Recent Improvements

Administrators:

1. New preferences (Admin>>Preferences>>SpEd Forms Customizations) -
a. "Only allow administrators to modify the student setup"
b. "Do not allow teachers to edit Parent Rights Contact"
c. "Notice of Team Meeting: Add Notice of Procedural Safeguard language" (when checked an area is added to the bottom of the Notice of a Team Meeting for guardians to check and initial).
d. "Hide 2008-09 forms"

2. New options in Custom Reports -
a. Share with "All teachers".
b. "or" filter criteria
c. Show school name.
d. Show district name.
e. Show/hide data preview
An updated custom reports guide is available.

3. Navigation has been updated for the menu that appears when hovering over the navigation button (Student Sharing, View, Delete) in the results of a search on the (Administrative) Student List.

4. New editable drop down menus -
a. SERVICE FREQUENCY (All services pages)
b. MATERIALS AND PROCEDURES (Evaluation/Reevaluation Plan Prior Written Notice)
c. EVALUATORS (Evaluation/Reevaluation Plan Prior Written Notice)
d. LOCATION (Evaluation/Reevaluation Plan Prior Written Notice)
e. TESTS (Local ER test templates)

5. On the "Forms in PDF format" menu of Administrative Reports, PDFs have been added/updated for the 2008-09 IEP, Agreement Regarding IEP Team Member Attendance, Notice of An Educational Evaluation/Reevaluation Plan, Prior Written Notice and Parental Consent/Objection forms.

6. A link to the "Admin Guide" now appears in the "Go To..." menu for administrative users.

MA Forms Reports:

1. The MA Forms Reports menu has been rearranged and some items have been relabeled so that they are more consistent with each category of the menu.
2. The "Eligibility 270/271" batch process for checking eligibility is now available.

IEP:

1. 2008/09 Services and Modifications -
a. An option of "School staff will be provided information regarding CHLD's disability and its impact on learning." has been added under the "Program Supports for School Personnel" section.
b. Additional instructions have been added under "Least Restrict Environment (LRE) Explanation". "What is this child missing in general education and why?" now appears only on the form page.

2. 2008/09 Student Performance -
a. "How will progress toward meeting this annual goal be measured?" has been removed from the bottom of the Student Performance (goals) page.
b. Wording has been updated under the "Present Level(s) of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance".

3. 2008/09 Transition Services (page 2) - The last sentence under "Transfer of Rights at Age of Majority" has been updated with respect to the date the student was "informed".

4. 2008/09 Progress Report -
a. Amended IEPs are now clearly marked.
b. Finalized IIIPs are now available in the "Select IEP/IIIP/ISP" drop down of the 2008/09 IEP Progress Report.

5. 2008/09 Classroom Adaptations and Modifications - Now includes the "Adaptive Equipment" and "Program Supports for School Personnel" sections from the "Services and Modifications" page.

6. On the "Print IEP" menu the "Select/Deselect All" check box will automatically those IIIP related forms only if "IIIP" is chosen as the student's type of service plan.

7. Spanish translations of all the pages of the 2008/09 IEP have been linked to both the 2007/08 menu and 2008/09 menu.

8. An "Amendent" checkbox has been placed on the 2008/09 IEP menu. If this box is checked then:
a. The following message is displayed: "Please ensure the original IEP is finalized before amending."
b. "Individualized Education Program" is renamed to "Amended Individualized Education Program".
c. The IEP meeting date is non-editable.
d. An amendement date to the top right hand corner of the Student Information page.
e. When the amended IEP is finalized the history is checked to ensure another IEP with the same amendment IEP date does not exist. If finalization is successful then the amendment checkbox is cleared.

ER Forms:

1. Specific Learning Disability (SLD) templates have been updated.

3. Additional text has been added to the "Special Education Needs" section of all existing SpEd Forms Templates. "The IEP Team should consider the following adaptations/modificaitons to allow the student access to the general education curriculum".

4. A new "Test" template has been added to SpEd Forms Templates. "Test of Auditory Processing Skills-3rd Edition (TAPS-3)" has been added to the "Communication" category.

5. Special characters (smart quotes, etc.) have been removed from all existing SpEd Forms Templates.

6. Additional information was added to all existing templates un the "Existing Data, Current Evaluation Results and Interpretation" section of SpEd Forms templates. A section for "Assessment Information" (with options for "Post Secondary Education and Training", "Employment" and "Independent Living")

7. A checkbox now appears on the ER finalization screen for "Three year evaluation". By default, this box will be checked. If this box is unchecked, the "Eval. Written" date will NOT be updated in the student's "Edit Setup".

MA Forms:

1. Trip Logs can now be finalized.

2. The "Policy holder's ID number" on the Third Party Liability is now populated by the "Insured ID" (from the MA Billing Setup).

3. The Third Party Liability form has been updated with regards to some changes in the DHS's Technical Assistance Guide.

4. In Section 2 of the first page of the MA Parental Consent, The medical release date in the "Medical release" section is no longer tied to the start date under "I understand the release to share data with DHS and HHS".

5. In Section 3 of the second page of the MA Parental Consent, "lines" have been put back in so that the parent/guardian can initial services that they agree the district can ask about or bill.

Prior Written Notice & associated forms:

1. In the 2008/09 menu, the title for "Notice of An Educational Evaluation/Reevaluation Plan" has been changed to "Evaluation/Reevaluation Plan Prior Written Notice".

2. On the 2008/09 "Evaluation/Reevaluation Plan Prior Written Notice", "culture" has been added to the list of examples "Other factors affecting this proposal (i.e., behavior, visual or hearing impairments, the need for assistive technology, culture, language, etc.):".

3. The "Prior Written Notice (ECSE)" can now be finalized.

4. "The statute of limitations for bringing claims under the Individuals with Disabilities Act is two years." has been added to bottom of the "Prior Written Notice", "Prior Written Notice (ECSE)" and "Evaluation/Reevaluation Plan Prior Written Notice".

5. Spanish translations of the "Prior Written Notice", "Parental Consent/Objection", "Prior Written Notice (ECSE) Part C and Part B of IDEA", "Notice of An Educational Evaluation/Reevaluation Plan" and "Authorization for Release of Information" have been linked to both the 2007/08 menu and 2008/09 menu.

Additional Forms:

1. New forms -
a. "Positive Behavior Support Plan"
b. "Agreement to Amend"

2. Updated forms -
a. "Notice of Procedural Safeguards" - temporarily replaced with the latest PDF available from the state (Feb 2009). An editable version will be available shortly.
b. "Notice of a Team Meeting" - "(length of time)" now appears in red on the "Notice of a Team Meeting". This is to help in filling out the statement "Please allow [length of time] to meet.".
c. "Special Education Data Sheet" - TRANSPORTATION CATEGORY CODE will be changed to "03: Disabled" will be selected if "Yes" is marked on the IEP "Services and Modifications".
d. "Notice of a Team Meeting" - Spanish translation added.

General:

1. Fields for "Cell Phone" and "Email" have been added to the "Address Information" section of the student's Edit Setup page.

2. On the student's "Student History" page, the "View" button has been moved so that is to the left of the Form Type.

3. When editing the "Commonly used Materials and Procedures" in "Your Setup", CHLD can now be used in the textboxes to automatically insert the students name into these sentences when used on the other pages that use these options.

4. Navigation has been updated for the menu that appears when hovering over the "Work on this Record" button on the teacher's "Work with students" list.

5. On the Calendar, a new warning will appear 60 days before evaluations are due.

6. The student's name can now only be edited on the student's "Edit Setup".