Using Direct Behavior Ratings for Progress Monitoring – FastBridge

The behavioral progress monitoring component of FastBridge is called Direct Behavior Rating (DBR). This article describes how to create a new DBR, and how to enter ratings for existing DBRs.

Where to Start

The Progress Monitoring screen, with the Progress Monitoring tab labeled as step 1, the View Behavior Plans and New menu with Behavior labeled as step 2, and Create Behavior Plan labeled as step 3.

Select the Progress Monitoring tab.
Select View Behavior Plans.
OR
Select New, and select Behavior from the dropdown.
Select Create Behavior Plan.

Create a Behavior Plan

The Please Select a School to Continue popup screen, with the Select a School dropdown labeled as step 4, and the OK button labeled as step 5.

Select a school from the dropdown.
Select OK.
Select a student from the list of Available Students using the search and filter functions.

Behavior plans can only be created for one student at a time, so only one student can be selected from the list.

The Create Behavior Plan screen, with the Create New Behavior Plan button labeled as step 7.

Select Create New Behavior Plan.

Behavior Plan Setup

The DBR plan setup screen, with the Starting Week labeled as step 1, and the list of Behaviors labeled as step 2.

Enter a Starting Week.
Select Behaviors to monitor.
- At least one behavior must be selected, up to a total of seven behaviors, from any category or combination of categories.
- Behaviors will be rated on how frequently they occur during the observation period, scored on a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 indicating Never, and 10 indicating Always.
- Some behaviors will also be rated for intensity, scored on a scale from 0 to 5, with 0 indicating low intensity, and 5 indicating high intensity.

The DBR plan setup screen, with the Frequency labeled as step 3, the Rating Periods table labeled as step 4, and the Behaviors Setup option labeled as step 5.

Select the Frequency of student observations.
Use the Rating Periods table to set up the periods, days, and times for observation.
(Optional) Select Behaviors Setup to open the setup menu for each behavior.

Ratings are based on the frequency (and intensity, if relevant) of occurrences of a particular behavior during the scheduled observation period. Therefore, Rating Periods should be scheduled during times when the behavior is most likely to occur, and it is encouraged to include more periods than is necessary than too few.

Ratings can be completed, edited, or deleted up to two weeks prior to the current week.

The selected behaviors, frequency, and rating periods can be edited, even after scores have been entered for the DBR. These changes will take effect the week following when the changes are made.

Direct Behavior Rating plans with scores cannot be deleted.

The DBR plan setup page, with the Behaviors Setup Start score labeled as step 6, the Goal score labeled as step 7, and the Save, Go Back, and Clear All buttons labeled as step 8.

(Optional) A Start score can be entered for each behavior.
- Start scores can be edited later.
(Optional) A Goal score can be entered for each behavior; if included, these should be end-of-year goals.
- Goals can be edited later.
Select Save to save your new plan, Go Back to return to the list of existing behavior plans, or Clear All to remove the current selections from the DBR plan.

Direct Behavior Ratings do not utilize benchmarks or norms, due to the subjective nature of behavior.

Entering Observations

An example Behavior Plans list page, with the Week dropdown labeled as step 2, the Name, Start Week, Items, Occasions, Created By, and School columns labeled as step 3, and the pencil and graph icons labeled as step 4.

To enter DBR observations, navigate to the View/Edit Behavior Plans page.
The Week dropdown will default to the current week. If entering scores for prior weeks, select the appropriate week from the dropdown.
Applicable students with DBR plans are listed by name, with the starting week of the DBR plan, the number of behavior items to be rated, the number of days per week that observations are scheduled for, who created the DBR plan, and the student's school.
Select the pencil icon to edit the DBR plan, or the graph icon to view the progress monitoring graph for the DBR plan.

An example Behavior Plans list page, with a student name selected and labeled as step 5, a rating period score labeled as step 6, a strike icon labeled as step 7, and a rating period clock icon labeled as step 8.

Select the student name to view, enter, and edit ratings.
If ratings have been entered, a score will appear for that rating period. Select the score to view and edit the entered ratings.
The strike symbol indicates that a rating period has not been scheduled for that day and period, and ratings cannot be entered.
Select the clock icon to enter ratings for that rating period.

An example DBR observation entry screen, with the student's name at the top labeled as step 9, a listed behavior checkbox and No Opportunity option labeled as step 10, the Frequency and Intensity toggle slides labeled as step 11, the Notes options labeled as step 12, and the Cancel, Clear All, and Submit Test buttons labeled as step 13.

The student's name appears at the top of the rating screen.
Each behavior is listed under the associated category. Select the checkbox to hide that behavior for the selected rating period. Select No Opportunity if there was not an opportunity to observe the student for that behavior for the selected rating period.
Select the appropriate Frequency and Intensity, if applicable, for the observed behavior.
Select Add note or Update interventions/supports to leave notes and comments regarding the selected rating period.
Select Cancel to return to the behavior plans page without saving. Select Clear All to remove all selected ratings. Select Submit Test to save the entered observations.

Next Steps

To learn more about the purpose and functionality of Direct Behavior Ratings, take a look at Direct Behavior Rating (DBR) Overview.