The new school year is just around the corner, and you might be searching for a new special education solution that meets all your needs. You might be looking to improve compliance or get an electronic signature feature to enhance collaboration with parents. But what if you could get even more than that?
Modern special education software, like EmbraceIEP®, can provide a multitude of perks on top of basic functionality that can take your district’s performance even further.
To help you choose the right solution, we’re going to list the most crucial benefits of special education programs so you know what to look for.
1. A web-based solution can improve accessibility and reduce your staff's stress
If your district’s special education program is still hosted on your district’s intranet, you might have already heard your staff wishing they could access it from anywhere. The inability to work on IEP or 504 documents from multiple devices and locations can hurt staff productivity. It also makes it difficult to collaborate on documents in real-time with parents and colleagues.
Therefore, it’s important to look for a web-based solution that can be accessed on any device, anywhere, while providing security guarantees to ensure your student data is protected.
All Embrace® special education programs, like EmbraceIEP® or Embrace504®, are 100% web-based. You can rely on our software working throughout the busiest times of the year with over 99.9% server uptime.
Embrace® also maintains a combination of technical, administrative, and physical security controls to meet FERPA and HIPAA requirements, ensuring student data is protected.
2. Managing IEP, 504, Medicaid Billing, and other special education modules in one place can relieve staff’s anxiety and save time
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Transitioning to a new system can be overwhelming, not to mention transitioning to multiple new systems.
That’s why you want a special education software provider that offers multiple modules, like IEP, 504, and Medicaid Billing, that “talk to each other.” The consistency makes it easier for your staff to adapt to the new software.
Embrace® suite programs like EmbraceIEP®, Embrace504®, and EmbraceDS® can be accessed and managed from within a single system. For instance, staff can see what IEP-prescribed services have been provided and included in Medicaid Billing.
3. Free translation of forms and user-entered text will save time and money for your district
Most special education software providers advertise built-in translation services. When you have a large non-English-speaking student population, being able to translate IEP documents, progress reports, and other important forms, and share them with staff, parents, and students is essential to improve communication, collaboration, and inclusivity.
The costs for translation services can stack up and drain your district’s budget. You will want to find a special education provider that offers document translation at no additional cost.
In EmbraceIEP®, you can translate any document into dozens of languages free of charge! You’ll get the translation of the forms, along with the user input, which your staff and parents will appreciate.
Read how Dewitt-Lavaca Special Education Cooperative uses EmbraceIEP® free translations across its 9 school districts
4. Built-in goal builder can assist in writing high-quality IEP goals
Generic goals that you can find on Google are not a perfect solution if you want to improve the quality of your IEP services. Goals need to be tailored to the student, specific, and measurable.
An ideal solution is having a built-in goal builder that helps formulate SMART goal statements, saving your teachers’ effort and redirecting their energy to the classroom.
EmbraceIEP® goal builder includes the timeframe, behavior, condition, and criterion clues to help teachers build goals unique to each student.
5. Compliance and due date reminders
Filling out IEP meeting forms requires maximum attention to detail. But when teachers have dozens of tasks on their plate, errors naturally occur, hurting your district’s overall compliance and workflows.
A truly effective special education software should offer a way to improve compliance by providing your staff with alerts and due date reminders that minimize human error and allow administrators to catch errors easily when they occur.
For example, in EmbraceIEP®, annual meeting dates are highlighted in red when they’re coming due for your and your staff’s convenience. Email reminders can be configured as well.
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As you can see, the benefits of using special education software are numerous. Being aware of all of them can increase your chances of choosing the best special education provider for your district.
If you’re looking to explore the benefits of Embrace® special education software at a live demo, book a call with our Sales Representative by filling out the form below!