Observing Behavior

Observation of student behavior should be consistent and take place in a variety of times and settings. The key is to provide a clear picture of the behavior that you target.

You can use any of the following to accomplish this:

• Time or interval sampling in which you record whether a specific behavior occurs at a particular time or how many times it occurs within a predetermined interval such as thirty minutes.
• Narrative recording in which you write down what the student does at a particular time or in a particular setting.
• Event sampling in which you wait for a specific behavior to occur and then record its frequency and duration.