From DIBELS to High-Dosage Tutoring: The CAT 2.0

In the post-COVID educational landscape there have been some real bright spots about what works to help students learn.

Some, like evidence-based literacy, have caught on nationwide (42 states have passed laws supporting the Science of Reading). Some, like high-dosage tutoring, are just starting to scale, with less than half of schools utilizing it. And some, like foundational numeracy and math skills, truly have a long way to go. 

We can recover from learning loss. Some states, like Louisiana and Mississippi, are jumping to the forefront of this recovery without exorbitant spending or wacky practices. But, we have to make our decisions based on data, not just following the next trend. At Instructional Data Solutions, we’re always looking for ways to remove barriers so educators can focus on what matters most: student success. As part of that commitment, we’ve developed several tools that align with evidence-based practices like the Science of Reading, High-Dosage Tutoring, and foundational numeracy.

DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills)  Sub-Component Analysis

When teachers can pinpoint where students struggle in reading, they can offer targeted support. The Cohort Achievement Tracker (CAT) provides the ability to explore trends in DIBELS sub-component mastery at the whole group and subgroup levels, aligned to the Science of Reading. This powerful feature enables staff to easily pinpoint schoolwide patterns (e.g., widespread decoding deficits across grade levels) or target interventions for student sub-groups based on needs (e.g., deficits for a small group of 1st graders).

Response to Intervention (RTI) and High Dosage Tutoring 

The CAT flags students who will benefit the most from High Dosage Tutoring. The CAT uses your existing student data to create intervention groups based on your selected criteria. Both the criteria and student data points are fully customizable to match your school or district specifications. For example, if you want to focus on DIBELS data for 2nd graders, you can customize your RTI dashboard to highlight specific DIBELS benchmarks and progress monitoring data.  Once you set your criteria, the CAT analyzes the student data and generates a list of students for each tier and suggests appropriate resources. The CAT automatically flags students who meet high-dosage tutoring requirements to instantly generate lists of students for intervention on the RTI Groups tab as soon as beginning of year results are in! 

Foundational Numeracy

The CAT tracks foundational math benchmarks so teachers and families can respond early, before gaps compound. Not only can the CAT flag students for tutoring and tier them for your RTI, it’s also a great parent communication tool! The research is getting clearer and clearer; family engagement is an essential component of academic success. The CAT creates family-facing communication on student achievement in mathematics and beyond. Instead of spending time transferring data from one spreadsheet to another to mail merge, you can just press a button. 

Want to make your data collection simpler and more actionable? We’d love to show you the CAT, feel free to peruse our video or schedule time to talk today.

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.