Let’s face it– data collection in groups is one of the most difficult tasks. Speech Language Pathologists often complain about only gathering a handful of plusses and minuses or tallies for each student each session. When you have a small group of 4 year olds and a precious 30 minutes that ticks away so quickly, time flies! Read along for a few of my favorite tips that have helped me with data collection in groups that improves my quality of therapy and my students’ progress.
Tip #1 Progress Monitoring vs. Traditional Data Collecting
Progress Monitoring is an evidenced based practice that is used to gather students’ progress while assessing the instruction and the instructor. It is often used by regular education teachers and special education teachers. Progress monitoring allows for more time with instruction. This allows for more valid data and more time “teaching” rather than tallying data throughout the session. SLPs often find themselves “quizzing” their students rather than providing rich instruction and models with plenty of repetitions and opportunities for carry-over. Honestly, progress monitoring is my #1 go-to for data collection as an SLP. Progress monitoring feels more valid as you are measuring their true ability (often at the beginning of sessions) without any cueing or models. Progress Monitoring allows you to see your students’ true abilities.
|Progress Monitoring:-done in predetermined intervals (quarterly, monthly, etc.)-data collection for progress monitoring can be done at the beginning of session before any cues are provided-allows the focus on instruction and teaching-shows a true level of the skill without cues-faster and more manageable to do with group therapy-simplifies your workload||Data Collecting:-done every session-done all throughout the session which compounds the cueing levels and repetitions provided-shows the level of the skill with cueing-harder to do with a group due to time restraints|
But How? It’s really up to you. You can create your own intervals–quarterly?, monthly? I recommend marking your calendar and picking a more open-ended activity that allows you to gather your data for progress monitoring easily. Two resources that I used the most for progress monitoring data collection are:
- Dough and Data. This resource is best for younger students because you will be collecting data during play! It has 8 different seasonal mats, which makes it great to use all throughout the school year. The best part is that there is no prep! Students have so much fun with this that they have no idea that you are secretly collecting data on their speech goals. There are 5 data sheets to help analyze: articulation, vocabulary, phonological awareness, questions & directions, grammar, and auditory comprehension.
- Natalie Snyder is a fellow SLP and her Language Progress Monitoring Tool (Upper Level) for Speech Language Therapy is an excellent resource for your older students. This packet is made up of 52 pages and it is extensive. It could be used with 2nd graders to 8th graders or older depending on cognitive level. It includes specific progress monitoring on synonyms, antonyms, attributes, inferencing, sequencing, WH questions, main ideas, context clues, and figurative language.
Tip #2 Take Data on a Single Student Each Group Session
Taking data on a single student each group session will allow you to gather a larger sample of data specific to that student’s goal(s). Many SLPs have to fight with group session sizes which leads to difficulties gathering data especially when each student could have different goals— Billy is working on articulation, Sara on vocabulary, and Maria on conversation skills. Allowing yourself to pick just one student and at least one goal while the other students in the group play and work along that student is helpful in data collection in groups. But what about the other students’ progress notes? I would typically note data and a percentage that has a cueing level with it e.g. “mod cues and models”. For the single student that I am taking the data on in the group, I would plan for an activity that is specific to their goal being careful not to cue so the data taken would be at a truly independent ability, if that is how the goal is written. For data tracking on a single student in a group session, this Data Sheet Template is free on my page.
Tip #3 Use the Beginning of the Sessions for More Valid and Less Cues Raw Data
The beginning of the session is the best time to gather data as there have been less cues and models, naturally. Once you gather a baseline for that day through the rawest and most valid data, you can teach and provide richer instruction with cues, models, and repetitions. Then use the next sessions to gather more raw data… at the beginning of the session, of course!
Tip #4 Let Your Students Gather Data on Themselves
Letting your students gather data on themselves gives them some ownership and brings awareness to their goals. It is also very motivating, especially for those students who are ready to graduate from speech therapy. 🙂 Gathering data on themselves is best for older students who can read and write. Attached is a free template I have used in the past for letting my students progress monitor on themselves.
Tip #5 Plan Well Upfront to Gather Data in Groups
Planning well and setting yourself up for success is crucial. It might take a lot of time to plan an activity, set up your “when” and “how” but you will reap the benefits with quality data. Use flexible resources but still with your “when” and “how”. Some of my favorite flexible resources are book companions. All of my book companions are here.
Tell us what is your go-to for data collection in groups! Not just your “What” but your “when” and “how”!
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