Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS), Charlotte, North Carolina
District Type: Large Urban
Total SPED Students: 15,000

EasyIEP™ Implementation

In the 1999-2000 school year, the CMS Exceptional Children Department introduced its plan to make its Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) paperless. At the time, educators in the district either completed IEP documents by hand or through form-based computer software programs.

While CMS administrators recognized the benefits a web-based program could afford their IEP process, they also understood that many of their end-users would initially resist change. Given its communication challenges, CMS sought a vendor that not only had an excellent product, but also had an experienced team of support personnel that was committed to a long-term partnership.

In the fall of 2002, CMS selected PCG Education to implement its EasyIEP™ offering, a fully integrated web-based special education management tool. For the next year, PCG’s project management team worked with administrators at CMS to configure EasyIEP™ to meet the district’s specific needs. Once development, testing, and administrator training was complete, end-user training began in September 2003 – four months ahead of Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s original goal of 2004.

As part of its commitment, PCG further enhanced the CMS EasyIEP™ system by adding EasyFax™, a tool that allows parent signature pages, doctor prescription forms, and other paper documents to be converted and stored electronically.

CMS educators now use EasyIEP™ to develop student plans, report on student progress, monitor compliance, and create reports. End users have reported a significant reduction in the amount of time required to prepare for and conduct an IEP team meeting. This result, in turn, has left more time for educators to provide student-centered care and instruction – the original impetus behind CMS’ plan for a web-based system.

 

   “PCG Education staff have been highly professional and committed to being responsive and supportive. PCG Education has been there, sharing and supporting our vision of success.”

Beth Warren
Special Projects Coordinator
CMS Exceptional Children Department