Presentation given by Diana Zaleski on April 2nd, 2016 at the NRCP conference

1. Introduction to Data Collection
National Resource Center for Paraeducators
April 2016
Diana Zaleski, Ph.D.
Instructional Resource and Professional Development Director
Illinois Education Association
Center for Educational Innovation

2. Data Collection
 Data collection is an important component of a
comprehensive plan to support student achievement.
 The data collection system should be created by the
teacher, and the paraeducator should be knowledgeable
about data collection and how to implement it.

3. Why do we collect data?
 Paraeducators most often assist in behavioral data
collection to inform or improve various student-support
strategies or systems.

4. Getting Started
 Step 1: Schedule Time for Data Collection
 Data collection that is consistent results in a routine that
provides adequate data for decision making.
 Example: Data is collected concerning Jamie’s compliance to
requests to complete math tasks on Monday, Wednesday,
and Friday.

5. Getting Started
 Step 2: Define the Behavior of Interest
 Good definitions of targeted behavior are objective and
refer only to observable behavior.
 Good Example: The behavior of interest are instances when
Jamie pushes or kicks her desk.
 Bad Example: The behavior of interest are instances of
disruptive behavior.

6. Getting Started
 Step 3: Collecting the Data
 Most often, teachers want to know how many times a
behavior occurs (i.e., frequency), whether a behavior occurs
within a certain time period (i.e., interval), how long a
behavior lasts (i.e., duration), or how long it takes to begin a
behavior (i.e., latency).

7. Collecting Data
 Number of Occurrences
 Frequency/Event Recording: How many times a behavior
occurs within a certain time period; for behavior that has
clear starting and ending points.
 Interval Recording: Whether a behavior occurs within a
certain time period; for behavior that is continuous or that
has starting and ending points that are difficult to identify.

8. Frequency/Event Recording Example
Student: Jamie
Behavior: Leaving seat during math class.
Date
Time
Start/Stop
Number of Observations Total Count
10/7/16 10:50 11:50 XXXXXXXXXXXX 12
10/8/16 10:50 11:50 XXXXXXXXXXXXXX 14
10/9/16 10:50 11:50 XXXXXXXXXX 10
10/10/16 10:50 11:50 XXXXXXXXXXXX 12

9. Interval Recording Example
Interval Recording Form
Student: Jamie Date: 10/11/16
Class/Teacher: Math/Ms. Smith Observer: Ms. Ramirez
Time: 2:15 – 2:25 p.m. Length of Interval: 10 seconds
Problem Behavior: Jamie is talking to friends and writing notes during problem-solving.
Desired Behavior: Jamie will look at assigned problems, ask questions, if needed, and solve the
problems according to the teacher’s directions.
Code: + problem behavior did occur during some portion of the interval
- problem behavior did not occur
Interval Behavior Interval Behavior Interval Behavior
1 + 16 - 31 _
2 + 17 + 32 _

10. Activity
1. Read the frequency/event recording and interval
recording handouts.
2. Find a partner and take turns explaining the need-to-
know information from the training so far and the
handouts.
3. After completing Step 2, talk about what questions you
may have about these data collection methods.

11. Collecting Data
 Length of Occurrences
 Duration Recording: How long a behavior lasts (the time
between the behavior starting point and the behavior
ending point).
 Latency Recording: How long it takes before the student
begins a behavior (the time delay between an instruction or
cue and a response or behavior).

12. Duration Recording Example
Duration of Behavior
Student: Jamie
Date of Observation: October 17, 2016
Behavior: Jamie talked with other students at her table during the problem-
solving activity.
Starting Time: 10:58 a.m.
Ending Time: 11:07 a.m.
Total Observation: 9 minutes

13. Latency Recording Example
Latency Recording Form
Student: Jamie Date: 10/11/16
Class/Teacher: Math/Ms. Smith Observer: Ms. Ramirez
Target Behavior: After the class is told to begin solving the math problems, Jamie delays
beginning her assignment for 60 seconds or longer.
Replacement Behavior: After the class is told to begin solving the math problems, Jamie will start
her assignment within 60 seconds.
Date Time instructed to
begin work
Time behavior was
initiated
Latency
10/1/16 8:35:00 a.m. 8:35:33 a.m. 33 sec.
10/2/16 8:35:09 a.m. 8:37:14 a.m. 2 min 5 sec.
10/3/16 8:35:01 a.m. 8:36.29 a.m. 28 sec.

14. Activity
1. Read the frequency/event recording and interval recording
handouts.
2. Find a partner and take turns explaining the need-to-know
information from the training so far and the handouts.
3. After completing Step 2, talk about what questions you may
have about these data collection methods.

15. Method Selection Flowchart
You want to measure…
Number of
occurrences
Length of time
Can be difficult to
count each instance
Behavior has a
distinct beginning
and end
How long the
behavior lasts
How long before the
behavior occurs
Event Recording Interval Recording Duration Recording Latency Recording

16. Getting Started
 Step 4: Summarizing Data
 Putting data into a usable format is just as important as
actually collecting the data. One of the best ways to
summarize data is graphing due its ease of interpretation
(e.g., Is there is trend? Has the intervention been
effective?).

17. Graph Example
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
NumberofShouts
Day
Shouting Out - Jamie
InterventionBaseline

18. Getting Started
 Step 5: Interpret Your Data
 In general, most data collection includes gathering baseline
data followed by an intervention. Baseline data provide a
comparison for the intervention.
 Example: The graphed data for Mica show a distinct change
in level from the last baseline point to the first few points of
the intervention. This indicates that the intervention was
effective.

19. Case Studies
 Case Study 1: Alex
 Case Study 2: Howard
 Case Study 3: Rachel

20. Questions

21. Resources
 Illinois Education Association Resources
 http://www.ieanea.org/resources/center-for-
educational-innovation/

22. Contact
 Email: Diana.Zaleski@ieanea.org
 Twitter: @DianaZaleski