CohortTracker™ early warning system

The CohortTracker™ early warning system tracks the status of each school cohort (and every sub-group and individual) vis-a-vis graduation. Educators can identify students getting off track and intervene before it is too late.

The app is designed to be a general-purpose student achievement tracking system that can be tailored to meet the specific needs of any education department. In New York State, the Greater Southern Tier Regional Information Center is currently deploying CohortTracker™ to districts in its region.

Simple, intuitive and easy to use, CohortTracker™ is now available. In fact, at a recent user feedback session, a delighted Deb Switzer (Odessa-Montour CSD) exclaimed that CohortTracker™ “is the easiest software I have ever used.” View our introductory screen cast.

A “critical early warning system”

“CohortTracker™ is exactly the tool we need to monitor the graduation status of every student from the day of their enrollment in our secondary school system,” said Mary Kay Worth, superintendent of the Southern Cayuga Central School District. “I am hopeful that this critical early warning system will be available to school districts across New York State as soon as possible.”

Adds Barbara Peters, Superintendent of the Elmsford Union Free School District: “We are very pleased to see that CohortTracker™ is available. We need a solution that quickly monitors the graduation status for all students so we can provide appropriate interventions targeted to individual student needs.”

Executive summary view

The executive summary page lets superintendents, principals and guidance counselors know the current exit status of each enrolled cohort.

There are a number of statistics given for each cohort:

• Size
• Percentage of students still enrolled
• Percentage of still enrolled students who are not on track to graduate
• Percentage of students who have graduated, dropped out, transferred to GED or received an IEP diploma.

 
Predefined reports allow the user to filter the executive summary screen by exit status or by No Child Left Behind subgroup (i.e., students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged students, limited English proficient students or ethnic subgroups).

Student statuses view

By clicking on a cohort, a user advances to the student statuses page where the students are listed from most to least at risk. The most striking aspect of the student status page is the tracking column on the right of the table.

The colored tracking indicators define performance in five areas: credits, Regents commencement exams, attendance, discipline referrals and out of school suspensions. For any student, red means there is a problem, amber is a warning that a problem might be developing and green means all is well. The colored tracking indicators are defined by a set of business rules that are customizable by school district.

Any column can be sorted by clicking on its heading. Each column can also be filtered by typing text into the column’s filter box.

Because the data in CohortTracker™ is refreshed periodically, users will always have an up-to-date picture of how well or not their students are progressing vis-a-vis graduation.

Student profile view

Users can drill down to get more detailed student profiles. The profile view reveals why each student’s tracking indicator is red, amber or green. For example, the user can see

• Whether or not the student has sat for Regents commencement exams and, if so, the scores earned



• The number of credits acquired to date
• Results for RCT or NYSSA assessments if the student has any
• Available attendance, discipline referral, out of school suspension and tardy data.

“Every principal’s dream”

According to Steve Manning, Manager of Computer Services for GST BOCES: “Working with Prism’s team has been easy and of great value. Their knowledge and experience with app development, student information, assessment, and reporting has been invaluable in creating CohortTracker™. The app is simple, user friendly, concise, and designed with the school administrator and school counselor in mind. School district principals and counselors will find CohortTracker™ to be an asset in tracking and managing their students.”

Indeed, according to principal Luke Carnicelli, “With CohortTracker™, no student should ever be left behind. The app is every principal’s dream.”

CohortTracker™ is a small app requiring small training that elegantly delivers big data to support big decisions. If you would like CohortTracker™ to be available in your state, province or region, contact Sean Brady ([email protected]) for more information today.