEDS.
  • Any sites not reviewed will still require certification; a comment box is available on the certification page for any additional information.
• Preschool Transition: required for PEAs that provide special education and related services to preschoolers. Data entry involves information on students who transferred from Part C (Arizona Early Intervention Program) to Part B (PEA preschool program).
• Students without Disabilities: data entry is required for PEAs to identify whether or not educational services were provided to students without disabilities reported as long-term suspended or expelled in AzEDS.

Instructions for completion of the FY22 SEDD application are available on our ESS Data Management website.

ADEConnect Roles required for completion:

• ESS SEDD: LEA User
  • Allow for data entry into the application
• ESS SEDD: LEA Signer
  • Allow for data entry into the application and final certification

For any questions regarding this issue please feel free to contact [email protected].

Greetings, school leaders!

As you prepare for the new school year, our ESSER team reminds you that we are approaching the September 30th end date for ESSER I.  All funds must be expended by this date (9/30/22).  Completion reports (CRs) opened 7/1/22 for those LEAs who have expended all ESSER l funds and are ready to close out FY21 ESSER l.  The absolute due date for ESSER l completion reports is 12/30/22.

Good News Regarding ESSER II and ESSER III Completion Reports

Unlike ESSER l, there will be a single completion report for ESSER ll and a single completion report for ESSER lll. This will remove the burden of completing a second application and budget with unspent carry-over funds.

CRs for ESSER ll will open on 10/1/22 for any LEAs who have completely expended ESSER ll funds and are ready to submit their completion report. ESSER ll funds must be expended no later than 9/30/23, and the single completion report for ESSER ll is due no later than 12/30/23.

CRs for ESSER lll will also open on 10/1/22.  LEAs may submit their completion report as soon as they have completely expended all ESSER lll funds. ESSER lll funds must be expended no later than 9/30/24, and the single completion report for ESSER lll is due no later than 12/30/24.

A Reminder About Fiscal Monitoring

If an LEA is selected for fiscal monitoring, they may be asked for a sampling of ESSER ll or lll expenditures as part of the monitoring even though the CR has not been completed. In this way, ADE can perform its ESSER funds fiduciary oversight responsibilities in a prudent manner.

Example Questions

1. My LEA has spent all of its ESSER l Funds. What is my next step?
   1. Complete the ESSER l CR now and submit it for approval in GME.
2. My LEA will expend all ESSER ll funds by 9/1/22. What should I do?
   1. The ESSER ll CR will open on 10/1/22.  At that time, the ESSER ll completion report and submit for approval in GME.
3. We project that our ESSER ll and lll funds will both be expended around 6/30/23. When should I do completion reports?
   1. CRs for both ESSER ll and lll will be open, so you will complete both CRs once all funds are expended and submit for approval in GME.

Please note: Completing CRs as soon as possible after grant funds are completely expended is highly recommended.

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

ESSER Set-Aside

Data reporting requirements for ADE ESSER-funded projects are due July 31 

LEAs and community-based organizations that received a portion of funds from the Arizona Department of Education set aside allotment of ESSER I, II, and III funds need to meet specific data reporting requirements. Data from the 2021-2022 School Year is due Sunday, July 31, 2022. Learn more about data reporting requirements on our ESSER Data Reporting webpage. 

Upcoming Back-to-School Webinars from Discovery Education 

All month Discovery Education is hosting Back-to-School webinars for Arizona teachers to get acquainted with the platform and all the tools – including new features in Discovery Education's Studio – before classes start. View this flyer for the webinar dates, times, descriptions, and registration links. 

If you previously encountered problems submitting the Vehicle Inventory report, the window has been extended to 8/15/22. It is imperative that ALL districts offering transportation submit Vehicle Inventory data or TSL WILL NOT be calculated for FY23.

The Transportation and Vehicle Inventory application is accessed through ADEConnect.

The FY23 calculation of TSL is dependent on Vehicle Inventory data being submitted during the current window which closes on 8/15/22. 

Questions regarding submitting Vehicle Inventory and Mileage data should be submitted via HelpDesk. Please note that charters are not required to submit this data.