SPED 311 Curriculum Based Assessment I

Name: Sarah Emmott

Date: October 13, 2015
School/Setting: College Hills Elementary School/Autism Classroom
How does this project contribute to your skills as an educator?
This project has contributed in a number of different ways to my skills as an
educator. I have found an effective way to track student behavior, and some flaws in the
design of my tool. This will be invaluable in the future, because I will not only know how
to prepare for undesired behavior, but I will also know where to look for my information.
This will help me assess the root cause of a problem, or at the very least, give me a
temporary solution until a cause is identified. In my future classroom I will be able use a
tool similar to this in order to aid the effectiveness of my teaching, thus fostering quicker
growth for my future students.
On my honor, as an Aggie, I have neither given nor received
unauthorized aid on this academic work.
Signature____________________________________________

Description of student:
Damien is a 7-year-old male placed in a first grade Autism class. Damien is
currently working on his social skills and is having trouble asking for help and getting
attention. Damien often hits or kicks other children or teachers around him when he is not
working one on one with a teacher. Lately, when working on academics, Damien has
been running from his seat to avoid work. Damiens favorite game is chase and he often
initiates that game in the classroom and halls. Damien also recently started standing on
the tables during work time. Damien has excellent reading skills and is above most
students in his Autism class. Damien also works very well in math. He has proficient
counting skills and can do basic addition equations with manipulatives. Damien has
moderate fine motor skills but lacks skills in writing. He has proficient handwriting but
has issues holding the pencil and applying pressure to write. Until this point, Damien has
only been labeled with a speech disability, however it is quite apparent that this is not the
only disability afflicting him. Since he has a very difficult time expressing his thoughts
and emotions, Damien will often turn violent just for the sake of attention. A behavior we
have been working on with him in the classroom is seeking out the attention of others
with words, rather than pinches or even punches.
IEP Objective:
By his next annual ARD, using structured practice, Damien will remain in a
designated area within the classroom or school as instructed by his teacher (i.e. spot in
line, carpet, chair, etc.) for a minimum of 7 minutes in 3 out of 5 trials for 2 consecutive
six weeks reporting period.
Measurement tool:
Directions: Assess Damien while working at designated area with precorrection. Use
stopwatch to determine the total time he stayed seated before leaving designated area.
Carpet Time
(A.M.)
Total time7.00 minutes

Stations
(Noon)
Total time15.00 minutes

Work Table
(P.M.)
Total time15:00 minutes

Trial 1
E

Trial 2
E

Trial 3
N

Trial 4
E

Trial 5
N

Time: 3.42

Time: 2.35

Time: 1.16

Time: 3.46

Time: 1.49

N
Time: 4.00
N
Time: 4.07

N
Time: 4:38
N
Time: 3.00

P
Time: 8.00
D
Time: 1.00

(Time= Total sitting time)

P- Proficient: stay seated with 1 prompt, independently
E- Emerging proficiency: Stayed seated with prompts
N- Needs work: Got out of seat and returned with prompts
D- Does not meet requirements: Left seat

N
Time: 5.00
P
Time: 6.54

E
Time: 6.09
N
Time: 3.29

Administration Discussion:
When administering the CBM to Damien, I measured the amount of time he
initially sat in his chair. When we started working, I started the stopwatch, and let it run
until he tried to get out of his seat. The times recorded are not necessarily the full amount
of time he spent in his seat during those activities, simply the amount of time he refrained
from leaving his chair. In many instances he came back to sit down, but only under the
guidance of his other teachers and me.
Collecting this data went rather smoothly when another teacher was supporting
me, however at times it was nearly impossible to record the information while also being
his sole instructor. When I have a future classroom, I could certainly see obstacles in
recording such data while also being in charge of a larger group of students.
The data came out nearly as I expected: quite scattered. Originally, I assumed that
his results would be vastly different day to day, but because Damien is so emotionally
driven, his mood is the biggest deciding factor in whether or not he will cooperate. His
moods can drastically change, many times a day even. This is why I believe his results
seem to be dispersed even within a single day, simply because his mood at the specific
moment of timing dictated the outcome of that trial.
The biggest strength of this tool was its ability to warn me when Damien usually
gets restless and ready to wander. When his mood is poor, I know that I have a short time
frame before he will begin to wander. This is vital, because when I realize his mood is
poor I will be much more proactive in using precorrection to keep him in seat. On the
other hand, its nice to know that he will stay seated for longer when his mood improves.
This will give me time to actually instruct him, rather than fighting with him to stay
seated.
The tool had one major downfall: I should have added a column that told what he
was using during the trial. Since his behavior changes based on his moods, and since the
tools we use to keep him occupied also change, I may have been able to recognize a
pattern in which certain objects help keep him seated longer when hes having a rough
day, and others that work while he is having a good day. If I had that extra column it
wouldve been easier to choose something for him that has been proven to keep him calm
and seated, while still changing the objects to avoid staleness.
Discussion with Mentor:
I approached my mentor teacher after school and presented her with my data
chart. I gave her a brief description of what I had been using the tool for and then showed
her the values. Surprisingly enough, she had been making a similar chart: tallying the
number of times Damien got out of his chair during certain intervals.
My mentor teacher had a few good suggestions to help the effectiveness of this
tool. Her first recommendation was to combine both of our data values into the same
chart. While independently these tools can be used, together they allow for much more
concrete data. She told me that a day where Damien gets out of his chair once after a
minute, but then returns to his seat for the rest of the trial is much better than a day where

Damien stayed in his seat for two minutes to begin with, but then proceeded to leave his
workspace multiple times after.
I told her that I thought I should have added a column for what positive
reinforcement was being used during each of the trials, in order to get a better read on
what tools worked the best in certain situations. She told me that this would have
definitely improved the outcome of the results, since patterns would begin to develop for
the effectiveness of specific instances, rather than an overarching set of results. She also
added that a row for his choice time would have been valuable information. I have
personally observed him get out of his chair during his choice time, but it would have
been invaluable to know if it happens more frequently or less. This could give more
insight as to why he travels out of his seat, especially in each specific instance. In the
future, when using this tool I will be sure to add columns for positive reinforcement
usage and also a row showing his results during his own free time.
Future Teaching:
During the next few weeks, the focus of teaching Damien needs to revolve around
precorrection and positive reinforcement. The hope for precorrection is that the action
will not show up, because it has been corrected before it had time to become an issue.
Positive reinforcement aids in Damiens ability to stay seated by giving him an intrinsic
reason to do something that he does not necessarily want to do.
The best way to teach him this objective is by using a First, Then chart. This
will help him understand that only after he has sat through table time will he be allowed
to use his reinforcers. Keeping the positive motivation fresh in his mind will help him see
a reason to obey and stay seated, rather than venturing off whenever he feels that he is not
required to stay in his chair.