This post is part of The Datamation Guide to Managing School District Records.
As the special education director, there is perhaps no one in your school district more aware of the challenges paperwork can present to day-to-day workflow. A single special needs student’s IEP can generate a file inches thick with government-mandated reports, health records, and counselor assessments. Proper maintenance of those files is subject to government auditors.
But more even more importantly, those files are a critical tool used to ensure the most vulnerable and challenging students to educate are getting the attention and care they deserve.
Here’s how you can cut down on the paper with Datamation’s help.
Save space and time with digital IEPs
Anyone who works with special needs students knows their IEP, or Individual Education Program, is everything for that student’s educational history and future goals. That means it must be accessed by every member of your staff who is responsible for interacting with that student. This includes teachers, counselors, psychologists, teacher aides, building administrators, and parents or guardians.
By nature, a single paper file is not really helping the goal of information sharing. Digital IEPs offer all stakeholders a chance to access needed records without having to chase down a single file. Additionally, many special needs students spend a portion of their school day outside the regular school class schedule. Digital IEPs are accessible from building to building and teacher to teacher, eliminating the possibility files can be lost or misplaced.
In addition to the convenience of digital IEPs, your school district can drastically reduce the amount of physical space dedicated to paper files.
Specialized software for special needs
At Datamation, our education specialists work with all of the industry-leading software companies. Other competitors try to offer a one-size-fits-all approach, but we understand that the special education department faces unique challenges and has precise needs to service children with physical or developmental disabilities.
We offer the right software solution for your districts specific needs and make sure that all of our software can work within the existing IT and digital framework in place. Additionally, we can convert every existing file you have into the software solution we design for you, eliminating the frustrating carryover period.
Caseworker support
A district’s special education department is only one facet of the larger infrastructure needed to help some disabled children. Many are also paired with government caseworkers or social workers to assist them in their home life. Oftentimes there can be a disconnect between outside caseworkers and the child’s school district that exists simply because those individuals do not have access to the same records you do. That is an easy solution, and one Datamation can help implement.
Caseworkers can be given select access to relevant portions of a special needs students file to help assist caregivers who are responsible for the child in the home. This solution allows you to remain in compliance with student privacy laws but can be an invaluable tool for the others entrusted with your students’ care when the school day ends.
In-person software implementation and training
On top of everything you already need to get done, learning new software is probably not your immediate priority. That’s why our education specialists conduct in-person software implementation and staff training. Other companies hold generic one-way webinars plopped into the middle of an educator’s already hectic workday that are impersonal and do not offer the ability for individual questions to be answered. With Datamation, you will receive the personal attention of someone who’s trained specifically to show you the benefits your new software can provide.
