This month the behavioral stream has been focusing on DATA! I interviewed Eva Portley Dangerfield, our Behavioral Intervention Specialist, and one of the guru's for behavioral data, to find out what she had to say about data:
1. What is DATA?
Data is simply a bunch of information that is collected and analyzed to see patterns and trends. We use data to make decisions and to drive our next steps. It tells us to either fix, increase or tweak something (interventions), or to leave things alone. Don't fix if it's not broken!
2. How do we collect DATA?
You can collect data with specific data sheets but it just depends on what we are looking at. Do we want to see a decrease in behavior excesses or increase in skill deficits? Do we want to see what times behaviors occur? How frequent? How long? To what magnitude or intensity? For skills, are we looking at how fast/fluent the individual is? How long it takes for them to respond? These are tricky and just depends on case by case basis.
3. How, When and why do we input DATA?
You can input data in a variety of ways. You can use data sheets or you can use post-it notes! What’s important is that you keep collecting.
These are just a few steps to help those that are attempting to track and collect data for our students’ behavior. Once you’ve collected the data, it should be shared with your team in order to make a creative plan for the student.
When all else fails, Keep collecting data!!
Data is simply a bunch of information that is collected and analyzed to see patterns and trends. We use data to make decisions and to drive our next steps. It tells us to either fix, increase or tweak something (interventions), or to leave things alone. Don't fix if it's not broken!
2. How do we collect DATA?
You can collect data with specific data sheets but it just depends on what we are looking at. Do we want to see a decrease in behavior excesses or increase in skill deficits? Do we want to see what times behaviors occur? How frequent? How long? To what magnitude or intensity? For skills, are we looking at how fast/fluent the individual is? How long it takes for them to respond? These are tricky and just depends on case by case basis.
3. How, When and why do we input DATA?
You can input data in a variety of ways. You can use data sheets or you can use post-it notes! What’s important is that you keep collecting.
These are just a few steps to help those that are attempting to track and collect data for our students’ behavior. Once you’ve collected the data, it should be shared with your team in order to make a creative plan for the student.
When all else fails, Keep collecting data!!
 | Blog post written by: Darrell Burns, Assistant Director of Behavioral Intervention |
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