ADE/ESS is acutely aware of the shortage of qualified special education teachers and related service providers across Arizona. ESS/PLS has multiple activities and programs to support LEAs who confront this shortage every school year.
ESS/PLS hosts a free job board for Arizona schools to post vacancies in general and special education and review teacher candidate resumes. ESS/PLS also hosts job fairs and conducts multiple in-state and national recruiting activities on behalf of our schools.
Finally, ESS conducts an annual survey of all public education agencies in Arizona to help track, quantify, and understand special education personnel shortages.
You can download a fillable document for your reference. The form is optional and intended to be a helpful tool to assist with data collecting prior to inputting data into the Teacher Attrition Survey Application. This form is NOT submitted as part of the data collection process.
FAQ
Accessing the Survey
This data submission is required of all PEAs in Arizona.
The Teacher Attrition Survey is within the application “ESS Data Surveys,” which you access through the Exceptional Student Services Portal in ADE Connect. You can access ADEConnect either through your student information system (SIS) or via the ADEConnect portal.
ADEConnect is an identity management system. It protects you as a user of ADE applications, and it protects ADE from unauthorized access. FERPA (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) and the Personally Identifiable Information (PII) Privacy Act (GSA 2180.1) dictates that personal information and student educational records are accessible by only those persons with a valid need. ADEConnect keeps ADE compliant with those regulations.
It is a violation of ADE’s Acceptable Use Policy to share IDs and passwords. Violators of this policy could face sanctions up to and including referral to appropriate law enforcement agencies. See the terms and conditions for more information.
You should be able to log on to ADEConnect using any web browser or your student information system (SIS).
No. Each survey question requires a response prior to final submission. If you leave a question blank, it will default to an answer of 0 (zero).
Section A
No. Please report the cumulative, total number of years the director has been employed as a special education director, in all places of employment. Our intent is to determine the range of AZ directors’ total years of experience.
Section B
No. Only count a position as vacant if it is filled by neither a contracted nor a district/charter employee.
Section C
Yes. Some questions ask you to report the total number of FTEs. Follow-up questions ask you to report salaried positions versus those employed by a contract agency.
No, only report FTE positions (OPEN) if there is neither an employed nor contracted related services provider in that position.
Yes. Only report a teacher or service provider as employed if they are under contract with your district or charter. If you are not certain if a particular employee is staff or contracted, contact your HR officer to verify.
It is the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment.
Include any staff from a contract agency or staff providing Co-Op services from ASDB to students attending your PEA campus (not an ASDB site).
Other Questions
Determine the number of hours worked by the contracted or part-time employee during the week of October 1 (e.g., 5 hours).
Determine number of hours in your PEA's work week (e.g., 40 hours).
Divide number of hours worked by the contracted or part-time employee by the number of hours in your PEA's work week (e.g., 5 hours/40 hours= .125 hours).
Questions related to troubleshooting technical challenges may be directed to the ESS Inbox via email. For questions related to the content or intent of a question, please email [email protected].
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.
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):
