3. Collect data

The team should strive to develop staff-friendly charts and expectations that will provide information in key areas:

• Setting events (what does the environment itself include that could elicit behaviors)
• What happens immediately before the behavior that could be the antecedent (but also consider known triggers that could happen earlier in the day)
• What does the response behavior from the student look like
• What happens directly after the behavior (i.e. punishments, avoidance of work, etc.) as a positive or negative consequence
• Are there delayed, long-term or multi-step consequences (example: antecedent: demand for too-complicated task, behavior: throws paper on floor, consequence: teacher helps child get started, behavior: child has melt-down, consequence: child sent to safe place to regroup, etc.)

There are many data collection materials available from which to choose (see Reference section for more information), or an experienced team can develop their own. What is considered reasonable in terms of time and simplicity for members of the team? Is it best to have different people collecting data in different classrooms? Or is it more practical to have the para collect data across the day? Should an objective observer collect data, or the teacher in the middle of conducting a lesson? No data collection method should be too cumbersome for people to accomplish, or interfere too heavily with the task of teaching. Questions that arise during the collection process should be directed toward one coordinator who is in touch with all members throughout the process and can organize meeting times, act as the contact person for the family, and address any ‘bugs’ in design or glitches in data collection that weren’t apparent in the planning stages.

Depending on the frequency of the behavior, the team should collect data for a long enough period of time to be able to see some consistency. Decide at the initial planning meeting how long data will be collected, what will happen if there is not enough data to be considered useful (i.e. do you redesign the method, establish wider parameters, etc.), and if the family might be able to collect data as well. If, for instance, you are charting tantrumming behavior defined as: child throws himself to the ground with crying and screaming for a minimum of two minutes, and this is a behavior she also exhibits at home. It would be helpful to know how often and under what circumstances she does this at home and in the community as well as in school. If information is to be gathered directly from the student, it must be decided who will be conducting those activities, and in what ways. NOTE: The individual chosen should be one that the student has a comfortable and trusting relationship with. If the person collecting information is someone that elicits anxiety for the child, he/she is likely to shut down and not provide anything useful. There are many ways to collect data from a student without focusing their attention on the targeted behavior. If a student is aware that a team of people are going to plan and intervene with a particular behavior, the knowledge itself can interfere with data collection. He/she may become overly anxious, self-conscious or fearful about the focus and change their behavior in an attempt to ‘be good’. Some subtlety is required in approaching students directly for information (see Reference section for more information).

Data can be collected from many different sources, and it is up to the team to determine which would give them the information they need to make sound decisions. These choices might include any number of the following:

• Formal and informal interviews with staff, family members, and the child (when appropriate)
• Direct observation (by an objective third party) and documentation
• Scatterplot charts showing the behavior over a period of time
• Antecedent - Behavior - Consequence (ABC) or other charts
• Review of records, current and prior
• Standardized Behavior Rating Scales
• Motivation assessments
• Reinforcer preference assessments
• Self-checks for Designing Support Plans (see Reference section for more information)
• Self-checks for Conducting Functional Behavioral Assessments (see Reference section for more information)