May 2005 — Applications
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Maryland District Evaluates a Special-Education Management System’s Impact on Its Bottom Line
Increased revenue reimbursement. With our paper-based processes and previous software system, we believe we missed services that could have been reimbursed because we could not easily track and access student data. By automatically tracking all eligible students, however, we can now ensure accurate child count, appropriate placement and full funding. Furthermore, with current and complete documentation, we anticipate we will be able to track services that may have gone unreported and increase Medicaid reimbursement.
Informed decision-making. Our previous management software did not return the data we needed to make informed decisions or analyze program effectiveness. With our current system, however, we can create a framework for accurate staff and resource planning, as well as reduce discrepancies and unnecessary costs by more efficiently monitoring the services that students receive.
Lessons Learned
We found the evaluation process to be extremely educational. Not only did it give us the opportunity to thoroughly review what was available for special-education management, it made us even more knowledgeable about what we wanted and what would be the best system for our district. In addition to TCO and ROI, other factors played a role in our decision-making process. For example, it was important that the company we selected had proven successes in other districts, and that its personnel had experience and expertise in special education as well as in technology. By the end of the process, the district found what it had been looking for and selected 4GL School Solutions’ Web-based ENCORE! suite of special-education management solutions (www.4glschools.com). We made our choice based on two factors: the strengths of the product and the people.
Although the process to find a new system for special-education management was arduous, it was well worth the effort. There are 2,500 students in our district’s special-education program. Whenever we encountered a challenge and people said there were five reasons why this or that wouldn’t work, my retort was that there are 2,500 reasons why it had to work. And it has.
Because we got all of our stakeholders on board up front and communicated with everyone throughout the process, we have created excitement about what the new system will do for us and our students. In my business, technology is important but people make the difference. Watching the reaction of our people to this endeavor is very exciting. It is a big victory for us, and we earned it.
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