Beginner's Guide to Data Management
The Exceptional Student Services (ESS) Data Management team is responsible for collecting, reviewing, validating, verifying, and analyzing special education data in Arizona as required under Section 618 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Getting Started
Welcome to the exciting world of Special Education Data Management. We recommend starting your SPED Data journey by watching the current fiscal year's Data Management Overview video found below.
The FY25 ESS Data Management Beginning of the Year provides a general overview of SPED reporting processes and updates for the 2024-2025 school year, including an overview of our website, the ESS Portal, the AzEDS portal and other useful resources.
ADEConnect
You will need access to ADEConnect. Contact your local ADEConnect Entity Administrator to request an ADEConnect User Account as well as permissions to the applications listed below. Necessary roles for each can be found in the sections below.
- Statement of Assurances
- AzEDS Portal / AzEDS SPED Reporting
- October 1 Data Collection (ODC)
- Special Education Data Dashboard (SEDD)
Don’t know who your ADEConnect Entity Admin is? Find your local ADEConnect entity administrator here.
A list of roles required for each application can be found in the sections below.
Need additional help? Please review the ADEConnect FAQs document or contact ADE Support for further assistance.
Special Education Data Updates (SEDU)
Join us every month as we discuss a variety of ESS Data Topics and Updates, complete with a live Q&A. These webinars are held the 3rd Wednesday of every month from 2pm - 3pm (subject to change).
Registration for each webinar is sent two weeks prior via our ESS Data Management Alerts.
View the archive of our past SEDU presentations here: Special Education Data Updates Webinars
Don't forget to sign up for our alerts.
Training Videos
Learn the basics of SPED data reporting by viewing past training on our Data Management Training Videos page.
Application and Portal Overviews
Under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), the representative body for Special Education for Arizona, Exceptional Student Services, is required to obtain assurances from Public Education Agencies (PEAs) to attest that they are meeting the requirements under state and federal statutes for special education in the state of Arizona. It is a requirement for all entities defined as PEAs regardless if they get federal funds or not. All PEAs must submit the IDEA Statement of Assurances (SOA) through the Exceptional Student Services Portal of ADEConnect. The SOA must be submitted by the Superintendent, Charter Holder, or Special Education Director of your organization before IDEA funding applications are approved in the Grants Management Enterprise system.
| Role | Permissions |
|---|---|
ESS Special Education: Signer | Signs the statement of assurances for the upcoming fiscal year to draw on the IDEA grant. Reserved for school SPED Directors, Superintendents, CEOs, Business Managers, Charter Holders, or equivalent titles ONLY. |
The AzEDS portal allows users to review SPED, enrollment and integrity rule feedback for data submitted through their Public Education Agency’s (PEAs) Student Information System (SIS). Each AzEDS portal report serves a unique purpose, such as helping users identify missing data or integrity errors. You can access the AzEDS portal from your applications list on your ADEConnect homepage.
New for FY24, discipline data will be reported in AzEDS. This will help improve the collection, use, and reporting of safety and discipline incident data for IDEA data reporting. Discipline data is extracted to pre-populate data within the SEDD application for PEAs to validate before submission. Additional information, including instructions for reporting, is available on our AzEDS SPED Reporting page.
Access
The following roles (assigned in ADEConnect) are required for SPED Directors and Data Managers:
| Role | Permissions |
|---|---|
| AzEDS Data Coordinator: Base Reports | Access to basic enrollment reports in the AzEDS Portal of ADEConnect |
| AzEDS Data Coordinator: SPED Reports | Access to SPED reports in the AzEDS Portal of ADEConnect |
| AzEDS Data Coordinator: Discipline Reports | Access to discipline reports in the AzEDS Portal of ADEConnect |
AzEDS Reports
With all of the ADE reports available to you, you may be asking yourself "What report should I use?" You can refer to the table below for a description of these helpful SPED-related reports.
