Streamlining BIPs & Data Collection Systems for Schools

Why one district traded nine data systems for one

Schneider came back to public school work after COVID and looked at the data plans in place. One student had partial interval data (marking if a behavior happened) on nine behaviors. Another had frequency counts. A third had something else again. Even the BCBA (board certified behavior analyst) writing the plans could not track it all. A teacher had no chance.

Staffing made it harder. Paras (classroom aides) change often. Agencies send staff the school did not hire. A sub may cover a room for a day or two. Each one meets a new data sheet with new rules. The data comes back thin, late, or wrong. So Schneider asked a smaller question. What does the team truly need to know to make good calls?

The answer was one level system for the whole district. Every student with a behavior intervention plan (BIP, a formal plan to reduce challenging behavior) gets the same four levels. Only the target behaviors inside each level change. Staff learn one method and use it with every student. Other BCBAs and behaviorists in the district use it too.

The payoff grew over time. Training and retraining got faster. Subs walked in already knowing the drill. Because the data matches across students, Schneider can compare programs and not just kids. Year to year trends show up. So do trends inside one building. When a student moves to a different setting, the team can see how that setting is working.

a lot of data is great, but if it's not something that's feasible, and if it takes extra response effort, it may not be as effective, or it may not be as consistently collected, right?

From the talk — Nicola Schneider, MA, BCBA, LBA-NJ

The four behavior levels and why level zero has no number

The levels sort behavior by its effect on the learning space. Level 0 is on task. Level 1 is uncooperative. Level 2 is disruptive. Level 3 is unsafe. The topography (what the behavior looks like) still gets written down for each student. It just does not drive the level.

The levels stack. At level 1 the student is off task only. At level 2 the student is off task and getting in the way of others. At level 3 all three are true at once. Schneider makes the point plainly. Unsafe behavior always affects other students. That holds even if those students have been moved out of the room. They are still away from their learning.

Level 0 carries no number on purpose. It adds nothing to the day's score. That keeps the math simple. It also means a low score is a good day. No extra step is needed to read the chart.

Schneider is direct about the trade. Splitting a response class (a group of behaviors with the same effect) into every topography can be right for some students. Some students in the district do get extra data on top of the levels. But a system every adult can run beat a system only one adult could run.

But for me, having a way that all staff can understand a system was very important.

From the talk — Nicola Schneider, MA, BCBA, LBA-NJ

Level 0 and Level 1: on task, and off task but harmless

Level 0 spells out what on task looks like for that one student. In the sample, it meant following class wide directions and using an inside voice. It also meant staying on task with the class and doing the work the way it was assigned. In a self contained room it might mean leisure skills or circle time. In a general education room it might mean sitting and learning in a group.

The staff column at level 0 is about backing off. Fade back and stop hovering. Keep a happy, supportive tone. Use lots of positive attention and rapport. Offer help before the student has to ask. For this student, a short off topic chat was allowed. It just could not pull the room off course.

Level 1 is off task or not doing what was asked, with no harm to anyone. Head down. Wandering the room without bothering peers. Starting on a certain number on the page. Writing with a marker instead of a pencil. Schneider dropped the word non-compliance for this level, because it reads as a judgment and assumes a motive.

The don'ts matter most here. Do not rush in and prompt. Use a gestural prompt from a faded distance. Give the direction once in a firm, simple, neutral tone. Restate it, then move closer and use proximity. Praising the peer next door worked well for this student. No nagging, no jokes, no negotiating. The change in tone carries the message.

The basic idea is that they're not doing what they've been asked to do, but whatever they are doing is not impeding others, and it's not dangerous.

From the talk — Nicola Schneider, MA, BCBA, LBA-NJ

Level 2 disruptive behavior: reset the moment, stop repeating the redirect

Level 2 is off task behavior that pulls other students out of their learning, but is still not dangerous. The sample list was long. It included yelling, arguing, and interrupting the lesson again and again. It included refusing after a redirect, hiding under a table, slamming items, and rolling on the floor. It included moving into peer space, touching materials, tipping a chair, and moving furniture. It included throwing items in the air but not at a person, and language that was not school appropriate.

Setting changes what counts. A behavior that disrupts twenty kids in a large room may not disrupt a self contained room. That room has more space to move. Schneider does not target vocal stimming, scripting, or non-contextual vocalization (talk that is not about the lesson). If it does affect a quiet room, the plan gives the student a place and a way to handle it. That might mean asking to step out or getting a drink.

The strategy at level 2 was taking a walk. It is stated, not offered: not do you want a walk, but we are going to take a walk together. Options backfired with this student, because the idea had to feel like his own. Staff brought a preferred fidget and used the sensory path in the hallway. No rehashing the incident. The goal is to reset and return, and to give the class its lesson back.

Schneider also flags what does not work. Telling a student to stop calling out, over and over, tends to do one of two things. It feeds the behavior, or it does nothing at all. She notes that some level 2 behaviors, like hiding under a table, look like distress. Grouping them does not dismiss the function (the reason a behavior happens). It just tells the adult when to change what they are doing.

