How you spend your week in special education

• Tell me how your role focuses on special education operations and what takes most of your time each week.
• Walk me through the systems your case managers use today to author IEPs, log services, and track timelines.
• On a typical month, how many active IEPs does your district manage? Options: Under 500, 500 to 1,000, 1,000 to 3,000, Over 3,000
• List the data sources that hold student-level information needed for state reporting and Medicaid claiming. Options: Student information system, Health/Medicaid system, Legacy special education system, Spreadsheets, Paper records, Other
• Describe the last time you had to deliver reconciled data for a state monitor or federal submission, and what was the hardest part.
• Estimate how many staff hours per week are spent manually reconciling IEP dates, service logs, and attendance. Options: Under 5 hours, 5 to 15 hours, 15 to 40 hours, Over 40 hours

When compliance pressure finds you

• When was the last time a missed IEP timeline led to a formal finding, complaint, or corrective action? Options: Within 6 months, 6 to 12 months ago, Over a year ago, Never
• Share the specific compliance gaps the monitor or reviewer highlighted and which buildings or processes they tied them to.
• Are there documentation areas that repeatedly trigger attorney challenges or parent complaints, such as progress notes, consent forms, or service logs? Options: Progress notes, Consent forms, Service logs, Goal progress, Notification timing, Other
• How many due process hearings or formal complaints has your district had in the past two years? Options: 0, 1 to 2, 3 to 5, 6 to 10, More than 10
• Describe how those compliance events affected budget, staff time, or other projects.
• Which single compliance failure would make you stop any new rollout until it was resolved? Options: System cannot track timelines, State reporting mismatch, Medicaid claiming errors, Parent access or consent failures, Other

Where workflow breaks actually cost you

• If a timeline alert failed and an IEP was completed late, what direct costs or operational consequences do you incur?
• List the tasks that still rely on spreadsheets or manual entry during the IEP lifecycle. Options: Scheduling meetings, Timeline tracking, Service logging, Progress monitoring, State extract preparation, Other
• Who first notices when service delivery records do not match scheduled minutes, and what is their follow up?
• Identify the reporting extracts that must reconcile perfectly across systems to avoid state audit issues. Options: Child count, Service minutes by student, Medicaid claims, Exit/transition data, Other
• Walk me through a recent student record where data mismatches created extra work, and tell me what it cost in hours or corrections.
• If a vendor could prove it would eliminate a quantifiable amount of reconciliation time per week, what would stop you from piloting that solution within 30 days?

The people who make or break rollout

• Who on your leadership team must be convinced for this to move from pilot to district wide deployment? Options: Special education director, Assistant superintendent, Technology director, Business manager/CFO, Board liaison, Other
• Call out the frontline roles that will need to change daily habits the most, and explain why those roles find change hard. Options: Case managers, Related service providers, Paraprofessionals, Administrators, Clerical staff, Other
• When you think about parent access and communication, who in your district currently owns that relationship and its quality?
• Name the one stakeholder who could veto the project and describe their main concern.
• Select the training delivery that fits your team best for case managers with varying technical skills. Options: Live instructor led, Blended live and online, Video library and guides, Train the trainer, Combination
• Would committing named district staff to 10 hours per week for a pilot be approved, and if yes, who would they be? Options: Yes, approved, Pending approval, No, not approved

The other paths you are considering

• Name the alternative that would most likely keep you from switching away from your current solution, and why.
• Identify the vendors, internal builds, or approaches you have already demoed or piloted. Options: Incumbent special education vendor, New commercial vendor, Internal build proposal, State tools or portal, Spreadsheets and manual process, Other
• Outline the measurable improvement your current platform must deliver to avoid replacement, for example percent fewer missed timelines or hours saved per week.
• Has anyone on staff proposed solving this without an outside vendor, and if so what timeline and budget did they propose? Options: Yes, timeline under 6 months, Yes, timeline 6 to 12 months, Yes, timeline over 12 months, No internal proposal
• Which single outcome would make you walk away from the incumbent and start a pilot with a new partner within 30 days? Options: Eliminate timeline misses, Accurate state extracts, Reliable Medicaid claiming, Parent portal with consent, Other

