Using H.E.L.P. on a Network Report Solutions Inc. 435 West Broadway Centralia, IL 62801.

Using H.E.L.P. on a Network

Report Solutions Inc.

435 West Broadway

Centralia, IL 62801

H.E.L.P. can be installed to

•Local Area Network

•Terminal Server

•Local Hard drive

Local Area Network• H.E.L.P. is installed to file

server• Local workstations are

attached to the database on the file server

• Users log on to the Network and all data is saved on the file server

• Everyone works in the same database and on the same forms

Advantages

• File servers are usually configured for automatic backups.

• Users print to local printers. • Users can see IEPs for all students in the

database. • The teachers and related service staff can

complete parts of the IEP• Student information is consistent from user to

user and does not have to be re-entered by each user.

Does H.E.L.P. look different on a Network?

NO• H.E.L.P. looks and works exactly the

same whether on a standalone or Network

• Network connectivity can affect the “speed”

• If the network goes down, you will not have access to H.E.L.P. program

Decisions

• Do you want one database for the district?– Do you frequently have students move from one

building to another?– Do you frequently have students move from one

program to another?

• Do you want one database for each building?– Will there be a large number of students in the

database?

How does it happen?

• H.E.L.P. is installed to the file server as either an “empty” or “sample” database

• H.E.L.P. Databases from each users’ standalone computers are imported into the file server (Network version) of H.E.L.P.

• IF two or more teachers have the same student in their standalone database, there will be duplicates– If teachers used the same ID number, there will be

duplicate IEP forms– If teachers used different ID numbers for the same

student, the student will appear more than one time in the database.

Next… Clean up your database

• Before your database is exported from your standalone computer, delete duplicate records– Delete blank IEP forms– Only retain the most recent form(s) for each student– Delete any duplicates, especially Conference Summary

Report– It is best to have only one of each form except for the Goals

and Objectives/Benchmarks form. There may be multiples of these due to different goal areas to meet the needs of the student

– Clean up your Z-loads

Z-load Database Clean up

Go to the Main Menu and select System Maintenance

Then Select Customized Tables.

Go through each z-load and delete duplicate and unnecessary data

Z-Load: IEP Short Term Objectives

• Review the z-load IEP Short Term Objectives. This z-load contains your library of goals that you use to “click in” to the form Goals & Objectives/Benchmarks through the “Quick Selection” option.

• Look at each of the Goals by using the binoculars (search) icon.

• Check to see if something has been keyed into both the Present LevelsPresent Levels of Performance and the Goal Statement fields. If either one or both are blank, key in pertinent information for the field. This is important when export is done from your database. If there is no data in either or both of these fields, export of the data will be impeded and data could be lost.

Z-load IEP Short Term Objectives

While in the z-load IEP Short Term Objectives set your cursor in front of the statement describing the Present Levels of Performance. Key in your initial in front of the statement.

H.E.L.P. automatically alphabetizes the information in each z-load

By adding your initials in front of the Present Levels of Performance your library of goals will be “grouped” together.

Z-load database clean up

To find your goals in the co-mingled H.E.L.P. program on the server:

1. Go to the Forms Menu.

2. Select the form: Goals & Objectives/Benchmarks

3. Select your student and begin completing the form

4. Select “Quick Selection” An overlay will appear.

5. Key in the first letter of your initials in the Search line. You will go directly to your IEP library of goals.

Key in the first letter of your initials in the Search Data line and you will go directly to your IEP library of goals

Use the drop down (combo box) arrow to continue searching you goal library.

More Z-Load Clean up

Go to the z-load Schools/Districts. Key in your last name or first initial and last name behind the School name in this z-load.

This will group your students in the reports menu

Clean up in Client Intake

Check each student’s biographical information to insure that it is the most recent information and that the student’s full legal name is correctly entered

At the Main Menu Select

Click in the information that you just edited from the z-load Schools/District into each of the student’s information

under Serving District

When you have finished the Clean Up of your database…

You are ready to run

Compact-Repair to finish the clean up

process

How to Compact-Repair

• Close the H.E.L.P. program – You can NOT have the program open to run compact-repair.

