SpEd Forms: Thursdays at Three – A journey through the land of enhancements – recent changes impacting ECSE

SpEd Forms: Thursdays at Three - A journey through the land of enhancements - recent changes impacting ECSE

Join the SpEd Forms team for our last Thursdays at Three of this school year! We will review enhancements made during the past year that primarily impact ECSE, including the COS form and reports, e-signatures, and the enrollment form. SpEd Forms looks forward to actively discussing how these and other enhancements are being used across customer districts. The Google Meet link can be found on our support page here:

Thursdays at Three

 

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Have you registered for any of our back-to-school training sessions? Find complete details on the registration form:

Back-to-School Training Registration

 

Wishing you all the most peaceful summer! 

SpEd Forms: Thursdays at Three – Getting ready for DHS annual rate reporting

SpEd Forms: Thursdays at Three - Getting ready for DHS annual rate reporting

Third Party Reimbursement Coordinators – do you have questions about submitting your annual rate form to DHS on July 5th? Join us this Thursday, the 18th, at 3pm to learn about reports you can review to ensure accurate time and encounter data. Take advantage of this informative opportunity! The Google Meet link and all upcoming Thursdays at Three topics can be found on our support page here:

Thursdays at Three


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Just a friendly reminder that we will be providing various back-to-school virtual training sessions this fall. These are open to all districts and are free of charge. You can find more details, dates and times, along with one new session added, on the registration form:

Back-to-School Training Registration

SpEd Forms: Back-to-School Training

SpEd Forms: Back-to-School Training

Happy Monday, educators! We have an exciting announcement! SpEd Forms will again be offering a variety of back-to-school training sessions this fall. These trainings are open to everyone, are entirely free of charge, and are meant to get your educators started using the program with ease!

 

A staff member from SpEd Forms will conduct each training for a specific audience. All will be held virtually using Google Meet, and one session of each will be recorded for later viewing. (Those recordings will not be available until after each training is completed.) You can find further details, dates and times along with the registration form online here:

Back-to-School Training Registration

 

Again, there is no cost to you for these specific sessions. We encourage cooperatives and districts to meet in groups if at all possible and register as one so we can have room for everyone wishing to attend. Registration is mandatory. If you are not ready to sign up today, that’s okay! We will send out reminders throughout the summer and fall as we understand staffing may change.

 

Was this email may have been forwarded to you? If you would also like to receive updates from SpEd Forms, please sign up for our mailings:

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With summer just around the corner, we’re rooting for you as this school year wraps up!

MN May Fixes

On Saturday, April 29th, 2023, an update will be posted to all Minnesota SpEd Forms sites. This update includes the following fixes:

MA

1. Fixed Not billable activity logs to display all notes and allow finalization when there is no time listed.

(Requested by: Christine O’Brien, Inver Grove Heights Schools #53590)

2. Made a change to display and print evaluation log notes after an evaluation log has been billed and then reactivated.

(Requested by: Heather Murphy, North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale ISD #53573)

3. A change was made to prevent information from clearing on the PCA evaluation form.

(Requested by: Kari Saarloos, Anoka-Hennepin School District #53608)

4. Made a change to allow the supervisor field to be cleared from an activity log.

(Requested by: Emma Christenson, Fergus Falls Area Special Education Cooperative #53564)

5. Made a change to prevent the claim from disappearing when selecting or changing the MA setting.

(Requested by: Kari Saarloos, Anoka-Hennepin School District #53568)

Other forms and logs

1. Made a change to ensure all Special Ed teachers are able to access the Service reconciliation tool as expected.

(Requested by: Jennie Sorenson, Mounds View Public Schools #53677)

2. Made a change to the IEP Transition Services pg. 2 to ensure the print page maintains line breaks as anticipated.

(Requested by: Katie Mikla, Hastings Public Schools #53680)

System

1. Restored comments previously added to uploaded history documents.

(Requested by: Lauren Johnsen, Minnetonka Public Schools #53727)

