3.2 (3S1C, 3S2C): Ability to collect and record performance data on students under the direction of a licensed teacher, while respecting student confidentiality and the laws regarding ethical practices of assessment.

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Observing & Recording Data

Through observation, we can learn what the students can do, what they like or dislike, how they behave under various circumstances, and how they interact with people around them. There are two points to remember when making observations: a behavior must be both observable and measurable. In other words, we must be able to see or hear a behavior (observable), and we must be able to count or time how often it occurs (measurable).

For example, an observation that says "Frank hit John on the arm twice within five minutes" fulfills both of these points. The observer saw Frank hit John and counted the hits as they happened. An observation that says "Annie was being her usual schizophrenic self this morning" fails both points. "Her usual schizophrenic self" really tells nothing about Annie. It is, instead, a judgment call made by the observer and gives no information. It doesn't tell us what the observer saw and, since we don't have that information, there's nothing to count - and, therefore, we have nothing to build on when planning personalized instructional interventions (Pickett, 1999).

Observation is systematically watching what a person does and says and recording the behaviors in order to make instructional decisions.

Observation should:

1. Be done for a specific reason.
2. Provide samples of a student's behavior over a period of time and in a variety of settings.
3. Be objective.

Objective observation means:

• watching events without being affected by personal biases/prejudices
• watching what is happening without guessing at the reasons that caused the action
• watching the action without judging whether it is good or bad
• producing an objective record which states exactly what an observer sees and hears.

Information in this lesson is used with permission from:

Pickett, A.L. (1999). A Core Curriculum and Training Program to Prepare Paraeducators to Work in Inclusive Classrooms Serving School Age Students with Disabilities. New York, NY: The National Resource Center for Paraprofessionals in Education and Related Services.

The Para eLink is sponsored by the Minnesota Paraprofessional Consortium, in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Education, located at the Institute on Community Integration in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota.

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