Direct Behavior Ratings
and
Daily Behavior Cards
Amy Jablonski,
A.T. Allen Elementary School
Assistant Principal for Instruction
Leah Mills,
A.T. Allen Elementary School
Second Grade Teacher
Direct Behavior Rating
and Daily Behavior Cards
Objectives
• What is a Direct Behavior Rating?
• Why use Direct Behavior Ratings?
• How can Direct Behavior Ratings be used
with PBIS and RtI?
• Explore the effectiveness of whole school
Daily Behavior Card.
• School site example of Daily Behavior Cards
Direct Behavior Ratings
Definition: Assessment tool that combines
characteristics of systematic direct observation and
behavior rating scales.
– SDO- method of behavioral assessment that requires a
trained observer to identify and operationally define a
behavior of interest, use a system of observation in a
specific time and place, and then score and summarize the
data in a consistent manner (Salvia & Ysseldyke, 2004;
Riley-Tillman, Kalaber, Chafouleas, 2006)
• Rate 1 target behavior (ex: degree to which a student
is engaged in activity)
• Use a scale to rate the degree to which that behavior
was displayed during specified time
• Target for short amount of time
Direct Behavior Ratings:
Background
CURRENT/TRADITIONAL
• Most behavioral data has
been collected from office
referrals
– Not able to capture all
behaviors
– Not sensitive to individual
student needs
– Compiled after long a set
period of time
(month, semester, year)
• Formative data has been
used to progress monitor
academics (curriculum
based measurements)
DBRs
• Rating target on a behavior
scale for one behavior (ex: off
task behavior during class)
• DBRs are designed to be
used formatively and for
specific amount of time
Example
Standard
DBR
Direct Behavior Ratings:
Overall Purpose
• Used to assess the effectiveness of an
intervention
• Document student progress
• Communication within the school
• Home-school consistency and
communication
Direct Behavior Ratings:
Characteristics
• DBRs are designed to be used formatively
(repeated) and for specific amount of time (3
weeks) and rates a specific behavior
– Specified behavior
– Data is shared with team members
– Card serves as progress monitoring tool for
effectiveness of intervention
• Flexibility to design actual rating and
procedures based on student need
(Chafouleas, Riley-Tillman & McDougal, 2002)
DBRs Must Have…
• Behavior must be operationally defined
• Observations conducted using standard
procedures
• Used at predetermined specific time, place,
and frequency
• Data must be scored and summarized in
consistent matter
When put together equals a ‘systematic’ DBR
When to use…
When should you use DBRs?
• Guiding questions:
– Why do you need the data?
– Which tools are the best match to assess the
behavior of interest?
– What decisions will be made using the data?
– What resources are available to collect the data?
• When multiple data are needed on the same
student(s) and/or behavior(s)
When to use…
•
•
•
•
Limited resources
Low-priority situations
Educators are willing to use
Answering the following questions
– “Is a class-wide intervention effective for changing
a particular student’s problematic behavior?”
– ‘Does a child continue to display a behavior when
this intervention is put in place?”
• Frequent data is needed
Guiding Questions for
Creating a DBR
What is the target behavior and goal?
Focus on specific behavior
What is the focus of the rating?
Individual, small-group, or class-wide
What is the period of rating?
Specific school period, daily or other
What is the setting of observation?
Classroom or other location
Guiding Questions for
Creating a DBR
How often will data be collected?
Multiple times a day, daily, weekly
What is the scale for rating that will be used?
Checklist, Likert-type scale, continuous line
Who will be conducting the rating?
Classroom teacher, aide, or other educational professional
Will ratings be tied to consequences?
Consequences must be consistently delivered by person responsible
Points to consider when creating DBRs…
Designing the Card:
What and Who
• Define the target behavior and who is
the focus of the rating
– Increase positive behaviors
– Decrease negative behaviors
– Individual student/small group
Designing the Card: Scale
• Decide what scale will be used
– Maturity of the individual being rated
– Smiley faces
– Likert-type scale
• Recommended to use 1-10 vs 1-5
• Continuous line
• Check list
Direct Behavior Ratings
• Example of rating scales
– 1-10 (1 being no behavior observed)
– Faces (happy, neutral, sad)
– Continuous line
– Check mark
• Must be ‘rater friendly’ and easy to
implement across all settings
Options for DBR Scales
Designing the Card: When,
Where, and How Often
• Frequency of collection
– Specific period of time
– Entire day
– Record immediately
• Frequency of summary
– Daily
– Weekly
• Location
– Where behavior is noticed
Designing the Card:
Who Will Conduct Rating
• Classroom teacher or adult with student
most of the day
– Word of caution: Profiling the attributes of a
student
• Increased efficiency
• Willingness to rate
• Same rater avoids inconsistencies
Chafouleas, Christ, et al., 2007; Chafouleaus, Riley-Tillman, et al., 2007
Designing the Card:
Who Will Conduct Rating
• Caution: DBR data is the rater’s
perception of student behavior
H. Walker has found:
“Teachers universally endorse a similar
profile of attributes, yet differ significantly in
their tolerance levels for deviant behavior.”
