Making Your IEP System Work for You: 5 Questions to Ask About Your IEP System

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Making Your IEP System Work for You: 5 Ques4ons to Ask of Your IEP System


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About Our Guest

Alex Brecher, CEO Accelify

Alex Brecher, Chief Execu4ve Officer of Accelify, has directed special educa4on management system implementa4ons with districts such as LAUSD, Broward County Public Schools, Dallas ISD, DC Public Schools, and many others. As CEO of Accelify for the past six years, Alex has transformed the company from a niche Medicaid billing company to a leader in educa4on management solu4ons. Alex also co-‐founded Accelify Consul4ng, a bou4que Special Educa4on consul4ng firm staffed by world class Special Educa4on experts.


5 QuesIons to Ask of Your IEP System

1.   Does my IEP system proacIvely ensure compliance? 2.   Is my IEP system adaptable?

3.   Is my IEP system only an “IEP system”? 4.   Does my IEP system support data-‐driven decision making?

5.   How does my IEP vendor ensure we are reaping the full benefit of our

system?

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Taking the Temperature: 40 Years of IDEA


History of IDEA

Nov. 29 1975 EducaIon for All Handicapped Children

Act is passed (now IDEA)

1967

200,000 with significant disabili4es were in state ins4tu4ons

1970

Public schools only educated 1 in 5 students with disabili4es

1975

1.8 million children with disabili4es were being excluded from public schools


Where are we now – 40 years into IDEA?

More than 6.7 million students are now being served by IDEA

57%

Inclusion % of SWDs educated in general educa4on classrooms for more than 80% of the day


But we sIll have a long way to go …

Achievement Gap •  Reading: 88% of SWDs

in 4th grade and 92% in 8th grade tes4ng below proficient

•  Math: 83% of SWDs in

4th grade and 92% in 8th grade tes4ng below proficient



Achievement Gap 2015 Smarter Balanced Test results in California indicated that •  Literacy: 88% of SWDs

did not meet standards •  Math: 91% of SWDs did

not meet standards 0

20

40

60

80

100

Math Literacy

% of SWDs who met standards

% of SWDs who did not meet standards



GraduaIon Gap: 2014 gradua4on rates reached high of 82.3%

•  33 states graduate less than 70 percent of SWDs

•  7 of those states graduate less than 50 percent of SWDs



DisproporIonality •  SWDs are more than

twice as likely (13%) to receive an out of school suspension than their general educa4on peers (6%)


But we sIll have a long way to go ...

2015 State DeterminaIons Under RDA •  6 meet the requirements and

purposes of IDEA •  36 need assistance in

implemen4ng the requirements of IDEA

•  3 need intervenIon in implemen4ng the requirements of IDEA; or Needs substan4al interven4on in implemen4ng the requirements of IDEA.


1. Does my IEP system proacIvely ensure compliance? a.k.a “Get it Done Right the First Time”


Does my IEP system proacIvely ensure compliance?

Districts naIonwide struggle with compliance

•  35% of SWDs not receiving enIrety of services recommended (more than 60,000)

•  5% of SWDs not receiving ANY services (approx. 9,000)

•  30% of students slated for Ini4al IEP evalua4on were not reviewed within mandated 60 days



Compliance Factors

Sequencing & Timelines ValidaIons Permissions

& Privacy



Responsive FuncIonality to Drive Compliance Perform valida4ons at

every level to ensure accurate data entry

Alert appropriate staff when 4melines are approaching or are not met

Prevent staff from bypassing steps/events

Prepopulate fields to prevent duplicate data entry, save 4me and ensure data accuracy


2. Is my IEP system adaptable?


Is my IEP system adaptable?