| Report | Description |
|---|---|
| SPED10 | SPED Data Verification Report Verify raw data uploaded to AzEDS. Updated: Pre-integrity, up to 1 hour after your Student Information System (SIS) syncs with AzEDS. |
| SPED11 | Preschool Outcomes Report Verify raw data for preschool outcomes uploaded to AzEDS. Updated: Pre-integrity, up to 1 hour after your SIS syncs with AzEDS. |
| SPED12 | SPED Preschool Outcomes History Report: Provides a history of Preschool Outcomes up to the last enrollment reported by the entity viewing the report. Updated: Post-integrity, nightly. |
| SPED50 | SPED Concurrency Report Shows only concurrently reported SPED Primary Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) Entry and Exit Dates reported by another PEA to aid collaboration in correcting the concurrency. Updated: Post-integrity, nightly |
| SPED72 | SPED Participation Report View student's SPED need(s) and LRE. Details if student is passing/failing FED/SPED Integrity. Can filter by District of Attendance (DOA) or District of Residence (DOR) Updated: Post-integrity, nightly |
| SPED73 | October 1 FED/SPED Report Verify SPED students served on the October 1 child count. Students are categorized into three sections: Included in October 1 count, excluded due to failing FED/SPED and/or Membership Integrity, and unknown error pool. Can be filtered by DOA or DOR. Updated: Post-integrity, nightly |
| SPED74 | SPED Exit Report View student exit data to determine valid exits for the Special Education Data Dashboard (SEDD). Data within the report is by DOR only and displays students ages 13-22 based on Calculated Age for Exit. This report will outline each condition to be a valid exit for SEDD and provide feedback for any condition not met. Only students passing FED, SPED, ADM, and Accountability integrity will populate. Updated: Post-integrity, nightly |
| SPED99 | Orphan Data Report View SPED records reported to AzEDS that are not associated with an enrollment. This commonly occurs when enrollments are deleted while SPED data remains, typically resulting in concurrency errors. Updated: Post-integrity, nightly |
| INTEG15 | Student Data Integrity Report View students failing integrity, details, error, and message. To view SPED students, select Integrity Categories: SPED & FED/SPED. Updated: Daily (6pm - 9pm). |
| DISC10 | Discipline Data Verification Report Provides a compilation of student discipline data that has been submitted to ADE. Associated Violations (Behaviors) and Actions are displayed under the IncidentID and StudentID for that Incident. Updated: Pre-integrity, up to one hour after your SIS syncs with AzEDS. |
| DISC72 | Discipline Validation Report Shows reported discipline incident information, whether they have passed discipline integrity, and if the incident is receiving any warnings. Updated: Post-integrity, nightly |
| INTEG55 | Discipline Incident Integrity Report Lists integrity results on discipline incidents. Updated: Post-integrity, nightly |
| SPED07 | Post-integrity report of SPED students served over October 1. Available after verification count due date and used for reconciliation in Phase II of the October 1 Data Collection. Note: This report is found in the October 1 Data Collection application, not the AzEDS Portal. Role access to the October 1 Data Collection application is required. |
The purpose of the October 1 Data Collection (ODC) application is to gather a child count of special education students who were served on October 1 and report full-time equivalency (FTE) counts for personnel who serve students with disabilities. This is a multi-step process.
The ODC application is found within the Exceptional Student Services Portal within ADEConnect.
Phase I: Verification Count
- October 1 is a “snapshot” count date. Count the number of SPED students served on October 1 and report the number of FTE personnel employed and contracted to provide special education and related services on or about October 1. Enter this data via the ESS ODC application available through the ESS portal within ADEConnect. This submission requires an electronic signature.
Phase II: Reconciliation
- The reconciliation process compares the number on the verification count submission with the data submitted to AzEDS. PEAs are responsible for ensuring reconciliation by comparing the special education data successfully processed (and reflected in the updated SPED07 report available within the ESS ODC application) with their verified count. Enter or correct special education data for students in AzEDS before the reconciliation due date.
