Customer stories


Practical Solutions for Educators

FileMaker Helps Streamline Special Education Processes

If you want something done right, some people believe you're better off doing it yourself. So when Ohio school psychologist Roy Gordon couldn't find an off-the-shelf solution for his paperwork problems, he made things happen for himself, with FileMaker Pro, the award-winning database software application from FileMaker Inc.

Roy was a school psychologist for seventeen years, and a good part of his workday was devoted to necessary paperwork. State laws require that a great deal of documentation to be filed in connection with Special Education programs—and as these requirements became ever more complex, Roy found himself wondering if perhaps there wasn't a better way to handle them. In 1990, he discovered there was—when he built his first application in FileMaker Pro. "I was a school psychologist, not a database expert," Roy acknowledges, "and I needed a system that was easy to learn and easy to use, and allowed for fast and easy modifications and changes."

So that's what he built—a smoothly-functioning FileMaker Pro-based application that automates much of the process of filling in those endless state forms. It worked, it saved time, it improved his efficiency—and then other schools heard about it. So Roy decided to sell his system—and in 1998 he switched to make it his fulltime job. Practical Solutions for Educators was born.

Now, PSFE markets an entire range of FileMaker Pro based solutions to streamline Special Education-related functions. "There are components that help with managing student information, completing evaluation reports, and preparing Individual Education Plans for students." Roy notes. "An IEP is required whenever a student begins a Special Education program—the teacher sits down with the parents and the details of that student's specific program are worked out. This involves the completion of many state forms. There's much duplication of information in completing all these forms, and my solution allows much of the information to be entered once for the entire form, eliminating a lot of repetitive work and saving a lot of time."

PSFE products are used by over half the schools in Ohio—ranging from single-classroom installations to the entire school system for the city of Columbus. "Now that I'm distributing the system to other schools," comments Roy, "it helps a lot that FileMaker Pro is cross platform—and that it networks nicely!" No matter what their scope or size, those users benefit every day from Roy's commitment to providing an application that fits educators' needs—and from the flexibility and power of FileMaker Pro.



Contact information

Contact Info for Customer:

Roy Gordon
President
Practical Solutions for Educators
937-642-7755
rgordon@psfe.com
http://www.psfe.com


Filemaker Contact:

Kevin Mallon
Public Relations Manager
FileMaker Inc.
408-987-7227
kevin_mallon@filemaker.com
http://www.filemaker.com


Overview
  • Practical Solutions for Educators markets an entire range of FileMaker Pro-based solutions to streamline Special Education-related functions.
Industry
  • K-12 Education
  • Small Business