Set the context
Name the student, date, setting or activity, method, and recorded observation length. Define the behavior well enough that the reader knows what counted. For the whole observation, check that Results shows All activities. If you report one part, name it: “during independent work”.Separate description from interpretation
One observation describes what happened under those conditions on that day. You can report a recorded sequence or count directly: “A demand preceded four of the five recorded instances.” That does not establish why the behavior happened, how typical it is, or whether it happens elsewhere. Discuss function and broader interpretation where you bring all the assessment evidence together. Use observable wording. “The adult withdrew the demand after the behavior” describes an event. “The student did it to escape work” adds a reason. Report a teacher’s account as the teacher’s account, not as something you saw.Frequency
Give the count and the observation length, and the rate when it helps the reader compare observations.“Call-outs occurred 14 times during the 20-minute observation, a rate of 0.7 per minute.”Zero is a result when you watched and the behavior did not occur: “No call-outs were observed during the 25-minute period.” A gap in the record is not zero. With Peer comparison on, you watched the peer, so report the peer’s rate in the same units: “A peer seated nearby called out twice (0.1 per minute).” Peer 0/min is a real result: the peer was watched and did not do it. If you didn’t watch the peer, remove the comparison instead of reporting it. See Record a peer comparison.
Duration
Lead with the measure that answers your question: total time and percentage for how much of the observation involved the behavior, or the number of episodes and their lengths for how long episodes lasted.“During the 20-minute independent work period, off-task behavior was recorded for 14 minutes (70% of the observation) across six episodes. Five lasted 2 minutes or less.”Summary shows total time, percentage, and episodes, not an average episode length. Read individual lengths in the Duration Record before you call any of them typical. Don’t call the other 30% “on task”: an off-task timer records off-task episodes, not what filled every other moment. Behaviors can overlap, so their percentages need not add to 100%.
Latency
Name the cue, the response, and how many trials had a response. Report the average for those trials, and state separately how many ended with no response.“After the direction to begin independent work, Malik started writing on nine trials, after 22 seconds on average (range 6 to 55 seconds). Two more trials were recorded as no response.”Results shows the average and Latency by Trial; the range appears in written summaries and exports. No response is something you select, not an automatic time limit, so don’t state a waiting limit you didn’t use.
Interval methods
Name the method and the interval length, and give both counts: “28 of 80 scored intervals”.
None of these is a percentage of time. Unscored intervals are left out, so report the count actually scored. “No scored intervals” means there is no percentage, which is not 0%.
Peer intervals replace student intervals, so the two counts differ. Report each.
“On-task behavior was present throughout 28 of 80 scored target intervals (35%) and 16 of 20 scored peer intervals (80%), 45 percentage points lower for the target student.”“Percentage points” names the subtraction, 80 minus 35, not minutes on task.
ABC
Describe the antecedent, behavior, and consequence that were recorded. For a repeated pairing, give the count and what it is out of.“A demand to begin independent work preceded four of the five recorded instances of work refusal. In three of those, the adult withdrew the demand; in the fourth, the adult restated it.”One event can carry several tags, so tag counts overlap. A share of ABC events is not a share of time. The Function column shows how consequence tags are coded, not what function the behavior serves. Describe what happened from the entries themselves.
Anecdotal
Describe what happened, in what order, and under what conditions: who acted, any prompt or help, and what followed.“When independent practice began, Marcus started writing after the teacher pointed to the first problem. After erasing an answer, he put down his pencil and spoke to the student beside him. The teacher restated the next step, and Marcus resumed writing.”Use exact times, counts, and quotations only when they were recorded. Observation log entries carry elapsed times; General notes do not. Any count you make from the log is your own, so say so. Don’t add a motive or a diagnosis.
Check the finished write-up
Read the write-up with the observation open beside it:- Counts, times, rates, and percentages match the record, and each percentage says what it is out of.
- Events, prompts, help, and responses appear in the order recorded.
- Other people’s accounts are labeled as theirs.
- Conclusions are supported by the record and kept apart from description.