Interval Observation as a Means to Collect Data for Behavior Interventions.
Lots of special education professionals put themselves and their programs in danger of due process by failing to collect accurate, objective data to prove that an intervention is successful. Too often teachers and administrators make the mistake of thinking it is enough to blame the child or blame the parents. Successful interventions (see BIP's) need the appropriate means of supplying data to measure the success of the intervention. For behaviors you wish to reduce, the interval observation is an appropriate measure.
Operational Definition
The first step of creating an interval observation is to write down the behavior you will be observing. Be sure it is an operational description. It should be:
- Value neutral. A description should be "leaves seat during instruction without permission" not "Wanders around and annoys his neighbors."
- Descriptive of what the behavior looks like, not feels like. It should be "Kenny pinches his neighbors arm with forefinger and thumb," not "Kenny pinches his neighbor to be mean."
- Clear enough that anyone who reads your behavior can accurately and consistently recognize it. You might want to ask a colleague or a parent to read you behavior and tell you whether it makes sense.
Observation Length
How often does the behavior appear? Frequently? Then maybe a shorter period of observation may be sufficient, say one hour. If the behavior appears only once or twice a day, then you need to use a simple frequency form and identify instead what time it appears most frequently. If it is more frequent, but not really frequent, then you may want to make your observation period longer, as much as three hours. If the behavior appears frequently, then it might be useful to ask a third party to do the observation, since it is difficult to teach and observe. If you are a push in special education teacher, your presence may change the dynamic of the student's interactions.
Once you have chosen the length of your observation, write the total amount in the space: Total observation length:
Create Your Intervals
Divide the total observation time into equal length intervals (here we included 20 5 minute intervals) write down the length of each interval. All intervals need to be the same length: Intervals can be from a few seconds long to a few minutes long.
A free printable pdf Interval Observation Form
Note: Total observation time and length of intervals need to be the same each time that you observe