MN May Updates

On Saturday, April 29th, 2023, an update will be posted to all Minnesota SpEd Forms sites. The update will include the changes listed below:

ER

1. KBIT-2R, KABC II NU, and Vineland-3 have all been added to the SpEd Forms test library.

(Requested by: Dustin Hinckley, Red Lake Public Schools #53673)

MA

1. Made a change to specify a bad date when the save is unsuccessful on MA logs.

(Requested by: Tara Goebel, South Washington County Schools #52825)

2. The X12 batch file will ignore blank ICD10 codes and only send the first twelve codes.

(Requested by: Dellynne Monson, SWWC Service Cooperatives #52900)

3. A filter option, “Hide over 21 services”, has been added to the Create/edit claim transmission.

(Requested by: Tara Goebel, South Washington County Schools #52650)

4. A physical QP signature line and the ability for staff to electronically sign have been added to the PCA plan.

(Requested by: Sarah Olson, Detroit Lakes Public School District #53218)

5. Made a change to ignore the N362 remark code in the 835 X12 batch file.

(Requested by: Carla Cooper, Lakeville Area Schools #42492)

504

1. Updated the parent sections on the 504 Plan and the Notice of Conference page. A section for the district’s Section 504 coordinator was also added to the Manifestation determination page.

(Requested by: Amber Schultz, Anoka-Hennepin School District #53203/#53205/53212)

Other forms and logs

1. Agency contact information has been updated at the bottom of Part B PWNs. 

(Requested by: SpEd Forms #DE-3711)

2. The clear button on the Evaluation/Reevaluation Plan PWN form now has an updated function that lets it clear both the Eval/Assessment textboxes and texts on the form and print page.

(Requested by: Katie Mikla, Hastings Public Schools, #53172)

3. The Student Acknowledgement form’s language and title were updated to match the MDE version of this form.

(Requested by: SpEd Forms Advisory Committee, #53514)

Reports
1. The Reconciliation and Total Amount paid reports have been updated to calculate the reduced federal share percentage effective for claims paid after April 1st, 2023.

(Requested by: Amy Bean, Independent School District 318 #53685)

2. Added a School column to the “Signatures” MA Forms Searchable report.

(Requested by: Wanda Lane, Brainerd School District #53469)

3. “IEPs finalized as draft” has been added to available quick reporting.

(Requested by: Bill Underwood, Anoka-Hennepin School District #52963)

4. The search functionality of the Educator Services Report has been updated with the inclusion of a new search parameter named “Active students.”

(Requested by: Marla Pierskalla, St. Cloud Area School District #53012)

5. The MDE Consent to share data has been added to the admin MA forms in PDF format.

(Requested by: Kerri Whitney, Eastern Carver County Schools #53301)

6. The finalization date/time is now available as a sorting option on the Student history report.  It will also appear in a column on the result page of the report.

(Requested by: Bill Underwood, Anoka-Hennepin School District #53394)

7. The admin Login tracking report has been updated to include sorting options.

(Requested by: SpEd Forms #DE-3775)

2.0

1. The IEP Transition Services page 1, IEP Present Levels, IEP Student Information, and Transition Services page 2 have all been converted to v2.

(Requested by: SpEd Forms #DE-3734, #DE-3733, #DE-3696, #DE-3729)

2. Made a change in v2 to allow parents to electronically sign MA Consent to share data and Parental consent forms.

(Requested by: Amy Wylde, Southern Minnesota Education Consortium #53351)

3. Updates have been made to the IEP v2 menu to display the text ‘draft,’ ‘amended,’ or ‘amended draft’ when an IEP has been finalized and falls under one of these categories.

(Requested by: Christine O’Brien, Inver Grove Heights Schools #53363)

4. The v2 IEP print menu now includes a checkbox option that allows users to select or deselect pages 1-10.

(Requested by: Lindsey Paffrath-Bice, Willmar Public Schools #53442)

5. Visual improvements were made to the Evaluation/Reevaluation Plan Prior Written Notice.

(Requested by: SpEd Forms #DE-2748)

System

1. The term “case manager” was renamed to “plan manager” within the student sharing page.

(Requested by: SpEd Forms #DE-3718)

2. A new button called “Select from SpEd Forms tests” has been added to the Eval/assessment tools page within the Educator Setup and Admin Organization Menu. This new feature enables districts to easily copy all of SpEd Forms’ ER tests into the Eval/assessment tools section.

