Talk with ADE

1. Talk with ADE January 24, 2013

2. Special Education Certification grades k-12Proposal: • Change from 6 to 2 certificates • Coursework and populations • Mild-moderate (ID, TBI, ED, OHI, DD, SLD, ASD) • Foundations, legal aspects, collaboration, assessment • ELA instruction, math instruction, classroom management, language development and disorders • Severe-profound (MD, ID, ASD, TBI, OI, SDD) • Same foundation courses • Classroom management, adaptive communication, instructional strategies across the curriculum

3. Speech-language technician moratorium • Those currently practicing as SLTs can continue to renew and practice within current scope

4. Important Points • January 1, 2016 in place • Juniors in college • Time to resubmit for Board approval • Can renew under new certification or old • Not a surprise to the field

5. SELECT Courses

6. SELECT courses • 4 new courses for special education directors: • Legal Aspects and Compliance • Compliance on a Shoestring for Small Schools & Charters • Introduction to Special Education Administration • School finance for Special Education Services • Course on feeding being developed And many more! Contact Amy Grey at amy.grey@nau.edu

7. Recruitment & Retention Efforts Arizona Department of Education Lisa Aaroe

8. Arizona Education Employment Board (AEEB) • Listing of open positions • Includes an online application, certification requirements, and a variety of information for job seekers. • Offers email updates on newly posted positions. Average hits: 8,000-13,000 hits per day. http://www.arizonaeducationjobs.com/

9. Great Arizona Teach-In • Annual career fair to help schools find highly qualified candidates to fill their vacant positions. • Over 100 recruiters and 900 candidates each year. http://www.teachinaz.com/

10. Teach in AZ Resource: • Arizona certification • How to become a teacher in Arizona • Education websites, statewide shortages and statewide openings listed by zones. • Arizona School Recruitment and Retention Guide to assist Arizona districts and charter schoolshttp://www.teachinaz.com/

11. Recruitment • Newly designed recruitment flyers and brochures • Site visits • Recruitment fairs • Tuition assistance grants • Future Educators Association • Digital marketing • Facebook, Twitter, Jobing.com, Reruiting.com

12. Retention • Directors’ Institute • Teachers’ Institute • Attrition data • Mentoring programs • AZ-TAS documents • Special Education Director Handbook • CEEDAR Center

13. Long Term Substitute in Special Education

14. “Long-term substitute in special education” • 30 cumulative days • 30+ days continuous • 10+ continuous days in the setting • After 11th day in same assignment • Absence of 3 weeks • Over 14 school days • More than 20 days Salary increase after 20 days and again after 50 days **Can serve up to 120 school days **=ADE

15. How are parents notified? • Not at all • Letter to parents • Website

16. What are districts doing? • Washington Elementary School District • They seek retired WESD special education teachers to fill long-term sub positions; given their size, they are usually able to fill positions. • If a retired teacher is not available, they rely on existing sub pool with Special Education Certification and, if needed, they will obtain a contracted teacher. • All receive support from an assigned special education teacher a the school or district level. • IEP case management is assigned to another special education teacher. • Depending on the duration, or if there is a revolving door of subs assigned to a classroom, a parent letter is then sent home.

17. What are districts doing? • Litchfield Elementary School District (LESD) • They have identified a few specific subs that generally fill long-term sub positions but they do not have training beyond what they are given through the district and these subs are not special education certified. • LESD provides long-term subs with support and on the job training from their instructional coach who is special education certified. • The instructional coach completes all the paperwork (i.e., IEP’s, progress reports, etc).

18. What are districts doing? • Fowler Elementary School District and Peoria Unified School District (PUSD) • Both report finding quality substitute teachers for long-term special education positions can be challenging. • Require long-term and/or short-term subs to have our states substitute certification in place prior to placement. • A high school in PUSD reported that they generally cover classes internally by other certified special education teachers because it is very hard to find long-term subs in special education.

19. States with long-term sub certificates Oklahoma • Contracts with LRP Publications for DirectStep Online Modules. • $59.00 each module (4 are required; need 80% mastery) • Users have seven calendar days to complete all modules. • Only good for 1 year California • Emergency resource specialist permit with clear scope of practice Texas • Guide with very clear delineation of settings, scope of work, and parameters Iowa • Have to have Paraeducator certificate+ substitute authorization program (15 hours) if more than 5 days in classroom

20. Committee • 10 members • Tasks • Clearly define “long term substitute in special education” • Create multiple letter types to notify parents • Analyze and choose best method for training • Create a guide (use Texas’ guide for ideas)