Data {Academic Data and the IEP}

Categories: Data | Resources

There are basically two types of data we take in our classroom – data on skills and data on behaviors. Now within these categories there are LOADS of ways collect information on a specific skill. The skills we are working on developing stem from the IEP (Individualized Education Program). Each IEP goals is based on State Standards or Common Core Standards. Often times, the IEP goal is a modified or very foundational level focus of the specific skill.

Writing IEP Goals: When writing measurable IEP goals there are several components you NEED to include: what materials are going to be provided to accomplish this goal, what setting will this goal be accomplished in, and measurable criteria. Your data collection will be on the measurable criteria. Keep this in mind when writing IEP goals. Percentage isn’t a great measurable criteria for me to use because I don’t tend to calculate a percentage when assessing a student’s responses. Here is more information and IEP goal examples:

Once you’ve written IEP goals – I use a form to track the correct number of minutes I provide instruction for each goal:

Then you need to make a data sheet. For my IEP goals I make one data sheet for each student. I use one a month to track progress on IEP goals. I keep the monthly data sheet at my direct instruction center. Even if not all of the data is taken at this center – this sheet also helps guide me to where all of the data is for that student.

Other Assessments: There are other assessments that will give you useful data in addition to the data you specifically take. Standardized tests may yield some data that is useful. You may compare the results of a standardized assessment to the student’s results on the same test a year prior. Or you may compare those results with those of a general education peer to see how close the student is to their grade level skill set. I use the ABLLS to get an idea of skill progression.

Reading Data: Utilize your reading assessment as a method of data collection. I use Fountas and Pinnell for my reading assessment and the Words Their Way curriculum for reading. Both assessments illustrate growth is given at intervals throughout the year. In addition to these assessments you can also take reading data on of the following:

sight word recognition (in fluency set or in discrete trial)
reading fluency (words read per minute)
correct use of punctuation
answering comprehension questions
making connections between text
making inferences or evaluating context cues
intonation or tone while reading
pausing at periods or commas while reading
identification of parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective etc.)
noun/verb agreement
correct use of plural singular

… and the list could go on. How do you limit this? Pick a a few regular overarching assessments (such as a reading level assessment) to give several times throughout the year. From there pick one or two skills to focus on at a time. You would rather your students thoroughly master one skill than half way master a bunch of skills. Take discrete trial data on one or two skills during your reading instruction. If you do reading groups, it’s easy to take data on the same skill for a group of students.

Math Data: For math pick one or two skills to focus on with each child. I take twice a weekly usually and spend the other time working on the skill I am taking data on. I love using mini white boards for math instruction. A skill I pick is something like double digit addition with regrouping. I usually use a field size of ten. Always use the same field size so you can accurately compare data. Getting 5 correct is very different if it’s out of a field 6 or out of a field of 20.

Communication/Social Skills Data: In some ways the organization of communication and social skill is similar to behavior data. Communication and social skills (ideally) don’t occur in isolation but rather throughout the school day. I like to keep clipboards velcroed to a wall in the middle of the room to track behavior data. I often put communicative and social skills data on these data sheets. I take data on correct or incorrect use of communication or social skills based on the opportunities throughout the day. Some days there just aren’t as many opportunities to exhibit a certain skill. You can then calculate a percentage to better compare data across days.

Paraprofessional Data: For the stations my aides run, they have data sheets for each student for the goals they run. I chart and review their data weekly. This is a great staff management technique for training for paraprofessionals as well. Having your paraprofessional’s take data will increase the paraprofessionals’ ownership in class. These links have detailed examples of how to set up your paraprofessionals to take amazing academic data: