Case Study: Special Education Management, Medicaid Reimbursement 

The Client:
Springfield Public Schools (SPS), Springfield, MA
District Type: Large Urban
Total SPED Students: 6,090

The Project:
EasyIEP™ Implementation

The Challenge:
Springfield Public Schools (SPS) transitioned from a paper-based system for writing Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) to an electronic one in 2000. Although teachers had grown accustomed to it, by the 2004-05 school year, administrators were finding the system too cumbersome and time-consuming. The system was not web-based, and SPS users had numerous incongruous versions of the product software. In a district with 42 schools and over 6,000 special education students, the inconsistencies quickly led to data incompatibility and much user frustration.

SPS wanted a web-based system that would reduce duplicate data entry, improve efficiency, and allow Springfield’s educators to spend more time with their students and less time on paperwork. SPS also wanted the new system to interact with their Student Information System and produce state and district reports. And the new system had to be implemented quickly – SPS wanted special education teachers to be writing IEPs on the new system when the 2005-06 school year began.

The PCG Approach:
In May, 2005, SPS engaged Public Consulting Group (PCG) for assistance in transitioning to a webbased special education management system. PCG’s EasyIEP™ and EasyTRAC™ would be used to give SPS the ability to develop IEPs, manage special education reporting, and document healthrelated services for the purpose of Medicaid reimbursement.

PCG worked with SPS to configure a secured EasyIEP™ site that would be unique to the SPS district. Reports were developed and tested and student, school, and user data was imported into EasyIEP™’s central database. The initial round of end-user trainings began August 23, 2005, and all users were trained by the end of September – 16 weeks after the contract began.

The Result:
SPS educators have created more than 9,000 IEPs using PCG’s EasyIEP™ system.

“PCG is not just a software vendor. They ask, ‘Is there something else that we can do for you or some way we can help you improve?”

John Slasinski
Special Education Supervisor
Springfield Public Schools