• Do not minimize the program or put it on the task bar, CLOSE IT

• Go to Start, Programs, H.E.L.P. Version 4.0

Click on: H.E.L.P. Compact-Repair in the extension

Compact-Repair

• You will see a gray screen • In the bottom left corner you will first see

“ready”, then you will see an indicator “compacting”

• If you have many records in the database this may take several minutes – be patient

• When the compact-repair is finished, the program will close.

Export Files• After Compact-

Repair, open your H.E.L.P. program

• Go to System Maintenance Menu 2

• Export: SelectAll Information

(exports Client Info and Client Forms and Customized Z-loads)

Export and Import FeaturesSimplified

Instead of typing in the path, such as C:\temp

Click on the Browse button

A new H.E.L.P. Browser appears which allows the user to search the computer to find the files and folders on the computer

Name your file to be exported (i.e. your name)

Export files will NOT fit on 1.44 floppy.

A larger storage device is needed (i.e.. USB drive, CD, folder on hard drive, folder on server drive).

After H.E.L.P. is installed on the server…

What does each Case Manager

need to do?

After the Network Version is set-up each Case Manager will need to

examine the data for their students.• Look for duplicate students

– Use Report Menu – Listing by Student ID

• Before you delete a student you may need to copy/paste parts of the IEP into other forms

• If you delete student in Client Intake, Student and ALL forms are deleted

• Deleting within Forms Menu does not delete the student from the database

DailyDatabase Cleanup

• It is best to have only 1 of most forms on a child (excluding Goals & Objectives) in the database

• The forms should reflect the latest information about the child

• Instead of starting a new form each time, Edit the previous one.

• This will keep the reports up to date

Forms Clean-up

To Delete duplicate forms:

• Click on Form– Click on Student name

using Search (binoculars)

– Click on Trash can and delete the unwanted Form you see on the screen

Yearly Database Clean up

• At least once a year each case manager should clean up their students files in H.E.L.P.

• Students who have moved or exited Special Education Programs should be saved (if necessary) and then deleted

• A good way to check the cleanup is to use the Reports Menu.

Can I group the students in the database to Case Managers?

YESIn Client Intake, go to Serving District and either:

1. Set the cursor in the field behind the Serving District School Name and type in the case manager’s last name

OR

2. In the z-load Schools/District load the district name information with both the school’s name and Case Manager’s last name

This will need to be changed at least yearly.

What to look for:

Look for Serving District/SchoolType Case Manager name behind school name

Add case manager name to the z-load so it can be clicked it in

Type Case Manager Name behind the School Name.

Report will group the students to Case Manager

Can I do my monthly attendance on a Network Version?

The answer is YES!

Attendance can be handled by a designated person(s) (i.e. case manager/teachers) in your district each month

Since students are linked to a case manager/teacher in the database (as was illustrated on the previous slides) students will be grouped with the case manager/teacher

By entering the Report Menu and selecting “Listing by Attendance” the district’s designated person(s) can generate their own attendance from the Network database.

Teachers who service more than one building (i.e. SLP’s) will have to print their own attendance from the network denoting their specialty so that the correct Minutes/Week appear in the printout

Aren’t you glad you have H.E.L.P. ?

Both IEP’s and Computers have come along way…

QUESTIONS?

Don’t forget…

Our website:

www.reportsolutionsinc.com

Our phone number:

618.533.4525

We’ve Cooked up an IEP Solution

FAQ’s about Export and Import• H.E.L.P. merges files based on ID

number, date, and time

• H.E.L.P. does not overwrite information that has previously been added to forms

• It is best to edit “old” forms so that you have no more than ONE of each form for a student – except Goals and Objectives

• It is best to give Export file a name other than the default name: “Transfer”

FAQ’s about Export and ImportH.E.L.P.’s Master Table cannot be changed by

Import. You must make the changes directly to the Master Table using one of these options: Option 1 – Delete student from Client Intake and then

import changes from another source Option 2 – After Import, go to Client Intake,

Educational Services and Placement and Conference Summary Report forms and key in changes

• Related Services and location• % of times IN general education classroom and Special

Education• Number of Special Education minutes• EE – Educational Environment