Virtual Case Manager Roles and Responsibilities in Education

Special education case management plays a vital role in ensuring that students with special needs receive a top-tier education. The exact job description may vary depending on a manager's skills, qualifications, and school districts, but basic case management jobs typically include:

• Gathering and using data to set measurable goals and objectives for 504 and IEP students, and then keeping track of progress made towards reaching these goals during the school year.
• Ensuring schools provide required services, support, and accommodations to help special education students reach their goals. These services and accommodations must be provided in the least restrictive manner possible. All services should be provided by certified, qualified professionals.
• Documenting compliance with the 504 or IEP plan in compliance with state and federal laws.
• Preparing and mailing IEP Progress Reports. Copies of these reports must also be maintained in a student's files.
• Complete and submit Medicaid billing (as needed) for students on Medicaid or CHIP
• Acting as a liaison between students and teachers, teachers and district administrators, and district administration and parents. In some instances, a case manager may also need to connect social service providers with one of the above-mentioned third parties.
• Communicating with parents regarding student performance and progress. A case manager may also suggest possible accommodations that can be made at home to boost academic and/or behavioral progress. These may include setting up a quiet homework area with no visual or auditory distractions, providing fidget toys, and practicing relaxation techniques with children.
• Communicating with teachers regarding student performance and, based on this communication, making changes to student IEP or 504 plans.
• Assessing student progress at the end of the school year and creating a new IEP or 504 plan for the new school year.  
• Qualified case managers may also provide direct instruction to special education students. To do so, a case manager should not only have general educational qualifications such as a bachelor's degree in education or psychology but also specific qualifications to provide the form of assistance a student needs. For instance, if a case manager is teaching students who need speech therapy, the case manager should have a degree in speech pathology.

A case manager's job description may change year by year as new students enter the school or have special needs identified, and other students leave or graduate. Additionally, the services needed by a special ed student can change as the student gets older and/or reaches original IEP goals. A manager will need to be versatile and adaptable in order to meet ever-changing student needs. Furthermore, the manager should stay up-to-date on changes in local, state, or federal laws that may impact case management requirements and/or the delivery of special education services.

What is Virtual Case Management?

A virtual case manager has the same workload as a regular case manager. The only difference is that a virtual case manager doesn't have to reside in the same school district. In fact, he or she may live in a different city or even state. All the jobs performed by an in-person case manager can be done by a virtual case manager thanks to remote work technologies such as video conferencing tools and collaborative tools such as Microsoft Teams.

The Department of Education has found that 45% of schools have vacancies in special education roles and nearly 80% of schools have difficulty hiring special education staff. Virtual case management is an ideal option for district administrators who are looking for qualified case managers but can't find available personnel in their city or state.

Granted, there are some challenges involved for virtual case managers who need to deliver case management services to different school districts. Virtual case managers who work with students in different states will need to be aware of each state's and district's regulations to ensure compliance with local laws. Virtual case managers who need to connect social service providers with parents or communicate with parents directly will need to make sure that all parties have access to reliable IT equipment and a good internet connection. If the virtual case manager provides instructional services to students, the school will need to provide the special education students with IT equipment, reliable internet, and a facilitator to provide teaching assistance during classes. At the same time, the manager will need to maintain a human connection with students, teachers, parents, and others even if they are not able to meet in person.

Another challenge unique to virtual case management is cybersecurity. A growing number of cybercriminals are targeting educational facilities, as evidenced by the fact that over 80% of K-12 schools experienced a cyber incident between July 2023 and December 2024. While all case managers store some data on a computer or online, virtual managers are likely to have more student information stored on a computer and/or online than in-person managers. Virtual managers should be familiar with common hacking techniques such as phishing and social engineering to prevent data breaches. Digital communication will have to be secured when speaking to other authorized parties about special education students.

How to Choose a Virtual Case Manager

If your school district needs virtual case management, consider the following criteria to ensure the new manager meets your district's current and future needs:

Check Certification and Experience

Good virtual case managers are trained, experienced professionals. They have the skills needed to work with different types of IEP/504 students. They need to have good communication skills. Furthermore, a virtual manager should not only have in-person experience but also experience handling cases virtually. They should be familiar with tech tools that facilitate communication, report generation, etc.

Choose a Good Case Management System

A good case management system lightens a case manager's workload. It can help to prevent mistakes, facilitate communication, help managers create and file reports, and more. A good system should also have strong data security to protect private information from malicious third parties.

Services Provided

What services can the virtual case manager provide? Creating reports, monitoring student progress, and making video calls as needed are important jobs. However, if you are struggling to find special education teachers for your schools, you may want to look for a manager who has the qualifications needed to provide direct instruction to students in addition to handling other case management tasks.

Companies that specialize in case management are likely in the best position to serve your district. Such companies will have many experienced case managers on hand to handle all your management needs. They may have special education tutors in addition to managers, ensuring students who have special education needs are taught by experienced, certified professionals. Furthermore, case management companies have other professionals and resources on hand to ensure smooth, secure case management. These may include tech support for IT hardware/software issues and effective cybersecurity software to prevent data breaches.

Why Work with Proximity Learning?

Proximity Learning specializes in providing instructional and case management services to school districts throughout the United States. Our course offerings include all core subjects for grades K-12, CTEs, world language classes, AP classes, and special education classes for IEP/504 students. We offer summer school and tutoring services to ensure all students receive a quality education that meets their needs. Our virtual case management services make it easy for you to track the educational progress of all your special education students.

All our teachers are trained and certified. Our case managers are seasoned, experienced professionals who are familiar with the tech tools used for virtual case management. We use only the best platforms and software programs to protect personal information, streamline management tasks, and facilitate clear, frequent communication between all parties involved in caring for and teaching special education students.

Do you need reliable, experienced special education case managers for your district? Would you like to have both managerial and instructional services provided by the same company? If so, get in touch with us to learn more about what we offer, or to start our onboarding process.

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