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When to use

  • Counting behaviors with a clear start and end (call-outs, hand raises)
  • Comparing rates across sessions of different lengths
  • Tracking discrete, high-frequency behaviors
  • Quantifying “how many times” rather than “how long”

Setup

  1. Choose Frequency from the method picker
  2. Define target behaviors operationally (e.g., “call-out” not “disruption”)
  3. Optional: add brief definitions shown on ? during recording
  4. Optional: enable activity context to compare rates by setting
Frequency recording (also called event recording) tallies each discrete instance of a target behavior as it occurs. Sightline counts automatically and calculates rate in occurrences per minute. This makes it easy to compare observations of different lengths: a 10-minute and a 30-minute session become directly comparable once you convert raw counts to rate.

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Keyboard shortcuts

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Recording events in Sightline

During recording, each behavior appears as an on-screen button labeled with its assigned keyboard key (default: 1, 2, 3…). To score an occurrence:
  • Press the number key (1, 2, 3…) corresponding to the behavior
  • Or click the button on screen
Each press increments the count by 1. A running tally shows the total so far and the rate — occurrences per minute, calculated from elapsed time — updating continuously as the session progresses. If you scroll back to review past scores, press Escape to return to the current session. Frequency recording is designed for eyes-on-student, keyboard-only operation. You can score without looking at the screen.

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Reading the results

For each behavior, a frequency session produces a total count (sum of all occurrences) and a rate per minute (count ÷ elapsed minutes), reported against the session duration. Results include an event timeline with a running-total line, a distribution view, and a counts-per-bin view. If a peer was observed using the same procedure, the peer’s rate appears for comparison. A count answers one question: how often the behavior happened. It becomes clinically meaningful only against something else, whether the same behavior in another setting, a comparison peer’s rate over the same period, or a stated goal. A rate of 0.7 call-outs per minute is neither high nor low on its own; it reads as high or low next to what the setting expects. When you can, gather that anchor in the same observation, so the number has something to be measured against.

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Common mistakes to avoid

Don’t use frequency recording for behaviors like “off-task” or “tantrum” that have variable or extended length. Use Duration Recording instead.
Definitions like “disruption” or “noncompliance” lead to inconsistent scoring. If you’re unsure whether an instance counts, your definition isn’t clear enough — go back to setup and refine it. And score what you see and hear, not inferred intent: “hand raised,” not “seeking attention.”
If you miss early instances, note this in your report. Don’t adjust the count to account for unseen behavior; report what you actually observed.
Frequency alone tells you how much, not where or when. Enable activity context to see whether the behavior concentrates in particular settings, and observe a comparison peer with identical procedures when one is available.

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Frequency paired with duration recording

Fully characterizing a behavior often requires both frequency and duration data:
  • Frequency: How often does the behavior occur?
  • Duration: How long does each episode last?
A behavior might decrease in count but increase in episode length, or vice versa. Recording both shows how an intervention is actually affecting the behavior. Example: calling out might decrease from 14 times to 6 times per session (frequency improvement), but each call-out might last longer as the student becomes more insistent (duration increase). Frequency data alone would look like improvement; duration data shows each episode intensifying.
For turning a count and rate into report-ready sentences, see Writing Up Observation Results. For choosing between methods, see Observation Methods.