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.

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 

Special Education Directors,The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) will hold its annual convention in Louisville, Kentucky, on March 1–4. Thousands of special educators and related service providers will attend this event. It also will draw large numbers of students enrolled in special education teacher preparation programs.

Greetings,Writing better goals and effectively monitoring student progress towards those goals are foundational skills for Related Service Providers. Positive student outcomes can only be achieved when school-based therapists are able to do both consistently. Good data on good goals leads to effective interventions and allows therapists to write better progress reports in less time. And we know that “time spent on paperwork” is a leading cause of therapist burnout. For all of these reasons, we are very excited about the next presentation in our series of Related Service Provider Seminars: Creating Goals that Are Easy to Monitor and a Stress-Free Companion Monitoring Tool with Carlo Vialu, PT, MBA, and Peggy Morris, OTD, OTR/L, BCP. This workshop is designed for Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, and Speech-Language Pathologists and will convey ASHA, APTA, and AOTA CEUs. Please share with your staff.Creating Goals That Are Easy to Monitor and A Stress-Free Companion Monitoring Tool

Special Education Directors,The College and Career Competencies (CCC’s) Project, in partnership with ADE, would like to invite you to tune into the spring professional learning series. We plan to share a variety of information and strategies that will support your understanding and implementation of assertiveness, self-efficacy, and self-regulation. Details for the upcoming professional learning session:Teaching Students Respectful Communication: Understanding AssertivenessFebruary 21, 2023, 3:00–4:00 p.m.

ADE/ESS is excited to share that Arizona’s 2023 IDEA Conference will be held in person from August 21–23, 2023, at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Phoenix. This year’s theme is Creating Connections and Strengthening Systems.

Special Education Stakeholders,ADE/ESS is excited to share that Arizona’s 2023 IDEA Conference will be held in person from August 21–23, 2023, at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Phoenix.This year’s theme is Creating Connections and Strengthening Systems. This cross-stakeholder event is intended for special education administrative staff, youth and young adults with disabilities, family members and caregivers, state agency staff, educators, service providers, and community members committed to student success. The event 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 content for related service providers.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT       Special Education Data Updates Webinar Wednesday, February 15th    The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will host the next Special Education Data Updates live webinar on Wednesday, February 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       

Special Education Directors,The ADE/ESS Professional Learning and Sustainability unit is pleased to announce two “grow your own” opportunities for educators in Arizona public schools.The General Education Teacher to Special Education Teacher (GETSET) program provides tuition reimbursement to certified general education teachers who want to pursue a career change to become certified in an area of special education. The Special Education Teacher Tuition Assistance (SETTA) program provides tuition reimbursement to paraprofessionals and educational interpreters that leads to special education teaching certification.

Special Education Directors,All school districts and charter schools are required to annually administer the State Performance Plan Indicator 8 Parent Involvement Survey to parents of students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP). The survey will open on February 2 via ADEConnect ESS Data Surveys.