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PowerSchool Unified Classroom Special Programs

Score8 out of 10

5 Reviews and Ratings

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What is PowerSchool Unified Classroom Special Programs?

PowerSchool Unified Classroom Special Programs (Special Education) covers all areas of education including 504 processes, services capture for Medicaid billing, special education case management, gifted and talented, English language learners, and Response to Intervention (RTI). It is a comprehensive system that combines case management with tracking clinical services to ensure the delivery of IEPs and alignment of IEPs to state and local goals. The system is designed to support districts in meeting results-driven accountability requirements. The vendor says that in turn, this can positively impact student education and growth.

Categories & Use Cases

Media

Screenshot of IEP Progress report
Screenshot of IEP considerations

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Screenshot of IEP Progress report

Reviews

What users are saying about PowerSchool Unified Classroom Special Programs.
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The only Special Education Support Software

Incentivized
Christopher PowerView profile
Virtual Enterprise Coordinator/Educator at NYC Department of Education / Francis Lewis High School (201-500 employees employees)

Pros

  • It provides all the documents necessary for supporting federal and state laws in regards to the special education program.
  • Extremely effective in helping to meet reporting standards for students. Teachers that fall behind on deadlines or timelines are given reminders and provided with processes to monitor progress and reporting.
  • Case management is easy, which leads to 100% compliance. This is important because the best strength is that this platform helps to increase funding by meeting all requirements of the Fed and State.
  • An additional strength is the collaborative potential it offers. The platform offers student portals to let staff access all resources on demand.

Cons

  • In terms of improvement, the interface is extremely ugly and simple in design, color and icon design. The platform needs to have a much more interactive and appealing interface so that use is more comfortable.
  • For parents, their side of the platform has a lot of options. That needs to be simplified. I think less and more drop downs within the key menus would help.
  • The disability codes are very lengthy. Perhaps there are easier or faster ways to access subsections to select.

Return on Investment

  • There is also a positive impact on ROI for the school. Utilizing this software provides the school with the ability to increase the potential it receives in Title 1 funding. Title 1 funding is a major source of funding for inner-city schools in particular.
  • Normally, the IEP and tracking process is lengthy, filled with paper, and often takes more time than necessary. Utilizing this software speeds up the process and provides clear requirements to be met, which reduces the number of questions and confusing meetings or papers left in teacher mailboxes.
  • I have not experienced a negative return on investment with the software, because, without it, the paper trail would be too lengthy and the process would be much more convoluted, with long meetings, long sheets of paperwork, and missed deadlines due to a lack of clear collaboration.

Other Software Used

Google Classroom, Adobe Flex, SchoolMessenger