Xperts Releases Version 5.0 of IEP Online; First Fully Web-Based Individualized Education Plan...

Business Editors/High Tech & Education Writers

Xperts, an information technology (IT) services company, announces the release of Version 5.0 of their IEP Online software for K-12 Special Education administration.

With Version 5.0, all teachers need is a networked computer

and a Web browser to access the IEP database to create or update a special education student's Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Xperts' technology solution allows other authorized users such as school administrators, counselors, occupational therapists and, potentially, parents to access the database at any hour from any location via the school's Intranet or through the Internet. Xperts' leaves it to each school system to determine whether access will be granted outside the school network, but the technology makes ubiquitous access possible. Version 5.0 of IEP Online is currently being used system-wide in the Henrico County, Virginia School District and is in a pilot phase in the Richmond, Virginia School System.

"We are extremely pleased with IEP Online's latest release," said Dr. Kenneth Bunting, former director of exceptional education for the Henrico County School System. "Having a fully Web-enabled IEP product makes it much easier for our teachers, support staff, and administrators to record and manage data, then share this information with appropriate parties such as parents, private/public service providers, and others who are directly involved in a student's individualized education plan. This advanced technology is helping us become better stewards of time and money - both of which benefit our students."

"IEP Online's ease-of-use and flexibility belies the complexity of building and maintaining such a system," said Rob Simms, chief technology officer of Xperts, Inc. "Release 5 is the culmination of six years of working closely with special education in public schools combined with more than twenty-thousand hours of product development."

IEP Online is the result of Xperts' product development team's efforts in partnership with the Henrico County School District. In 1996, Henrico's pressing need for an efficient, user-friendly IEP management system led them to partner with Xperts to create a system that would meet their needs, since no off-the-shelf software available at the time could do so. The early version, built in Filemaker Pro was re-built from the ground up to Version 5.0 in 2001. Version 5.0 is now a turnkey, Web-based special education administrative support system that can be easily customized for school districts nationwide.