Designing the Card:
Who Will Conduct Rating
• Student Self-Monitoring
– Intervention for teaching behavior
– Effective for a variety students
• Success
– Teaching to accuracy
– Initially compare
– Positively reinforce
Designing the Card:
Will there be consequences?
• Will consequence be involved with DBR
– Individual basis
– Positive reinforcements
• Communication between school and
home
– Consequences at home as result of ratings
on DBR
– Same language/same expectation
After Implementation
• Fidelity
– Does rater compete the DBR as specified?
– Completed at right time of day?
• Periodically check in with rater
– Integrity checklist
• If fidelity is an issue
– Discussion with feedback
– Modify plan
• Review acceptability of DBR with rater
Matching Data
• Does the DBR data correspond with other
sources?
• Situation: Teacher’s perception of student’s
behavior and the student’s behavior do not
correspond.
Hypothesis
1. The student (or teacher) behaves differently when school
psychologist is present
2. Teachers is measuring something different than target data
3. Teacher does not perceive a positive effect that the intervention
has
• Solution: dialogued and discussion
Summarizing Data
• Summarize relevant to the scale being
used
• Averages per week
• High or low ratings
• Bar chart
• Line graph
Frequency of Behavior
Number of Marks this Year
18
16
14
12
10
# of Marks
8
6
4
2
0
8-9am
910am
1011am
1112pm
Time
121pm
1-2pm
Marks on Cards by Behavior
Failure to meet the expected behavior
Frequency of Behavior
(this year)
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Not Following Directions
Not Using Self-Control
Behavior
Not Behaving in
Connect
Strengths of DBRs
High Flexibility
•
•
•
•
Preschool through high school
Wide range of behaviors
Individual or large group
Effective to monitor ‘hard to notice’
behaviors
– Outbursts and obvious behaviors easily
noticed in short observation
High Feasibility, Acceptable,
Familiar
• Teachers are accepting of DBR as tool
and intervention
• School psychologists accept DBR as
intervention monitoring tool
• Familiar language for teachers
• Becomes part of daily routine
Progress Monitoring
• Constructed in a way to be connected to
behavioral expectations
• Administered quickly
• Available in multiple forms
• Inexpensive
• Completed directly following specific rating
time
• Set goals and progress monitor
• Increase communication between home and
school
Reduced Risk of Reactivity
• Reactivity effect: teacher and students will
behave in atypical ways
• Research findings
– Increase the rate of prompt or positive feedback to
the target student
(Hey, Nelson, & Hay, 1977, 1980)
• Behavior can be documented entire day
• One observer interrupts classroom space
Weaknesses of DBRs
Rater Influence
• Influence of raters not fully understood
• May be less accurate estimate of student’s
actual behavior during rating period
• History with student
• Sattler (2002) Research:
– Low reliability
– Scale issues
– Time delay between observation and recording
Limited Response Format
• Less sensitivity to change compared to
systematic direct observation
• Same score given to student not displaying
the behavior and student displaying
behavior at a low frequency
Is this really new?
• No….Other names for DBRs include:
– Home-School Note
– Behavior Report Card
– Daily Progress Report
– Good Behavior Note
– Check-In Check-Out Card
– Performance-based behavioral recording
Whole-School Based Assessment
Approach
School-Based Behavioral
Assessment
• Tier I (primary level)
– assessment efforts are preventive and proactive
indicators of performance
• Tier II (secondary level)
– assessment efforts focused on select group of
students deemed for at risk
– progress monitoring
• Tier III (tertiary level)
– assessment focused on individual student
– progress monitoring
Behavioral Assessment:
Whole School Approach
• Use whole-school data to determine what,
how, where, and when behaviors are
occurring
• Proactive approach to determining potential
problem areas and student concerns
• Assists with Special Education
– Behavior goals
– Progress monitoring
Behavioral Assessment:
Whole School Approach
• Productive and effective school
environment
– Clear expectations
– Common language
– Immediate conversations
– Communication within the school
School Site Example:
Whole School Approach and DBRs
A.T. Allen Elementary
School
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•
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Cabarrus County
K-5 Elementary School
Full Title I school
Demographics
– 54% free and reduced lunch
– 27% Hispanic population
– EC population- resource, speech, selfcontained classroom (previous years)
Behavior Cards
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•
•
•
•
Created over 15 years ago
Track student behavior
Communication in school and with home
Movement to ‘Positive Discipline’
Based on administration and staff
expectations (SIT team)
Early Version of Behavior
Card
Sent home weekly
Students were to earn a point each hour of the day.
