Special education service providers are a fundamental part of any established, high-functioning school. Whether you’re a teacher, physical therapist, or school psychologist, you understand how important it is to be able to accurately track and report student data. However, the massive amount of government paperwork required for special education providers to report data can affect job satisfaction.
To combat burnout and help providers maintain a reasonable work-life balance, advancements in educational technology (EdTech) allow schools to better manage their data. Case management software keeps important information like student reports, case notes, and billing information and history all in one place. By implementing this software, you can remove numerous tasks from your workflow, allowing you to focus on the people you serve.
Let’s take a closer look at how case management software can improve the lives of special education service providers.
Creation of individualized education plans
Special education providers have to develop individualized education plans (IEPs) for each student. Carefully and frequently assessing and evaluating students is a group effort across the entire team of providers. While manually creating these plans can be time-consuming, case management software can help speed up the process by providing a digital platform for educators, physical therapists, psychologists, and all other professionals involved. Through this platform, providers can meet and discuss the best path to desired student outcomes.
Bonterra’s Program Management solution (formerly Athena Software) includes messaging and collaboration features to ensure all users stay informed and up-to-date, no matter where they’re located. This makes the IEP creation process shorter and easier and limits confusion and miscommunication. Technology also nurtures connections between special education providers and parents, allowing for seamless collaboration between everyone involved in the IEP development process.
Student data management
Effective case management software gives special education professionals a more convenient way to access stored IEP information.
Your team of audiologists, social workers, psychologists, and teachers can save the time they would normally spend searching the database for files by simply inputting search terms to find the information they need. With Bonterra Program Management, special education providers can organize IEPs for easy access and export data to various file formats, making them more shareable.
Goals and objectives tracking
Special education service providers need to keep a close eye on each student’s progress. Results of meetings with students, such as speech therapy or counseling sessions, need to be filed into reports for future evaluation. Case management software aids the process by providing a library of custom reports for various metrics like service usage, worker activity, outcomes, and demographics.
Then, case management platforms can present the information from these reports in different formats to help providers better analyze and visualize the findings in the data. These capabilities allow special education providers to return to previous reports and make comparisons so they can see changes over time.
Integration and deployment of case management software
With Bonterra Program Management, transitioning to new case management software can be a smooth, streamlined process. Right from the start, deployment specialists are there to help your organization succeed. They will help you figure out the best deployment pathway for your organization, assist with creating a plan to introduce the software to your employees, and provide support during training.
Once the basics are set up, Bonterra Program Management makes it easy for you to walk your staff through the software and explain how it can help with managing client sessions and data. The platform is user-friendly, so there’s no need to hire an IT expert to implement or maintain the software. Integrating case management software successfully can be deeply rewarding, helping special education workers provide better services to their students.
Investing in a robust, reliable case management system is beneficial to all special education service providers, no matter which area you specialize in. If your organization is looking to reduce paperwork, streamline data input processes, and improve student outcomes, a case management software like Bonterra Program Management may be perfect for you.
