Administrator Getting Started Guide

Help Whenever You Need It

This page is a quick reference for Catchup Math's reporting and management features. We also have an excellent Teaching with Catchup Math video. For details, see our Teacher FAQ. But please, feel free to call your Account Manager at any time for phone support, a group webinar, or a personal training session.

Technical Requirements

Operation requires Flash (Version 8 or later). Catchup Math should work with any modern browser on a full-sized PC or MAC from any broadband Internet connection. Ask you Account Manager about operation on iPads.

Quick Start

Check Manage Groups (under Student Registration) for red-colored self-registration group names including essentials, quizme, and algebra1. Students go to catchupmath.com, enter your school Login Name (e.g., jfk123) and use the group name as their temporary password. Students will be prompted to self-register and can start immediately on the associated program.

Select the Right Program for Each Student

Catchup Math will remediate and review the named subject. For example:

  • To prepare students for Pre-Algebra or Algebra 1, select the Proficiency Program called Essentials.
  • For students entering Geometry, enroll them in Pre-Algebra Proficiency; they will be automatically advanced to Algebra 1 Proficiency when they have successfully reviewed their Pre-Algebra learning gaps.
  • If you are not sure where to place a student, assign the Auto-Enrollment program (or use the quizme self-registration group). The student will be given one or more quizzes to place them in the lowest program where they need help. Then, you can monitor their progress until they advance to the target level.
  • To concentrate on a specific topic (roughly correlated with the chapters in leading math textbooks), select a "Subject and Chapter" program. Then select a chapter topic from the drop-down menu.
  • To prepare for a graduation exam, choose one of our Graduation Prep programs.
  • For your weakest students, you can assign them the Custom Program, CP: Essentials Topics, CP: Foundations A, or CP: Foundations B and they will not need to take quizzes.

Register Students

  • To manually register one or more students, use the Student Registration button.
  • To easily register multiple students, use the Self Registration option. You select a program and create a Group name. Students login using your school Login Name (e.g., jfk123) and the Group name as their temporary password. They will be prompted to create a personal password based on name and birth date, which they will use for future logins.
  • To register students from an uploaded file, use the Bulk Registration option. You can assign both a Group name as well as the specific program for everyone in the file. The file must be a text file in tab separated format containing student names and their password (e.g., Col 1=Smith, Robin; Col 2=2312345).
  • To make any change to a registered student account, select the student and then use Edit Student.

Tell Students How to Log In

Tell students to go to catchupmath.com and enter the school Login Name (e.g., jfk123) and their personal password. Try this yourself with the John Doe sample student using the password jd12345.

Give Students a Brief Outline of How Catchup Math Works

For most of our programs (excluding Custom Programs), students will be given quizzes. Based on the problems they get wrong, the program will select one or more review topics. For each review topic, there are practice problems to solve, lessons to read, videos to watch, and activities to try. At a minimum, students must attempt the required practice problems or problem sets and receive a check-mark in order to complete the topic. But students should be encouraged to try the other resources as well. Once the quiz has been passed and the topics reviewed, students are advanced to the next section of the program.

Tell Students How You Want Them to Use Catchup Math

Students should answer the quizzes carefully, working out their answers with pencil and paper or the online whiteboard. You might give students a goal for their next session, such as to work until they have passed at least one quiz.

Best Practices in a Computer Lab

Visit each student, offer assistance as needed, and make sure the student is trying all the various learning resources. Also, review their progress on the spot by clicking the Help button and then clicking the Student History button.

How to Use the "Show Whiteboard" Feature

Students show their work on the whiteboard by typing, drawing with the mouse, and using the graph template or scientific calculator. You can view their work at any time using the Student Detail History button on the admin screen.

Monitoring Student Progress

The Student Detail History button will present a reverse chronological history for a selected student. While viewing the history, select any line to view the lessons (standards) covered and those which the student was prescribed to review. Also, the work entered on the whiteboard may be viewed. The Report Card summarizes student progress and effort including their prescribed lessons. The student summary page may be printed for the all registered students or for any selected group. And the Student Detail History and Report Card may also be printed.

Assess Group Progress

Select students by using the "Select a group", "Text search", and "Date Range" filters at the bottom of the admin screen then press Assessment to view charts of lessons most frequently prescribed as well as general progress. The Highlights tool generates multiple reports including Greatest Effort, Least Effort, Most Quizzes Passed, Highest Average Quiz Score, Most Failures of Current Quiz, and more.

Custom Programs and Custom Quizzes

Custom Programs lets you assign any sequence of lessons to students, without quizzes. Summary and detail reporting will monitor progress, and you can review student work on the whiteboard. Similarly, you can create Custom Quizzes by choosing questions from our item bank.

Program Details

Click the Program Details button to view the lesson topics correlated with each section of the Catchup Math programs.

Much, Much More

Catchup Math has a rich set of administrative tools that you can utilize as you become experienced. You can explore them via our Teaching with Catchup Math video and/or our Teacher FAQ. Also, you can review the "Recent Updates"" button at any time to view updates and new features.

Questions

Our Teaching with Catchup Math video and Teacher FAQ page may be helpful. Also, we encourage you to contact your Account Manager.