I think the important piece for me at level two is that we're not continuously prompting a redirect, right?

From the talk — Nicola Schneider, MA, BCBA, LBA-NJ

Level 3 unsafe behavior: move the room, not the student

Level 3 covers unsafe behavior. Examples include grabbing, hitting, kicking, biting, throwing, and pushing. They also include kicking furniture over and pushing into someone with force. Other examples are swinging large or dangerous items. Another is holding an object above the body in a threatening way, even a pencil. The list also includes comments or motions of harm toward self or others. Note the line with level 2. Moving furniture is disruptive. Kicking it over or shoving it at a person is unsafe.

Staff are trained to use the space first. They put themselves between the student and peers and use approved blocking. Schneider is a CPI trainer (crisis training for school staff) and keeps physical response minimal. Most students have a safe area with a carpet, a beanbag, and nothing that hurts if it is thrown. A bin holds the items the OT (occupational therapist) recommended for that student. Staff prompt the student toward co-regulation (calming down with adult help).

When the space is no longer safe, the other students leave. To make that fast, Schneider built an alternate location schedule. One teacher keeps it on the back of her key card. It lists, period by period, which rooms are open. Options include the library, the art room, or a class that is out at specials. The kids may not have all their materials, but instruction can go on.

The team also tracks how often a room gets cleared and how long students stay out. There is no fixed rule about the limit. The count matters because it shows how much this costs other students' learning time. It can also drive a change in the student's program.

we don't physically remove the student that's in crisis, right, we try and remove the other variables in the environment.

From the talk — Nicola Schneider, MA, BCBA, LBA-NJ

The one page cheat sheet and the data sheet behind it

The cheat sheet is one page with four rows, one per level. The left side lists the behaviors that student displays at that level. The right side lists what staff should do, and often what staff should not do. Schneider includes the don'ts on purpose, because some adults read a don't faster than a do.

The full behavior plan still holds the detail. In the plan, the same strategies are sorted two ways. Antecedent strategies (what adults do beforehand) go in one group. Consequence strategies (what adults do after) go in the other. On the cheat sheet they are listed in the order staff should try them. For a para in the moment, order of use beats before and after.

The data sheet covers a full five day week on one page. Intervals are 15 minutes for some students and 5 minutes for others. The footer holds the definitions for levels 0 through 3 in that student's own words. Any para, sub, or principal can look down and know exactly what they are watching for.

Schneider tries to keep the cheat sheet next to the data sheet. Sometimes that means printing the two back to back. Sometimes it means laminating the page and posting it nearby. The aim is that nobody has to open a nine page plan to answer a question during a lesson.

Find the simplest way to do something that gets the best effect.

From the talk — Nicola Schneider, MA, BCBA, LBA-NJ

Scoring the day: highest level per interval, then one total

The rule is short. In each interval, circle the highest level of behavior that happened. If a para circles a 1 at 8:44 and the student aggresses seconds later, the para crosses off the 1. The para circles the 3 instead. Only the top level counts for that block of time.

Circling zero is not optional. If the interval were left blank for a good stretch, nobody could tell a calm hour from a missed one. A colleague also raised the lunch question: was that interval skipped or scored? Marking zero answers both. It confirms the data was taken and the student was on task.

The day's total score is the sum of those highest levels. A percent view helps too. Count intervals with a given level, divide by the intervals the student was in school, and multiply by 100. That matters on a half day or an early pickup. Eleven intervals and twenty six intervals are not the same denominator, and percent handles it.

So, during that 15 minutes, we take data on the highest level of behavior that occurs, okay?

From the talk — Nicola Schneider, MA, BCBA, LBA-NJ

Graphing in Google Sheets and adapting the system per student

The graphs are plain Google Sheets. One view is a line of the daily total score with a trend line (a line showing the direction). Next to it sits a bar for the number of unsafe intervals each day, with the count labeled. Schneider avoids a red, yellow, green rating scheme. She still keeps red for unsafe behavior, so a non-specialist can read the chart fast.

That second bar is why the split matters. One student's total score stayed high while unsafe intervals went from three, five, three in November to zero by winter. The student was more disruptive and more off task, and far less unsafe. A single score would have hidden that win. Another chart showed the reverse risk: unsafe behavior fell while disruptive behavior climbed, so the plan still needed work. Phase change lines (marks for when something changed) normally flag medication, staffing, and support changes.

The system flexes. One student's level 3 no longer fit unsafe behavior. The team redefined level 3 as defiant and disrespectful language, at the parent's request, and marked the change date on the graph. Another student's sheet added a drop down for the type of level 2 behavior. It also tracked duration and the response the adult used. Schneider also tracks activity level and engagement as high, medium, or low for some students.

The current project is an automated sheet. Staff check one box per interval. A missed interval gets flagged. Late arrival and early dismissal shrink the denominator on their own. The graphs build themselves, including percent per level and a trend line for on task behavior. It is still in progress, and it runs on Google Sheets.

So this is where you can shift the response class.

From the talk — Nicola Schneider, MA, BCBA, LBA-NJ