Data Collection: Frequency Recording

I use a frequency count when I need to know how often a student's behavior occurs. This type of data collection is great for behaviors that happen often and have a clear beginning and end. Right now, I'm using frequency data collection with Javier. Javier gets out of his seat many times in his homeroom class when the expectation is to remain seated at his desk throughout a lesson. When taking frequency data, it's important to keep the length of the observation the same for each new observation so the results can be compared accurately when monitoring progress. For Javier, I've set the observation time for one minute. It's important that during the observation period, you're constantly watching and tracking the behavior. Let's see how many times Javier leaves his seat during our observation today as we collect some baseline data. On our data collection form for Javier, I filled in the length of the observation as one minute, and I've recorded with tally marks the number of times Javier left his seat during that time for a total of five times. I set up a behavior intervention for Javier to work on reducing the number of times he's out of his seat. Let's see how Javier is doing now after the behavior intervention. On our data collection form for Javier, I filled in the length of the observation as one minute, and I've recorded with tally marks the number of times Javier left his seat during that time, which was only once. One incidence of the behavior in one minute is a reduction in the frequency from our baseline of five times in one minute. It looks like my intervention may be working.