(Requested by: SpEd Forms #48535)

3. A building column has been added to the Admin Educators search screen results.

(Requested by: Karen Stay, St. Cloud Area School District #48980)

4. If parent access has been turned on and an admin user has access to Admin educators, they will now also see Admin parents, where they can search for and update parent accounts previously created through the Parent access report.

(Requested by: SpEd Forms #DE-3687)

5. We have streamlined the printing & PDF creation processes within SpEd Forms, making the process faster. We are thrilled that these changes increase the system’s efficiency behind the scenes for you at this particularly dynamic time of year.

(Requested by: SpEd Forms #DE-3699)

6. A “Separate households” checkbox was added to the edit parents page within Student setup. When selected, forms addressed to “Dear [parent]” will generate one copy for each parent when printed or finalized. A short YouTube video was created that shows how this works:

(Requested by: Bryan Schmidt, Rochester Public Schools #52858)

 

Announcements

We know how busy you all are, especially as the school year comes to a close.  Out of respect for that, we will push our May update a week early and not have any updates in June.  We wish you all the best as you finalize this school year.

WI May Updates

On Saturday, April 29th, 2023, an update will be posted to all Wisconsin SpEd Forms sites. This update includes the following changes:

504
1. Updated the parent sections on the 504 Plan and the Notice of Conference page. A section for the district’s Section 504 coordinator was also added to the Manifestation determination page.
(Requested by: Amber Schultz, Anoka-Hennepin School District #53203/#53205/53212)

IEP
1. “Annual” has been prepended to “Meeting: date” on the I-3 team meeting cover page.
(Requested by: SpEd Forms #DE-3747)

ER
1. “Remove the ‘SpEd Forms Criteria’ button from ER Forms” has been readded to Admin Organization preferences.
(Requested by: Bonnie Barker, Boyceville Community Schools #53594)
2. The KBIT Revised, K-ABC II NU and Vineland 3 have been added to the test library.
(Requested by: Dustin Hinckley, Red Lake Public Schools #53673)

2.0
1. Updates have been made to the IEP v2 menu to display indicate ‘draft,’ ‘amended,’ or ‘amended draft’ when an IEP has been finalized and falls under one of these categories.
(Requested by: Christine O’Brien, Inver Grove Heights Schools #53363)

System
1 The term “case manager” has been replaced with “plan manager” throughout the Student sharing/transfer page.
(Requested by: SpEd Forms #DE-3718)
2. A “Separate households” checkbox was added to the edit parents page within Student setup. When selected, forms addressed to “Dear [parent]” will generate one copy for each parent when printed or finalized. A short YouTube video was created that shows how this works:

(Requested by: Bryan Schmidt, Rochester Public Schools #52858)

3. A building column has been added to the Admin Educators search screen results.
(Requested by: Karen Stay, St. Cloud Area School District #48980)
4. If parent access has been turned on and an admin user has access to Admin educators, they will now also see Admin parents, where they can search for and update parent accounts previously created through the Parent access report.
(Requested by: SpEd Forms #DE-3687)

Reports
1. With the inclusion of finalization date/time as a sorting option on the Student history report search page, the Finalized date/Time column will now appear on the result page of the report.
(Requested by: Bill Underwood, Anoka-Hennepin School District #53394)
2. A “Quick Report: IEP Finalized Draft” has been created to display Draft IEPs that have been finalized but not previously marked as “final”.
(Requested by: Bill Underwood, Anoka-Hennepin School District #52963)

 

Announcements

We know how busy you all are, especially as the school year comes to a close. Out of respect for that, we will push our May update a week early and not have any updates in June. We wish you all the best as you finalize this school year.