Different card at each grade level
Behavior Cards
• Adjusted over time
• Same card for entire school
• Creation of daily cards as an option
– Carbon copy
Behavior Cards to
Responsibility Cards
• Need for change
– Change in staff
– ‘Buy in’ not present
– Inconsistent use of card in school
• Implementation of Positive Behavior
Intervention & Support
Responsibility Cards
Responsibility Cards
• Matched expectations with PBIS
expectations:
– Be Safe, Be Responsible, Be Respectful
• Added location column
– Assist with communication
– Data collection to choose intervention
• Ex: bathroom vs. classroom
• Focus on area of need: more targeted
• Sent home daily for all students vs. weekly
• Communication
• Teacher ‘remembering’ incident
Classroom Application
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Daily Behavior Cards
• Increases in-school communication
– Student accountability in common areas and all
classes
• Parent communication
– Track behavior for each hour
– Specific behavior noted
• Data driven decisions
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–
–
–
Individual student plans made
Time of day
Location
Determine effectiveness of intervention
Parent Perspective
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Daily Behavior Cards and
DBRs Together
• Use data on card to target behavior
• Choose Daily Behavior Rating scale
– Match student needs
– Ease of teacher use
• Implement intervention
• Keep data on that one target behavior
using DBR
Daily Behavior Cards and
Daily Behavior Ratings Together
• Progress monitor on behavior
• Graph data
– Use data to make decision:
• Discontinue intervention
• Change intervention
• Move to next Tier/Level
• Continue to use Daily Behavior Card
throughout day
Key Points
• Clear definition of behavior
• Training/information for staff members
involved
– Same language
– Same policy for rating
• Choices for re-teaching opportunities
Writing IEP Objectives
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Student Example
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Found target behavior
Created DBR
Implemented intervention
Collected data
Progress monitored
Used data to make decision
Continued progress monitoring
Example
• Target behavior: tantruming
• Clear definitions of mild, moderate,
severe
• Tracking in all areas of the school
• Training on ratings given to needed staff
members
Beginning Data Collection
20
Number of Incidents
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
NonCompliance
Lef t area
Tantruming
Craw ling/hiding
Verbal
Disruptive
Target Behaviors
Hanging onto
object
Physical
Aggressive
Graph DBR
Frequency of Tantrums
30
25
Number of Incidents
25
20
15
10
8
8
4
5
4
4
4
3
0
Mild
Meduim
Type of Tantrum
Mild: Grunting, stomping on floor, swaying in class that results in being off-task and/or disrupting class
Medium: Refusal, screaming/yelling, crawling under desk and tables
Severe: Threats to safety: kicking, hitting, throwing objects, runnning, darting, physical aggression
No Intervention
Intervention 1
Intervention 1 Continued
Severe
What do the students say?
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Staff Insight
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Administrative Support
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Questions/Comments….
Resources
www.interventioncentral.org - This website offers an extensive resource on using
behavior ratings in the Classroom Behavior Report Card Manual.
Chafouleas, S.M., Riley-Tillman, T.C., & Sugai, G. (in press). Behavior Assessment
and Monitoring in Schools. New York: Guilford Press.
Crone, D. A., Horner, R. H., & Hawken, L. S. (2004). Responding to problem
behavior in schools: The behavior education program. New York: Guilford
Press.
Jenson, W.R., Rhode, G., & Reavis, H.K. (1994). The Tough Kid Tool Box.
Longmont, CO: Sopris West.
Kelley, M.L. (1990). School Home Notes: Promoting Children’s Classroom Success.
New York: Guilford Press.
Shapiro, E.S., & Cole, C.L. (1994). Behavior change in the classroom: Self
management interventions. New York: Guilford Press.
For More Information
• Amy Jablonski, A.T. Allen Elementary School
ajablons@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
• Leah Mills, A.T. Allen Elementary School
lmills@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
• Charouleas, S., Riley-Tillman, T. C., & Sugai,
G. (2007). School-Based Behavioral
Assessment: Informing intervention and
instruction.
RILEYTILLMANT@ecu.edu