Can you meet the practical requirements to proceed

• Point to the technical dependency that, if missing, would halt the project immediately. Options: API access to SIS, Access to legacy special ed data, Medicaid payer integration, Named district release of data, None of the above
• Inventory the third party systems that must connect for state reporting and Medicaid claiming, and note whether they expose APIs. Options: Student information system, Medicaid vendor, Attendance system, Assessment system, Payroll/billing, Other
• Point out who owns the API keys, data extracts, or vendor contracts that our implementation team will need to access.
• Estimate whether your student and service data are clean enough for a migration without extensive manual reconciliation. Options: Ready, minimal cleanup, Moderate cleanup required, Significant cleanup required, Data not accessible
• Are there legal, union, board, or procurement approvals that could gate configuration or go live, and how long do they typically take? Options: No approvals needed, Approvals in 2 to 4 weeks, Approvals in 1 to 3 months, Approvals over 3 months
• Would you pause the project if integrations could not be completed within 60 days, or proceed with a reduced scope? Options: Pause until integrations complete, Proceed with reduced scope, Depends on which integrations fail

The single success signal that closes the deal

• Point to the single measurable success signal that will make you confident the system meets your compliance obligations. Options: Zero missed IEP timelines for pilot cohort, State extracts reconciled with zero exceptions, Medicaid claims accepted without edits, Parent consent completion rate > 95%, Other
• Select the top three compliance or operational metrics you need to improve in the first year. Options: Missed IEP timelines, Time spent reconciling data, Number of audit exceptions, Parent portal adoption, Medicaid claim acceptance rate, Case manager training completion
• Outline the pilot you would run to validate those metrics, including scope, sample schools or grades, length in weeks, and success checks. Options: 2 to 4 weeks, 6 to 8 weeks, 8 to 12 weeks, Longer than 12 weeks
• Should a pilot prove the targeted reduction in missed timelines, what remaining approvals or obstacles would delay final signing? Options: Budget approval only, Procurement or contract review, Board approval required, Internal IT readiness, None, ready to sign
• Provide the acceptance criteria tied to state reporting and audit responses that must be met before you will call the project successful.
• On a realistic timeline, how quickly could you make a procurement decision after a successful pilot? Options: Same month, Within 1 to 2 months, Within 3 months, Longer than 3 months

• Solution Experience Session

• Confirm the current state and its cost to your team
• You confirm the demonstrated workflow enforces IEP timelines and eliminates the specific manual rework described in Discovery.
• Provide three representative student IEP scenarios including current IEPs, timeline history, service logs, and state reporting extracts.
• You confirm that parent access, service logging, and the Medicaid claim sample meet your operational and compliance needs.
• Run your IEP authoring and timeline alert scenario end-to-end
• Build a proof-of-concept environment using the provided scenarios and deliver a recorded walkthrough of each validated flow.
• Show parent access, service logging, and Medicaid claim flow with your data
• Prepare a draft scope outline showing included modules, migration boundaries, and the training package based on today's validation.
• You agree on the remaining evidence, datasets, and reviewers required to finalize scope and pricing.
• Prove reconciled state reporting using a sample extract
• Identify the decision-makers and compliance reviewers who must approve the proof-of-concept and availability windows for follow-up review.
• Clarify scope boundaries and configuration implications
• Validate that this maps to your operational needs
• Agree the next evidence required to finalize scope and pricing

• Solution Experience Session
• Solution Experience Deck
• Solution Brief

• meeting
• slides
• document

• Configure State-Specific IEP Forms
• Migrate Student and IEP Records
• Enable Case Manager Timeline Alerts
• Configure IEP Meeting Documentation Templates
• Enable Parent Portal and Electronic Consent
• Deploy Service Delivery Logging
• Set Up Progress Monitoring and Goal Tracking
• Configure Direct Submission to State Reporting
• Integrate Medicaid Billing and Claiming
• Provision Administrator Compliance Dashboard
• Deliver Case Manager and Administrator Training
• Provide Compliance Audit Support Package