WI May Fixes

On Saturday, April 29th, 2023, an update will be posted to all Wisconsin SpEd Forms sites. The update will include the fixes listed below:

504

1. Made a change to the printed & finalized 504 Eligibility Determination form to ensure the page is formatted as anticipated.

(Requested by: Adrea Grocke, Shakopee Public Schools #53780)

MA Forms

1. Made a change to prevent the claim from disappearing when selecting or changing the MA setting.

(Requested by: Kari Saarloos, Anoka-Hennepin School District #53568)

SpEd Forms: Thursdays at Three – End of the year activities

SpEd Forms: Thursdays at Three - End of the year activities

Administrators, we invite you to collaborate with us in updating our list of administrative end-of-year activities for EC and K-12. Let’s discuss the tasks you usually perform at this time, as well as those that can assist you in preparing for the next academic year. We’ll cover topics such as COSF changes, SpEd Forms reports and processes, and how to streamline your to-do list. You’ll also discover useful tools in SpEd Forms that can simplify your end-of-year responsibilities and set you up for success in the coming school year.

 

This meeting is meant for our educators set up with administrative permissions. Click on the meeting link below to join us on Thursday, April 27th at 3pm:

Google Meet link

 

For all upcoming topics and other valuable resources, check out the support page of our website here:

Thursdays at Three

 

If this email was forwarded to you and you’d also like to receive messages from SpEd Forms, please follow the link below:

Click here to receive our news via email

 

Though we start at 3pm, you are free to hop on and join us anytime between 3-4pm as we know the end of the school day can be busy. We hope to see MANY of your smiling faces tomorrow!

MN April Updates

On Saturday, April 1st, 2023, an update will be posted to all Minnesota SpEd Forms sites. The update will include the changes listed below:

IEP
1. The ESY services entered on the IEP Services page will no longer be editable on the ESY Services form. They will need to updated on the IEP Services page.
(Requested by: Bill Underwood, Anoka-Hennepin School District #51849)
2. If a child service choice from dropdown #87 was selected on the IEP services page, it will populate over to the ESY Services form.
(Requested by: Theresa O’Donnell, Lionsgate Academy #51262)
3. The ability for administrators to create templates for the Additional information page of the IEP was added. This can be found under Admin Organization. Created templates can then be inserted into the Additional Information page.
(Requested by: Carole Pankow, So. St Paul Public Schools #52424)

ER
1. Test of Auditory Processing Skills – 4th Edition and Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale – 3rd Edition were both added to the available SpEd Forms tests.
(Requested by: SpEd Forms #53000)

MA
1. Made a change in v2 to ensure the ICD-10 code attaches to trip logs as soon as one is created.
(Requested by: Kari Saarloos, Anoka-Hennepin School District #52551)

MTSS
1. The plan page has been updated to update navigation (prev/next) buttons, the navigation breadcrumb trail, and fixes to the print/finalization process. Text fields now also use rich text.
(Requested by: Bill Underwood, Anoka-Hennepin School District #53001)
2. A text box for MTSS goal has been added to admin Intervention template setup.
(Requested by: Bill Underwood, Anoka-Hennepin School District #DE-3601)

Other forms and logs
1. Updated the language of page 2 procedural safeguards within all Part C PWNS.
(Requested by: SpEd Forms #DE-3643)
2. Updated the signature line on the Prior Written Notice Parental Consent Form.
(Requested by: SpEd Forms Advisory Group #53065)
3. A Clear Form button has been added to the Early Intervention PWN to Start or Revise an IFSP.
(Requested by: Carole Pankow, So St Paul Public Schools #51428)
4. A general comments box was added to the Referral review and assessment determination form.
(Requested by: Jen Butts, Zumbro Education District #48106)

