Special Education Directors,

To ensure compliance with federal reporting and program requirements for the fiscal year 2021, the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) is compiling data for student's special education data on October 1, 2020. Reports will be prepared using special education data that has been submitted by Arizona school districts, charter schools, and other public education agencies (PEAs) via their respective student information systems to ADE and has Passed Integrity in AzEDS accordingly. This system is a part of the October 1 Enrollment Data.

Please read the below memo (originally disseminated in November 2020) from the Arizona Department of Education regarding important information and deadlines for October 1, 2020 Enrollment Data.

Read the Memo

Student special education data must be submitted by 5:00 PM on January 15, 2021.

Please use the contact information noted in the memo for questions.

Special Education Directors,

Vouchered students are normally reported by the district of residence (DOR) that is responsible for his or her education. In certain circumstances for students receiving services through an ASDB regional cooperative, a student may be attending a public school outside of the DOR. In this case, the district that operates the school the student is attending would be considered the district of attendance (DOA). As an example, a child in a high school grade that resides in an elementary-only district would attend a school outside his or her district's boundaries, such as a neighboring unified or high school district. In these cases, it is expected that the DOA (high school or unified district) would submit the data transactions. This memo provides more guidance on this topic.

For any additional questions, please contact ESS Data Management at [email protected].

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 January 19 ADEConnect ESS Data Surveys. For more information, visit the survey web page.

Furthermore, ESS is happy to announce that Traveling the Special Education Highway is now available in Spanish. Share this excellent family-friendly resource with parents to guide them through the process and strengthen family engagement.

For more information, please contact Becky Raabe at [email protected].

Special Education Directors,

Registration for the 2021 Arizona Education Virtual Job Fair is closing soon! Registration is open to Arizona public school districts and charter schools on a first-come, first-served basis until Wednesday, January 27, 2021.

Conducting recruitment efforts virtually allows schools to recruit without geographic limitations and access a much wider pool of talent. The event will take place on an online platform that provides an authentic job fair experience in a virtual setting, including:

• User-friendly booth set-up and custom booth design to suit your branding requirements
• Job seekers will be able to review and save your marketing materials and videos
• Live, one-on-one chat with applicants
• Ability to search candidates’ resumes before and on the day of the event
• Live, one-on-one video interviews with candidates
• Unlimited number of recruiters per booth

The cost of registration is $250.

For questions, please email Julie Lenza.

Register for the 2021 Arizona Education Virtual Job Fair here!

If you are unable to attend this year’s job fair, post your job vacancies on the Arizona Education Employment Board and take advantage of the increased activity on the job board during and immediately after the job fair.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT 

FY21 ESS October 1 Data Collection UPDATE

ESS Data Management has released two new training videos. These training videos focuses on Phase II: Reconciliation so individuals can pick and choose the relevant training videos that meets their needs.

As a friendly reminder, please continue checking the SPED07 report on a regular basis during this time, even if your PEA’s counts reconcile early in the process. Please ensure Phase II: Reconciliation is completed in AzEDS by Friday, January 15, 2021 at 5:00 P.M.  Note there is no submission action for Phase II. Ensuring your Verification and SPED07 counts reconcile on January 15th will indicate completion.

PEAs that are unable to reconcile will need to complete Phase III: Non Reconciliation.  PEAs that are required to complete Phase III will be contacted after the January 15th deadline.

The ESS October 1 Data application is found in the ESS Portal via ADEConnect. If the ESS October 1 Data Collection button is greyed out, you must contact your local ADE Connect entity administrator for the proper role assignment to access the application: ESS October 1 Data LEA User, or ESS October 1 Data LEA Signer.

Instructions and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) are located within the ESS October 1 Data application, under the Help tab.

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