Jen, an autism classroom teacher, shares three ways to manage data: train staff for consistent collection using practice and reliability checks, keep simple data sheets at the point of use like bathrooms and changing tables, and organize each student's records in a color-coded binder for quick IEP writing.
If data seems overwhelming and you feel like you've got so much data you don't know what to do, or if you feel like you're not collecting enough data, have no fear. I've got 3 tips on managing data and keeping it nice, simple, and easy. For those of you that don't know, I am Jen. I am one of the bloggers here at The Autism Helper, and I run a K-12 classroom. My day is filled with taking data, and I have learned some tips and tricks that I'm going to share with you that help make taking data and using the data a lot easier. First things first, teach your staff how to take data. Easier said than done, and I know that we talk about staff training a lot, and it's because when you have a classroom that's filled with adults who are empowered with knowledge on how to do all the tasks in the classroom, anyone at any time can step in and fill a role. So, data is a perfect example of that. If I'm doing, you know, one-on-one instruction, my staff knows how to take data on that. If we've got behavior, my staff knows how to fill out a behavior chart and an ABC chart. If I am tracking the frequency of that, we've practiced using counters and we as a staff practice inter-rater reliability too on things like the Bracken and the PCA. So when I'm giving the Peak Comprehensive Assessment or the PCA, I've got 2 staff members taking data so we can make sure that we've got the same results. That probably sounds like overkill, but in reality, if I have one staff member thinking that one thing is okay and another staff member thinking something's not okay, or think of it as a staff member counting something correct and a staff member counting something wrong, I'm not going to have consistent and reliable data, and I'm going to eventually have a problem when I look at my data and try to figure out what's going on with that student. So it's really important that I have reliable and consistent data, and to do that, you have to practice. So don't be afraid to practice with your staff. You can sit down and you can be the student and you can do it and you can have them score you. It's actually a really fun kind of team-building activity. And then we break it down, we talk about why that would be right or why that would be wrong. We sit down and troubleshoot too, and if my staff ever have a question on how to grade something or record something, they always know that they can come ask. The second tip: keep data sheets where you use them. For example, we track every time we take students to the bathroom, or we change them, and we keep data sheets right there in the moment. Let me show you. So right here by the changing table, I've got a toileting sheet, and that way we can keep track. Um, and additionally, I keep these in the bathroom as well for each of my students, so that way when we take a student to the bathroom, it's easy to be able to track. And again, I'm looking at how simple it is to fill out. I put the date, I put the time, and I just circle. And the third tip Consider how you organize data. I use binders by student, so I have all of that student's data at my fingertips. When I go to write an IEP, I pull that student's color-coded data binder, and everything I need is inside. Everything from mastery data, report cards, progress reports, um, district benchmarking and testing, um, everything from independent skills and social skill rubrics ABC charts and behavior data to the Bracken and the PEAK comprehensive assessment that I give. If it's a kindergarten student, I've got rubrics that I follow as well, and I keep all of that right here at my fingertips. Every student has one, and I always know it's the place to go to find all of my data. If you just think about who's taking the data, how they're taking the data, and where they're taking the data, data will be a lot easier to manage.
