We know as educators that it is it critical to monitor outcomes. After all, if we don't keep up with what children know and don't know, then we can't plan additional supports and strategies. We just keep marching forward without knowing if students are even developmentally ready for the next step.
This practice gives us a tool for monitoring, discussing and intentionally planning for student outcomes. The Data Collection Sheet will allow for data-driven discussions around student learning - a core principal of any good Professional Learning Community. The tool builds collaboration between the adults working with a child, allows for multiple exposures to a skill in different settings, and allows the collaborators to notice and analyze any anomalies in performance that need to be addressed.
This practice is critical to analyzing the effects of strategies on child performance. Thus, it is your next adventure and the roadmap to success moving forward.
~The ECSE Team
Progress monitoring is a key component of any child’s instructional programming for two primary reasons. First, we need to be able to document and show individual children’s progress over time related to individual children’s IEP objectives. Second, collecting daily data allows teachers and team members to continually assess the impact of daily instruction. This must be done in order to make timely decisions regarding the instructional strategies being implemented, a process we call data-based decision making. In the IEPM model our instructional strategies and prompting hierarchies directly relate to data collection.
Read the pages in the IEPm to learn what the Data Collection Form is and how it is used.
After reading, understand that the example we use is just one example of a data collection tool. After analyzing this one, consider if you already have a data collection tool that is similar. If you have a collaborative tool along similar lines, feel free to continue to use the one you have. The magic is in the data collection itself and the collaborative conversations around the data, not the exact format.
Prior to implementing and collecting data on goals in the classroom, it is essential to understand how to write goals that support classroom skills. Watch this video to learn what measurable, functional goals look like.
Print or save the slides linked under the video. Watch the presentation and take notes. As an implementation team, discuss next steps and how this can be implemented with children in your classroom. Create a plan for implementation.
1) Choose one child to begin collecting data on.
2) Fill in the data sheet with the functional goals that will be measured for this child.
3) Discuss where the data sheet will be kept.
4) Have ALL team members collect data throughout the week.
5) Meet to discuss data trends and discuss what might need to be adjusted or changed.
Due to privacy, set up a time for your coach to observe the special education and program classroom staff discussing the recent data collection together and planning for next steps. Be sure to review the Checklist for this practice prior to the observation.
Discuss the results of the observation with your coach. What are the next steps to improving practice?