3 Easy Ways to Incorporate Students in the Data Collection Process

I’m excited to introduce this week’s guest blogger, Dawn from Cultivating Exceptional Minds. She is here to talk all about ways to incorporate students in the data collection process! She also has a podcast called Be The Exception that you need to check out!

As a special education teacher, you collect data every day, right? We collect data on how well students are mastering skills and their IEP goals.

You also track their progress with social skills, fluency of skills, and behavioral expectations. You also have to report your findings to parents and administrators during IEP meetings and PLC meetings. We all know that collecting data can be tedious for teachers. However, it is vital for student success, and without it, it’s just merely an opinion!

(Check out this awesome sticker, if you love that saying!)

Students are very capable of helping with data collection through the use of technology.

Students are very capable of helping with data collection through the use of technology. They can use technology to collect data independently. In other words, without the help of an adult. This means that they can collect data in areas where adults cannot go.

Students also have access to a wide range of devices such as tablets that can collect data in different ways. Some students may even be able to collect data for their IEP goals by using their own device!

An example would be if you were studying how plants grow over time by measuring their fluency each week. You could ask your student to record the number of sight words their read correctly and incorrectly. This can be done on a Google Form along with the data.

Students are engaged in their learning when they are a part of it.

As a teacher, you know that students are engaged when they are part of the learning process. They can be engaged in their learning, their progress monitoring and assessment data collection, as well as their IEP goals and special education data collection.

Incorporating students into the data collection process is one way to engage them in each of these areas. It gives them an opportunity to see how we measure their growth or improvement over time. By including students in this process they will be more likely to participate fully because they understand what they need to do and why it matters so much!

Be creative with how you collect data and make sure the students have a say!

You want to make sure that you are collecting data in ways that keep your students engaged and allow them to feel ownership over the process.

One way to do this is through technology. Technology makes it easier for students to be involved in the collection process because it can be done from anywhere at any time. For example, you could use Google Forms or Survey Monkey. This allows students to easily access the surveys online and respond with their own answers as well as see what everyone else is saying on the topic.

It’s a great way for students who may not be able to participate in class discussions because of their shyness or disability can get involved by answering questions anonymously if they need more time than others do.

So, will you be incorporating your students into the data collection process? I hope so! It is a great way to engage them in their learning, provide them with some ownership of their growth, and collect more accurate data. Want more data collection ideas, like how to set a system that works for you check out this freebie! There are also several podcast episodes and blog posts you can check out over at cultivatingexceptionalminds.com or on Instagram!

Want to level up your digital data collection strategies? Check out this mini course!