Replace Accelify Frontline IEP Program in Austin ISD

I am a 2nd year teacher, but this is my first year in SpEd. As if being a first year special education teacher wasn't difficult enough...I did not receive the proper training on how to use Accelify. I have spent countless hours staring at my screen so I could TEACH MYSELF how navigate and use this program, which has affected my productivity, well-being, and mental health. Special education teachers are assigned with the responsibilities of teaching, managing behavior, understanding SpEd law, and making sure that the needs of our students are being met. Our plates are full, and you knew this, yet you still deliberately decided that implementing a new, untested program during the most stressful year of our lives was a good idea. Like a previous teacher said, "This system has made the already challenging task of special education so much more difficult, that it is causing teachers to leave the field of special education. It has caused mistakes that have required additional meetings to fix, which puts unnecessary burdens on teachers." We are struggling and you are standing by watching us drown.

This has made all SPED employees lives more difficult with no benefit.

This system is terrrible!! Always has issues, take soooo much time and not teacher friendly.

This software has been a nightmare and a major source of anxiety and stress to every Special Ed teacher I know.

Please please please can we go back to seeds? This program is awful!

Accelify is part of the reason I resigned from this district. I would consider returning if a more appropriate program were adopted.

This program is bad for kids and staff. It takes 3 times longer to do anything. So many glitches. We will never catch up if we keep this privy.

This program is an embarrassment to our department!

Accelify must die

I agree with the other commenters that the Accelify/Frontline program has made all of our jobs significantly harder and is forcing the district to have even more non-compliance to the Special Education laws. The training that was provided was inadequate and the support from the company is lacking. In my 27 years as a professional support staff, I have never seen so many problems with a documentation system. I question why this program from New York was even chosen, without vetting, when the surrounding districts use other commercial programs that have stood the test of time.

So happy that someone is speaking up for us! Having an hour of training every week is ridiculous all for a system that doesn't work well or wasn't ready!

There are too many glitches that impact timelines. the formatting is terrible.

Takes up way too much valuable time documenting every little thing. To complete an IEP, takes more than double the time it did with SEEDS. So many parts and steps could be taken out of Accelify.

I tried to be optimistic about Accelify/Frontline. I tried to think of the positive things about it. But from the very first ARD meeting I had, where it took a week before I could lock the event, it has been more trouble than it's worth. I have felt like I would need an entire school day every week just to keep up with service tracking and goal progress. The few benefits of the system just do not outweigh the harmful effects.

This system has made the already challenging task of special education so much more difficult, that it is causing teachers to leave the field of special education. It has caused mistakes that have required additional meetings to fix, which puts uneccessary burdens on teachers, administrators and parents during an already difficult time for everyone. Furthermore there are no gains made from using the system that would justify the aftermentioned issues. AISD should replace it with something more user friendly immediately.

Please reconsider this program. Seeds was an effective and compliant system that was user friendly. Frontline/accelify IEP software is terribly time consuming and will end up costing the district not only money but talent. I’ve been up all night working on IEP’s. This is unsustainable while teaching.

Having to literally do "initial" ARD's for my entire caseload has resulted in burnout for not only me, but many of my colleagues! I never thought I would MISS SEEDS SO MUCH

Big failure

Please consider going back to SEEDS the very functional, compliant IEP system that was developed and maintained by AISD for almost 20 years.

I feel that this program is very stressful and not teacher friendly. It requires a lot of time and attention so our ability to focus on the students is diminished. There were some great qualities to the program, but not enough to support the stress and time that this program demands.