Using DDtrac with handheld computers requires a large upfront expense in both hardware and software. Can I expect to recoup these expenses with actual cost savings?
There are a number of time savings that result from real-time data collection. The typical teacher spends one hour weekly per student, re-entering paper-based data into Excel spreadsheets and/or reviewing the paper-based data to evaluate student progress. Research indicates that using real-time data entry will reduce this time spent by 30% [2]. Teachers are also required to produce a number of reports summarizing students progress (at least quarterly) plus generate a new IEP annually. Studies have shown that using an automated report generation tool, like DDtrac, can reduce this report prep time from more than one hour to less than 15 minutes. Using DDtrac would result in a weekly time savings of 15 minutes per student per week (or 10 hours/year) plus an additional 5 hours per student per year in time reductions seen in meeting reporting requirements. The average special education teacher makes $36 per hour (fully loaded) so DDtrac could save districts $540 per student per year. In a d