Phase III: Non-Reconciliation (If Applicable)
- After the reconciliation deadline has passed, PEAs will be notified if their counts did not reconcile. If your verification count submission does not match the special education data in AzEDS that is reflected on the final SPED07 report, an explanation will need to be provided for the discrepancy. The explanation must be submitted prior to the non-reconciliation deadline through the ESS ODC application available through the ESS portal within ADEConnect.
Resources
Be sure to read through the October 1 Data Collection Manual for guidance on completing each phase during this reporting period.
Additional information regarding ODC can be found on its own webpage here: October 1 Data Collection.
Webinars covering how to complete the ODC process can be found on our Data Management Training Videos page.
Access
Only ONE role needs to be assigned in ADEConnect for this application:
| Role | Permissions |
|---|---|
| ESS October 1 Data Collection: LEA User | Data entry only, cannot sign off on submitted data. Anyone can request if SPED Director approves. |
| ESS October 1 Data Collection: LEA Signer | Contains all permissions of the LEA User role, AND authority to sign off on submitted data. Reserved for SPED Directors, Superintendents, CEOs, Business Managers, Charter Holders, or equivalent titles ONLY. |
The Special Education Data Dashboard (SEDD) comprises several components that require a review of data collected over the entire fiscal year. Instructions for reporting are available on the homepage of the SEDD application available through the ESS Portal within ADEConnect. The online application will open in the Spring, and the final data, which includes the submission of an electronic signature, is due at the beginning of the next school year.
Planned FY24 Improvements (subject to change):
- Assessments
- Discipline (DDC)
- Preschool Outcomes
- SPP/APR Indicators:
- Indicator 4 - Discipline
- Indicators 5 & 6 - LRE
- Indicator 7 - Preschool Outcomes
- PEA Determinations & Risk Analysis
- Data Visualization
Student Exit Data
- Based on data extracted from AzEDS, ADE will report an unduplicated count of students with disabilities ages 14-21, by age, disability, race/ethnicity, gender, and EL status who are identified as qualified SPED exiters as outlined in the SPED Exit Flow Chart.
Preschool Transition Data
- Report on the number of children referred for transition by Part C prior to age three who are found eligible for Part B AND who have an IEP developed AND implemented by their third birthday or after OR were found not eligible by their third birthday or after.
- If the student was found eligible or not eligible after the third birthday, additional data is required in the application for those students.
Students Without Disabilities
- Report if educational services were provided for students without disabilities (SWOD) in grades K-12 during expulsion as identified by the enrollment exit code in AzEDS reporting.
Additional information can be found on our Special Education Data Dashboard website.
Access
Only ONE role needs to be assigned in ADEConnect for this application:
| Role | Permissions |
|---|---|
| ESS SEDD: LEA User | Data entry only, cannot sign off on submitted data. Anyone can request if SPED Director approves. |
| ESS SEDD: LEA Signer | Contains all permissions of user role, and authority to sign off on submitted data. Reserved for school SPED Directors, Superintendents, CEOs, Business Managers, Charter Holders, or equivalent titles ONLY |
Stay Informed and Ask Questions
You are always welcome to contact the Data Management team for any questions regarding your SPED data reporting.
- Phone: 602-542-3962
- ESS Data Management Email: [email protected]
We also highly encourage you to sign up for our ESS Data Management Alerts to receive important reminders and announcements regarding due dates, updates, and training from the Data Management team.
All prior alerts can be viewed here: ESS Data Management Alerts Archive.
Other Questions
For questions not directly related to your SPED data, you may need to contact another area within the Arizona Department of Education:
- For compliance and/or IEP-related questions, you can contact Program Support and Monitoring
- For IDEA grant funding-related questions, you can contact Program Management.
- For ADM and general funding-related questions, you can contact School Finance