Configure State-Specific IEP Forms

• Do you need configuration for one state or multiple states? Options: One state, 2-5 states, 6+ states
• How many distinct state IEP form templates do you need mapped into the platform? Options: 1, 2-5, 6-20, 20+
• Which state IEP fields do you require to have conditional logic or state-coded picklists (for example eligibility category, least restrictive environment codes)?
• Who will provide the official state form specifications (PDF, XML schema, or state export) and who will be your point of contact for clarifications?
• When do your state form updates typically publish and how do you want template versioning scheduled for school-year changes? Options: Annually (summer), Per state bulletin, Ad hoc as published
• Provide examples of any state-mandated signature sequencing or explicit parent consent text you require to appear on the IEP form.

Migrate Student and IEP Records

• List the source systems and file types you will provide for student and IEP record migration (for example SIS export, legacy special education export, spreadsheets, PDF case files). Options: SIS export (CSV/EDR), Legacy special education export, Spreadsheet (XLSX/CSV), PDF case files, Other
• Describe the volume you need to migrate: total student records, active IEPs, historical IEP versions, and service log entries.
• Confirm the migration accuracy thresholds you require (examples: record count parity, field-level match rate, allowable nulls in required fields). Options: Record count parity, >=99% field-level match, <=1% nulls in required fields, Custom threshold
• Identify any student data elements you must preserve exactly during migration (for example IEP effective date, eligibility date, service start/stop times, provider NPI).
• Specify whether you need historical IEP versions retained, only current active IEPs migrated, or current plus a limited number of prior versions. Options: Only active/current IEPs, All historical versions, Current plus last N versions (specify N)
• Estimate the required freeze window for source system edits during final cutover to ensure migration parity. Options: No freeze required, 24 hours, 48 hours, Custom timeframe

Enable Case Manager Timeline Alerts

• Select the timeline event types you want automated alerts for (for example due dates, re-evaluation windows, meeting scheduling windows, service end dates). Options: IEP due dates, Re-evaluation windows, Meeting scheduling windows, Service end dates, Other
• Are escalation rules required when reminders are not acknowledged (for example escalate to building supervisor after a set number of days)? Options: Yes, No
• Explain how you want alerts delivered and any restrictions on student-identifying data in notifications (for example in-app, email to case manager, SMS to coordinator).
• Indicate the SLA for alert delivery after a trigger occurs (for example within one minute, within 15 minutes, within one hour). Options: Within 1 minute, Within 15 minutes, Within 1 hour, End of business day
• Will you require role-based alert templates so wording differs for case managers versus administrators? Options: Yes, No
• State any FERPA, union, or parent communication constraints that affect timeline alert content or permitted recipients.

Configure IEP Meeting Documentation Templates

• Approximate the number of distinct IEP meeting documentation templates you use (for example initial, annual, triennial, revision, manifestation determination). Options: 1-3, 4-6, 7-10, 10+
• For each template, list the required sections that must appear in the final PDF (for example attendance, determinations, goals, services, signatures).
• Name any local or state-mandated meeting minute codes or verbatim text blocks that must be included exactly as written.
• Attach any sample meeting minutes or template PDFs you can provide for mapping and validation.
• Upload how frequently your meeting templates change (for example annually, per state bulletin, ad hoc) and indicate who notifies you of changes. Options: Annually, Per state bulletin, Ad hoc
• Enter required signature workflows you need (order of parent, case manager, LEA representative) and indicate whether e-signature is acceptable for each signer. Options: E-signature accepted for all, E-signature limited, Require wet signature for some, Other

Enable Parent Portal and Electronic Consent

• Choose which parent-facing features you want in the portal (for example view IEP, consent forms, meeting invites, progress reports). Options: View IEP, Consent forms, Meeting invites, Progress reports, Other
• Mark how parent accounts should be created in the portal (district single sign-on, email invite, or self-registration). Options: District SSO, Email invite, Self-registration, Other
• Outline any language access or translation requirements you have and identify which documents must be translated for parents.
• Report the parental consent flows you require (for example consent for initial placement, Medicaid consent, release of information) and whether you require options for partial consent.
• Supply the maximum number of parent users you expect and the peak concurrent sessions we should plan for. Options: <500, 500-2,000, 2,000-10,000, 10,000+
• Detail any privacy or FERPA constraints on parent portal content, including documents you do not want displayed to parents.

