Using Special Education Workflows

For each step in the process, your administrator creates a workflowClosed a method of coordinating multi-step processes involving one or more users, or a checklist of steps you must complete to enroll or renew a student in Special Education.

When you enroll or renew a student in the special education program, a workflow is kicked off that automatically is associated with the event.

The workflow is represented by a checklist for the special education team to complete. Students who are initially referred to the program do not have an active IEPClosed Individualized Education Program until you complete all steps outlined in the checklist. After you enroll a student in special education, or renew or amend an IEP, you need to complete a checklist for the IEP to become active.

Your special education system administrator defines and manages the workflows. All special education users use the workflows.

Note for Massachusetts users: When you are in a Massachusetts Initial Referral, Re-evaluation, or Review workflow, if you cannot select the Approved or Rejected– Appeal to DOEClosed Department of Education options for the situation, you can select Rejected – reconvene team on the Receive approval decision step. The system adds more steps to the workflow to facilitate the re-assessment of the referral, re-evaluation, or review. You can select Rejected – reconvene team as many times as necessary until you and the team reach the desired outcome for the student.

To complete a special education workflow:

  1. Log on to the Special Education view.
  2. Click the IEP tab.
  3. Click the Workflows side-tab.
  4. Select the IEP to complete.
  5. Select the workflow you want to update, and click Checklist. The checklist for that workflow appears.

  6. The system highlights the next step you are to complete.

  1. Click the blue text to enter the information to complete the step. For some steps, you might enter a date. For other steps, you might complete a form.

  2. Note: If your district uses IEP locking, in order to edit an IEP, you must first lock the IEP data. Do the following:

    1. Click the yellow Unlocked icon " ".
    2. When the green Locked icon appears " ", you can edit the IEP.

    3. If the red Locked by another user icon " " appears, someone else has locked the IEP data for editing, and you must wait until they are done before you can make your changes. If you have override privileges, you can override the lock. If you do so, the following warning appears.

      Warning pop-up that states current user's changes will be discarded; option to continue or cancel

    1. When your changes are complete, click Save, and then click Green locked icon to release the lock.

    2. If a lock is overriden by someone else, the following prompt appears when you attempt to save.

      Pop-up states that you must claim a lock on this record before saving

    Click the yellow Unlocked icon " " to reclaim the lock, re-enter your edits and save your changes; then click Locked icon to release the lock.

  1. Note: Although you complete most steps in order, it is sometimes possible for steps to be completed nonconsecutively. Any step with text that appears in blue can be completed, even if it is not highlighted.
  1. For steps with multiple outcomes, after you click the step, you select the outcome. For example, if you click the Receive assessment decision step, you click either Consent received or Consent denied:

If you click Consent received, the next step in the process appears in blue. If you click Consent denied, all steps are grayed out and you cannot continue the referral process for this student. Their status becomes Ineligible.

  • Some steps might require you to enter information. For example, assume the step is Define IEP Team. The system displays a series of pop-ups you use to select the people who are part of the student's IEP team.
  • For other steps, a form appears. Fill out the form, and click Save.
  • For some steps, there may be several forms to complete. Click the Available Forms drop-down at the top of the pop-up to complete additional forms.

    • Note: To print additional or blank copies of the forms, click the Forms side-tab.

On the checklist, you can Edit Edit icon. or PrintPrint icon. the form:

Note: If you make a mistake, click the checkmark to re-enter or delete the information for a step. Uncheck appears below the step. Click Uncheck, and click OK to confirm.
  • After you complete some steps, a date in the Date Due column might appear:

These dates are determined by your district or state, and keep the IEP in compliance.

See Define Compliance Rules for Workflows.

If a warning threshold has been set up, warns you that there are only a few days before the step needs to be completed. This warning disappears after the step is completed or the date due is passed.

If the date due has passed for a step, indicates that the IEP is out of compliance. You can continue to follow the workflow, but the icon remains. Hover over the icon to display how many days the step is overdue.

After you complete all steps in the checklist, the system implements the student’s new IEP.

Note: The system creates a draft IEP as soon as you initiate a workflow. Throughout the workflow process, the system continues to develop the IEP. The last step of the IEP signifies that the process is complete and the draft IEP is now implemented. At this time, the current active IEP, if any, is changed to Previous, and the draft IEP becomes Active.

If a student is deemed not eligible to receive special education services on an Initial Referral workflow, the system changes the status of the draft IEP to Discarded.

If a student is found no longer eligible on a Re-evaluation workflow, the system changes the status of the active IEP to Previous and the status of the draft IEP to Discarded.