Challenge with most IEP systems: According to a 2016 GAO Report, Teachers and district-‐level administrators rated some tasks as being par4cularly 4me-‐consuming, such as •  Preparing IEP documents •  Enforcing compliance •  Determining special educa4on eligibility •  Using technology



Deterrents to upgrading or replacing exisIng technology

•  Despite 30% repor4ng budget increases, 54% sIll indicate that they don’t have enough

money to “meet overall expectaIons of the school board/district leaders” •  68% plan to delay replacements of technology, or defer maintenance

(a decision that the consor4um argues results in waste and inefficiency) •  Most systems are off the shelf products with limited flexibility



What does an adaptable IEP system look like? •  Accommodates your process rather than determining it •  Allows for customiza4on without imposing addi4onal costs (or vendor

involvement) •  Supports process management as opposed to document management •  Allows you to adapt to changing regulatory and “business” environments …

quickly

… right now … by me?


Is my IEP system adaptable? What kinds of flexibility and funcIonality should I look for in an adaptable IEP system?

Data Access

Form CreaIon

User Permissions Interoperability Workflow


Is my IEP system adaptable? Workflow: System is built around your process and is responsive to

changes in your workflow.

•  Workflows are outlines of your op4mal “business process” for a plan type

•  Workflows define the sequence of

Events and Event Groups

•  Workflows define the 4melines between Events and Event Groups

•  Workflows define the “triggers” that

cause subsequent event groups


Workflows Control 4meframe and triggers between events

EVENT GROUP

EVENT GROUP

EVENT GROUP

X days X days EVENT EVENT

Forms

Custom Element (mee4ng, services, goals/objec4ves,

etc.)


etc.)

Forms

ValidaIons

Event/Form/Field Level

Forms


etc.)


etc.)

Forms Forms


etc.)


etc.)

Forms

X days EVENT EVENT X days EVENT EVENT X days



Is my IEP system adaptable? Data Access: Data should inform us on the decisions we need to make,

not just support the decisions we are already making.

•  Real-‐4me dashboards around your key performance indicators

•  Customizable build-‐your-‐own reports

•  Instantaneous drill-‐down capability for visibility at every layer

Means … no need for vendor interven2on



Form creaIon: Should not require major customiza4on efforts or addi4onal cost … or vendor involvement



User permissions: Should support as many user roles as necessary in your environment



Demographic informaIon

Assessment

Student Progress

Interoperability: Compa4bility/integra4on with outside systems is key

State ReporIng

Medicaid Billing

Other


3. Is my IEP system only an “IEP system”?


Is my IEP system only an “IEP system”?

15%

85% Planning

Delivery

How is personnel Ime spent?


3. Is my IEP system only an “IEP system”?

•  Can I create and manage 504 Plans? •  Can I manage the pre-‐referral and evalua4on process? •  Can I manage the RtI process? •  Can I manage plans for gioed students? •  Can I track the delivery of services against the IEP? •  Can I es4mate resource needs based on IEP informa4on? •  Can I monitor student progress easily? •  Can I allocate personnel more efficiently? •  Can I cut down on travel 4me? •  Can I validate Medicaid claims against the IEP? •  Can I increase reimbursements?


Does my IEP system go beyond planning to ensure effecIve plan delivery?

To ensure effecIve and efficient plan delivery that gets results, your IEP system should help you:

