Paraeducators need clear definitions of the behaviors they are supporting and looking for when collecting data.
It is also important that the team has a consistent form and system for data collection and that paraeducators are following this plan.
Paraeducators cannot do this without team work and collaboration to hear from their team leads and follow the protocol for observation and note taking.
The following help the team stay on track and consistent:
- Observers use a variety of methods to time the duration of the intervals within an observation.
- Inter-rater reliability may be compromised if observers use different methods.
- Some use stopwatches, which require a brief glance away from the child. Others use tactile or auditory prompting devices.
- The act of writing on the paper or tapping a handheld device also requires that brief glance away.
- The observers should strive for consistency in each of these processes during each interval by each observer.
Pareducators might be looking for the following things and completing the tasks around it:
Emerging Behaviors…..
- Paraeducators might be the first responder to a behavior or the first one to notice a behavioral change that needs addressed.
Informal- general notes, general methods, first trial of note taking
- Paraeducators can take notes right away when they see something so they can bring it back to the team.
- One of the best informal methods is to list everything that happened before, during and after the behavior
Formal- systematic, consistent timing and conditions- cannot be adjusted if we want accuracy
- Paraeducators have to follow the exact system that every other observer on the team is following so things remain the same.
Conditions: Time of Day, Type of Setting, People, Type of Task, Other factors
- It’s important for paraeducators to note within their notes the above mentioned conditions.
Prompting Levels and Differences: These affect accuracy. Verbal, Visual, Tactile… Note it!
- Paraeducators should also note how much and what type of prompting is happening in the situation.
Watch this video to learn more about keeping consistent while observing:
- Observation serves as the basis upon which practitioners make treatment decisions and evaluate treatment effects
- Observation can be continuous- (Frequency data and Duration data)-complete record of behavior
- Observation can be discontinuous- (Capture only a sample of behavior during an Observation)