Reports
1. A new MA Quick report titled “Direct service claim descriptions” was added.
(Requested by: Tara Goebel, South Washington County Schools #52479)
2. Updated the View student history report to include the PCA evaluation form as a history type.
(Requested by: SpEd Forms #DE-3674)
3. A searchable admin report titled “Login tracking” report has been created.
(Requested by: SpEd Forms #DE-3561)
4. “Emergency Health Information finalized 2022-23″ report” has been added to available admin quick reports.
(Requested by: Bill Underwood, Anoka-Hennepin School District #52992)
5. The informed consent effective date has been added to the consent tracking MA quick report.
(Requested by: Nancy Grams, Marshall Public Schools SR #52951)
6. Finalization date column has been added to ESY Determination quick report.
(Requested by: Bill Underwood, Anoka-Hennepin School District #53285)
7. Added a District ID column to the “Time Studies” MA quick report.
(Requested by: Dellynne Monson, SWWC Service Cooperatives #53129)
8. Added drop down #87, which shows extended services information, to the ESY Services report.
(Requested by: Bill Underwood, Anoka-Hennepin School District #53233)
9. A draft column has been added to “Students with finalized Manifestation Determination forms” quick report.
(Requested by: Marla Pierskalla, St. Cloud Area School District #53090)
10. The Admin students results page will show the date of a finalized “Notice of Agreement that a 3 Year Reevaluation is Not Needed” if within the three year time period.
(Requested by: Emma Christenson, Fergus Falls Area Special Education Coop #51652)
11. A new “Parent Document Sharing” quick report has been added to show what documents have been shared with parents.
(Requested by: SpEd Forms #DE-3588)
12. “District Admin Contacts (Statewide)” quick report was renamed to: “District remote transfer contacts (Statewide)” for clarity purposes.
(Requested by: SpEd Forms #DE-3707)
13. “Providers without services” and “Providers with Services” were added to MA searchable reports. Providers will need a default MA service on their educator setup and have their provider ID added to the service on the service plan.
(Requested by: Tara Goebel, South Washington County Schools #53211)
14. “Age on ER date” and” Birthdate” columns have been added to Evaluation Summary 2022-23 Quick report.
(Requested by: Michelle Chuka, Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools #53071)
15. A new tool that can be found under admin reporting titled “School mover” was added. Admin users with access to the grade rollover function can now search for students in a specific district, school & grade and move those selected to another building. We have created a YouTube tutorial video to help you get started using this brand new feature:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyilQG993hw&t=316s

2.0
1. The Evaluation/Reevaluation Plan Prior Written Notice, Special Education Data Sheet, Team Override and Review of Existing Data have all been converted to v2.
(Requested by: SpEd Forms #DE-3579, #DE-3632, #DE-3596, #DE-3595)
2. When uploading files to History, users can now select a form date for an uploaded document.
(Requested by: Shari Mensink, Owatonna Public Schools #51695)
3. Made a change to the PCA evaluation form in v2 to allow multiple finalizations per date.
(Requested by Kari Saarloos, Anoka-Hennepin School District #53474)
4. The ability to add comments after a document has been finalized has been added to v2.
(Requested by: Amanda Lee, South Washington County Schools #52133)

System
1. Added a function to signed documents in history that allows a user to see the signature history and electronic signature audit trail of each signer.
(Requested by: SpEd Forms #DE-3637)
2. Plan manager will now only be pulled into forms from what is chosen in Student Sharing.
(Requested by: SpEd Forms #DE-3641)
3. An admin preference was added to trigger an email when a 504 Notice of discontinuation is finalized.
(Requested by: Renee Hartman, New Prague Area Schools #52250)
4. A full text editing tool was added to admin PLAAFP templates.
(Requested by: SpEd Forms #DE-3644)
5. A new dropdown titled “Grade-level” was created to be associated with goals in the goal bank.
(Requested by: SpEd Forms #48188)
6. Changes were made to the remote pickup process. The ignore button has been renamed to decline. Users will now also receive a confirmation message when clicking decline to ensure they do not want to pick up the student record.
.(Requested by: Emily Knutson, Stewartville Public School #52822)

Announcements

We have made some changes to the Support Request entry page to increase effective communication between districts and the SpEd Forms Customer Service team. In addition, the support request entry page was converted to version 2.0. This will help us help you faster and more efficiently!