Education and demonstration – Computer logic – operation – or programming instruction
Reexamination Certificate
1998-04-28
2001-08-07
Martin-Wallace, Valencia (Department: 3713)
Education and demonstration
Computer logic, operation, or programming instruction
C434S350000, C434S362000, C434S323000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06270351
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automated system for creating and administering individual education plans, and more particularly to a software package and network for creating individual education plans based upon student profiles and monitoring/assessing the progress and status of the students in the plans.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Public and private elementary, middle and high schools are mandated by their respective state and federal government to offer individualized education plans to meet the needs of students, including gifted and talented students, English as a Second Language students, literacy program students, Title I program students and students with learning disabilities. The individualized plans provide services that are tailored to the specific needs of students. For example, a student may require special attention in areas such as reading, writing, mathematics, speech, social skills, physical skills, emotional development, and/or any other area of special need. Similarly, a student may excel beyond his/her peers in one or more particular area and thus require special attention to provide this student with educational or other challenges thereby allowing this student to fully develop his or her potential to the fullest extent possible. For example, specialized services may be offered in areas including music, art and athletic programs.
Preferably, an individual education plan is designed as a collaborative effort with the input of school administrators, counselors, teachers and of the parents or guardian of the particular student. Typically, in any individual education plan, parental or guardian authorization is required. In addition, there is usually an entry qualification process to determine if a student's particular needs or gifts qualify that student for a particular plan. Qualification criteria are often designated by a state board of education. Periodic evaluations and assessments of a student's skills, needs and progress are also part of an overall individual education plan.
Currently, the entire process of creating and administering an individual education plan is accomplished manually. Essentially, this involves many individuals manually completing a myriad of forms, tracking the student's progress in the plans, and continuously monitoring the needs and skills of the students in the plans. Paper copies of the forms are sent to supervisors for approval once a staffing meeting has taken place. If there is an error, the forms are returned to the school and a new set must be produced. The new paper copy, with a notation as to what changed and why, is forwarded to all appropriate school personnel and to the parents/guardian of the particular student. This process could extend the life cycle of the individual education plan creation by a week. Essentially, as seen by the above example, this endeavor requires significant time and effort on the part of teachers, school administrators and counselors as well as the parents (guardian) of the student. In addition to the demand of time on the individuals involved, the manual control of this process may be prohibitively expensive. Accordingly, there is a need to enhance the efficiency of and reduce the cost of maintaining individual education plans.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with one aspect, the present invention is directed to a method for administering individual education plans. The method comprises generating student information records for students being considered for participation in an individual education plan, creating individual education plan records for each student based upon predetermined qualification criteria, and generating forms and reports for implementing individual education plans for qualified students. The method for administering individual education plans also comprises assessing students progress in individual education plans.
The individual education program tracking system of the present invention provides an automated means for creating, administering and maintaining individual education plans. Individual education plans, as the name implies, are plans designed to meet the special needs of individual students. These students, by virtue of a specific talent or gift, or because of a disability, have needs that cannot be fully met by the mainstream educational system. Embodied in a computer software package and network, the individual education program tracking system enables school administrators, school counselors, teachers and parents to develop a new or modify an existing student profile, create a new or modify an existing individual plan for the student based upon the profile and track the student's progress in the plan through periodic evaluations and assessments. The individual education program tracking system also provides for the automated completion and submission of the various forms required by either or both local school districts and state departments of education. Essentially, the individual education program tracking system integrates and automates procedures that meet a state's and/or district's legal requirements for administering an individual education plan, such as entry qualification evaluations and parental (guardian) authorization.
The individual education program tracking system of the present invention provides a network and means for each school in a school district to track the individual education plans for the students of that school and submit the data to the school district's central office. The system may also be utilized to compile the data from each of the schools in the district. The compiled data may then be utilized for any number of purposes including statistical analysis of the various aspects of the individual education programs and budget allocation. The system may also be utilized to submit the compiled data from each school district to the state's board of education wherein similar analyses may be done.
The individual education program tracking system of the present invention provides for the standardization of the individual education process at the school, school district and state board of education level. It increases the speed in obtaining and completing the forms necessary to create and administer the plans, and it greatly increases the efficiency of the analysis of the data compiled.
The individual education program tracking system of the present invention provides a user-friendly interface operable on any computing system such as personal computers. The system is highly configurable/reconfigurable to fit the needs of gifted/talented children as well as challenged children. Accordingly, teachers, school administrators and counselors may easily and efficiently create and edit data for student profiles and individual education plans, thereby saving time, effort and money in the creation and administration of individual education plans.
REFERENCES:
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patent: 5904485 (1999-05-01), Siefert
patent: 5934909 (1999-08-01), Ho et al.
patent: 5957699 (1999-09-01), Peterson et al.
patent: 5978648 (1999-11-01), George et al.
patent: 6002915 (1999-12-01), Shimizu
patent: 6039575 (2000-03-01), L'Allier et al.
patent: 6075968 (2000-06-01), Morris et al.
Harris Chanda
Martin-Wallace Valencia
MCI Communications Corporation
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