Updates

Are you looking for Occupational Therapists (OTs) and/or Occupational Therapy Assistants?

On October 15—16, 2021, ADE/ESS will be recruiting for OT personnel on behalf of all public education agencies (PEAs) at the Arizona Occupational Therapy Association’s annual fall conference. ESS will operate a booth in the exhibit hall to promote the advantages of working in a school setting and distribute flyers listing all current and anticipated OT vacancies in Arizona public schools. We will also run a banner ad on the conference website directing OTs to the Arizona Education Employment Board.

The ADE/ESS is pleased to present A Sweet Taste of Language Sampling: The SUGAR Method for Early Childhood SLPs, a virtual three-part professional learning opportunity for speech-language pathologists working in the preschool and/or kindergarten settings. The Arizona Department of Education is not an ASHA CE provider; however, these hours will count towards maintenance of ASHA certification. There is no registration fee to attend this training, but seats are limited.

The ESS Program Management team has announced the FY22 webinar series of topics related to IDEA federal funding. Please visit the ESS Program Management website to register for each Zoom session and read session descriptions. The webinar series will take place on Tuesdays at 11:00 a.m.

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 three-part series 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 series is for all educators! Participants can earn a total of 4.5 professional development credits for attending the entire series.

The ADE/ESS Secondary Transition team would like to thank those who participated in the 2021 PSO data collection season. The PSO Survey helps PEAs collect and report information to meet Indicator 14 requirements. Between June 1 and September 30 of this year, PEAs statewide worked hard to reconnect with former students who had IEPs when they exited high school during the 2019–2020 school year. Through their efforts, 6,245 former students responded to the survey, for a 78.7% participation rate with 71.8% of respondents engaged in postsecondary education/training or employment. A more detailed view of this year's PSO Survey results will be posted on the PSO Website by October 31, 2021.

Project EASEL, in partnership with ADE/ESS, would like to invite you and your staff to tune into the Exploring Strategies for Social Emotional Learning Fall and Spring series (see attachment). We plan to share a variety of information and strategies that will support your understanding and implementation of Assertiveness, Self-Efficacy, and Self-Regulation.

November Math Office Hours

The ADE Math Team has scheduled office hours to allow educators to meet together to network, problem-solve, and develop solutions to allow all Arizona teachers and students to continue to feel supported and to be successful.

Grade-band meetings are provided for all math teachers, including special education teachers! These grade-band meetings will include opportunities for networking, problem solving, and sharing different implementation models. Office hours are one hour long with an additional 30 minutes at the end for a Q & A session. Participants can earn one hour of professional development credit for each session attended.

The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will be hosting our next Special Education Data Updates live webinar on Wednesday, October 20th from 2pm – 3pm.

Special Education Directors,

The ESS Program Management team has announced the FY22 webinar series of topics related to IDEA federal funding. Please visit the ESS Program Management website to register for each Zoom session and read session descriptions. The webinar series will take place on Tuesdays at 11:00 a.m.

A new Data Quality Validation integrity rule -51002 will be introduced into the integrity process on FY22 Enrollment data shortly. This update is a continuation of our effort to ensure clean data for the state. A new one-sheet Integrity Tool is now available on our AzEDS SPED Reporting webpage for troubleshooting tips for Integrity Rule -51002.