Deploy Service Delivery Logging

• Share the types of services you need to log (for example related services, specialized instruction, therapy minutes) and the frequency granularity required (per session, daily total, weekly).
• Rate the importance of offline logging capability (mobile app or CSV upload) for staff who work off-network. Options: Critical, Nice to have, Not required
• Cite any billing or district service codes that must be captured with each service entry (for example service code, time, provider NPI, location).
• Note expected integration points for service logs (for example timekeeping system, Medicaid billing endpoint, staff roster) and whether you require real-time sync.
• Recommend the retention policy for service logs needed for compliance and Medicaid audits (for example 7 years) and whether archival export is required. Options: 3 years, 7 years, Indefinite, Custom
• Summarize the approval workflows you require for service logs (for example provider self-approval, supervisor sign-off, automated reconciliation) and how exceptions should be handled.

Set Up Progress Monitoring and Goal Tracking

• Do you track goal progress by specific measurement types (for example frequency count, percent accuracy, curriculum-based measurement)? Options: Yes, No
• How many active IEP goals per student do you expect case managers to manage on average? Options: 1-2, 3-5, 6+
• Which progress data sources should be ingested into goal tracking (for example teacher observations, intervention logs, assessment imports) and at what cadence?
• Who within your team will be responsible for entering progress updates and who will review them for compliance?
• When do you require automated progress reports to be generated (for example quarterly, per IEP meeting, monthly)? Options: Quarterly, Per IEP meeting, Monthly, Custom
• Provide examples of goal mastery criteria and thresholds that should trigger a review or revision workflow for IEP goals.

Configure Direct Submission to State Reporting

• List the state reporting endpoints you must integrate with and indicate whether they accept API submission, flat-file upload, or manual portal import. Options: API submission, Flat-file upload, Web portal manual import, Other
• Describe the exact data elements your state requires in submissions (for example student identifiers, IEP primary disability, service minutes, exit codes) that must map from the platform.
• Confirm what evidence will validate your configured direct submission to the state special education reporting system (for example a successful test batch acceptance, state validation certificate, and reconciliation to your SIS).
• Identify the file format and validation rules used by your state (for example XML schema version, CSV column headers, maximum file size) and provide sample validation error logs if available.
• Specify whether submission scheduling should be manual, scheduled batches, or triggered by a reconciliation event. Options: Manual only, Scheduled batch, Event-triggered, Other
• Estimate expected monthly submission volume (number of students/records per submission) so we can size throughput. Options: <500, 500-2,000, 2,000-10,000, 10,000+

Integrate Medicaid Billing and Claiming

• Select the Medicaid claiming mechanism you use or expect to use (for example direct submission, clearinghouse, batch export to billing vendor). Options: Direct submission, Clearinghouse, Batch export to billing vendor, Other
• Are provider credentials and NPIs centrally managed and ready for integration, partially available, or do you need help gathering them? Options: All ready and centrally managed, Partial (some NPIs missing), Not centrally managed
• Explain any state-specific Medicaid billing modifiers, service codes, or attestation fields that must be present on claims.
• Indicate your preferred reconciliation cadence between service logs and claimed services (for example daily, weekly, monthly). Options: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Custom
• Will you require denial management workflows in the platform for Medicaid claim re-submissions and tracking? Options: Yes, No
• State any fiscal agent or vendor constraints for Medicaid claiming (for example required vendor format, fiscal agent rules, or data residency limitations).

