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District demonstrates Branching Minds rollout to integrate academic, social‑emotional and behavioral data
Summary
Dr. Tatis presented Branching Minds to the Cary CCSD 26 committee as the district’s integrated student‑data system, showing I‑Ready integration, an early‑warning system, and embedded social‑emotional screeners; staff said this is year two of implementation and that parents are informed of intervention outcomes though they do not see raw data in the system.
Dr. Tatis presented an update on Branching Minds on June 22, describing it as the district’s system for consolidating academic, social‑emotional and behavioral data to support MTSS and targeted interventions.
"This is where we have all of our data...academic, attendance, behavior, social emotional," Dr. Tatis said, describing how Branching Minds pulls data from I‑Ready and Infinite Campus to produce fall/winter/spring trend views and district, building and student‑level reports.
Why it matters: Branching Minds gives staff a single platform to monitor progress, set interventions and record outcomes. Dr. Tatis said the system embeds screeners (DESA/SECA), supports an early‑warning color coding (green/yellow/red) for attendance/behavior/course performance and stores progress‑monitoring results for interventions such as check‑in/check‑out.
Key points from the demonstration: - Integration and monitoring: Branching Minds can pull I‑Ready, state test scores and Infinite Campus attendance/behavior incidents to show trends and to drill down to classroom or individual student data for targeted instructional change. - MTSS and early warning: The system embeds social‑emotional screeners and an early‑warning system that flags students for follow up by building teams that include social workers and psychologists. - Family communication: Parents do not access Branching Minds raw data; staff said parents are notified about intervention plans and outcomes when their child is referred for supports or WIN groups. - Implementation stage and cost: Staff said this is the second year of the contract (first year focused on training); the district started with a three‑year arrangement and will evaluate renewal options for budget planning.
Board members asked practical questions about teacher workload, high‑school adoption, and how Branching Minds distinguishes accelerated students who may be under‑challenged. Dr. Tatis said staff can triangulate assessment, grade and screener data to identify whether low grades reflect lack of challenge or other issues and that intervention progress is tracked in the system over time, providing historical context for future teachers.
Next steps: staff will present additional detail and an AI‑related curriculum discussion at the July committee meeting (Dr. Burke Meyer and Lynn Williams were named as planned presenters).
