The CAT 2.0: Less Time on Data, More Time on Students

Teacher burnout is a crisis. The CAT 2.0 by IDS removes the data burden so educators can focus on what matters: teaching.

Teachers are not doing so well. Teacher burnout is stressing the teaching system as experienced teachers hit the exits due to overwhelming workloads. Some kids are being taught by uncertified teachers, or long-term substitutes in core subjects. It’s an unsustainable system; we need highly competent instructors, especially for our most vulnerable students. 

In many states, research and interest groups have convened to look at solutions to the educator workforce crisis. While increasing teacher pay is a promising start, 4-day work weeks might be the preferred solution for other districts. But, what the Louisiana Workgroup uncovered is a little less drastic. What if we just… let teachers teach? Removed the administrative burden and supported students to achieve mastery through high behavioral expectations? 

That’s the exact reason why the Instructional Data Solutions team has spent the past year revamping our signature Cohort Achievement Tracker (CAT). The CAT is a data tracking tool designed to help educators monitor student progress over time without hours of manual work. Our number one goal was to reduce the time you have to spend sorting, sifting, and analyzing your data, in favor of actually teaching. Our mission is to remove barriers to enable education organizations to focus on what matters most.

How is our new CAT 2.0 going to save you time? Our team found that the biggest pain points for educators who wanted to use data were reformatting, recreating, and reliability.

The first issue, reformatting, is a common complaint. You get one report from the state, another from your student information system, and now you’re stuck spending ten hours getting your columns aligned. Or, you have scores from different sources and you have to spend days collecting prior reports in order to compare across years, much less identify those trends over time. The CAT 2.0 completely solves this problem with built-in-connections to the original reports. Once you have your CAT 2.0 specifications created, the CAT 2.0 uses APIs and your assessment cadence to collect the data, align it on the back end, and give you your results. All you need to do is log in!

Recreating the wheel is another common complaint for educators using data. You might create a report on high school exams one year, but you have to completely start from scratch the following year. The CAT 2.0 solves this problem by storing and comparing data four years at a time. You’ll be able to see a student’s complete lower elementary or high school journey in one page, without manually matching or copying and pasting different columns. Once you start getting that time back, it’s addictive! Tiresome report building gets replaced with action. And action is much more effective at increasing student achievement than being stuck in spreadsheet purgatory.

Finally, the CAT 2.0 is a reliable tool. We have improved security and the backend code to ensure it loads quickly and correctly every time. If you’ve got access to the internet, then you have access to the CAT 2.0! But don’t take our word for it, we have a video showing exactly how it works; go take a look. 

Final Thoughts 

What are you looking to do with your data collection and analysis? How do you use data to its fullest? Join the conversation on social media and share the strategies your system is using for summer. Want to chat more about your data needs? Book a free call here.

About Instructional Data Solutions: Our mission is to remove barriers to enable education organizations to focus on what matters most. We assist school systems and education organizations of all sizes by collecting, analyzing, and clearly communicating data. We are committed to empowering educators through comprehensive data analytics and tailored support. Additionally, we provide dedicated support for operational needs, process improvement, and special projects, offering customized solutions to enhance effectiveness and success. Our solutions bridge the gap between data collection and instructional improvement in PK-12 settings.