Provision Administrator Compliance Dashboard

• Approximate the number of administrator roles that need custom dashboards (for example Director, Compliance Officer, Building Admin). Options: 1-2, 3-5, 6+
• For each dashboard, list the must-have compliance KPIs you want surfaced (for example open overdue IEPs, missing signatures, Medicaid claim error rate) and desired drilldowns.
• Name any state or federal metrics that must be displayed (for example IDEA timeline compliance, child find counts, federal submission discrepancies).
• Attach samples of your current compliance reports or screenshots we should replicate for key visualizations.
• Upload your desired dashboard refresh cadence and indicate whether you require near real-time visibility. Options: Near real-time, Hourly, Daily, Weekly
• Enter threshold alert rules that should create incidents (for example more than 5 overdue IEPs in a building or greater than 2% Medicaid claim error rate).

• Order Form
• Master Services Agreement (MSA)
• Statement of Work (SOW)
• Service Level Agreement (SLA)
• Education Data Protection Addendum (FERPA & State Privacy)
• Change Order Agreement
• Go-Live Acceptance Certificate
• Support & Maintenance Addendum

• Go-live Health Check
• First Measurement Review
• Acceptance Gate Review (Day 90)
• Quarterly Success Review

• Schedule targeted refresher training sessions for user cohorts with persistent proficiency gaps.
• Confirm the data sources and dashboards that will be used for the Acceptance Gate evidence package.
• Produce a metrics package showing raw extracts, transformation logic, and reconciliations for each metric used at the Acceptance Gate.
• Open configuration or data-cleanup tickets for each diagnosed root cause with target remediation dates.
• Schedule focused training sessions for any user groups showing consistent usage errors tied to metric gaps.
• Restate acceptance criteria and numeric targets
• Produce a documented acceptance decision per criterion based on the evidence presented and recorded by the buying owner.
• Confirm the incumbent system wind-down status and closure plan to prevent dual-system workarounds.
• Agree remediation items and a retest timeline for any unmet acceptance criteria.
• Publish the formal Acceptance Gate record listing pass/fail per Solution Scope criterion and the buying owner's documented decision.
• If required, open remediation and retest tickets with owners and dates, and add retest evidence requirements.
• Execute the legacy system decommission or archive steps and confirm completion in writing.
• Trend review of IEP on-time completion rate and parent portal activation rate
• Confirm whether IEP on-time completion rate and parent portal activation rate are on a sustainable trajectory to meet Solution Scope targets.
• Agree a prioritized enhancement backlog and schedule for items that reduce compliance risk or increase adoption.
• Ensure all high-severity operational risks have named remediation actions and timelines.
• Update the enhancement backlog with agreed priorities and target quarters for delivery.
• Close or escalate high-severity support tickets and document mitigation steps and owners.
• Re-confirm success criteria and owners
• Confirm the deployment completed and that primary users can access required functions.
• Produce a prioritized list of open defects and blockers with remediation dates.
• Confirm the date and scope for the First Measurement Review meeting.
• Publish a go-live validation report that includes migration status, open defects, and access confirmations.
• Create remediation tickets for each blocker with target resolution dates and close criteria.
• Share the user access and training completion summary ahead of the First Measurement meeting.
• Present metric: IEP on-time completion rate and missed timelines
• Determine whether IEP on-time completion rate and state reporting reconciliation discrepancy count are trending toward the targets recorded in the Solution Scope tab.
• Agree a prioritized remediation plan with owners and due dates for the highest-impact gaps.
• Present outcome evidence against each criterion
• State reporting reconciliation and outstanding exceptions
• Deployment and migration validation
• Present metric: state reporting reconciliation discrepancy count
• Document pass/fail per criterion and acceptance decision
• User access and role-based training status
• Training effectiveness and proficiency updates
• Present metric: Medicaid claim submission success rate
• Enhancement requests and backlog prioritization
• Incumbent system wind-down verification
• Early adoption signals and usage patterns
• Root-cause diagnosis
• Blockers and open issues
• Agree remediation plan for failed criteria
• Open operational issues and risk register
• Agree corrective actions and timeline
• Confirm readiness timeline to Acceptance Gate
• Agree immediate remediation actions