Direct Behavior Rating (DBR) is a progress monitoring tool designed to complement the use of the SAEBRS and mySAEBRS screening assessments. When a district sets up SAEBRS as an assessment, the DBR is the corresponding PM that is activated.
With the DBR, educators can easily determine if social-emotional behavior (SEB) interventions are working. Designed to be used with students from kindergarten through twelfth grade, DBR measures involve identifying one or more specific problem behaviors, and then observing the student at planned times to record whether these behaviors occur.
Direct Behavior Rating is no longer in Lab Status, meaning that the process and available tools within FastBridge have been fully created and vetted, and are ready for districts to use!
Materials and Procedure
Educators can individualize each DBR to reflect target behaviors for specific students. Up to seven total behaviors can be selected in any combination from the DBR domains: social, academic, and emotional. The selected behaviors can be problem behaviors the student regularly displays (e.g., disruptive behavior), and/or problematic behaviors that occur only sometimes, but are nevertheless troublesome when they do occur (e.g., aggression). All DBR items include a rating of the frequency of the target behavior, and some DBR items also include an intensity rating to indicate if a specific incidence of the behavior is of lower or higher intensity. DBR ratings can be used daily, weekly, or up to every four weeks.
Screening
DBR is not available for universal screening.
Progress Monitoring Administration
The DBR is designed so that it can be used by classroom teachers without the need for another observer, and is administered during regular classroom instruction. To conduct the observation, the teacher checks in on the student’s behavior on a repeated basis at regular intervals (e.g., every 30 seconds) while attending to their other responsibilities. Teachers are not required to record any data while observing the student throughout the observation periods. Instead, they should take mental notes regarding the student’s behavior, and then consider them when completing their DBR ratings within FastBridge. Ideally, the observation period will last between 15 and 30 minutes.
Because students’ behavior can be variable across days or settings, ratings are typically collected across multiple occasions, allowing for a stream of data that can be used to evaluate student progress over time.
It is recommended that at least five to 10 data points be collected within each phase of data collection. For instance, if the student’s behavior is being monitored during both baseline (i.e., prior to intervention) and intervention phases (i.e., while an intervention is being applied), at least five to 10 data points should be collected before the intervention starts, and another five to 10 during the intervention, resulting in 10 to 20 overall. Such recommendations are derived from previous DBR research, which suggests at least five to 10 data points are necessary to achieve a reliable estimate of a student’s behavior.
Rating the Behavior
After the observation, the teacher logs into FastBridge to enter the observation data. Depending on the behavior in question, one or two ratings are completed:
- Frequency Rating: This is rated on a 0-10 scale (0 = Never, 10 = Always).
- Intensity Rating: This is rated on a 0-5 scale (0 = low, 5 = high).
Scores and Interpretation
DBR ratings are reported using a behavior progress monitoring graph. Educators can view single or multiple behaviors on a graph. With the combination of brief classroom observations, DBR, and the progress monitoring graphs available through FastBridge, educators are able to determine the effects of interventions in a valid, quick, and efficient manner.
Next Steps
To begin setting up a DBR, take a look at Using Direct Behavior Ratings for Progress Monitoring.