Develop your plan

EsImate, allocate, and maximize resources

Deliver on and track services

Access ALL Data When and How You

Need It

PLANNING

AcceliROUTE AcceliNURSE AccelPCS AcceliTRACK Service Scheduling and Tracking

School Nursing Services Management

Student Transportation Service Tracking

Personal Care Service Management

SERVICE DELIVERY

AcceliBILL Contractor Management and Billing

CONTRACTOR BILLING

SERVICE DELIVERY

AcceliCLAIM Medicaid Billing Management and Reporting

MEDICAID BILLING

AcceliDASH

AcceliPIVOT

AcceliREPORT

Report Builder

Real-Time Compliance and Revenue Dashboards around Key Performance Indicators

Ad-Hoc Pivot Table Reporting Tool for Powerful Data Analytics

In-Depth Real-Time Multi-Faceted Reports

Unique Forms-Based Custom Report Building and Publishing Tool

Decision Support

AcceliSCHEDULE

RESOURCE ESTIMATION RESOURCE ALLOCATION AUTOMATIC SCHEDULING

Automated Resource Allocation and Scheduling for Service Providers

AcceliPLAN IEP IEP Plan Development and Management

AcceliPLAN EP EP Plan Development and Management

AcceliPLAN 504 504 Plan Development and Management

AcceliPLAN IFSP IFSP Plan Development and Management

AcceliPLAN LEP LEP Plan Development and Management

AcceliPLAN RtI RtI Plan Development and Management

AcceliPLAN PSSP PSSP Plan Development and Management


4. Does my IEP support data-‐driven decision making?


Does my IEP system promote data-‐driven decision making?

•  Before: focus was on ensuring IDEA procedural requirements were being met

•  Now: focus is on improving educa4on results and func4onal outcomes for all SWDs

Ship from Compliance to Results

Under RDA



RDA Core Principals

•  Drives improved results •  Encourages States to direct resources to where they can have the

greatest posi4ve impact on outcomes •  Provides differen4ated incen4ves, supports and interven4ons based

on each State’s unique strengths, progress, challenges and needs •  Minimizes administra4ve burden and duplica4on of effort •  Strives to be transparent and understandable to educators and

families



Visibility at Every Level IEP systems should provide districts with beqer visibility at every level to drive beqer decision making.


Does my IEP system promote data-‐based decision making?

Visibility at Every Level Gain visibility into the en4re IEP process from referral, intake and assessment and eligibility determina4on to service planning, transi4on and exit.



Visibility at Every Level Track and monitor the delivery and efficacy of services •  Special educa4on administrators •  Special educa4on providers



Visibility at Every Level Evaluate resource needs and resource alloca4on



Visibility at Every Level Track program costs



Visibility at Every Level Interpret outside data (ie. Student progress data) in a meaningful way


5. How does my IEP vendor ensure we are reaping the full benefit of our system?


•  During implementa4on: get feedback from focus groups

•  Post implementa4on: take in sugges4ons and required enhancements

•  Measure performance

•  Con4nually and con4nuously review evalua4on data

•  Con4nually and con4nuously follow technology trends

•  Con4nually and con4nuously partner with clients to build new systems

•  "SCRUM" based development •  Generally demo on a 2 week

cycle •  Limited and complete roll outs

(depending on cycle)

•  Iden4fy key stakeholders •  Iden4fy "focus group" makeup •  Map your workflows and processes •  Iden4fy your specific valida4ons

and 4melines •  Iden4fy and define integra4on

requirements •  Map roles and permission levels

How does my IEP vendor ensure we are reaping the full benefit of our system?

Enhance Plan

Execute Evaluate



Successful ImplementaIons should Include:

ü  Par4cipa4on and coordina4on among all key stakeholders / user groups

ü  Consulta4on to understand current processes and workflow ü  Early on iden4fica4on and tes4ng of outside system integra4ons and data syncing

ü  Transi4on planning

ü  Focus groups to ensure user needs are met, to build awareness, and to secure buy

in



Successful ImplementaIons must Include:

On-‐going Support

•  Dedicated help-‐desk •  Contextual in-‐system training

documenta4on / knowledgebase •  User groups •  Ongoing performance

monitoring, assessment and repor4ng

Comprehensive and Sustainable Training

•  On-‐site and Virtual Training

Op4ons •  By User-‐group •  TOT (for large implementa4ons) •  Ongoing webinars and refresher

trainings to support system adop4on


True Cost Benefit of the RIGHT IEP System


True Cost Benefit of the RIGHT IEP System

ü  Improved student outcomes

ü  Decreased due process costs ü  Increased dependability of service delivery ü  Increased job sa4sfac4on among district staff and providers

ü  Increased u4liza4on of resources ü  Beqer Results


Q&A

To learn more about Accelify and find out about future webinars, events, and news, visit www.accelify.com or follow us on social media.

Tank you.

For addi4onal informa4on, contact: [email protected]

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Making Your IEP System Work for You: 5 Questions to Ask About Your IEP System