Graph as You Go: Practitioner-Friendly Data Collection and Analysis

Data collection and analysis is a critical skill for all teachers, especially those who provide special education services. In fact, collecting and reporting data on individualized education program (IEP) goals is cited in federal law (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2004), and using data to inform instruction is one of the Council for Exceptional Children’s high-leverage practices, or HLPs (McLeskey et al., 2017). The collection and use of data allows teachers to create individualized goals for students, monitor progress of learning, and adjust instruction as needed to support student needs (McLeskey et al., 2017). However, many teachers cite additional paperwork and nonteaching responsibilities, such as data collection, as a major barrier to special education teacher retention and work satisfaction (Billingsley & Bettini, 2019). Furthermore, the demands of the job may limit time and training for data collection, graphing, and decision-making.